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Published: June 14th 2009
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6-6-09 Well a new day today, the sun is shining & it will warm up by lunchtime. Off to the Qantas Museum today, Den was absolutely fascinated , he went through a 747 & 707 & learnt all the workings of the panes, then through the museum. It was a great morning & cost $49.50 & with the wing walk it would have been another $25, decided not to do that. We had a rest in the avo & Happy hour again with Rusty ( Robert ) & Ros. Its nice to have someone to have drink with & a chat & discuss all the attractions around the place. We had an early night. The girls love there walks & are not pulling on their leads anymore. We are getting known as the couple with the cute dogs. ( better than “those Buggers over there ) .
7-6-09 The camp spot is really good, a bit dusty but not too bad, The loos are cleaned by the council every morning & are clean. You meet some real characters along the way, the guy next to us is one, a real bushy. We are off to The Stockman Hall of Fame
today & after $22.50 entry fee each it was a really fascinating place, you could spend 2 days easily there reading all the memorabilia about out forefathers & what life was all about. ( I am glad I did not live back in those times, it was a hard life ) We went for lunch at the Stockman’s Bar & Grill & had a burger & drink, very nice it was. We had left the girls in the van & went back to give them a walk, Den fixed the beeping alarm, that was driving us nuts ( me anyway he can turn off his hearing aide ) We packed ep as leaving for Winton tomorrow, then a guy came around camp & said he & his mate were putting on a Bush Poets Recital at 4.30. We took our chairs & the dogs & our drinks & we met Rusty & Ros up there and had a thoroughly entertaining hour. They were goog & very funny. We then had one more drink with Rusty & Ros then went back for an easy tea & bed.
8-7-08 Awake at 6am so up & packed up & on the road
at 8am & off to Winton. The road is not too bad , lots & lots of road kill, the land is flatter & drier too. We struck lots of wide loads going the other way today, they look like army tanks. This looks more like cattle country to me. Stopped & had a cuppa & got talking to another heritage owner & he showed Den how to put a washing machine in the back, watch out Retravision ( if I have my way ). We pushed on & we were at Winton by lunch time, we set up behind the North Gregory Pub - 357 in the free camp book. It had an old toilet & shower, but it was free so it did not matter. We had to sign a book to say we would have a drink or meal there & patronize the Pub. There were about 14 vans etc there. After we set up we went for a walk with Rusty & Ros to find a sign place that sold names to put on your van. We took the girls & ended up about a 5 block walk, it did us all good, the girls were
panting though. We got back to the van & decided to have a drink at the Pub, we had about 4 drinks & hen I decided I needed a Nana Nap ( the grog talking ) so I went & had a lay down & Den went to find an ATM, but they were all empty, the show had been on & they had cleaned out all the money machines in town. Winton is a wealth of history as well, but not much open today as Monday of the long weekend, The Matilda Centre - the home of Waltzing Matilda , lots of old pubs, an open air picture theatre and Arno’s Wall. You should have seen it , this guy had built a wall around his house out of anything he could get his hands on, old bikes, wheels, cash registers, ovens, fridges etc, amazing. We decided to have Tea at the Tattersal’s Hotel across the road & we had a nice meal outside under the awning and The Bush Poets were performing there from the night before. It was a nice night with Rusty & Ros & we went & had a night cap in there van, we
all decided to call it quits & have an early night. The girls have been excellent again. we travelled 175 k’s today.
9-6-09 Well off to Cloncurry this morning, we took some photos of the main st & set off again. We filled up with Gas 91.9c getting expensive now. Well this never ending landscape never ceases to amaze us, we started out as flat as a tack, then off to the right were mountains out of no where ( more like hills ) then down a bit further there was on outcrop of red rocky hills. We saw cattle & sheep, but only one homestead, I don’t know where everyone lives. More road kill too & lots of buzzards flying overhead. The road is a bit more bumpy today. We stopped at Kynunan at the Blue Heeler Pub for a cuppa ( it was too early for a drink ) You should see all the writing on the wall & messages of people that had been there, also hats that people had left, a great old bar & fire place, worth a look if anyone is going that way. There is a caravan park behind the Pub that
you can stay at. After the Blue Heeler Pub we came across the Walkabout Hotel at McKinley where we had a drink & looked over the Pub where the Crocodile Dundee Movies were made. We talked to the publican & Rusty, Ros & us decided to have lunch & then go onto Cloncurry. Between Kynunan & Cloncurry we nearly ran over a huge Goanna crossing the road & the Termite hills started appearing in the paddocks. We are going to stay in Cloncurry for 2 nights to do washing etc & recharge the batteries, before heading off to Lawn Hill for a week. We booked into the Oasis Caravan Park , nice grassy sites & Bougainvillea Hedges between them $23 a night. We went up town for some grog & bread & had a look around , then came back & had happy hour with Rusty & Ros then cooked steak & Vegies for tea ( yummy ) & then had a long hot shower & washed my hair, it was sooooo good. Watched TV & went to bed. We did 360 km today.
10-6-09 Up & did the washing , cleaned the van, even the girls got a
bath ( not happy Jan ) . Then planned our meals for 12 days so we could go grocery shopping for Lawn Hill as no shops out there. We went out & had a look at Chinamen’s Dam 3ks out of Cloncurry & a real picturesque place it was. Went back & did our shopping & went back & unpacked it all. We had a happy hour with Rusty & Ros & then went up to a sausage sizzle that the Lions Club put on at the park . We had a good time & did not have to cook tea & we continued our happy hour at the caravan, we had a nice night & we will miss Rusty & company. Off to bed , all a bit merry but in a good mood. Off to Lawn Hill tomorrow, will take 2 days to get there & we are booked in for a week to an unpowered site , so a bit like camping, Den will finally get to use his kayak in the gorges & do some fishing.
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Marg & Warwick
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happy campers
Well hello there you two oppppppps you 4 sorry annie and jessie. Glad to hear that the girls are travelling so well. You now understand about the ppl you meet on your travels, its great isn't it all a bit different to going down the coast for a week etc. And the free camping .... your never alone and ppl are so full of information think you should change your name on here to the pub crawl.......hehehe take notes on all the old pubs you come across and lets see how many you can do on this trip hahha. they are so interesting to see. well keep on travelling