Blogs from Hughenden, Queensland, Australia, Oceania
August 29th 2010
Stayed in a caravan park at Hughenden. No one wanted to cook so we decide to go out for dinner. We got ready hopped in the car and drove around town expecting to find a pub that served meals or something. What we found is most of the cafes were closed, even the corner pub. We did find the only restaurant in town which was Chinese. Not feeling so confident Mick when to have a look. Well… it was a cute restaurant with candy pink walls and more statues ho chi minh, dragons and Chinese candles than we could count. We decided to give it ago and was pleasantly surprised, the food was great. Even Ned got a treat for waiting in the car like a good puppy. The second day we took the boys to ... read more
July 23rd 2010
The day dawned clear and cool, but as the day progressed it warmed up to 26 degrees. There were many Road Trains on the road to Hughenden. They were up to 53 metres long and we were travelling on roads similar to those in NZ. Coming through Concurry we saw a smashed up road train on the back of another pair of trucks. This was very sobering! There seemed to be a large amount of road kill - mainly Kangas and Eagles attacking the carcasses. After Concurry the hills disappeared and the land became barren grasses with occasional cattle. We entered the Great Artesian Basin and stopped at Julia Creek which is the centre of the basin. Much of the road had been recently repaired due to flood damage. At Richmond we entered, Dinosaur Country which ... read more
May 29th 2010
Day 51 There is nothing here for us, no parts shop. Nothing. Damn, and no one has spare parts for a Mitsu.. just like every other town. (note - in the outback its Toyota, holden or ford) we relax and make our plan for parts, Mt Isa, a mere 550km away. With the plan in motion we spend the day relaxing and go for a swim at the public pool, which in the outback we are finding that most are free to use, you just have to ask for a key. Awesome. We sit in the sun and read the light away. Sean and I are reading a lot more. I had already read Davinci Code in 3 days and was now onto Angels and Demons and plowed my way through that in 3 days, great ... read more
May 28th 2010
Day 50 Oh man! Have we really been here for 50 days?? Where does the time go? We pack up and restock the coolers with ice and are on the road around 10am, it sorta sucked leaving the small town, it sure was a blast. We make our way south through some mountain trails, averaging anywhere from a crawl to a whopping 40km/h the road was rough, but the views amazing, and hey! Were here to explore so why not. Jackie and Sean are making comments about my road choices… are they in for a surprise. Lol We make our way to Undara Volcanic national park to go look at lava tubes, but the cost goes from 42 dollars for a 2 hour trip to 100 for a day tour.. damn, why I can’t I look ... read more
September 22nd 2007
Stayed on here and went for a drive to Porcupine Gorge National Park and then up Mount Walker to the lookouts which give superb views of the town and surrounding areas. --- ... read more
September 21st 2007
Only 112 Km today. Pleasant drive but a dramatic arrival into town with the caravan brakes ceasing on the first corner. After talking to a busy mechanic and getting no joy were greatly helped by a lovely young man called Andrew from the hardware store. He lent us his phone to call RACQ and then left the phone with us for them to call back. He also found a mobile mechanic who came and discovered that the emergency brake cable had wriggled out and this is what caused the problem and allowed it to be instantly remedied. No charge!!! We were greatly relieved to say the least.... read more
July 1st 2006
The Australia Tour begins ...slowly! After spending three weeks with the Family, we started looking for a CamperVan. Our original plan was to drive around the whole perimeter of Ozz, but after much debate we decided that we didn't have long enough, we would have to drive every day - which would be extremely exhausting!! So the plan is to extensively travel througout the Northern Territory and East coast!! If we come back to Ozz with a working Visa we can start in Perth, then do Western and Southern Ozz!! So we searched all the local papers & commuted to/from Cairns to search the Hostal catalogues, etc...We saw a few that looked good, and in fact went to see a Toyota Hi-Ace that three English lads had basically ranted up the coast, it had rust ALL ... read more
August 30th 2005
We left Cairns early in the morning for our 2,067km journey to Alice Springs. First we joined the Kennedy Development Road and travelled for hours through the Atherton Tablelands, stopping for a walk to Millstream Falls in the Millstream National Park. Eventually the rich rainforest gave way to less dense Ironbark Eucalypt forests and we spotted Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Emus. This was to be the scenery for the rest of the day. Later in the afternoon we stopped for a walk to Porcupine Gorge before arriving, late afternoon, in the town of Hughenden for our overnight stay in a motel/hotel where Tim fleeced the locals in a Killer Pool contest ($26 prize!).... read more
June 4th 2005
Head West. Lots of miles. Drive closer to the Red Rock. Climate, wet to dry. 05:25 Alarm goes off. Press the snooze button. 05:30 Alarm goes off. Okay, I'll really get up out of bed now. Wash up, pack up and pull off the sheets. 05:50 Ready to rock and roll! Hand in my room key and head outside for the bus to pick me up. 05:55 Waiting outside of the Global Palace. Not the best time or place to be in the wee hours since there appeared to be some less than sober people on the streets still. Thankfully there were three other girls also waiting for the bus with me. One random guy walked past me and he said something to me but it didn't sound like English. A few minutes later he passes ... read more
