Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 11

After being in the outback for some time, we were longing to see the ocean, and Karumba didn't disappoint. We were staying at Karumba Point, which is famous for its sunsets across the water, and after checking in, we drove down to the Sunset Tavern to see the Gulf for the first time. The water was aqua blue and who should be sitting at the Sunset Tavern, but our friends from Erina, Colin and Lindsey. After watching an amazing sunset, we arranged with Colin and Lindsey to meet the next night for dinner at the Sunset Tavern. We all enjoyed our Barramundi dinner at the tavern. We also enjoyed Fish n Chips from the famous Ash's Fish Shop in Karumba Point. Each morning, we did at least a five and a half kilometre walk along the ... read more

We headed for Corella Dam, around sixty kilometres from Cloncurry, for our first Free Camp of our trip. On the way I wanted to stop off at the Burke and Wills Monument, to pay my respects to these heroes from early Australian exploration. To my dismay, the monument had been vandalised and spraypainted with the words, Always Was, Always Will Be, which is clearly a reference to aboriginals dispossessed of their lands. I drove on a little further and stopped to look at a monument to the aboriginal warriors who were massacred for opposing the white settlers who were taking their lands by force. I began to understand that the white colonial history I had learned in Primary School may not have been balanced. We managed to score a caravan site at Corella Dam right next ... read more

On the way to Cloncurry we stopped off to see two famous hotels, the Blue Heeler Hotel and the Walkabout Creek Hotel, from Crocodile Dundee fame. Cloncurry has a long mining history, which is still active today. We visited the Underground Mining Museum, which contained a tree stump with the initials of Burke and Wills from their fateful Northern Australian expedition. We then visited the Royal Flying Doctor and Australian Inland Mission Museum. The first Royal Flying Doctor plane took off from Cloncurry in 1928, and remains a valuable medical lifeline for outback stations and communities. The Rev John Flynn established religious services for remote areas in Cloncurry in 1915. Chinaman Creek Dam and Lookout was a great place to look out over Cloncurry, where you can see the real outback across the landscape. As we ... read more

Friday morning we again had a quiet time. We relaxed in our room until about 11am and then went out to the track. It was sunny but cool, with the temperature staying under 20 degrees. We had lunch at the track and watched events. Plenty of people to chat to and athletics to watch. It was the second to last day of the program and all Senior events were over. The highlights were the U20s where there were some excellent races and good performances. Most events finished about 4pm and then Oceania had drinks for the officials and other hangers-on, like us, to celebrate the near completion of the champs. Yvonne was leaving the next morning as was Bob Snow so we said our goodbyes to them. As the sun set we drove Bob back to ... read more

Tuesday evening we walked one block into town and went to Sorbello"s Italian restaurant for dinner. The place looked promising as it was three quarters fullfull and seemed popular, A very with-it waitress was assigned our table and her service was excellent, recommending wine and allowing us a taste before accepting her recommendation. The menu was also extensive but I settled for a small Fettucine Crab meat and Fletcher chose the Gnocchi seafood. After a long wait the dishes came but Fletcher's was cold. The waitress apologised and got the manager who explained they had a new chef and would we like to have the dish made again. Fletcher just asked for it to be heated. Back it came to find the gnocchi was very chewy and large, not the delicate texture real gnocchi can be. ... read more