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Published: March 18th 2015
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I don’t like to go on about sunrises but they are without question one of nature’s most beautiful sights of course sunset’s fit in to the same category. Our balcony had wide open 180
0 views over the rooftops to the North and East, so a little before 0530 I quietly snuck out to the verandah and was very glad I had as the sunrise was pretty special. We had a good feed for brekky and did not need to leave early as we planned to stop at Mt Isa (yet again) which was a little under 770 km’s down the road, a relatively easy day.
Now be honest – raise your hand if you have ever been guilty of exceeding the speed limit while driving. Mine’s up. I have been driving since 1977 and during that time I guess you could say I have been very very fortunate to have been booked just the once for speeding, though I genuinely do try to do the right thing. I reckon even those wonderful drivers that seem to be incapable of travelling no faster than 20 kph below the speed limit regardless of what it is have on occasions broken it.
So anyway at 0800 we were on our way. I took an indirect passage towards the highway for one last look at the town and unbeknown to me I was heading in to a school zone. For the uninitiated these zones during school days for selected periods in the morning and afternoon are a maximum 40 kph it is a great idea and makes it a little safer for the kids. Outside of these times they may be 50, 60 or whatever. Shortly after turning down this particular street the driver in the vehicle heading toward me flashes his headlights a common signal that police or a hazard is down the road a little so I give him a friendly wave and check my speedo. “All good I’m doing 58 just under the speed limit” I thought when Liz raises her voice just slightly and says “you are in a school zone”. Gulp, followed by that sickly cold flush! Foot immediately off the accelerator another quick look at the speedo – 48 “go for the brake” I say to myself and as I lift my head I see the police car parked on the side of the road with
a police officer pointing his radar directly at my vehicle.
“You idiot you are in trouble now” I think and as we roll towards him he looks at his offsider then back at us but does not budge. He does however give me a stern look that must have been close way too close. I nodded in their direction as a sign of my appreciation. Moral of the story – stay vigilant!
We did stop at Mt Isa and then at 3 Ways the following evening and from Charters all the way back to the Litchfield Tourist Park over 2,300 km in all I was amazed at how green and dare I say lush the countryside was, the typically dry and dusty outback Australia is known for had taken a temporary sabbatical.
Not for the first time but nonetheless still surprising we encountered a cyclist slowly pedalling down the highway, he was 30km West of Camooweal and 240km East of the Barkly Homestead with nothing yep nothing between these destinations. Not wanting to frighten the hell out of the poor bugger we slowly sidled up next to him for a chat. He was a Chinese bloke maybe
late 20s and covered in fly’s he had been sensible enough to have bought himself a net that you drape over your hat to keep the pests off your face and out of your mouth. I’m thinking he probably didn’t arrive in the country with it. This fella had been travelling on his pushy for the last eight weeks beginning the trip in Canberra and he was headed towards Darwin just a mere 1,700 km up the road. We wished him a happy and safe trip and bid him farewell before continuing on our way.
Take care travel safe and remember it’s nice to be important but it’s important to be nice.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
No belt...No brains
Pretty effective!