June 30th

Day 22

More walking today and a total of 4,982 steps - 3.3km - today so I decided on another picture shoot.

An old engine in the park

An old tractor

Some more lovely flowers - Walkamin people are proud  of their gardens

Citrus on the roadside

Lions guarding the house

This year's bananas are not ripe yet

Apart from the walking I've had a lovely relaxing day. Coffee and a chat with my nearest neighbors, an afternoon visit with my Facebook friends Marg and Craig, a hilarious trivia quiz night and port and cheese to follow.

Blog done and it's time for a little telivision.

June 29th

Day 21

Today I've been walking - 5,365 steps so far. Not too much happening so I thought I show you some pics of the village where I walked.

The Rail Trail is popular for walkers - I walked on part of it today

Etiquette for walkers!

Trees outside the school

More lovely trees

The wind farm that was finished  and commissioned last year. Unfortunately the white clouds make to the towers hard to see.

I don't  think this motorhome has been used for a while!

 

The usual tale at this time of the year!

June 27 & 28

Days 19 & 20

This was my night spot and I took the pic next morning.

I was off to a good start as I wanted to cover quite a few km before the day was over,

I had no Internet or phone  reception last night so I wrote the day's adventures as a document that I will try to add to the blog

Blog 27^th June

There is no phone or Internet here so I'm writing this in Open Office and will transfer it tomorrow at Walkamin. There's only just over 250km to go so I should be there in the morning.

This is the rest area where I spent last night. There was a bit of truck traffic but that wasn't what kept me awake. I had an email from APIA about my accident with my little Getz and they needed some more information. I hadn't opened the pdf so didn't know what they wanted to know. My mind kept coming back to it though and with that and the fact that it was warm and too hot with the doona I couldn't get to sleep. At midnight I put on the light, grabbed my kindle and read for a while until I felt tired and so finally went to sleep. It turned  out all they need is a drawing of the intersection and the position of the two cars - not a prob at all as daughter Sue will do it for me.

There was a choice of route today – stay on the coast and put up with the traffic and towns or take an inland route that was new territory for the first bit heading for Charters Towers and a well remembered road up past Greenvale. Of course I took the inland option!

A sign said that the road ahead had a steep and twisty climb that was not suitable for buses, trucks, caravans or trailers! I'm not one of them I thought – I'll give it a go! What it didn't say was that there was 45km of gravel with countless dips where water crosses when it rains. There were little bits of bitumen into and out of the dips so they were not too bad and the gravel was OK if you took it easy.

The twisty climb was OK - with Yemmy in 2^nd gear we flew up without a problem and eventually arrived at historic Ravensthorpe and the bitumen. It was definitely a driver's road and I enjoyed every bit of it!

From Charters Towers onwards it was all plain sailing and after buying a flat white coffee in a takeaway cup at Greenvale, I soon got to The Lynd and joined the Gregory Development Road.

It was hard finding a place to camp but where a road turned off at the sign to all the places mentioned, there was a spot with only one caravan there. They were a nice couple and were pleased to have someone camping with them.

I did a bit of walking before it got dark.

These goats were streaming across the road but by the time I'd stopped and got the phone ready to take their photo they had crossed and were in the bush.

This huge bull is at the entry to Charters Towers.

The Towers is also a town that features Country Music and that is highlighted by a guitar but I didn't get a pic!

The gravel wasn't too bad but I was quite  pleased to get back on a sealed road.

It was a big day and I had just about 260km left to get to my destination at Walkamin.

I may as well continue with today's happenings on this page. There will be no photos that could tell what an eventful morning I had. It started with light rain that got  worse the further I drove and the the ferocious side-wind started. Conditions got even worse as I got to Ravenshoe and its countless twists when there was thick fog added to the nearly horizontal rain.

It cleared a bit before Atherton and I was feeling relieved to be so near my destination but was caught by a zealous policeman for doing 73k/ph in a 60 zone. After he had done the paperwork and I'd blown into the breathalyzer, he asked if I had any questions. "Just one," I replied. "Why did you have to be there?" "Because my boss told me too,"he said.

Getting to the van park was a relief and I was soon telling my story to lots of friends who had spotted me driving in. I've set Yemmy up for a longer stay  - at least until the end of July.

It was great to be back here again and tonight was barbecue night and once again many old friends

Tomorrow will be another day - a better day I hope

June 27th

Day 18

June 26th

Day 17

It's been a very varied day. It started when I'd got packed up and on the road to Mackay by about 8.30. The sun was shining brightly and despite multiple roadworks on the Eton Range I was in the car park of the Mount Pleasant shopping centre by just after 10.30. 

I'd parked a fair way from the centre where there was more space but to my chagrin I found I'd left my wallet in Yemmy and had to walk back down to get it.

Having been on the road for more than a fortnight supplies were running low so it was a pretty big shopping list and of course I'd also left my shopping bags in Yemmy! I wasn't going back again so I bought two more bags - both bags were full when I finished shopping and then came the job of fitting a lot more stuff in the fridge.

This all made me just a few minutes late getting to Tony and Denyce's place but a lovely lunch awaited and the two hours just flew past as we reminisced about the many times we had shared and the things we had done ourselves.

Leaving Mackay I headed north for Ayr although I didn't expect to get there today,  However I was getting fairly close and had been looking for a night stopping place. Unfortunately it's not too easy to find a spot on a major highway like the Bruce Hwy but I saw just one truck in a nice little rest area and so I pulled in here. There doesn't seem to be too much traffic although I've just heard another truck pull in now. It's just after 9pm so I don't expect too many more tonight.

Tomorrow there will be pictures I promise!

June 25th

Day 16

Another perfect day after a cool start. During my morning walk I met with another Sprinter owner - a lady called Ella who was waiting for friends to join her. A brief visit turned into a 1/2 hour chat and a look inside her well fitted out little motorhome. She's only had it a fortnight and loves it already.

A bit further along and I came across this monster - I'll bet it can move! It must be heavy as the trailer is on tandem wheels.
Walking over, I decided to go into Glenden as I needed a few things including watert. When I tried to use the water in the jerrycan it turned out to be dark brown rusty water - quite unusable to drink. It was in a brand new jerrycan that will get thrown out as soon as I can find a strong plastic one.

Once a bustling little mining town, Glenden is quite a lot less busy these days since the mine closed.

When we went there to take School Photos all those years ago it was thriving.

I was able to use the dump point for the toilet, fill my water tank and buy some milk and cereals.

I've got quite a long shopping list for when I get to a  Mackay supermarket tomorrow morning before catching up with Tony and Denyse,

June 24th

Day 15

I managed to get in 5,417 steps  today just walking around the park and up the road a bit.

 

I spotted a kookaburra - just another of the great selection of birds in this lovely place.

We had a lovely fire for a few nights - thanks to my neighbors son who brought them some wood. 

We burnt all the wood and partly burnt a huge log over the time but I saw that the log  had been going all last night and was still going when I took the pic this afternoon 

I've arranged to catch up with Tony and Denyse on Wednesday. That will work out well as I am getting short of supplies although my good neighbors did bring me a cooked chook from a shop in Glenden today. They said there wasn't very much in the shop.

My water tank ran dry tonight - it's done well because I've had five showers and done all  the washing up plus the cooking. I've got a big jerrycan of water - all I've got to do is get it into the tank in the morning. Lou next door has an electric pump for transferring water so I might borrow that.

June 23rd

Day 14

Sorry folks - just a lovely sunny day with a bit of walking, a bit of chatting and a bit of relaxing! Some of the chatting was by the phone to my three children - the highlight of my day. Most people here can't get mobile coverage but I can by using Telstra wifi using my broadband device with an antenna on the roof.

My friends Tony and Denyse will be back home in Mackay today after a week in Broome so I hope to catch up with them one day soon before heading further north.

June 22nd

Day 13.

During my walk this morning I ventured past the end of the camping area along a track that skirted the lake. There were lots of trees that looked as though they had started life under water and now the roots are exposed. 

The movie shows how tall the trees grow

The motorhome above is a most unusual Sprinter conversion. It's the only one I've seen with the door in the back.
Tonight I enjoyed sitting by the neighbors again and yarning about the placed we'd traveled.

The weather forecasts for tomorrow - the top one is at Lake Elphinstone where I am now and the bottom one shows what it will be at home nr Stawell.

June 21st

Day 12

A good day! Solar charging fixed and battery full before the sun went to bed.

During my walk I came across a 'Toy Hauler' and as I'd never seen what people put in them I went for a sticky beak. I saw an enormous American one on the Internet once that carried a snowmobile, a small 4x4 with a boat on top and a jet-ski.

The owner was quite happy to show me their pride and joy - besides the motorbike there was a heap  of pushbikes, toys and stuff that fits in plus the bunks hinge down from the sides.

Inside, the van has all the creature comforts including an extension that houses a double bed and a seating arrangement that also converts to  a double bed - accommodation for eight if needed! 

A few notices around the park plus Yemmy and the neighbors 

June 20th

Day 11

 

I'm here for at least a week so it's mostly relaxing and not too much interesting to write about. However when I connected my extension cable to the folding solar panels there was no charge so I unwound it till I found the problem. The very last connection had come adrift!

They are poor connectors and I'll get some better ones while at Walkamin. I'll also get the solar regulator for the roof panels checked because there's not much power coming from them.

Neighbor Lou came and gave me a hand sorting things out and suggested that the panels on the roof probably need cleaning.

Have you ever noticed that when you approach a group of crows feasting on something yukky, they all fly off except one or maybe two who just hop away at the last minute and give you a baleful look as if to ask, "What do you think you're doing disturbing me when I'm having a feed?"

There are a few very noisy ones around the camp but a lot of other birds as well including a kookaburra or two and heaps of water birds as I mentioned yesterday,

June 19th

Day 10

It was cool again last night but the day was beautiful with bright sunny sky and lovely warmth!

The roads were fairly quiet and mostly flat and smooth. I was on the road by 8am and the kilometres just flew past so that I was here at Lake Elphingstone by about 3pm.

Some of the little mining towns I passed through today brought back memories of our school photo days as we worked in many of them. I guess many of the children we snapped in those far off days now have families of their own. 

Glenden which is only a few km from here was a very interesting experience. We pulled into the caravan park but couldn't see an office. The park was mainly for mine workers and their families and a fellow sitting outside his van told us to choose a site and a girl would be round later to take our money. When she came she told us it was $5 and I asked if we could leave the van on it's site next day as we would busy taking photos all day. "Oh, you have paid till Sunday" she said! 

I went for a walk after getting settled in and was surprised to see that my average steps a day for this year have reached  just over 4,000 a day. I'm quite pleased about that.

 

18th June

Day 9

It was frezzing this morning when I woke up but the birds didn't mind as they were singing away  quite happily.

It turned into a beautiful sunny day and quite warm. I was so pleased Eric had fabricated a mounting that allows the driver's sun visor to swivel as the morning sun from the east is quite blinding as you travel north. Previously mine only went up and down.

Last week it was sheep but today I was held up by a drover and his herd of cows.
The roads were mostly very good today and I was able to cover just over 500km leaving 470km to do tomorrow.
I was quite surprised to find I had climbed quite high as I came to a quite steep and twisty descent.

A sign did say I was in the Great Dividing Range and gave the height.

I'd been to Roma before so just stopped to give Yemmy a drink of diesel. 

I have great memories of the town because the first tagalong tour of the ACC started from there and I was privileged to be on it - it was an event for the Sunshine Nomads Branch members but as I was the ACC Chairman at the time I  was allowed to join them for the historical occasion.

The road tonight  (Left) is a bit better than the one I camped on last night (Right)

I watched Back Roads today on iview - great story about the real outback.

June 17

I said goodbye to the Lone Trekkers that were up and got on the road by 8.30 - the biggest job was removing bird poo from the windscreen! I don't know what they had been eating but it was like concrete - I guess the sun had a lot to do with it as they had been dropping their droppings the four nights

  I was at Trangie

It had been a good four days and we went out to the Bowls Club last night where five of us had a Chinese Banquet - yummy! 

 Although I had been to  Lightning Ridge before, I went in to see if any changes had been made since the last time I was there some years ago.

To my surprise there was a huge IGA supermarket so I bought some milk and low sugar yogurt plus across the road I bought a pie for lunch. It's a bit hard getting something healthy when you are on the road and hungry!

 

I had done nearly 600km when I found a little quiet road to spend the night - there have only been three vehicles past since I stopped a while ago and there certainly won't be road trains! I'm in Queensland now - I crossed the border quite a bit back.

 I left home a week ago but I've only been driving for four days. Day one was Home to Ardlethan, Day two was Ardthethan to Peak Hill, Day three was Peak Hill to Trangie and after four days at Trange, today was Trangie to near St George. I've done 1,495km since leaving home.

It will probably take me three days to get to Lake Elphinstone near Glenden where I hope to relax for a week or maybe two. It's just under 1,000 km so three days will be taking it easy

Sunday, 16th June
Here's the first post to my 2019 blog.

I'm writing this at Trangie - a caravan park I wrote up in GoRV last year. If you Google 'Trangie Caravan Park' the article comes up.

I'm a bit later levning home this year for a number of reasons but I'm on my way to Walkamin in Far North Queensland - one of my favorite places and I'll bask in the Queensland sunshine for a few weeks before heading across to the Centre, down to 'The Alice' to see my eldest daughter Jackie, on to Adelaide and visit with son Chris and Marijana before getting back home to Illawarra around late September.

The Australian Caravan Club's Lone Trekkers are having a muster here and the six of us have been having a nice time - tonight we are having dinner at the Bowls Club and tomorrow we will go our separate ways.

On Wednesday I was staying at the Peak Hill Caravan Park with longtime friends Leighton and Pauline and decided to walk around the old gold mine workings. A lovely walk and I did a record 8,000+ steps for the day.