Katherine 2009

22nd July. Went to the Katherine Heritage Museum this afternoon and spent an hour looking through the photos and stories that covered the history of this town and surrounding areas. I learnt something that I had not been aware of, when studying a map of Australia, it showed the areas of Northern Australia that were attacked by the Japanese during WW2. I thought it was only Darwin and Cape York that had been attacked, but not so. The submarine and bombing attacks covered the whole area from Broome to the barrier reef and as far inland as Katherine. Very interesting. Ran out of time so have a pass to return to- morrow and look at all the outside exhibits. Val spent the day at her sewing machine.

23rd July. Finished looking over the Heritage Museum, which included a Tiger Moth Plane, used for their Flying Doctor Service. Went to have a look at Knots Crossing. The water was flowing fast and I was told by a local that the fishing is good, in the right season. We had dinner at the local Country Club to-night and the meals were great and the poker machines were kind to Val. We leave for Darwin in the morning.

Three Ways to Katherine, 2009

17th July. Continued on the Barkly Highway, but because it was still early when we reached Barkly Homestead , decided to carry on to Three Ways Roadhouse, for an overnight stop.

18th July. We left Three Ways, heading north to Daly Waters. We stopped at Elliott, to top up on fuel, and Val had a nice toasted sandwich at the only Service Station that was open. Elliott is mainly an Aboriginal Settlement and not a nice looking Town. Just after we left Elliott we came across a nasty Caravan accident. An overtaking car pulling a caravan, clipped a car and caravan that it was overtaking and rolled, breaking up the Caravan and the car ended upside down, completely blocking the road. Luckily nobody was hurt. There were lots of other Vans and Roadtrains held up there. We were able to sneak past the accident, by taking very slowly, to the dirt roadside ditch, under the guidance of fellow Caravaners, and carry on to Daly Waters. We booked into the Hi-way Inn at Daly Waters and checked out the menu for the evening meal. This was one of the better roadhouse stops and as usual is full of travellers. The meals were great, Val had the barramundi and I had lamb cutlets, with complimentary glass of wine each.

19th July. Our next stop was Katherine. We were looking forward to being in a large town again. We stopped off for a coffee break at Mataranka Homestead, which backs onto Esley National Park and after a 100mt. walk takes you to their Thermal Pool. Very popular but unfortunately we didn’t take our swimmers. Val wandered further on along the bush pathway and unknowingly walked past a large black snake. When I got the news from a couple of teenage girls, it was time for me to get Val out of the area, without too much fuss. Neither of us like snakes.We stayed at The Riverview Tourist Village (FPA) and were lucky to get a site. This town was chock full of tourists, with the Parks and the free parking areas all full. We will stay here for 5 days before moving on to Darwin.

20th July. Quiet day with a bit of shopping. Checked out the one and a half lifesized bronze metal stature of a stockman on his horse, celebrating the Year of the Outback in 2002.

Winton to Camooweal 2009

July 13th. Arrived at Winton and had lunch at The Matilda Centre. We walked the shops and I took in The Dinosaur Fossil Display. Winton is famous for its Dinosaur Trail and the many fossil findings discovered in their area. In no hurry, we decided to settle into a caravan park, only to find that the Top Tourist Park was no longer a TT Park and was booked out. The free Parking area in town was also full, so we ended up in the non-rated Pelican Fuel Stop Caravan Park. It was basic but OK, until I filled a glass of water and the smell was putrid. Luckily we have our own tank water in the Van. Val had a shower and came back smelling worse than when she went. The water supply in Winton is artesian, so we found out.

July 14th. On the move again, we had a coffee break at the Kynuna Roadhouse, then continued on to Gilbert Park Tourist Village (Top Tourist), in Cloncurry. I booked a seat on the Open Cut Mine Bus Tour, 9.30am tomorrow.

July 15th. I left the Information Centre at Cloncurry about 10am to do the Bus Tour to the Ernest Henry Open Cut Mine. About a 25 min. trip. This is one of the mines owned by a large world wide Company called XSTRATA COPPER. It was a very interesting tour and as an open cut mine it will be finished in 2 years. It is already 430 metres deep and can only go down till they run out of room to move at the bottom of the cone shaped hole, then they plan to change to an underground operation , to get out the rest of the Copper/Gold rich ore. On the way back we detoured to have a look at how the miners live. Everything is provided for them, tennis court, large swimming pool, gym, bar and cafeteria, plus their Accommodation. They only have to pay for their grog, great job, eh! Plus they earn around $100,000.00 / year.

July 16th. To-day we are off to Camooweal, the last Town (100 pop.) in Queensland as to-morrow we will move on to Barkly Homestead Roadhouse in the Northern Territory.

Barcaldine 2009

July 11th. Arrived in Barcaldine, after an uneventual trip except, after passing through the town of Jericho we encountered a truck, flashing lights and a sign “wide load following”. Naturally this normally means that the wide load vehicle is taking up all of his lane and be careful. Not in this case, as 2 police vehicles all lights flashing soon gave me the message to get right off the road, and coming towards us is a truck travelling at approx. 100kph, with a load covering the full width of the road (both lanes). Scarey, eh? We settled into the Barcaldine Tourist Park(Top Tourist) and at 4.30pm., around the campfire, we were entertained by Pete Smith & Lana Ross. We took our own chairs and wine and we had 1.5 hours of great Country Music, Whip Cracking and Jokes.

July 12th. Today is sightseeing day, so I started with a visit to The Barcaldine & District Historical Museum. It was very interesting, quite a large collection of local memorabilia and well worth the visit. Next was a visit to the Australian Workers Heritage Centre, depicting the lives of the ordinary workers, past & present, who helped to shape our Nation. I didn’t allow enough time to do it justice, it would take 4 or 5 hours to look at everything properly. It’s a large comprehensive display with a pathway to follow that takes you through all the buildings. I can recommend it to anyone interested in Historical stuff. After a late lunch, I took Val to see a beautiful Rose Garden, called Roses and Things. It has a lovely Café, Plants & Craft on sale and has a good Caravan Park, in the same complex. I enjoyed a Devonshire Tea while Val browsed through the shop & gardens. We took in the monument to remember the Tree of Knowledge, made famous as the meeting place for the Shearers during the Great Shearers Strike of 1891. We went to The Shakesphere Hotel for dinner to-night and had great meals at very reasonable prices. We leave for Winton in the morning, it’s only a 3.5 hr. trip.

Emerald 2009

Saturday 11th July
We are moving on to-day after a week at Lake Maraboon. It has been a very relaxing break, no fish but plenty of redclaw crayfish. I'm not sure how much phone or internet coverage we will get between here and Darwin, so will just list our route for you. Next stop will be Barcaldine for 2 nights, Winton for 2 nights, Cloncurry for 2 nights, Camooweal 1 night, Barkley Homestead Roadhouse for 1 night, Three Ways Roadhouse for 2 nights, Elliot Roadhouse 1 night, Larrimah Roadhouse 1 night, Katherine 2 nights then arrive in Darwin26th July. As you can see it will mostly be travelling, with not a lot to see inbetween stops.

Rockhamption

July 2nd. Today I had a look through the War Museum which is next door to the Steam Tram Museum, which I went to yesterday. It is an interesting display, fairly small and not much outside display in terms of equipment & vehicles. This will probably improve in time, keeping in mind that these historical places depend a lot on volunteers.

July 3rd. To-day we went up to North Rockhampton and had a very nice lunch at Parkhurst Tavern and then across the road to visit the Rockhampton Heritage Village. Allow plenty of time, it’s on an 11.4 hectare property, so is very extensive. It depicts life as it was from the 1850’s to 1950’s. I found it extremely good. Some beautifully restored cars, firetrucks and tractors. Val was absolutely taken in by the large display of dolls. We went to The Leagues Club for dinner, I had a roast which I didn’t enjoy, but we made up for that on the pokies, coming out a winner after covering the cost of the night out.

July 4th. On the move again, we head for Emerald, our next stop. We are booked into the Caravan Park at Lake Maraboon, on Fairbairn Dam, 19 klm’s out of Emerald. Great spot.

July 5th. New fisheries rules brought in recently required me to buy a fishing licence, $7 for a week. No exemption for Pensioners anymore. So, the boat will be in the water to-day ready to catch a big one. There are still plenty of redclaw crayfish in the dam. I was told that it has been hard to catch fish as they are feeding on the abundance of redclaw. Val is very happy about that she loves BBQ redclaw.