Battlecamp Road opened on 10 June after the wet. A mixture of red dirt and bitumen ( some new sections). We stopped at old Laura Homestead for morning tea. The buildings that are left are well preserved and give an insight into homestead living. It was first established in 1879 by two Irish cousins. There are station buildings, stockyards, structural foundations, native and introduced trees and vegetation. Many areas have been restored. The Laura River is located below the grounds. We drove on to Quinkan Cultural Centre, unfortunately we could not go to the Quinkan Galleries to see the 15000 year old rock paintings due to an internal dispute within the community. As an alternative we collected our guide Ray who took us for a walk up to Split Rock to see the rock art there. ... read more

We had a lovely breakfast then joined the bus after filling our bottles with water. The Mirage had a filling station with sparkling, cold or warm water. I filled my bottle with sparkling which caused much laughter when I opened it later and it went "pop"!! I was asked if I had champagne in it. Unfortunately NO. Our first stop was the Mossman Gorge Visitor Centre and were taken on a dreamtime gorge walk by Ray. After participating in a smoking ceremony we set off on our walk where he explained the traditional uses of bush food sources such as plants, seeds, ochre used etc by the aboriginal inhabitants for foods, and medicine. At the end of the walk we had a Covid safe morning tea of damper, cream and jam. Paper cups, plastic utensils and ... read more

A coolish morning ( relatively speaking) . The staff have jumpers on. We had breakfast, paid our drinks tab and then watched Gary put out feed for the birds. 4 Brolgas came in, a whistling kite and a kingfisher. We said our goodbyes and set off. Our first stop was Musgrave. the site of an Old Telegraph Station. The only one that has been preserved. Gravel road to Coen - good condition as it had just been graded. Many sections are sealed. We went over the Great Dividing range, 3620 kms long. We passed some dams that had been built by the Roads Dept to be used for grading and ultimately bitumen. Stopped at Coen for morning tea and visited the local museum. 3G available so caught up on news. Archer roadhouse built in 1983 in ... read more

Today we had a tour of Colleen McCullogh’s house. Her husband still lives in the top storey. The bottom storey is full of her lifetime of collecting. Glass, paintings, sculptures. We were given a tour and explanation of the works on display and a glimpse into the woman. Our guide was an actor from the previous nights play . Another example of the multiple roles people play. In the afternoon Kevin had a hire car so we drove around the island and revisited some sites. In Kingston we saw a great retrospective photo exhibition run by Lions of early life in NI. We also saw some masked boobies on the headland. That night we were collected by the bus for the Island Fish Fry. We had to sit undercover due to the possibility of rain. The ... read more

Sunny After breakfast we found the laundry and used the washing machine and dryer. A relaxing morning and then a walk into town. We had lunch at the bowling club and then a rest before our afternoon tour. There was a blackout at 1pm. A common occurrence on NI. Our tour this afternoon was to a wine tasting at Two Chimneys Wines. BEST wine tasting experience ever. The owners Rod and his wife Noelene provided delicious wines with foods to match. The wines are made under Rod's supervision at Cassegrain wineries, Port Macquarie. He has two wines using Chamboursin grapes which we were familiar with following visits to Cassegrain.... read more