Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 9

Atherton is the largest town on the Tablelands, and is the first town since visiting Mt Isa that has had a Woolworths, a Coles and an IGA Supermarket. It was good to be able to top up our fruit/veg and groceries. Atherton lies in the middle of rich agricultural country, with fertile volcanic soils that can grow just about anything. We stayed in the Big4 NRMA Caravan Park, which was the most picturesque and tropical park we have stayed in to date. The area reminds me of the Byron Hinterland. Our first tourist offering was to drive to the historic village of Herberton, which has a uniquely preserved old town which has been faithfully restored. Whilst having lunch at the cafe in the village, we met the owners, who purchased the village in a run down ... read more

Day 1 Virgin changed our flight from 1130 to 930 but this worked in our favour as when we arrived at the airport we asked if there was an earlier connecting flight from Sydney to Cairns and there was, so we were able to get to Cairnd in the daylight and get settled into our backpackers, Gilligans before headed out to get a drink by the pool and do shots, as one does. We headed out to one of the breweries to try the local beer at Sauce and Co, and ended up eating there enjoying some local trout. A brief walk around, we checked out the Cairns night markets that was full of the general stuff markets have, before heading back to Gilli's for cheap drinks; $4 base spirits and I may have had a ... read more

Our destination today was the remote Barkly Homestead, in the Northern Territory, located on the Barkly Highway between Camooweal, Qld, and Tennant Creek, NT. It is a true oasis in the desert. A beautiful place. Clean and very well organised. We stopped at Camooweal and walked the very small community which was once a major player with cattle droving. The new, huge bridge at Camooweal spreads across the wide Georgina River, one of the 3 major rivers of the Channel country, which eventually flow into Lake Eyre. New, upgraded roadworks were noted too. Our drive took us through mainly uninhabited land used for cattle grazing. Hence, it was the occasional station homestead sometimes visible from the road. The rolling plains of grassland seemed never-ending with the colour of the landscape changing constantly. There were many road ... read more

Left the camper in Mt Isa and travelled the Overlander’s Way on the Barkly Highway on an excellent sealed, double lane road. The scenery was the best we had travelled through. Undulating, very rugged, highly vegetated hill country. Cloncurry advertises itself as, “The Friendly Heart of Outback Queensland”. It proved to be so as all who we met were indeed friendly. From our readings we learned that in 1861 Burke and Wills with King and Gray (Australian history so rich) were the first known Europeans to come to the area on their ill-fated expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria. We continue to marvel at their courage. No fear Galway men. Entering Cloncurry, one crosses two long, high bridges over the water filled Cloncurry River. We visited the original QANTAS Hangar (still in use) at the aerodrome ... read more

Happy 34th birthday Tom. Special day. Special person. Washed clothes. Dried. Sorted bags. Washed Prado. Yes, washed Prado. (We talk to each other. We are nice to each other. We have many more years to go in our relationship. We are faithful to each other). I do the same with Jane. Refilled the water tank. Refuelled. Replenished supplies. Charged lithium battery. Planned tomorrow. Checked footy scores. Warned friends that I had been hacked ... all good. Shaved. Rested. Oh yeah, ate. (I love eating. I really do. Overactive taste buds). Read. Now to sleep.... read more