Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 15

It appears that very little is open anywhere in Outback Australiaon a Sunday, so it was as good a day as any to hop in the car and drive. Our plan was to stay in Jericho for 1 night, but the only exciting thing happening there as we ate our lunch in parkland alongside the railway station was the arrival of the “Spirit of the Outback” train on its twice-weekly trip from Brisbane to Longreach via Rockhampton. Only one passenger alighted and it was quickly on its way again. We decided to continue on east after our lunch stop to Emerald. It was quite a lengthy drive for the day, made more arduous as we had to cross the Great Dividing Range – spectacular scenery but we were both rather tired as we pulled in at ... read more

Leaving Hughenden this morning we were chatting about the many things that have stayed in our minds on this amazing trip to date. Dust. It is everywhere and it comes predominantly in 3 tones, they being red, brown and grey – with many hues thereof in between! It is unavoidable, despite any precautions we might take, and it is a real bother to get rid of. The van will take a proper good cleaning inside and out once we return home. There is nothing between towns. Signs tell you that there is no fuel for x number of kms. Not only is there no fuel there is nothing, absolutely nothing. You can travel for over 300kms and all you will see are extensive brown, dry paddocks. Dust. There is a lot of dust – everywhere. Changes ... read more

FJ Holden’s Café was an interesting stop. Owned by Francis & Jan Holden, they have cleverly used their initials and surname to create a quaint little café filled with car memorabilia, naturally with the Holden car featuring. There were cabinets of model cars, signed flags and posters from well known Holden racing drivers, as well as a couple of antique juke boxes. It was very interesting to look around as we enjoyed our morning tea. Afterwards we quickly stopped at the local SPAR supermarket and butchers to replenish our provisions. Talk about country service at the supermarket – we were in there briefly yesterday and I was looking for some English Muffins. There were none available but they were expecting their weekly delivery from Townsville on Wednesday morning. We casually mentioned that we would call back ... read more

Staying in the caravan park overflow area located at the Richmond Racecourse. It is a couple of kms out of the town, but extremely quiet with the added benefits of power and water and a very modern amenities block. Despite being called a Turf Club the only turf was in front of the grandstand – the track itself was all dirt and dust. On the wall of the Moonrock Café (within the Tourist Info Centre) there hangs a painting of 4 local men (Bunny Walsh, Ken Ryan, Tom Wilcox and Jimmy McGuire). It is titled “The Seat of Knowledge” as all four gentlemen would sit there every day, watching the world go by and offering advice to one and all. It is of no real significance – just one of those images that appealed. Richmond is ... read more

There are a few tracks leading into the different camping areas here at Clem Walton and then there is another track taking us to the Dam wall. It was quite rough in places and definitely a case of “tighten your bra straps and remove any dentures”! Unfortunately, just as we neared the dam wall, the road was barricaded to both vehicles and pedestrians. However peering through the scrub we saw what looked like a very refreshing waterhole and a small waterfall. There was a small picnic area and it too had a few vans and camper trailers parked up. About 10kms back toward Mt Isa, in the Selwyn Range, lies the old ghost town of Mary Kathleen – built to support the nearby mine. There are no ruins per se, save for the remains of a ... read more