After what ended up as a kind of faux death march in Carnarvon Gorge, I was more than happy to embark on a cruisy ‘mail run’ through southern Queensland on the way back to the NSW border. First stop was Roma. Roma is a large outback town, about as ‘XXXX’ as you could imagine. TheContinue reading “Warrego Whistlestops”
Author Archives: southseasojourn1291
Carnarvon Gorge Part 3
As it turned out, two choc chip cookies didn’t even get me close to the carpark. The bounding has become trudging. I am now 15klms into the hike. I know the brain is sending messages to the feet and they are responding, but it seems my body is taking no active part in the communication.Continue reading “Carnarvon Gorge Part 3”
Carnarvon Gorge Part 2
The entrance to Boowinda Gorge only gives a hint of what lies past the first bend. Boowinda is the indigenous name for ‘thunder’. When it’s wet season, the sound of thunder coming from here means flash flooding is close behind. The bed of uneven lucky stones means picking your own pathway into this stunning diversion.Continue reading “Carnarvon Gorge Part 2”
Carnarvon Gorge Part 1
The wind had been blowing from the east for days and Emerald of course was 370klms east of Longreach. I left at 7am hoping to catch a lull between the overnight howlers and the late morning re-charge. However the exposed landscape made sure that whatever wind was going, I’d be beating into it. I almostContinue reading “Carnarvon Gorge Part 1”
Longreach
The APEX Club, bless they’re cotton socks. First plus for Longreach, a free RV camp with toilets, rubbish bins, internet and only three minutes from town. Second plus, by a quirk of history, Longreach is the spiritual home of our national airline QANTAS and therefore has a kick-ass museum and display. And like gravity, otherContinue reading “Longreach”
A Week in Winton
Winton is part of the Cretaceous ‘golden triangle’ in outback Queensland, the other two being Hughenden and Richmond. All three were once submerged in the ancient Eromanga Sea. What was the Eromanga Sea? A body of water. But that’s not important right now. First priority was to find a place to set up for aContinue reading “A Week in Winton”
Julia Creek
It was a sad leaving the dam, but it was time to push on. Julia Creek was a bit of a diversion, but I promised that I would try and visit the famous names in Queensland, and this is one of them. The Jeep seemed to be regaining it’s confidence -just like old times, asContinue reading “Julia Creek”
A Load of Ballara
The sign at the highway rest area sounded exciting. A self-drive trail to historic mining towns, only 20klm of dirt road and the promise of something called the Ballara Springs, which, on another 37 degree day, was just the carrot I needed. Another early start, but a wrong turn, saw me going into a blindingContinue reading “A Load of Ballara”
Dam…this is cool!
Man, it’s HOT!! Not even the end of winter and it’s 35 degrees+ every day. You feel like your skewered on a rotisserie in a convection oven. Why Clem Walton Park? Because it fronts onto Coella Dam – lots and lots of swimmable lake and plenty of shade. Talk about the nick of time. AContinue reading “Dam…this is cool!”
Mary Kathleen
Well, the good news is I actually left Mt Isa, but not before one final twist of the knife. I’d noticed that one of the leaf springs on the van was a bit skewif, so Lawrence kindly said he’d check it out before I hit the road. Well, just as well. What I thought wasContinue reading “Mary Kathleen”