Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania

We exited the Hay River track onto massive salt pans that were a bit weird to look at - very white amongst the red of the sand and green/grey of the trees and bushes. After a short time we hit the QAA line, which is one of the main tracks across the Simpson Desert. So after five days of travelling South we took a 90 degree turn to the East. This was some awesome driving up and over the dunes. There were a few that we had to back down and try a few times - mostly because my stoopid traction control kept turning on automatically which kills the wheel spin that is sometimes needed to get over those last few ruts. The pictures that we have do not do justice to how big, long and ... read more

OK, Noosa isn’t for everyone – but it tries to be. There are luxurious homes, exclusive resorts and expensive restaurants for the rich. And there are backpacker lodges, caravan parks and cheap cafes for the poor. Although to be fair, and to paraphrase Joe Hockey: “The poor don’t go on holiday very much!” You actually don’t need a lot of money to stay in Noosa and have a pretty good time. Accommodation can be had for under $50 a night and then after that everything of any note is free! The beaches, the National Park, the markets and the weather!! On the negative side, Noosa has become the Land of the Leafblower. Every morning without fail, from about 7 o’clock, the army of amateur alarm clocks start their intrusive blowing and it seems to go on ... read more

Another bit of a hike up the road from Longreach to not far shy of Camooweal. Not a lot to report. The Rigby three met up with a mate not far North and then we lost contact with each other for most of the rest of the day! All was well though as we all had said we’d like a beer at the Walkabout Creek Hotel (see Crocodile Dundee). Funnily enough we all ended arriving within 20 minutes of each other so no harm was done. The camping offered there was in a gravel car park so we set off in late afternoon to find any spot we could. Which we did, on the side of the road, around 150m from the highway. Yay!... read more

Today was our first rest day that involved no driving. Whoot!!! I had big plans of taking the kids to see the Qantas Museum and/or the Stockman’s Hall of Fame but they were so horribly overpriced that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead we went to a fantastic show about Harry Redford, a cattle rustler from the old days. It was bloody funny with the two lads acting it out being good on their feet and very happy to give it to the Kiwis, Tasmanians and Victorians on the audience. The pollies copped it a fair bit as well. As a lead-up to the show there was a local bush poet (Patrick Casey from Stonehenge, QLD) reading from his latest collection. He was the best part of 85-90 and a real character. Tony bought ... read more

From Tuesday to Friday I participated as an Official in the Oceania Athletics Championships which were held at "The Red Track" in beautiful Townsville. This is a picturesque track with Castle Hill towering in the background. These are the first Oceania Champs to be held which, under new IAAF rules, give points towards qualifying for the World Champs and so Australia and New Zealand sent full teams and thus this was the largest Champs ever held with over 700 athletes competing from every country in the Pacific. During the four days I officiated at more than a dozen events including Shot Putt, Discus, Triple Jump and Long Jump. My favourites, though, were the three High Jumps where I was a bar judge twice and a recorder the other time. Excellent competitions and very good heights were ... read more