blog 1

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Blog. 1
We have been in Australia for a fortnight now . After a very hectic departure from New Zealand because of a last minute decision to vacate our rented house and squash our belongings in a container, we flew to Brisbane with our friends Dave and Kathy. We went to Maryborough while Dave and Kathy bought a camper trailer in Brisbane then met us at the “Riverbank Camp” in front of Vikki and Russ’s house. Most nights were very sociable with the neighbours, the family and another Kiwi couple camping there, We cooked on a huge Bar-b-cue over an open fire for 14 people some nights.
We headed for Auburn River National Park where we had a swim, then it rained all night and our trailer canvas leaked like a sieve so we abandoned ship and retreated to our trusty Toyota at 1.30 am. The next day we travelled on a rather muddy dirt road, had a beer at Taroom pub, then continued on a worse muddy road to Expedition National Park where we arrived just on dark to find the access road closed! Too bad, we camped on the edge of the track and cooked tea over the fire under a starry sky.
After a midday start and slow road conditions we arrived on dusk at Lake Nuga Nuga National Park where once again it rained all night. We kept dry with a tarp over our tent listening to 50cent size raindrops and wondering how much trouble we would have getting back to the main road. In the morning we managed to slither and slide our way back to the road as the rain continued. With water over the road in a few places we made our way to Emerald where we camped under a large roof used for building up to 16 transportable houses, thanks to Dave and Kathy’s friends. After drying out (Only the gear, not us) and re water proofing the tent we camped at a pleasant camping ground in Alpha en route to Longreach.
Our plans have changed a little as we are now at Flora Downs Station before we go to Slashes Creek Station. Evidently Murray and Dave have a 5 metre steel water tank stand to build.

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Photos

Kathy cooking in the rain
Can you see the black umbrella

snake
This was the first snake we saw. The next one was over a metre and alive in a picnic area.

Judy and Jock at longreach
Kathy and Daves friends who were fabulous hosts and fed us so well