A lot of material and information about the Great Barrier Reef.
Below some of the coral formations I found fascinating.
Hmmm...not sure what Placentals are?
And below..a selection of stuffed (in more ways than one?) birds.
So after staying just over a week at the Ross River Dam site we were keen to get moving again....
But not before checking out the local Townsville Men’s Shed.
They were setting up this huge panel cutting dimension saw.
Townsville Marina and the Strand.
This is the nearest I got to Magnetic Island....it didn’t seem to have a pull for me!
And this sign (below) also didn’t warm me to taking my first dip in
And this sign (below) also didn’t warm me to taking my first dip in
Australian waters!
So off we headed after making sure the Blaze Aid camp at Cloncurry was still taking volunteers, since it’s an 800km drive West.
We drove through the little town of Torrens Creek and doubled back to check out the Aboriginal Art Gallery sign. We met this amazing artist Ned Thompson...a mix of Aboriginal and Irish heritage .... a natural story teller. We bought the painting he’s holding for inside the caravan.
We parked behind the Pentland Hotel....I gave an impromptu bit of juggling for a bunch of Aussie kids next door just before nightfall....and on my morning walk I had the same three kids following me (and talking to me from their bikes), so I gave them a show.
The Queensland town of Richmond was on the route to Cloncurry, so we stopped to check it out.
It even had a Star and Garter Hotel (like Richmond NZ).
This clever sculpture outside the Council Chambers really caught my eye.
As did this sign outside the local hotel.
Fabulous cloud formations every late afternoon .... I love it!
Late in the day a tour operator called Ross approached our caravan offering us to join a local tour to his outback farm. We were very pleased we did, it was terrific. We drove out from Richmond 125km on dirt roads towards the Gregory Ranges. When the going got rough we changed from a Toyota Coaster Bus to an older Mercedes. We then drove into the mountains to meet to meet his wife Linda for a real outback smoko on an open fire with black billy tea, damper and cakes.
Ross told lots of stories about living and working in the outback, dingoes, medical problems, cattle etc all with the dry lyrical humour of Australia.
Here is Ross telling us all about the two main types of grass (Mitchell and Flinders) which grows out here in the outback. Also the soil type changes quite often on one property and with local weather conditions and rain fall, droughts at different times all ultimately affecting the $ bottom line and survival in the Outback.
Billy tea, cake and scones with cream....ah this outback life is tough...I tell ya!
A finely balanced rock, none of our party was game to hop up on top!
Some Aboriginal handy work under the rock...could be 300,000 years old.
Back at the homestead and at the feed trough, (again) another fab tuck in...
Ross is also a collector of the antique and unusual....
This apparently is an original Austin 7 ute.
Their garden is kept producing by Jack who was a Blaze Aid volunteer from 5 years ago, who comes back every year to work in the garden.
Papaya grow easily in this environment.
Ross is lucky to have a stream which never dries up and has fitted a waterwheel, which pumps water to the house and the cattle troughs
Ross is lucky to have a stream which never dries up and has fitted a waterwheel, which pumps water to the house and the cattle troughs
More of these wonderful skies.
As we returned to Richmond, we met a Road Train cattle truck.
The Outback experiences are coming thick and fast. It’s often hard to find a phone connection as we travel in the more remote areas, however, I will catch up!
That’s all for blog #6...and #7 will be soon to follow!
Cheers and happy hours and travels from North Queensland and still possibly 500km till we reach the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Stay safe, free and be creative!
Jimu and Christine.
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