LeavingTownsville and Heading Towards Cloncurry.

This will finish the last blog’s visit to the Marine Museum in Townsville. The history of this area and also the flora and fauna were fascinating and very diverse.

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 

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

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.

 

Blog #5 Bowen, Ayr, Townsville Dam Fine Rally

Bowen was another town which we happened to strike on Show Day. The beach below faces south east and a strong wind was running parallel to the beach. This was fantastic weather for the kite surfers who were in knee deep water going incredibly fast.

Two kite surfers were enjoying themselves with huge jumps when they turned to change direction.

We also went up to Flagstaff Hill, a local lookout, but I was looking inward at these butterflies.

Our next stop was Ayr, mainly because this was my birthplace, but in Scotland!

Once again the place was deserted... yep Show Day!

We were heading to Townsville to attend the CMCA Dam Fine Rally, held on the outskirts of town at Ross Dam.

With over 300 other mostly Grey Nomads we joined the rally (we’re the white one).



The rally was for 5 days with workshops and daily entertainments ... plus many happy hours.

We were taken by the camp oven cooking demo as below.

The demonstrator had a collection of over 70 camp ovens and he was very detailed and thorough, especially with the cooking temperatures. 

He knew everything...but had to ask is wife a lot as well!

Those are mighty fine Dampers ...Mate...and we all got a taste ... cake as well!

This is to show the light brown colour of the flour in the bottom of the pan, which signifies perfection in cooking temperatures!

The Dam had Rock Wallabies around the water’s edge with lots of pelicans, cormorants and other noisy birds in the trees around the camp. This Wallaby had a joey in the pouch but it was rather shy for kiwi photographers.

 This was a dam fine sunrise.

Doing some sewing repairs

 Rock‘n’Roll dancers.

A quick trip into the Cotters Market in Flinders Street...also on a Show Day, proved to be quiet.

Electric trikes ...that’s a new one on me!

Here is Christine reliving her bike trip to Bankok, where she had her last sugarcane drink!

We met Anu Grace at the market. She and Laurie were guest artists at the Lauder Ukulele Festival last year.

I asked if they needed any help with anything, and yes was the answer.

Laurie was finishing repiling a house and could I use a concrete mixer? This was my job for two quite easy half days mixing concrete.

It took me back to my days in Chch on the end of a shovel nearly 50 years ago!

 It had to be a very dry mix as around the posts they have quite a raised cap on them.

The concrete is pulled in under the house in a plastic baby bath.

 Wooden posts are replaced with steel, much better in every way!

Not sure what type of trees these are, but I love the peeling bark on them.

This tree is on the Strand, right in the city near the marina. 

Nature’s propping system for heavy branches.

The Museum Of Tropical Queensland had an exhibition about HMS Pandora.

This is an amazing story about a ship that was sent by the British admiralty in 1790 to capture the Bounty’s mutinous crew in Tahiti.

(they did capture 14 of the Bounty’s Mutineers)

Tragically she hit the Great Barrier Reef in 1791(including the 14 mutineers from the Bounty) and sank where she remained undiscovered for 184 years. 

Many of the objects recovered were on display.

Below is a modern mock up of the ship and its figurehead.

 Below is the Captain’s personal fire place, not looking too bad for being underwater so long.

Whereas this kettle has suffered much more.

Each sailor’s daily allowance of beer was 1 Gallon, 

which must have made for interesting times at sea.

A scale model of the Pandora shows how amazing this adventure and sailing must have been, 

and to not be discovered until 1973 was quite a find!

I will continue my visit to this Museum in the next blog and other happenings in and around Townsville.

Till then stay safe and free and as always be creative.

My parting photo is of the wonderful aussie wit and humour.

“Pigs Ass Rub” is for Barbeques.

No Worries Mate.

Jimu & Christine