Day 146 - Georgetown to Atherton via Variety Bash at Mt Surprise

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Georgetown is the administrative centre for this outback part of Queensland called Etheridge. The area has been suffering drought conditions for some time. As we drove along the roads, we could see that this might be good cattle country but there had been no rain for some time.

The roads, in themselves, are quite tricky. They are quite often only one lane wide with a wide gravel shoulder each side. None of this is very comforting when you crest a hill only to find a road train (or large truck) coming straight for you!

Not only do you have to watch for oncoming vehicles. In the bus, you have to keep one eye constantly on the rear vision mirrors for motorists that want to overtake.

We saw a car coming fast and to our surprise it had Variety Bash signwriting on it. We wondered if this car might have got lost but a few minutes later another Bash car appeared in the mirrors. We let this one past too and Georgi sent Mitch a text asking if he was close by. Lenny's youngest son, Mitch, works for Variety and is a key member of the organisation for the Annual Bash. We knew he was coming up this way, but never thought that our west to east travels would coincide with the Variety Bash's south to north journey.

Unfortunately, Mitch's car was one of the last to leave from Cobbold Gorge (their overnight stop) and we were not able to meet up.

We had morning tea at Mount Surprise (where the Bash entrants refuelled) and then drove on to Atherton. The Variety Bash entrants were to travel all the way to Cooktown that day.

Read more about the record amount of almost $1.5M raised this year at www dot variety dot org dot au (events / motoring events). If you get the chance, donate some $ to Variety or enter one of their Bashes - it sounds like great fun!

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