Oodnadatta Track Mark I

Boring! I've been sitting on my bum in the Leigh Creek for almost 4 weeks and there is really not much to see around here. After I left Parachilna Gorge on March 17th, I headed north through Leigh Creek to a campsite I had stayed at before near the ruins at Farina on the old Ghan line south of Marree. The story recommences there.......

Thursday, 17 March 2011 - Day 825

I pulled into Leigh Creek for an overnight stop to get some essentials like bread and milk, petrol for the generator and to refill my water tank and fresh water jerrycans. Nice little caravan park, neat and clean with good amenities and only $12 per night for a single ($22 for two people). Supplies are a bit expensive ($1.67/litre for diesel) but they'll be a lot dearer up the track. Just the one night here and then up the track to Farina.

Saturday, 19 March 2011 - Day 827

Help, I'm stranded. I pulled into Farina and went down to the campground and inflation has hit in a big way. When I stayed here just on two years ago, the campsite was only $3.50 per night per vehicle. Now it is $5.00 per night per person. That is getting a bit expensive for what is basically just a bush camp. All right, there are flush toilets (whoopee) and showers, but there is only hot water for the showers if you light the donkey boiler and to do that, you need wood and there isn't a stick of wood for 20 kms in any direction.

The campground wasn't as well-looked after as it was on my first visit, the campsites are very overgrown (they had all been slashed last time), the barbecue drums have all fallen over, the toilets are full of frogs and the visitor's book has disappeared, but there has been a war-memorial built up on the ridgeline.

I pulled in and had a look around for a nice spot, and for no apparent reason I chose a spot out of the way on a bit of a bank on the far side of the campground. Just as well I did! I set up on the Friday afternoon and on the Sunday morning the whole campground was under water except for the spot I had picked. All of the other sites were under 2 to 3 feet of water and the road out was completely covered. I took a wander and the water in the actual creek crossing was about 4 feet deep and flowing quite swiftly.

There hadn't been any local rain, but evidently there had been quite a heavy rainstorm out to the west and the Witchelina creek had overflowed into the Farina creek and so on down to here. Looks like I'll be here for a while.

Monday, 21 March 2011 - Day 829

Took a wander around, the water has dropped a bit, only up to mid-thigh in the centre of the creek, but there is a huge amount of silt that has been dropped and it is at least a foot deep on the approach and departure of the creek, so I think I might be here until the end of the week to allow it to dry out. I found a back-track that leads out to the Mulgaria road, but that has been flooded as well. The local landowner tells me that there is a rough track out to the main road past the shearing shed, but I'm in no hurry.

I poked around the ruins for a while, but for some reason the buildings are absolutely swarming with mosquitos and they're veerrry hungry.

The weather has  been very overcast all week, not getting much power into my solar panels, but then, I'm not using much during the day. Does mean I have to use the generator at night to watch telly, but I carry enough petrol for about 4 weeks use of the genny. One positive about the weather, the sunsets are incredible.
 

Friday, 25 March 2011 - Day 833

Now I'm really in trouble.  The water has gone down a fair bit, only about 18 inches in the creek (still a lot of mud, however) but I should be able to get through it tomorrow - finger's crossed. BUT - my satellite TV has gone on the blink. I am planning to go back to Leigh Creek for a week or so and contact the provider of the unit in Mackay Queensland - This could be interesting.

Friday, 8 April 2011 - Day 847

I got through the creek OK (at the cost of a shitload of mud over the front of the van), but I'd thought ahead and threw a bucket in the car when I packed up and after I crossed the creek I managed to wash off most of the mud while it was still wet.

I got back to Leigh Creek (only about 70 kms) and booked into the caravan park again and on the Monday, packed up the satellite decoder and posted it off to Queensland. I allowed for a few days for it to get there, but evidently it didn't arrive in Mackay until the following Tuesday - 8 days,  so I'll still be here for another week at least.

There is one consolation at least. The Oodnadatta track has been closed for quite a while. As I write, the southern section from Marree to William Creek is open to 4WD, but the William Creek to Oodnadatta section is still closed, so I'm really not losing any time, because I would have had to wait at William Creek anyway.

About the only "tourist" things around the area are the open-cut coal mine (boring been there, done that) and the Aroona Dam, which is the local water supply. Oh, well - nothing else to do. I drove out to the dam on a really rough track and got to the dam. OK, so it's a dam and that's about all you could say about it. Because of the local geology, the dam is build on a bend in the creek at the end of a gorge and the majority of the dam is around the bend where you can't see it. There are some h-u-g-e turtles in the dam however.

Wednesday, 20 April 2011 - Day 859

Well, it looks like I might be on the road again tomorrow. I heard from Queensland, and they said that they expressed the decoder to me on Monday, so with a bit of luck it may be here tomorrow. All of the roads are open, including the Halligan track into Lake Eyre, so with a bit of luck I'll be up and running again tomorrow or Friday.

One thing concerns me and that is that with these delays, I'm late again this year in crossing the centre which means some more cold weather before I get up to the north again. I think I'll go up the Tanami again, I really enjoyed that last year.

I'm not sure when I'll have any decent coverage again, I don't know whether there is any mobile coverage at William Creek. If not, I'll be out of contact until I get to Oodnadatta, which will probably be in about three weeks.

See you soon

The Flinders Ranges

I may have said it before in this blog, but if I have, it bears repeating. This would have to be the second most beautiful part of Australia, after the Kimberley. I have just spent two weeks here, done a heap of bushwalking and only tore myself away because I don't want to be too late to cross the centre - It gets bloody cold there after the end of March or so.

I spent a week in Port Pirie, stocking up and just relaxing. The caravan park on the highway, "RangeView" gives a great deal to travellers. It's not all that posh, but the sites are shaded, the water in the showers is hot - what more do you want? $104.00 for 7 nights after the discounts is cheap as chips.


Thursday, 3rd March 2011 - Day 811

I headed north from Port Pirie and took the road to Quorn, just short of Port Augusta. It would appear that this area has been copping the rain like so many other parts. A washout like this on a main road is just no joke.

I don't know why, but I have never taken the track into Kanyaka Homestead before and I must have done this stretch of road 5 or 6 times, but I decided to have a look and I am very glad I did - It is well worth the visit.

The buildings are completely ruined, but retain enough structure for one to visualise the layout of the buildings as they originally were.
 
The shearing shed is absolutely amazing. I have had some experience of shearing sheds in my time, but this must have been the Taj Mahal of shearing sheds. To build a shearing shed of this size completely out of stone  including the pens - is just astounding. As Molly Meldrum would say - Do yourself a favour. Put this one on your "must see" list if you're ever up this way.

The other spot I have always by-passed on the road to Hawker is the Youramballa Caves. I was running well for time, it was only about 11:00 am, so I thought I'd take a look. Warning! It's a pretty steep climb and on a hot day, for a person who is only moderately fit, it was a bit of a puffer. Not only was the aboriginal art quite interesting, but the view from the top is spectacular. Why then, I hear you ask, are there no photographs of this spectacular view? Well, guess who didn't take any spare batteries for the camera and ran out of charge??? yep and there was no way I was going back down to the car and back up again - you'll either have to wait for next time or - here's and idea - go and have a look yourself.

 

Past Wilpena (what a tourist trap/rip-off that place is) and into Bunyeroo Gorge. I didn't take any photos here 'cos the road is so bad that there is nowhere to stop to take a snap. The gorge itself was nothing special, and I pulled into a couple of campsites to have a look and wasn't very impressed. Firstly, they were $11.00 per vehicle per night (after already paying the $8.50 Park fee) and weren't big enough to swing a cat. The bays were definitely not big enough for a caravan and not even big enough for a camper-trailer. Add to that, no facilities and there's no value for money there. I kept going on a really dreadful road and came out on the Brachina Gorge road, but that was closed to the west (through the gorge) due to flood damage, so back to the bitumen and up to Blinman. It was getting fairly late, even with daylight saving, so I pushed on and found the same site where I had camped last year. It is a great spot, level, well above the high-tide mark and central, so why not?

Sunday, 6th March 2011 - Day 814

After a couple of days settling in, I took a wander up the north side of the gorge to have a look around. The hills are not all that high, 250-300 metres or so and relatively easy to get up. If I can do it, just about anybody can. The view from the top of the hills is fantastic.

 

Wednesday, 9th March 2011 - Day 817

There must have been some good rains just before I arrived, the creek crossings are washed out and there is some standing water in the creek, very similar to when I left last year after the place flooded out. There has been a big slide just near the spot where I'm camped.

The neighbours seem quite friendly - but I'm disappointed that there aren't more birds around - couple of magpies, twenty million crows and that's about it.

Friday, 11 march 2011 - Day 819

Having recovered from Sunday's ramble, I took a walk up the south side of the gorge. This was a bit tougher - had to take a couple of rest breaks, but well worth the effort.

 

 

 

The view to the west is terrific. In the middle distance, just over the crest of the last ridge is the settlement of Parachilna (population not many) 15kms away and in the distance is Lake Torrens, about 60kms.

 

Tuesday, 15th March 2011 - Day 823

I noticed something yellow in the distance from the top of the south side of the gorge when I was up there and what seemed to be a track winding over the hills, so, having nothing better to do, I thought I would investigate. I wandered along the (dry) bed of the creek for a couple of kilometres and found my yellow thing, it was a big fuel tank and generator puffing away, presumably for the Angorchina Tourist Village just a bit further on - Boring. I found the track I saw and followed it for a couple of K's, but it didn't seem to be heading anywhere in particular so I decided to head back to the main creek. I found a small feeder creek and followed it and was pleasantly surprised by how pretty some sections of it were. It certainly pays to take the path less travelled, as Mr. Frost said.

Wednesday, 16th March 2011 - Day 824

I think I'm dying - No, I feel worse, I just wish I was dying. I decided to take a wander along the main road towards the west and see what I could see. Everything was fine until I spotted a sign on the far bank of the creek and went to see what it said. It said No Camping - No Shooting (obviously put up by the station owner) but what was curious, was that there was a creek with tyre tracks leading off, so I let curiosity rule. The creek was unusual in that it had a sandy bed rather than a rocky one, which made it easier for a vehicle to access. After going through a narrow gorge it flattened out and I discovered an Ochre outcropping. Not as extensive as the one in the West MacDonnells, but I'm surprised the tourist operators haven't capitalised on it and made it a tourist feature.

 

 

 

 

I wandered about 2.5 kms up this gorge and then back out and continued along the main creek to the point where it emerges from the ranges. The only problem with going for a walk is that you have to come back again. I'm stuffed - I estimate I covered about 15kms today, some of it up and down hill and I'm sunburnt on top of that.

Thursday, 17th March 2011 - Day 825

Happy St. Patrick's day to any of you of the Irish persuasion. I packed up this morning and headed for Leigh Creek, mainly because I'm out of petrol for the generator. There has been heavy overcast nearly every day, and the solar panels are not getting enough sun to keep the batteries charged. The generator in the evening gives enough kick to the batteries to keep the fridge going over night, but this morning they're about stuffed and there is no sun at all, so I'm off. I'll spend tonight in the caravan park at Leigh Creek to top up the water tanks and then head for the campground at the Farina ruins. I really enjoyed that last year, so I might spend 10 days there this time. I'm not sure if there is any mobile coverage there, so if not, I'll post again when I get to Marree.

See you soon.

Outback New South Wales

What's that old saying? "Many a slip 'twixt cup and lip", or perhaps "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". I thought that being in NSW, the "Premier State" I would get better mobile coverage than other places, especially as I was following the main highways, but no, get more than 20kms from a decent sized town and you get nothing!

Also, to be perfectly honest, I haven't been doing much worth reporting about. I shot through from Queensland, mainly to get some decent weather and while there have been some really nice days (and some stinking hot ones), there has still been a lot of rain and thunderstorm weather all the way across NSW.

Monday, 17th January 2011 - Day 766.

I stopped overnight at Bluff Rock, just south of Tenterfield. Not a bad little spot, but very small, hard to find a level spot and very close to the highway, but only 10 kms south of town so a convient spot if one needed a re-supply.

Tuesday, 18th January 2011 - Day 767

The Kia is playing up. I hit some decent hills south of Tenterfield and the engine keeps dropping into "crawl mode". I don't know what the problem is, but it is very similar to what happened when I ran out of fuel one time and I fixed it by bleeding air out of the fuel line but that hasn't worked this time. Note to people with diesel vehicles: don't don't don't EVER run out of fuel, it's a real pain in the bum bleeding the lines and besides, you're actually not supposed to do it.

I checked around and the nearest Ultratune is in Tamworth, I'll have to hole up there for a couple of days and see if Ultratune can fix it. The vehicle was fine before I got the 60,000 Km service at Ultratune Strathpine, so Ultratune can fix it. I am a little concerned about getting a campsite in Tamworth 'cos the Country Music Festival is coming up and the town is likely to be bursting at the seams.

Thursday, 20th January 2011 - Day 769

Good news followed by bad news. First I managed to get a campsite at the caravan park in Tamworth, but they were so full, that they were putting vans in the camping area, no water connection and I had to get them to provide an extension cord so that I could connect to the power. As it happened, I didn't need to book in, Ultratune had a look at the Kia that afternoon. They said that they couldn't find anything wrong, but they changed the fuel filter and bled the lines and I took the Kia up the big steep mountain just outside of town and it seemed to be OK.

I cut out the two days I'd booked in for and hitched up and headed south, but as soon as I got to a couple of decent hills, the problem came back again. I'm going to have to take it to a Kia service centre and get them to fix it, but gawd knows when I'll see a big town again. It seems to run fine on flat roads, even towing, and I can easily get up to 130kph or so to pass the road trains, but it is really annoying if I hit a really steep grade.

I'm getting toe-ey to be in the Flinders Ranges again and I have been through this area a few times, so I'm doing 300+ kms each leg and going until I see a nice spot to camp.

I headed down through Gunnedah (Namoi River), Coonabarabran and Gilgandra (Castlereigh River) to Warren (Macquarie River) and this whole area has been affected by flooding, particularly over Xmas. A chap in Warren told me that a lot of the country roads to the north are still closed after the Xmas flooding. I found a nice campsite at Sandy Creek, just 10 kms or so south of the town. It has the usual little shelters except that these have mud on the roofs from the flooding, which means that the creek here was at least 6 or 7 feet over the bank. Although it is named Sandy Creek, it might as well be named Muddy Creek in its present condition. There are some quite big fish jumping in the creek, but I had a look down on them from the railway bridge and they are all Carp - useless for eating, especially with the water so muddy.

Monday, 31st January 2011 - day 780

I had such a nice little spot at Sandy Creek and was very loath to move. I have got plenty to read and I'm getting a good signal on the satellite TV, so why use fuel. A few nice sections of bushland to have a ramble and close to town so I can get fresh bread when I need it - What a life!

I had only been at Sandy creek for a day when in pulled the Highway Hilton, Steve and Wendy in the bus, that I had met at Monto in the South Burnett. They were only staying for a day or two, but we had a good old natter before they left.

Had a couple of real stinking hot days (got up to 47degC or 117degF in real money) and then a couple of days of thunderstorms, so I just battened down the hatches and rode it out in (relative) comfort. If it's really hot, it's unpleasant setting up or packing up the van, and if it's raining, you miss the scenery, so I like to wait until the weather is nice before moving on.

I headed west through Nyngan (Bogan River and the last river before the Darling) and headed for Cobar. I've been through here several times and it never seems to change.

 

Just an observation: they have a curious habit in NSW of angle parking in reverse, that is with the rear of the vehicle to the kerb. As a consequence, it can be an absolute nightmare trying to find a place to park a vehicle with a van anywhere within cooee of the shopping centres. These places which are on major highways and are tourist destinations must know that they are visited by travellers with motorhomes and caravans in tow. Would it be so hard to have a designated area for van parking in the centre of town? Other states do it, why not NSW?

I tried to refill a jerry can with water at the big information centre in Cobar (what a magnificent old building) 

but it came out really brown. They told me that the recent floods had stirred up the dam supplying the town with water and that it was the same all over town. Residents of Cobar, you have my deepest sympathies. It seems passing strange that in the 21st century, we can't provide clean drinking water in a civilised town.

The book tells me there is a good camsite at Meadow Glen, a bit over half-way to Wilcannia so I have headed there and the book (for a change) is right. The site reminds me very much of Western Australian Rest Areas, a lay-by with a water tank (carefully marked "Water may not be suitable for drinking" just to cover them from being sued) a shaded area and picnic tables and a fireplace or two, and then behind that a large area where travellers can get away from the main road and set up for a day or so (or a week or so in my case).

Monday, 7th February 2011 - Day 787

Note to self: When you find a nice area to camp, c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y check the area for ants. This place is absolutely infested and I took a wander to see if I could find a better spot, but the whole area, which is quite large, is alive with the little beasts. I actually unhitched and drove all the way back to Cobar and bought some ant powder for outside and some ant baits for inside, because they had got right into the van and they were everywhere. However, problem now solved, the powder and baits worked fine.

A few days of really hot weather and then the thunderstorms hit. I think it may have been the outskirts of Cyclone Yasi as it moved down, I actually had a creek running underneath the van for a day, neatly under the back, between the wheels and out the front again, while the matting out the front door, under the awning was bone dry.

The generator has been getting a good workout, because I have had three or four days without a sign of the sun. I now have all the solar power I need after buying a second 80W panel and I've got plenty of storage with the second 100Ah battery, but all of that is useless if the sun don't shine. It has been very humid and staying very warm at night so I have had the fan running all night in an attempt to try and get some sleep, but the worst of it should be over now, especially as I get closer to Broken Hill.

Saturday, 12th February 2011 - Day 790

The Kia seems to be running OK at the moment, but then again it is dead flat out here - Love it! This is really the type of country I love, miles and miles of open plains with the occasional range of hills to do some decent bushwalking. Warm during the day and cool enough at night to get a good night's sleep.

It is so green all through here that it is hard to believe that this is the Aussie Outback. Since I left Perth in December 2008, there has been rain through the outback the whole time I have been travelling. I have been travelling through the outback since I first left home in 1964 (that's 47 years for the slow readers) and I have never, never seen the whole country green and lush. So far I've been through the Gibson Desert, The Simpson Desert (twice), Sturt's Stony Desert and the Tanami Desert, across the Barkley Tableland, The Nullabor and the Oodnadatta track and it has been green the whole way.

Westwards, ever westwards. Somebody told me a while ago that when I was out this way, I should stop for a while at Spring Hill, and they were right. A great little spot, althogh a bit small, so make sure you get there early because it seems very popular. The first night I was there there was only me and a couple of backpackers in a tent, but on the second night, there were 8 full-sized caravans and three or four others pulled in late and had to keep going.

The rains seem to have been kind to the local fauna.

I pushed on westwards and came to Wilcannia. I was looking forward to seeing the Darling, because I was last through here 7 or 8 years ago in the middle of the drought and I was interested to see the change in the Darling River. This is what it looked like in September 2004

And this is what it looks like now.

 

Wilcannia is one of those places that seasoned travellers tell you not to stop at, not even to get fuel or a cold drink, but I remember it as having some beautiful old buildings, even though the town itself was a shithole.

Well, the beatiful old buildings are still there, although it is pretty obvious that they're not getting any maintenance at all, but the town is even worse than it was before. I don't know exactly what a shithole degenerates into, but Wilcannia is it. I've been to plenty of places with a poor reputation like Laverton, Yuendumu, Fitzroy Crossing and Warburton, and none of them were as crappy as this place.

I pushed on to Broken Hill, not that I had much choice, all of the roads around here going anywhere except the main highway arer all closed. Ivanhoe, Menindee, Tilpa, Tibooburra, White Cliffs, all closed even to 4 wheel drive, they must have had some monster rains around here and they tell me there is more on the way. I fuelled up and did a minor shop in Broken Hill and kept going hoping to find a nice spot to stop and wait out the rain.

Across the NSW/SA border and through Olary (nothing there except the pub) and I was not having much luck with a campsite. All of the designated areas were simply lay-bys no shelter, no shade and right on the highway. Finally I found a little spot which wasn't a signed Rest Area, but what may have originally been a flood diversion years ago, but it has a couple of trees and looks fairly level and is resonably off the highway so I'll stop here for a day or so.

Wednesday, 16th February 2011 - Day 796

Just a hint for those travellers who may be considering buying a vacuum sealer to "cryovac" your meat. If you haven't got a freezer, don't bother. I bought a Sunbeam FoodSaver and a heap of meat in Brisbane and packed it all  in individual meals and I have wasted time, money and meat. I stored it all in the bottom of the fridge (the coldest part) and most of it I have had to throw away.The chcken thighs were off within about 4 days, The lamb chops within a week, I didn't dare try the Pork chops, those things'll kill you, and now the mince steak, which has lasted longest is a bit iffy. All after only 4 weeks. The vacuum packer is going in the bin and I'll buy meat from a butcher who cryovacs. Evidently the commercial units not only suck out all of the air, but actually pump nitrogen in as well. All I know is that butcher-cryovaced meat has lasted me 8-10 weeks in the fridge and this stuff doesn't. Oh well, more to write off to experience, I should know the lot by the time I'm ready to fall off the perch.

I pushed on into South Australia and I'm currently in a huge rest area called Nackara, about 25kms N.E. of Oddla Wirra. There is not much here, a couple of bins and a couple of picnic tables, (no toilets) but the area is immense and there are tons of shady, level area to camp. I went in to Oddla Wirra to get a bit of petrol for the generator and had a look around. That took about 10 seconds. Apart from the Quarantine checkpoint and a petrol station with a little cafe, there is absolutely nothing else there.

I need a couple of days good sunshine to get the batteries fully charged and then I'll head for the Flinders Ranges.

See you soon

Escape from Queensland

Monday, 17th January 2010 - Day 766

Well, after surviving the deluges at Monto, the roads cleared enough for me to head to Brisbane. The roads were so cut up and pot-holed, it was as bad as travelling on a poorly-maintained dirt road in the outback. I made it as far as Benarkin for an overnighter (where it rained again - of course) and made it down to my brother's place in Brisbane. Not only is my temper getting a bit frayed by this constant rain, but my van is starting to go mouldy in spots - I'm going to have to get stuck into it with a bottle of bleach.

I thought I had had it tough with the rain, but the last two weeks in Brisbane have made me realize that I'm not so badly off. The widespread flooding, particularly in Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, and now in Western Victoria and even Tasmania, have made me realise that I should just shut the #@&# up and get on with life, that there are plenty of people a lot worse off than me and that I could be in a lot worse position than I am. New Year's Resolution. I will NOT complain, no matter how bad things seem to be, they could be a lot worse. From now on, I will Observe, Note and Report - without making value judgements (unless of course I see something really good, then I will let you know about it).

For the next couple of months at least, I should be in relatively "civilised" areas, that is, those with mobile phone coverage, so I will try to post a little more regularly.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks with my brother and sister-in-law. I recommend only seeing family members every couple of years or so, it makes the experience of re-uniting so much more pleasant. I have not been able to get out of Brisbane until now as all of the main highways have been closed due to flooding, but I managed to get down the coast to Bangalow and turn off onto the Buxner Highway to Lismore and Tenterfield. A pretty narrow, winding road, with some monumental potholes from flood damage, but at least it was open. It should be relatively good running from here on (I hope). Tonight I am overnighting at Bluff Rock, (picture in next post) about 10kms south of Tenterfield, and heading for Tamworth and then across the western Plains to Bourke and Broken Hill with the ultimate destination for this leg being the beautiful Flinders Ranges in South Australia.

See you soon

Third Xmas On The Track

To my (well-spread-out) family, all my friends, new and old, and to anyone else who stumbles across the blog, Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year. 

First, Catching up:  I was feeling a bit depressed in Mount Morgan and I headed out the day after the last post. I got to Biloela and had a bit of a look around, but nothing caught my fancy, so I kept going. My Camps 5 book shows a campsite at the top of the Coominglah Range, 22kms west of Monto, so that's my target.

MONDAY, 6th DECEMBER 2010

What a delightful campsite. It is actually a little closer to Monto that the book says, only 18 kms from Monto, and no warning indicators (like, "Rest Area 5 km") as most are - just a sign indicating the turn-off. Quite a big area, toilets, plenty of water (although the sign says it is not drinkable, it is fine for washing, showering etc). The area is state forest and there are lots of big trees which would be giving great shade if there was any sun!

There is a forestry track which leads off from the camping area and just across a cattle grid is a cleared line for the power line, so I pulled in there. There is a great view east into the Cania Valley and looks like plenty of opportunity for bushwalking.

There was one other van here when I arrived, a solo guy named Roscoe and later in the day a couple (Steve and Wendy) pulled in in a monster bus, the Highway Hilton. A nice couple and I've added them to my links.

During the afternoon, Steve dragged a huge log into the campsite and got stuck into it with his chainsaw, so a fire tonight.

Grabbed a couple of beers and headed up to the fire, but it is pretty sad, the wood is r-e-a-l-l-y wet and pretty hard to get a decent blaze going, but what the hell! it's the thought that counts, although I'm glad that it is not freezing cold, when you really need a fire.


MONDAY, 13th DECEMBER 2010

It's my anniversary ! ! ! Today marks 2 years on the road. One of the worries I had when I started this voyage, was that I would get bored on the road, but the last two years have just flown. And I have a list a mile long of places that I still want to see and things that I have yet to do, let alone the places that I want to return to.

I have taken a couple of runs into Monto to pick up bread, milk, fresh meat etc. and it is a lovely little town. It has obviously fallen on hard times, the Timber Mill and the Butter Factory have both closed down, but there seem to be a few new houses being built on the outskirts, and the people I have spoken to don't seem disheartened.

 I love the "concert hall" attached to the local shire hall, watch out Sydney, your opera house has a competitor.

 Have a look at the clouds over the main street. Lately that means that either it is just about to rain, or it has just stopped raining.


FRIDAY, 17th DECEMBER 2010

It is actually a sunny day today, and doesn't look like it will rain for a while, so I took the opportunity to do a bit of exploration. I took a wander up the cleared line of the powerline easement and got a great view of the valley and the further ranges to the east. If you click on the photo below, you can just see my van to the right of the power line in the middle distance.

 In between my campsite and Monto is the turn-off to Cania Gorge, the area's tourist attraction. There are several walks through the gorge which are well worth the trouble. It is a sort of temperate rain forest but without the vines and ferns etc. which you get in the more tropical areas. Lovely shady walks although the humidity was through the roof - luckily it wasn't all that hot to go with it.

The first walk leads to the Fern Tree Pool. Not as spectacular, perhaps, as some other locations I've seen, but  very pleasant all the same.

The total circuit is 5.3 kms and after leaving the fern pool, it climbs to the top of the ridge for a nice walk along the ridgeline through open eucalyptus woodland before coming to a lookout called the "Giant's Chair". For what reason, I am at a loss - I couldn't see anything that resembled a chair of any kind. Perhaps some form of explanatory signage would help?

The second area has two walks of about 3 kms each and as I have been getting a little cabin fever after being locked in by the rain, I tramped both of them, fearing that the weather may not give me the opportunity for a second visit. First stop was "Dripping Rock" Don't want to seem cynical, but just about every rock around here has been dripping for months.

At the end of this walk is "the Overhang" where a granite dyke intrudes into the local sandstone. Fantastic spot to sit and have a sandwich and a cuppa.

I think I may have overdone things a bit. I reckon I have tramped about 15 kms altogether today and I'm exhausted! From the feel of things, I think I may be a bit stiff and creaky tomorrow, but it was great to be able to get out of the van for a while.


FRIDAY, 24th DECEMBER 2010

I was going to move a couple of days ago, but guess what? It bloody rained again and the last thing I want to do is pack up everything while it is all wet. Yesterday wasn't too bad and as it didn't rain much yesterday or last night, and it wasn't raining this morning, I packed up and hit the road about 10:00am heading for Kalpowar, about 40 kms east of Monto. The road was bitumen all the way to Kalpower (population about 20 and I think half of those are cats and dogs) and then dirt through to Gin Gin. As soon as I left Kalpowar, there were "Road Closed" signs on both the Gladstone and Gin Gin roads. The water over the floodway on the Gin Gin road was only about 6 inches deep and the campsite I'm looking for is only about 3 kms further on, so I pushed on.

I reached the turnoff into the State Forest Recreation Area and pulled up to have a recce. There were two tracks leading off into the state forest and I went for a wander down to first one to see if I could spot a nice campsite. The track is very narrow and I don't want to drive in and find I have nowhere to turn around. I walked in about two kms and only spotted one spot which was passably suitable and couldn't see anything else nice so I returned to the car to try the other track. It has been raining lightly and I have got my big golf umbrella, so off I go to look at the second track.

After another 2 kms or so without spotting a good campsite, decided that the "passable" spot was the only one and set off to return to the car. It started to rain a bit heavier, and then it started to rain really hard and then it started to pour and then it absolutely teemed down and by the time I got back to the car, the track I was on had turned into a creek.

In the words of the ancient philosopher, bugger this for a joke. This is not funny and there is no way I am going to try to set up in the middle of a downpour. Back into the car and I'm heading back to the range where I came from.

The drive back to Monto was a nightmare. The visibility was down to nothing and yet most of the vehicles I passed on the way back were driving without their lights on. Are people crazy or what? I got back to Monto and bought some bits and pieces for Xmas lunch and then back up to the top of the range. It was about 3 in the afternoon and there was a foot of water across the road in at least 3 spots between Monto and the range.

I reached "home" and pulled up in the main parking area to wait for a break in the rain so I can set up. After two hours I am getting ready to sleep in the car tonight, but finally it let up for the few minutes I need. I am really over this weather, let me tell you. The clouds are so heavy that even my satellite dish won't pick up a signal and I am starting to notice a few mouldy spots starting to appear in the canvas.



SATURDAY, 25th DECEMBER 2010

Well, my third Xmas on the road. 2008 was at Springsure, not a million miles away from here, 2009 was near Streaky Bay in South Australia and this year in Queensland again. I have decided to treat myself this year so Roast Chicken, Prawns, three types of salad, hot Xmas pudding and custard and a bottle of bubbly. The perfect makings for an afternoon nap!

MONDAY, 27th DECEMBER 2010

OMG, will this bloody rain never stop. It has been pouring virtually non-stop since Friday. I stuck a container outside the van on Friday and so far it has about 8 inches of water in it. 8 inches of rain in 4 days.

 According to the news, there are roads out just about everywhere in the state. I will stay here until the end of the year and then go down to Brisbane to see my brother and his family and then I'm going to head west. South west Queensland is out of the question, the last I heard the Cooper Creek is about 50 kms wide, so I will head down though NSW to Broken Hill and then maybe the Flinders Ranges again for a while. I think my travels for a while are going to be determined by what roads are passable.

With the long range forecast as it it is, Tassie is definitely out this summer, maybe next year.

See You Soon