Karumba -- the end of the road

A very short drive (73km) brought us to Karumba which is the end of the road for this safari. It's quite sad to think we will be going our separate ways from here although some are moving on together, others are staying here a little longer.

Karumba is the Barramudi capital of Australia and the caravan park was full of fishing enthusiasts, many of whom stay here for an extended period. In spite of their saying the barra were not biting because the water is still too cold, there were nonetheless some impressive catches.

An almost 8 kilo barramundi

Our first night was a bit special as one of our couples had organised a "progressive dinner", which meant that, in groups, we had three different courses, each course at a different Winnebago. Each course was in the company of different people. It was an excellent idea, as it meant that we could get to know people better and it has been noted as a possibility for future safaris. It would be better if it was held nearer the beginning, but it was great fun anyway. We were responsible for a main course for 8 people.

The entree chez Noel and Anne

Main course chez nous

Dessert chez Cheryl and Craig

We were a bit scattered around this caravan park. We were near a tree which a huge flock of corellas had adopted as their daytime roost. From time to time they would suddenly get excited about something and rise up all together with a deafening screeching. They are rather beautiful but are generally regarded as hooligans because they are so destructive. They sit in the trees and shred the leaves.

Corellas in the tree

The shredded leaves of the tree

The second night in Karumba was "Bad Taste Night" which produced some imaginative get-ups. Dinner that night was barramundi and chips from a local seafood cafe and it was very good. 

Jenny and Tony looking outrageous

Ernie and Joan

Craig

Janine

Peter and Renate

Breakfast the last morning was followed by a series of goodbyes. It is amazing how close one can get to people who, three weeks ago, had not even met each other. Some chose to follow the same route and travel on together, others chose to stay an extra night in Karumba to enjoy the sunset -- looking west over water  -- which is not often possible in Queensland. We chose to stay and we had a very pleasant evening with the others and we did enjoy the sunset at the Sunset Tavern and a seafood dinner afterwards.

So all in all it was a very successful safari. For Isobel, it was exactly what was needed to lift the morale after the lost time through surgery. Unfortunately we did lose three couples on the way, two for health reasons and one for problems with their Winnebago. They had to limp back to Townsville for repairs.

Cloncurry to Normanton and the Normanton stopover

This was the longest hop -- 380km this time, but on remarkably good roads. Just now and again the road narrowed to a single lane and of course Sod's Law kicks in and that is where you meet the traffic in the other direction. Some 4WD drivers are absolute hoons and don't even slow down, barely get off the road and send up stones and gravel all over the place. Several of our mates have ended up with chipped windscreens from such circumstances. So far not us. Touch wood. A convenient stop on the way was Burke and Wills Roadhouse, about half way. Burke and Wills are well-known as explorers, who unfortunately did not make it back from their expedition.

Burke and Wills roadhouse

The temperatures at Normanton are at last worthy of the Tropics, except for the mornings. This morning at breakfast there was a biting cold wind and we were all in jackets or layers of pullovers. An hour or two later, with the sun full out we were discarding those layers and now, at 2:15, it is 27 degrees.

We have just done a wonderful trip on the Gulflander train, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary. A picnic lunch was part of the trip and there was a birthday cake to follow a substantial array of sandwiches, wraps, damper, fruit and drinks.

The Gulflander with Kenny hanging out of the window

The top of the birthday cake

The railway goes from Normanton to Croydon on its regular schedule once a week, one day there and the next day back. For our tourist trip we only went about an hour down the track, to Critters Camp, so named because it is where a triangle of line has been created in order to be able to turn the train and the workers involved complained about all the spiders, scorpions and snakes that abounded there. 

For the rest of the day we are free to do as we wish, which allows time to catch up with e-mails, blog, etc and the plan is for a group of us to go to The Purple Pub to eat tonight.

We are all becoming very aware of the short time left, as the safari ends on Monday. It will be strange to revert to our own schedule after nearly three weeks in the group.

Mount Isa to Cloncurry

It was a short hop (120 km) from Mount Isa to Cloncurry, whose claim to fame is the founding of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The history of this is very interesting and credit must be given to those involved. A very well laid out museum presents the RFDS from its founding in the 1920s. It has done sterling service and we on the safari are supporting its ongoing work. Each time we forget to wear our name tags we are fined a dollar. It costs 5 dollars to take Kenny for the day. That all goes into the RFDS collecting tin. The money that was refunded from the cancelled camel races will also go there.

Happy Hour at Cloncurry

This evening's dinner was a "mystery dinner" at a restaurant in town. It was very good and a great time was had by all. Tomorrow we have an early start as we have a 380 km run to Normanton.

The Mount Isa stopover

With an extra night here, we were less rushed about seeing everything. Mount Isa is really a very attractive place in spite of the mines all over the place. It is well-known for its extremely high temperatures in summer and we had imagined it to be a real desert place but in fact the landscape is very green, and interesting. One of our jaunts was to a man-made lake, Lake Moondarra, which has been built to create a pleasant picnic and recreation spot for Mount Isa inhabitants. It was delightful. With different vegetation it could have been anywhere in Europe.

Mount Isa is also the current home of the School of the Air, and our visit there was fascinating. We were able to watch two teachers on air, one a Year 2 teacher and the other Year 6. The distances involved in this education service are amazing and the work the children do is impressive. The children are on air for 45 minutes each day, usually about nine at a time so that they can all participate in the lesson. The rest of their work is done at home and sent in to the school regularly. It is then marked and sent back to them. They apparently perform really well in the standardised tests and indeed some of the work we saw was of an extremely high standard.

A Year 2 teacher broadcasting to her students

Student artwork on the theme of their home station

Warwick went down a mine, but Isobel chickened out at the last minute as she no longer does too well underground. It was interesting but a bit over his head technically.

It was altogether a very pleasant stopover, except for a very grumpy caravan park owner.

Dajarra to Mount Isa

Some decided to stay a second night, others to move on to Mount Isa. Since there was literally NOTHING to do if we stayed, and with washing mounting up, we decided to move on. A place was available at the campsite, so here we are. Washing is done, the filthy Winnebago is washed too, although it will need a power-hosing underneath to dislodge the chunks of mud. Those who stayed behind (very few actually) will arrive tomorrow and the safari will continue as scheduled. We have a couple more nights here in Mount Isa so plenty of time to pick up mail, do some more shopping and see what there is to see. Happy hour has been called, so the people already here are meeting as usual. Must go.

The Boulia Stopover

After the adventures and dramas getting here, the evening was a light-hearted affair and Funny Hat Night.

Erik in funny face mode.

Warwick in his First Aid hat

Unfortunately, all set for the camel races the next morning, we got the bad news that yesterday's rain was too much and the course was too dangerous for the races to take place. So the weekend was cancelled. We could have stayed for the fireworks and other entertainment but the forecast was for more rain, so we made a quick getaway at lunchtime to avoid getting bogged at the racecourse, which we most certainly would have done with any more rain, and made it to Dajarra in convoy. Dajarra is another pub in the middle of nowhere and we are installed here on a freebie site for the night. We will probably move on to Mount Isa tomorrow. Meanwhile the weather has changed radically. Whereas this morning we had mist and cold temperatures, this afternoon on arriving at Dajarra we were all changing into shorts and the thermometer was showing at least 10 degrees celsius higher.

We are sad about the camel races, but mainly for the locals. It is the highlight of their year and a lot of organisation had gone into the event. It is apparently the second year in a row that this has happened.

So what about this racing?

The main road to Mount Isa

Longreach to Winton, Winton to Middleton and Middleton to Boulia

Three posts in one this time as we have been out of broadband range. Another fairly short hop took us to Winton, an interesting place as the real home of Qantas and the place where Waltzing Matilda was written by Banjo Paterson. The town has made a lot of that and there is a huge museum, again very well done but involving a lot of reading of boards. There was also a small dinosaur exhibition as this is dinosaur country.

Where the dinosaur exhibition was housed

Winton was a good place to spend a lot of time as Middleton was nothing but a pub and therefore there was nothing to see and do there. The pub put on a dinner for us, which was very pleasant, although it did get cold sitting in the garden.

Middleton Pub

We had a bit of rain during the night, not a lot, but when we were ready to set off in the morning, the sky was a very threatening-looking black in the direction in which we were going.

Weather, here we come

We were warned of roadworks which would force us off the road onto the soft edge, but optimistically we all ventured forth. For once we were among the early departures, which was to our advantage. Later departures landed in trouble, bogged in the mud and had to be pulled out. The rain had done its bit for the road conditions and as long as we could stay on the hard surface we were fine, but meeting anything and having to pull off was a liability. The detour for the roadworks was the last straw. It was quite an adventure but here we all are in Boulia, for a weekend of races. Nothing too special about that, you are perhaps thinking, except that the races are with CAMELS. It is going to be interesting. It seems that "Daisy" is a good one to bet on. Talking of bets, we have a group lottery ticket for tomorrow night, which is an extra big prize night for a special anniversary, so we are all planning what to do on Sunday with our winnings!

The entrance to our reserved area getting a little churned up

Our front wheel

Our back wheel

Tony's boat trailer

John's towed car

The Longreach stopover

Longreach is the home of the Qantas Founders' Museum, although Qantas was actually founded in Winton, about 180km up the road. There is the possibility of touring two fully equipped passenger jets, a 707 and a 747, in which parts have been dismantled to show what is inside or underneath various hatches, etc. We did the 747 tour, and were thrilled to realise we had actually flown on this vey plane, probably in the early '80s, when it would have been a very new plane. It was delivered to Qantas in 1979. We recognised it as it is called the "City of Bunbury".

The "City of Bunbury", now a museum piece



Standing in the engine

The young tour guide was excellent and we are now well-informed about the workings of a 747 for the next time we travel on one. How the pilot knows which of the thousands of buttons to press and when, is beyond us.

In the cockpit

Longreach is also the home of the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, a vast museum dedicated to the history of the Outback. It is a wonderful museum, extremely well done, but hours more than we had would be needed to really cover it. A lot of reading of panels is required.

On the entertainment side, we celebrated Christmas in July with a paddle steamer trip on the Thomson River, followed by dinner round a huge campfire and a performance by a Bush Poet. He was really very good. For the uninitiated, Christmas in July is a very common ritual with many Australians, when the temperatures are more like British Christmas time. It was certainly cold and the hot stew and billy tea and damper around the fire were very welcome.

The paddle steamer

The sun setting over the Thomson River

Part of the group huddled close to the fire

Pauline and Catriana looking the part