Category: Blogs

Another early rise today, it’s 5.00am and dawn is slowly breaking across the desert landscape that encircles Uluṟu. This is a desert that is putting on a grand show after three successive winters of heavy rainfall across Australia. The air has a chill that is only there when no clouds remain to keep yesterdays warmth from escaping overnight. we have awoken in a foreign land, this is the spiritual heart off Australia, Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Country, home of the Aṉangu people. Our passport a three day pass to Uluṟu-Kata Tjuta National Park.

The day starts with an early breakfast, a traditional buffet, but with some items that might surprise you. Like Bush tomato chutney to go with your scrambled eggs, Kangaroo sausage or wattle seed pancakes with lemon myrtle butter to wash it all down a nice cup of eucalyptus flavoured Billy tea or coffee.

Our breakfast is quick as we have a date with a park ranger at 8.00am. Once packed we are in the rental car, a small hatchback to make the 30 minute drive to Uluṟu for a 90 minute educational tour at the base of the rock along a track known as the Mala Walk. The Mala are a small native marsupial mole that in Dreamtime stories had a hand in creating the monolith Uluṟu. When the Aṉangu people came upon Uluṟu it seemed to them a garden of Eden. Plenty of water, an abundance of vegetation, edible fruits, grasses with seeds that could be ground to make a flour and bread. Animal life also abounded, kangaroos, lizards, emus, and bush turkeys. The Mulga tress that they needed to make utensils and weapons for everyday life also grew in abundance. As we walk our guide tells us of the gradual learning that the children would undertake to be able to survive in this harsh environment. How to make weapons for hunting for the boys and how to make utensils for the girls. How to differentiate between the different plant species, the edible and not so edible, animals habits and the best way to hunt them. Ceremonies would mark their progress as they developed into active community members. Their culture that spans nearly 60,000 years is handed down through Dreamtime stories and song lines, they have no written language. At the base of the rock there are caves that have acted as classrooms the walls covered in pictures painted in ochre, ash and charcoal. Places where the elderly sat and swapped stories, places that acted as a kitchen and places where men made there tools. Here there culture flourished until colonisation.

Our next stop is the Cultural Centre, here there are displays of traditional aboriginal art both in their distinctive aerial view dot style painting, mostly carried out by women. Then there is wood carving, weapons and tools made by men and utility items like bowls and open ended carrying cradles by women. The latter decorated by heating wire to burn designs into the wood. We stop for a gelato of Mango and roasted macadamias for me, Lemon and Desert Lime ripple for Amanda and Rosella flower and Raspberry for Barbie. The flavours are all so delicious we share them all. We catch a presentation by two Aṉangu women supervised by a white guide that enables us to touch and feel some of the cultural items. The Aṉangu are a shy people telling their stories in soft voices that at times cross over into their own language. Their are at least 350 different indigenous countries in Australia each with their own language and sometimes different dialects or accents. Our presenters speak several native languages as well as English. As we go through the cultural items some can only be handled by men, like a belt used to carry men’s tools made entirely of human hair.

We have one last trip in us to end the day, the Muṯitjulu Waterhole.

We arrive at the car park and are immediately accosted by newspaper journalist from the Sydney Morning Herald. Can we spare a few moments to talk about our trip? Yes we reply! With the referendum just around the corner that will decide if the indigenous community will be recognised in our constitution. Also to allow them to form an advisory committee to the government on issues that pertain significantly to them. The journalist tells us that the prime minister will travel to Uluṟu to confirm the government’s commitment to a yes vote tomorrow. Where do we stand on the issue and why have we chosen to visit the area at this historic moment? The Uluṟu Statement from the Heart started here in this sacred of aboriginal places. A document that asks the Australian people to recognise the social gap that exists between mainstream Australians and the indigenous peoples and to make a commitment to closing that gap. We support them in this effort that ultimately will have great benefit for them and Australia as a whole. The journalist takes our photo and we part ways.

The base of the rock is a 10 kilometre walk with a lot of sheer red walls rising above you. The faces of which are of arkose, a coarse sandstone containing iron that gradually rusts and flakes off leaving patches of grey sandstone beneath. The culturally significant areas around the rock are of most interest to us as mere tourists, focusing on these today is our goal and the waterhole is one of them. The area surrounding the waterhole is particularly lush and shady due to the constant presence of water there. Bird life abounds and occasionally wallabies can be seen amongst the grasses but today the midday temperature has creeped up to 32c so the wallabies are resting up under a shady tree, out of sight. Occasionally all is still, the sound of silence is deafening, leaving a peaceful tranquil setting, a perfect place to sit and contemplate life. One of the many benches that are to be found all over the park made from large polished natural timber tree limbs sits nearby just for that purpose. On a nature walk one notices the smallest things, the wild flowers, the colour of the eucalyptus bark, a butterfly that flutters by. This time it’s a small brightly coloured black and red beetle that scuttles across our path minding his own business but drawing attention to him or her self with its bright coat contrasting against the ochre pathway. After posing for a flurry of snapshots the beetle scuttles on into the surrounding bush.

Time to return to the resort for a break before dinner tonight that takes us to an elevated viewing point to watch the sunset over Uluṟu.

The dinner is named the field of lights dinner after a huge installation of 50,0000 solar powered coloured lights that gradually power on after the sun has set. A one off installation by artist Bruce Munro has outlasted its original 6 months tenure and now lights the equivalent of seven football fields nightly. So popular is the installation that turning off the display is continually put back.

Once we arrive we are welcomed with a glass of champagne and bush inspired canapés. Barbie tastes her first Kangaroo meat, rolled into a flat bread and cut into bite size pieces. We settle in to watch the sun go down, the suns last rays reflecting on Uluṟu giving the monolith a pink tinge until finally the sun disappears behind Kata Tjuṯa behind us. We move on to another level just over the red sand dunes where immaculately set tables sit with white table cloths, gleaming cutlery and light reflecting glassware. The air is warm and still as we are seated in tables of ten. Our group of three has extended to four as a lovely lady of Indian heritage from England joins us. At the table we also have two young girls from Sydney two couples from Melbourne, Barbie from the US and Mandy and I from Adelaide, quite a mix. As the light gradually fades a single cube of light illuminates our table. In the foreground of Uluṟu lights begin to fill the landscape, colours of ochre, deep violet, blue and gentle white appear across a seemingly vast area gradually pulsating with their own rhythm. Tales of the days adventures are told around the table, the energy of the young girls clearly apparent as they tell us of their Segway tour around the base of the rock, their visit to the camel farm and subsequent ride to the rock base and an adventurous plane ride over Kata Tjuṯa and Uluṟu. Quite a one day itinerary.

After the completion of dinner again showcasing bush produce the table lights are extinguished we are plunged into darkness. Looking up the night sky is filled with the stars and planets the Milky Way clearly visible as a cloud of stars that arch across the sky above us. An astronomer joins us taking us on an Astro tour of the galaxy, pointing out with a powerful laser pointer the clearly visible planets Saturn, Venus and Mars along with the stars of Alpha Centauri and Sirius.

Finally we take a twenty minute stroll through the Field of Lights on our way back to the bus. Wandering through a maze of illumination that is both dazzling and fairylike.

Another wonderful day of new experiences for all.

September 24th 2022

Broken Hill NSW to Stirling SA

The clear blue skies for our last day in Broken Hill yesterday had me thinking about the shorts and T shirts again. This morning couldn’t be more different, with the overcast conditions came a blast of cold weather, making a nippy start to our early morning.

Now, so close to home we are both anxious to be on our way as quickly as possible. This impetus giving us our earliest start yet. The holiday is over, all that is left is one day of travel back into our home state of South Australia and familiar territory of the Adelaide Hills.

The South Australian border is just 50 kilometres east from Broken Hill a short distance in the scheme of the trip, we then travel south east for 258 Kilometres to Oodla Wirra, then South to Burra for 98 Kilometres.

South Australia currently has a Fruit Fly issue, biosecurity is clamping down on the transport of fruit from the other states. If this pesky little fly makes its way south and into commercial orchards or market gardens the situation could prove disastrous for growers and the states economy. Heavy fines apply for bringing even one tomato across the border. Fruit is always in our onboard cooler, this morning breakfast consisted of the last of our fruit, anything we can’t eat we had to ditch before leaving. We can expect to have biosecurity checks at the border or along the road before we start to enter populated parts of SA.

Outback South Australia is stunning this spring, native plants are putting on a colourful display, against a back drop of green that is rare out here. Emu’s with their chicks are in abundance grazing on the rich pastures. The closer to Adelaide we travel then the greener the landscape becomes.

Once we pass over Goyder’s line cropping becomes sustainable and the landscape changes to rolling hills of grain crops and particularly striking Canola, now in flower this crop creates carpets of yellow-gold that cut a swath through the landscape.

About thirty years after first settlement, the Surveyor-General of the time (1865) George Goyder, at the request of many prospective farmer settlers created an imaginary line that separated high and low rainfall areas of South Australia. Many pioneers had taken up cheap land in the north of the state only to find a few years of rainfall could be followed by many years of drought, this made cropping very unpredictable, many eventually failing. Mr Goyder climbed upon his horse and traversed the northern areas from east to west for 3200 kilometres, listening to the farmers along the way and gathering information about the types of plants that survived in the northern areas and southern areas. The aim to form a map that would create a demarcation between arable land to the south and high risk of drought susceptible land to north. In November of 1865 Goyder submitted his report, inclusive of a map to the colonial government. Above Goyder’s line, as it would hence be known, only light grazing should take place, below the line, then cropping would have a more reasonable chance of success. Many farmers still ignored this advice, rainfall between 1867 and 1875 turned out to be more than adequate for cropping. The idea existed in these times that rain follows the plough and indeed this did appear to be the case in the westward expansion in the USA. However the years that followed drove many to abandon their lands, proving Goyder correct. Many an old stone farm house can be seen from the road, in ruins before we pass over Goyder’s line. Over the years til today the line has proved remarkably accurate. Current climate change predictions have the line moving slowly south as temperatures rise and rainfall lessens.

Just before we reach the town of Burra, about 160 kilometres from Adelaide, there are a series of road works, we slow down as we travel across some gravelly roads that are being reworked. One part of the road is being patched having developed a number of potholes, most of them are, but one isn’t, our passenger side front wheel hits it full on sending a shudder through the vehicle. I sense a problem but the car is behaving normally, so we continue on until we reach Burra. We stop to inspect the tyre, just above the rim there is a 50mm (2″) split in the wall. These tyres are run flats designed not to puncture or deflate. The theory being that, with this design a spare wheel is no longer needed, saving money, space and weight. This is my first experience with a mishap of this nature so I am unsure how to proceed. Mr. Google tells me to drive slowly not over 80kph. We limp home, stopping on our way at a tyre service outlet, a quick check and they confirm we will make it home the last 40 kilometres.

We finally arrive home around 3.30pm, weary but safe. Now the hard work starts the unpacking and settling back into a routine, but not until tomorrow! Until next time.

Tony & Amanda Palmer

September 22nd 2022

Broken Hill

Arriving at our little local hotel in Cobar, we find a group of car enthusiasts have arrived with their hotted up vehicles. Their here for a car meet, some driving their vehicles some arriving with the vehicles in trailers, amongst them an Aussie Ford Falcon Fast Back, an American Chevrolet sedan, complete with tail fins and a British Rolls Royce (my favourite). The car is painted in a stunning white, the vehicle is immaculate, with original cream leather upholstery and oak timber veneer dash board. The Rolls Royce engine removed and a locally made V8 installed, a hole cut in the bonnet for the twin carburettors to poke through. Shiny alloy wheels, standard size at front but super wide at the back. It is almost sinful to give a Rolls Royce this treatment, but I have to admit the car looks superb.

The motel is one of the best we have stayed at for room amenities, cleanliness and layout although compact we have everything we need. Also has a homely touch, that is comforting after a long time away. The motel has a restaurant but only serves breakfast, directing us to the Bowling and Golf Club just across the road. We never know what to expect at these country town hotel/motel restaurants but thats part of the fun. The Club is typical of NSW country towns, gambling is part of the fabric of Aussie society out here, the bonus is that the gamblers subsidise the food and drinks. The gambling consists mainly of poker machines and Keno, no cards or fancy games like roulette, you can however bet on most sports, wherever they maybe played in Australia. The restaurant is set in a large room away from the bar and gambling areas, its no surprise to us that once again the food is Asian. This time Chinese. The food is good, we have a duck and a beef dish to share, finding the food quite authentic rather that too westernised.

The next morning we find that the rain has continued most of the night, with the temperature dropping considerably, the shorts and T shirts are now well and truly relegated to the suitcase. Winter attire is back on, with the rain jackets kept in close proximity along with the umbrellas. We had planned to visit Cobar’s Sound Chapel, not a religious venue but a permanent artwork incorporating sound, architecture, art and poetry. It functions as a digital 4 channel string quartet that plays continually on a loop 24-7. The venue is a 5 metre walk in cube set within a 10 metre tall water tank, with an in-built loudspeaker in each wall. Sound spills out of the water tank that has a rusty rustic appearance on the outside, giving the impression that the music is coming from an old water tank set in the outback. Intriguing, but the weather is not conducive to walking around a muddy paddock. Besides I think that I may be experiencing the onset of a cold, with sore throat symptoms coming on with the advent of the cold weather, not good, not happy! The organisers don’t make it easy to access either, with a viewing fee and a cash refundable deposit of $300.00 just to view it, the return of the money subject to inspection after your visit, to ensure you haven’t wrecked the place. Anyway we decide that time is against us, and make our plans to travel directly to Broken Hill where we have a two night stay.

As with yesterday we are retracing our steps, the area has experienced substantial rainfall since early August when we departed on this sojourn. As a result the land is even greener, with spring now adding carpets of cream coloured flowers along the roadside and off into the distance. Purple flowers appear now and again, as well as masses of pinkish oval shaped flowers that sit like beads on green grass like stems. Again we play spot the animal or bird, plenty of feral goats graze along the verges. Not so many Emu’s today. One exciting moment sees us spotting a pair of magnificent wedge tail eagles, feeding on the ground from a recent catch. We speculate if this could be a baby goat as there are many in the vicinity.

First stop is Wilcannia, a mainly indigenous town situated on the Darling River, once the second largest river port in the country. In a time when Australia lived off the sheep’s back when 1000’s of bales of wool made their way up and down the river to be exported to Britain and the world. Local Australian woollen mills, existed then, now long gone with much of Australia’s manufacturing industries. Sadly today the towns historic buildings are in much disrepair, leaving an impression that is neither welcoming or attractive to the passing visitor, to want to linger long.

Next stop is Broken Hill, we continue along the the Barrier Highway a long straight stretch of road where the weather system ahead is on full display. Dramatic against the open plains below. We travel through a number of rain cells, but nothing too heavy, the colours of the landscape continue to amaze. Rusty red coloured low bushes, contrast against smaller blue grey salt bush, lime green new growth grasses as well as yellow flowers from low growing creepers. All adding to a textured blanket of colour in vivid 3D covering the land on both sides of the road.

As we approach Broken Hill we can see the radar telescopes that form part of the Outback Astronomy facility. Outback Australia is famous for clear star filled skies, many towns are now offering astronomical experiences free of light pollution that impacts viewing in the big cities. Broken Hill among them.

As we are early, and our clocks now go back half an hour to South Australian time, we decide to go straight into town. I want see if I can find some throat lozenges for a deteriorating sore throat. For the last week Queen Elizabeth II’s passing has formed a back drop to our breakout holiday. One of those moments like the death of J.F.K or the Moon landing, that you will forever remember exactly the moment in your life when you heard this world changing news. As a result our Prime Minister, bless his heart, gave us all a day off. Since everyday is a day off for us, the gesture misses the mark in our case, but we do appreciate the intent. Today it happens to be that day, just about every commercial operation is shut down. Apple maps, in walking mode wasn’t much help either, sending us first one way then another looking for none existent supermarkets. We finally need to drive to find one, that just happens to be in a fuel station, but not before having a good walking tour of the inner Broken Hill township.

Walking in Broken Hill is like a stepping into the past, grand hotels such as The Palace with grand entrances fill the street corners, two story with wrap around verandahs, large decks like promenades around the upper floor.

One is decidedly Art Deco with an elaborate ironwork balcony that runs the full length of the building on both streets of the corner location. All this with a huge Lead, Zinc & Silver mine right at their back door, in the centre of town. The original slag heap is still right there. Many of the shops and buildings are still in original condition, its easy to imagine you are walking down the street in your hat, button down white shirt front with turned down collar and thin black tie. Maybe a cane and moustache, while the lady besides you is wearing a full length dress, hat, gloves and carrying a parasol. Horse drawn carts rumble down the street as you hurry along to your next appointment. While the noise, steam and industrial odours fill the air from the very nearby mine. As a visitor you would be staying at one of these grand hotels, after arriving from Sydney on an epic steam train journey. At its peak 31000 people lived and worked here now the town is home to only 17500 people.

Miners meanwhile slave away deep in the pit bringing the precious ore to the surface for refining.

Many of the miners came from migrant families, Italy, Yugoslavia, Norway, Greece to name a few. After the second world war Europe had little to offer the already struggling peasant families of these nations. Australia offered opportunity and a better life.

The miners live outside the town centre in tiny corrugated iron dwellings, but still close enough to walk or bike to work. They lived on streets with names like, Bromide, Calcite, Chloride, Cobalt, Carbon, Garnet, Graphite, Iodide and Sulphide to name a few but doesn’t take much guessing to realise this is a mining town. Many of the homes they called “Tinnies” still exist today. Mostly made of corrugated iron, some in original condition. or many now, with a new generation are in newly renovated. They all form part of the history and fabric of Broken Hill today.

Above some examples of Broken Hills renovated corrugated iron Miners cottages

The deepest point of the Broken Hill ore body descends over 1.5 km underground. Broken Hill had a massive sulphide lode of over 200 million tonnes with 50 million tonnes of lead and zinc and 20 000 tonnes of silver. Back in 1875 one Charles Rasp worked on the Mt Gipps sheep station that covered an area of 100,000 acres. Gold prospectors had moved in, but without success. Charles road the fence boundaries and noticed a dark rocky outcrop that to him looked like tin. He along with six others, staked a claim forming the Broken Hill Mining company. What they thought to be tin, turned out to be lead, zinc & silver. Not the Holy Grail of gold but a deposit so big that it is still being mined today. The hotel, come motel, camping and caravan site we are staying at is a heritage listed building. Originally the Mt Gipps Hotel established around 1890 served the community for over 100 years before being left derelict since 1987. In 2018 an enterprising family restored the building, setting up an outback stop for weary travellers like us.

Above a Broken Hill building mural that celebrates the Ghan Railway, that crosses Australia from Adelaide to Darwin, the Afghan camel drivers that helped with the exploration and opening up of the vast Australian Outback.

In the centre of town is the original headframe that sat above the first mine shaft, from this shaft came 6 million tons of ore from 1884 to 1940, as refining became more efficient they re-visited the mine drawing many more tons of ore from 1944 until 1959. The frame is made from Oregon Pine, charred to weather proof it, with steel rods used for cross bracing.

A corrugated iron building once housed the winding mechanism shown in the picture below.

Above, the ever present slag heap that now houses the Line of Lode Cafe/Restaurant (now closed due to Covid restrictions and not yet opened due to staffing shortages) (Right) and the Miners Memorial (Left) 800 miners lost their lives working this mine over the many years of its operation.

Next we are off to the Pro Hart Gallery, since the mid 1980’s we always had paintings of Pro Hart on our walls. Pro Hart grew up in Broken Hill and worked in the mines, at that time a requisite of living in the town meant at least working one shift at the mine per week. Many miners developed other creative outlets to keep them sane after many hours of work in dark claustrophobic conditions for hours, days and weeks on end. Pro Hart learnt to paint, becoming famous for his colourful stick like renditions of people enjoying regular Australian outback leisure activities like an outdoor BBQ, or attending a country horse race meeting and outdoor picnic’s. Also Australian outback life in general. He painted in a number of other styles as well, such as shooting paint balls at canvas or tipping tins of paint on pieces of carpet to form a textured canvas. He passed away in March 2006.

Pro Hart owned 4 Rolls Royces, all still neatly parked in their carports at the Gallery and studio where he worked, symbols of his commercial success over the years. All though becoming wealthy he never left Broken Hill. This Rolls, above, he painted in his own inevitable style.

Apart from painting (Broken Hill also is home to other famous Australian Outback painters including Jack Absalom) Broken Hill also established a sculpture park, in April 1993 a month long symposium added sculpture to the local culture. 53 tonnes (metric tons) of sandstone arrived from nearby Wilcannia to the Living Desert State Park just 7 kilometres outside of Broken Hill. Invites to sculptors around the world brought in twelve artists, from Mexico (2) Georgia (3), Syria (2), Australia (3) and Bathurst Island (Timor Sea) (2). For a month the sculptors worked at the site to create their art, with a great deal of help from locals.

Tomorrow we travel home, our journey comes to an end like all good things. the final 549 Kilometres of a 7200 kilometre journey. Hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures as much as we have enjoyed sharing them. We have seen far more of Australia than we have previously, and solved a lot more mystery’s than we new there were. I’ll send a short note to let all that we arrived home safely. Until the next adventure stay safe and happy travels.

September 21st 2022

Cobar

Dinner last night brought another surprise, again closed on our last visit this time the restaurant is open for business. Situated next to the hotel in a small cabin like building with a wide deck, brightly lit with LED fairy lights, tables are set under the verandah. The night is warm after a hot hot day, more akin to our imaginings of outback Australia. Given the choice of indoor or outdoor dining we choose the outdoors. This time the owners are Vietnamese, the food is western, with a slightly Vietnamese twist, especially on the spices. We are waited on by the owners young son aged about fourteen, who mostly looked like he wanted to be elsewhere on this warm spring night. Dad, though kept a close eye on him, with not much english himself the boy spoke pure Aussie and so an important link in the chain. Once outside, Aussie flys are known worldwide as a pest during the heat of the day, but at night, gnats and mosquito’s come out for a bloodsucking feed. Dad is quick to the rescue when the patrons start swatting, itching and scratching, quickly producing cans of Aeroguard to distribute amongst the guests. The menu is a little different, but the food is excellent.

We make the night an early one, we want to be on the road as soon as we can tomorrow. Just after midnight the promised rain comes thundering down and lasts until morning. We both manage to sleep through most of it, after all we live in Stirling, but awake to a leaden sky and a sodden hotel grounds. Fortunately, this large weather system moving from west to east across central Australia had mostly passed through. Note the severe weather warning on the map above.

We manage to be on the road a little after 8.00am, a real effort for us oldies but we are pleased, as we have a solid day of driving, mostly retracing our steps of five weeks ago. The trip of 614 kilometres is made in three blocks, Charleville to Cunnamulla, Cunnamulla to Bourke and finally, Bourke to Cobar. Again Mulga forest makes way for wide open plains that open up 360 degrees, horizon to horizon, then back to forest again. After leaving Charleville we run into few heavy rain showers under dark skies, but the further south we travel, the further the weather system drifts off to our east.

Blue skies once again appear, the temperature rising to a more comfortable level. Our First stop is at Cunnamulla around mid morning, a rest stop and a quick visit to the visitor centre. Amanda is on a mission to collect a few souvenir stubbie holders (neoprene sleeves for keeping small beer bottles cool in your hand) for our collection.

After a short break we are back on the road again, traffic is light, very few caravans on the road, very few semi’s, no cars just a few wide loads heading north that we need to navigate, slowly and carefully.

Next stop, around lunch time, Bourke and the visitors centre where we know we can buy a good cappuccino and a stubbie holder. There are some art installations at the site giving us some photo ops.

Moving on there are hours to talk and play spot the animal or bird, Emu’s are everywhere. We first see them off behind fence lines but more and more they appear on the verges, leading us to slow down on numerous occasions. Father Emu’s with their chicks cross the road or graze on the verges as we pass close by at speed.

Needing a constant eye on the road for unexpected movement. At time flocks of tiny budgerigars fly out across the landscape, a flash of brilliant green, turning in unison first one way then another before disappearing behind us. We spot many bird species unknown to us but hawks are a constant circling the roadside looking for a meal. Occasionally other parrots fly by and Willy Wag Tails flit about wagging their tail feathers, around fence posts. Finches and Wrens as well are all out here enjoying the spring rains.

At one point after a particularly bumpy stretch of road Amanda discovers the suspension controls, whats sports mode she asks?, well that’s for driving in hills and curves where you want maximum road feel I reply, whats comfort mode she asks, I sense an issue here. Well it sort of, is for straight line cruising where comfort is more important. Ok. She says switch it to Comfort. The roads somehow became a lot less bumpy after that.

Back to animal spotting, we are wondering where all the goats have gone that we saw in the hundreds in this area on our way north. There are far more emu’s than goats on our return trip. They soon began to appear, firstly behind fences, probably farmed, then more frequently on the roadside, we stop to take some photos but the families of Billiy Goats, Nanny Goats and Kids quickly bound into the bush as soon as we stop.

Eventually we reach our destination Cobar, now in NSW, just in front of another rain event that has the clouds opening up again as we pull into our hotel for the night.

Tomorrow we travel to Broken Hill our last stop, a two night one, before crossing the border into our home state South Australia on Saturday.

September 20th 2022

Charleville

A pleasant surprise greeted us last night in Roma, the hotel restaurant had recently reopened. The Chef and his young wife, a Thai couple had just moved to Roma from Brisbane. He had previously worked in Brisbane’s Chinatown but also had a good grounding in western food. Why anyone would move the 475 kilometres from Brisbane to a small outback town like Roma is anyone’s guess, but a lot of internal migration is going on right around Australia at the moment. The menu consisted of both western style and Thai food. We went for the Thai food always a favourite of ours, we were not disappointed.

Once again we wake to a brilliantly sunny morning, the shorts and T shirts are back on again for another day. The drive to Charleville again, is at first open plains with that huge dome of big sky above us, then changing to mulga forest and back again, we feel like we are driving through a huge park as the landscape has sprung to life with spring foliage and the verges are a lush green. in places purple flowers spread out along the roadside. Stray yellow canola that has escaped last years fields also puts on a show of yellow along the highway. It is easy to tell that we have had plenty of rain in the outback this winter season.

This mornings drive takes us in a more or less strait line west from Roma to Charleville along the Warrego Highway for 267 kilometres. We have purposely shortened our journey to arrive in Charleville so that we can visit the Bilby centre in town, where a great deal of work is being done to rehabilitate these small marsupials back into outback Australia.

We arrive early, allowing us to have a further look around the town, we take a walk along the Warrego River that is a muddy brown colour from the recent rains and flooding up stream. We can see evidence of the rivers raging recent past with up rooted trees and branches lodged in the muddy bottom of the now calm stream.

Charleville is also working on the beginnings of a botanic park, with lakes and bridges, featuring native trees and shrubs that are indigenous to the area. Including the architecturally attractive Bottle Tree that is featured so much here in this part of Queensland Towns landscaping. We take some time to walk around the lakes and look at the plantings. Its early days but the park will be of significant value to the people of Charleville and its visitors as the flora matures. The atmosphere is already peaceful with gently running water that cascades down a stepped waterway spilling into the lakes. Turtles sun bake on the rocks, conveniently placed for exactly that purpose, but they are camera shy and plunge into the water as soon as we approach.

Time is approaching our Bilby experience, after topping up the fuel tank at $2.23 a litre we top up our lunch and breakfast supplies. Then check in at our hotel that is conveniently located just across the road from the Bilby centre, located in the old railway station building that also acts as the visitors centre.

The Bilby experience is a fun event, a very animated and passionate young lady gives us a slide show about the Bilby’s demise in Australia. While the little Bilby, about the size of a small rabbit used to range all across the arid dry lands of central Australia. European settlement brought cats for pets that in turn became feral, catching and eating small birds and the small marsupials that lived in these regions. Rabbits also provided food for early settlers but bred “like Rabbits” soon competing heavily for food with the Bilby and other small native animals. Then of course came foxes, brought into control the rabbits they also killed the native animals. All of these imported animals thrived in all regions of Australia leading to the extinction of 34 native species in the past 100 years. This is more extinctions than any other advance western country in the world. A poor record for Australia. The Bilby centre here has not only introduced a breeding program, but has sent progeny out to all the major zoo’s. They have introduced fencing that is electrified and cat proof so that large areas of arid land can be effectively fenced off to feral animals. Giving the Bilbies a fighting chance to regenerate their populations.

We have long supported the Bilby cause, having given away the practice of buying Easter eggs and Easter rabbits, we started buying the Easter Bilby. An Adelaide chocolate manufacturer took up the cause, donating part of the proceeds of the sale of their chocolate Bilbies to the save the Bilby fund. Now a number chocolatiers are following suit. If we can save an Australian icon and eat chocolate while doing so, this has to be good.

Finally we have a chance to meet the Bilbies in person a family of three. Dad, Mum and baby Will, live in an enclosure that simulates night time while allowing us to see them in action. Bilbies are nocturnal and omnivorous, making them hard to detect and study by day. At night they come to life foraging and scampering around looking for small insects and the young shoots of local vegetation. The enclosures are lit by a red light (removed in the video above) that the Bilbies narrow range eyesight can’t see, leading them to believe its night, during the night normal lighting is switched back on and the bilbies retreat to their burrows to sleep. This marsupial has a very short gestation period 12-14 days and leave the mothers pouch at around three months, when the cycle can start again, they can have between one and three young. We are allowed a good viewing, while the still animated young lady tells us more about the features of each of the members of this little family. An hour goes by very quickly, after buying some Bilby souvenirs we cross the road to our hotel.

The heat of the day had risen dramatically during the afternoon into the low 30c (90f) but rain is forecast for tomorrow, expecting to drop the temperature dramatically for our journey to Cobar. The further south we travel the colder it is anticipated to be so we will enjoy the last of the warm weather while it lasts, until spring turns to summer Stirling.

On to Cobar tomorrow…….

September 19th 2022

Rockhampton to Roma

This morning is dull and overcast a complete contrast to yesterdays glorious weather. Rockhampton is softening the blow for us as we prepare to leave. The tropics will soon be in our rear vision mirror, goodbye palm trees, plumeria and hibiscus goodbye to tropical gardens and soft warm  air. Goodbye to the blue oceans of the Coral sea as we head inland for cooler climes.

Amanda has reset the car space for another game of Tetris. In the process finding my long lost thongs, that had believed to have stayed on holiday in Palm Cove. Piece by piece the assorted paraphernalia that makes up our travelling belongings fits neatly into place. 

Again we put our trust in Apple maps, we travelled this way six weeks ago, a simple reverse of procedures seems a simple task, not so. Before we know it we are headed off into the back hills, over the invisible line that marks the Tropic of Capricorn and into dryer terrain. Weaving through the hills, about 38 kilometres from Rockhampton, that form part of the Gelobera State Forest, we come across a town that could double as a movie set for the site of a gold rush town in the late 1800’s. The old Queenslander style houses in untouched original condition dot the hills, perched up on their stilts they line the hilly streets of the town. Mount Morgan is quite big for a small country, well out of the way town, with a population around 2000 people. The buildings are mostly distressed looking with chipped paint and faded facades. We see a steel chimney stack back behind the town so figure that this is indeed a mining town. It is not until we are leaving the town that we see a sign “100 Years of Gold” Seems that a gold mine opened in the town in 1882 and the town grew up around it. Mount Morgan took its name from Frederick Morgan who took out the original gold mining lease. Over the years the mine produced, gold, silver and copper. One man made a fortune from the mine William Knox D’Arcy, he went on to form the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Iran, now known as BP.

The area went on to produce clay bricks for furnaces, that resulted in man made caves that later became known as Fireclay Caverns. Preserved Dinosaur footprints found at the site lined the ceiling of the caverns in nine different locations. Modern testing dated them back to the Early Jurassic. In 1891 3514 people lived in this prosperous little town. Sadly the money all went offshore. The only Gold we found belonged to a shrub, golden grevillea, common name Golden Lyre an Australian native plant.

Unbeknown to us we had travelled the Burnett Highway, that turned out to be an interesting diversion. We continued on to the town of Dululu before connecting up with the Leichhardt Highway again.

We are now making a steady pace south via the Leichhardt Highway retracing our route on the way north. We stop at Theodore for a break, passing by the Dawson River weir we encountered on our way north, only this time the river is flowing much faster. Just as we are leaving the heavens open up and heavy rain descends. One photo has eluded me over the past weeks, that is one of a typical Queenslander house that has restoration work done, taking it back to its former glory. We spot one on our way out of Theodore and so I stop in the pouring rain to take a shot.

The main highway once again takes us through the town of Wowan, we stopped here on our journey north more than a few weeks ago now. Just passed Wowan we come across a field full of camels. Still an unusual and unexpected site in outback Australia, although we all know the story of the Afghan camel drivers that roamed the outback in the 1800’s. Camels are becoming big business in Queensland, with the largest camel Dairy in Australia (Camel milk is now a readily available ingredient in skincare products in Australia with many claimed skincare benefits). Australia has the largest wild camel training centre in the world. In 1840 over 10,000 animals came to Australia, most to South Australia, to assist with exploration, many escaped and flourished, ranging over 70 kilometres a day they quickly became an invasive species in the outback Queensland where the climate suited them most (sounds like someone we know). Every year in July, in the outback town of Boulia, a Camel Race meeting is held, thousands flock to the town to witness the event with jockeys dressed in full riding gear and colourfully patterned silks and caps. Of course it is well known that Aussie’s will gamble on anything that moves so this shouldn’t be a surprise.

The country side around the Mt Isla National Park is densely forested giving us plenty of scenery to look at in this part of the trip, slowly the clouds are left behind and the sky once again turns blue with no sign of bad weather ahead. The temperature again begins to rise as we travel further south. We are back in the Banana Shire, named after the Bull not the Fruit, soon reaching the town of Taroom. The Apple app. wants to take us on a short cut bypassing Miles, we are a little apprehensive, fortunately a large mobile road sign indicated that there is water over the road 5 kilometres ahead. Our decision is quickly made to travel on to another road that also shortcuts through to Roma. Southeastern Queensland and northern NSW has experienced an enormous amount of rainfall over the past 6 months resulting in severe flooding, inundating a number of towns and causing untold damage and misery. The rain keeps coming back, sweeping over the centre of Australia, and now for the third time this year flooding is expected in these normally drought affected outback areas. All of the rivers are up, the usually baked dry earth has absorbed as much moisture as it is able, any further rainfall just feeds into the already swollen rivers, eventually overtaking the flood plains. It is this scenario that provides us with some anxiety.

The turn off to our second shortcut arrives at Wandoan, we stop for a comfort stop at a convenient placed memorial park. Stretch our legs before moving on.

This next cut through road displays no signs of water over the road ahead, its an 85 kilometre shortcut so we decide to take it. The road is good most of the way but narrows down to one lane with gravel shoulders in a number of places. Very awkward for passing road-trains that are not infrequent. We come across one work crew repairing the road, broken up from heavy water flows across it. Numerous creeks present themselves mostly dry after relieving themselves of their load over the sodden landscape around us. The creeks are not forded by bridges of any description, the road just dips steeply over the usually dry creek beds and then rises steeply out of the bed to higher ground again. About halfway though the shortcut that is rapidly becoming less of a shortcut then we anticipated, we come across one such dip in the road but at the bottom the creek is full of muddy water. We stop and ponder what do we do, turn back or go across. The water doesn’t look deep, but it could be a lot deeper than it looks, the water isn’t flowing a real positive. We draw breath and cautiously proceed, while a farmer in a four wheel drive on the other side of the creek crosses over giving us a wave and a wry smile. We make it through no problem the farmer probably having a laugh, its not often he would see city dwellers like us out here in a Mercedes fording flooded creeks in outback Queensland. Continuing on is almost as harrowing, not knowing if worse is yet to come, has us on edge. Never the less we make it through and once again pick up the Leichhardt Highway for the final leg to Roma.

Tomorrow we travel to Charleville for an appointment with Bilby’s, Stay tuned……….

September 17th & 18th

Rockhampton Day 4

We wake up to a hot sunny day in Airlie Beach, too bad we have to move on to Rockhampton where storms are expected later in the day. Before we drive west again to pick up the Bruce Highway we decide to drive the short distance east to Shute Harbour. Shute Harbour takes its name from Shute Island, a small island just 500 meters away south east of the headland. A beautiful sheltered bay ideal for small vessels became the ideal boarding point for ferries between the Whitsunday islands. Now many of the charter boat tour operators favour the harbour, due to the close proximity and easy access to the islands with their various resorts and campsites. Apart from the dock area, the idyllic setting with tropical islands set like emeralds in a turquoise ocean, there is not a lot see. Very few people live here, the facilities are negligible, Airlie Beach and the much bigger town of Cannonvale though are close by. Once the largest seaplane terminal in the southern hemisphere operated from here and small boat traffic rivalled Circular Quay in Sydney. The rapid rise of Airlie Beach with their huge investment in marine infrastructure has no doubt had a detrimental impact on Shute Harbour. We can see that some new home development is starting up, one can imagine waking up every morning to these spectacular views from the surrounding hillsides.

Time to move on again, we drive back from whence we came, through Airlie Beach and back to the Bruce Highway. The temperature continues to rise as we drive further south reaching 33c (96f) before we reach MacKay. After some more hijinks with the Apple Navigation app. on our third try we find a fuel stop that supplies high octane fuel, the first try took us out in the boondocks to a decrepit service station that looked as if it hadn’t sold any fuel this century and the second didn’t exist at all. Back on the highway the weather begins to change, the closer to Rockhampton, the more threatening the heavy dark grey clouds building before us become. The temperature drops 7c and the darkness prompts us to remove our sunglasses. Goodbye summer we fear, our sunny days are over. By the time we reach Rockhampton the rain has started to fall and by the time we reach our hotel we are in the midst of a tropical storm. Thunder and lightening flashes all around us, the intensity of the rain becomes torrential just as we enter the Kortes’s portico. Thankfully we have covered access to reception and to our room, the latter having a convenient carport that we can back into and unload. We are planning a day trip tomorrow, a circular loop from the hotel to Yeppon, Emu Park and back.

Yeppoon Day 5

The next day we wake to clear blue skies, the dark clouds of the night before have disappeared completely, not a cloud in sight. Perfect for our last coastal trip, this time to Yeppoon, Rossyln Bay, Kinka Beach and Emu Park. The shorts and T shirts have a stay of execution for now, as the temperature looks to be in the high 20c’s (70f’s) again. The highly recommended drive by people that know the area, is north of the city of Rockhampton. Just a short drive from our hotel we turn north east for the 30 kilometre drive to Yeppoon. The countryside is lush and rich in vegetation, first settlers must have thought all their prayers had come true, when they first arrived here. First impressions of Yeppoon are of a colourfully landscaped, neat and tidy well laid out town. Queenslanders, at least in these parts revel in their tropical gardens and meticulously mowed lawns that on some properties are parklike.

We have to take care of necessities first, making our first stop a Coles supermarket. Amanda has a list of supplies to take us through the coming outback days as we travel home. Restaurants are hit and miss, making a booking hard work, so many are closed due the lack of staff. Making sure we have breakfast and lunch sorted is a priority. The shopping centre is a new one with probably the best Coles I’ve ever seen, wide isles, well lit, even the shopping trolley behaved itself. The shelves well stocked but range not as extensive as we are used to. Having put that chore out of the way we make our way to the Yeppoon Sailing Club where we have booked a lunch of fish and chips by the sea. The sailing Club is situated on the Esplanade in an elevated position overlooking the beach and the South Pacific Ocean to Great Keppel Island. We arrive early, find a carpark, giving us plenty of time to walk the pathways that run along the main beach area. The beach is wide with golden sand that runs for 1.4km in between low intertidal rocks at the northern end, to the mouth of a small creek at the southern end. As with most beaches along this northern coast line stinger jellyfish are not uncommon but generally don’t appear until November, disappearing again in the following May.

There is a very light breeze above the beach but at the beach’s northern end the lifesaving flags are fluttering and sand is causing a low haze as it is picked up and blown towards the rocks. The rest of the beach is calm with small white foamy wavelets gently rolling in. Despite the perfect beach weather and the fact that it is a Sunday, there are not a lot of people on the beach today.

Time to have lunch, the sailing Club speciality a seafood basket, of prawns, reef fish, scallops and calamari. The window of the upstairs restaurant and bar area that faces the sea is a vista of sand, ocean and islands for the length of the building, quite breathtaking. The crossbars on the window are an indication of the age of the building, no doubt that it has stood in this spot for sometime and has obviously stood the test of time. Not many restaurants in Australia have vistas like the one in front of us.

After lunch, we follow the road south, the scenic drive takes us high above the ocean overlooking Fisherman’s bay and around the rocky hills to Cooee Bay (must be the cutest Aussie name for a town). Overlooking Cooee Bay is a lookout at Wreck Point, with an installation representing a wrecked ship.

The story of Wreck Point, Selina, a transport schooner, washed up on the shores off the coast near present day Wreck point, on its maiden journey from Brisbane in 1847. Disaster hit early on the journey, the full story never will be known, resulting in the Selina losing its crew, no further sightings of the ship occurred until 15 months later. The mystery eventually revealed by marine scientists using maps of ocean currents, they proved that the schooner had wandered for thousands of nautical miles in a huge circle from near the Victorian Coast, before heading towards New Zealand and then heading crew-less again north. The ship finally ran itself ashore, wrecking on the Capricorn Coast, which in turn gave name to Wreck Point.

Then on to Rossyln a small village that sits in a snug corner of Statue Bay. This is the most beautiful coastline we have seen on our trip, islands dot the ocean, tropical green against the tropical blue of the sea. It is fitting that the best is left for last. Then on to Keppel Bay where here too, there is a large marina. Kemp Beach stretches from there to the Capricorn Coast National Park that juts out into the South Pacific. We follow the road, now south along Mulambin Beach that stretches to the tip of a peninsula. Then makes way for an inlet to Causeway Lake that is fed from various creeks running into it from the surrounding hills. A paved roadway runs across the inlet neck as part of the scenic route. Over the Causeway is Kinka Beach that runs for 3 kilometres along Shoal bay. There are a few residences and limited holiday apartments in this area but it is stunning, lacking amenities maybe, but for natural beauty truly wonderful. From Kinka Beach on to Emu Park, truly feels like a you are entering a park when arriving in this coastal village. At Emu Park we find a monument named the “Singing Ship”. A white concrete and steel interpretation of a sailing ship, 12 metres tall. Created and erected in 1970 to mark the bicentenary of Captain Cooks journey to Australia, his discovery and naming of Keppel Bay in May 1770. The Singing Ship is notable for the sound it emits on windy days as the wind whistles through the cables that represent the sailing ships ropes.

The Singing Ship, Emu Park

The Singing Ship sits on the hills high point, a boardwalk takes you around the hills edge allowing a view out to the many islands in this area, 18 in all.

At the end of the boardwalk there is a lookout with a memorial to the Anzac’s of World War 1. A complete timeline with pictures of the places and events that Australians became involved in, in a period our grandparents called the Great War. We leave in a somber mood as we reflect on that war and the freedom we enjoy today, because of those that went before us. It is quite fitting that the memorial is set in a place of such natural beauty, man’s ideologies will come and go but the earth will remain forever.

We leave full of praise for this area, full of stunning natural beauty, the pictures do not really do the area justice. Time to head back to Rockhampton. Tomorrow we are back on the road travelling inland, looking forward to several more adventures as we make our way through the outback in a south westerly direction to Roma.

September 15th & 16th

Day One

Mission Beach to Airlie Beach

There are so many tropical beaches along this beautiful coast line one could spend a lifetime just beach hopping from one to another. Strangely, Amanda and I are not beach people per se, like most children and teenagers we both had our fair share of beach days. Amanda’s on the Detroit lakes and at Newport Beach. Mine on the not so sunny south coast pebbly beaches of England, later at Semaphore and West Beach in Adelaide. Those to my eyes then seemed exotic and heavenly enough. Since those heady days of youth we have grown not so keen on ocean swimming, with the exception of snorkelling in tropical waters, all that salt water usually leaves me gagging after an unintended swallow from a recalcitrant wave,. As for sand, well the gritty stuff ends up in places you wish it hadn’t. Yet we are inextricably drawn to tropical sunny coves and bays, where natures natural beauty is on full display. Just a stroll along a sandy beach, listening to the sounds of the gently lapping surf is enough to satisfy us. Somewhere where swaying palm trees meet the ocean always seems magical. Something primordial stirs, that takes us back to the days when we as a species made our first tentative moves out of the warm life giving seas to start new lives as landlubbers.

Today we travelled the 507 kilometres back along the Bruce Highway to Airlie Beach. I last visited here in 1987 when I drove our two boys Troy & Matt to go on a sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands with Amanda’s late Uncle Brian, her Mother Shirley’s bother. I was keen to show Amanda where we had begun our adventurous trip onboard Discovery a 30′ yacht built more for luxury cruising then racing, all those years ago.

Before we leave we take a quick tour of Mission Beach. Archeology has shown that the Djiru aboriginal rainforest people had lived in the region for 5000 years undisturbed by the western world. James Cook anchored of Dunk island on his way north in 1770, then Owen Stanley followed in 1848 aboard the HMS Rattlesnake. The crew traded with the Djiru people until a crew member shot at them, the crew had tried to make an unwelcome entry into a nearby village. The Djiru resisted and the crew retreated. It wasn’t until 1880 that settlers returned to the region, setting up logging operations and employing aboriginal people, paying them with tobacco and tools. Landholdings began to be established in 1886 at nearby Bingil Bay, farming mangoes, bananas, pineapples, coffee, citrus fruits and coconuts. The local Djiru became heavily reliant on one family of land owners, the Cuttens, who found they couldn’t support the whole clan. The Cuttens threatened to exterminate them, but only went so far as to burn down their camp. The law in these days had the aboriginal labour indentured on government wages but the Cuttens took the money and paid the Djiru in rum, even then highly illegal. Fate intervened when a cyclone hit the area in 1918 destroying the Cuttens plantations. Shortly after the Cuttens started selling out, in the process leaving the Djiru’s to fend for themselves, their previous lifestyle and reliance on the rainforest now forgotten and completely destroyed.

It wasn’t until 1949 that Mission Beach, originally a camping ground became a town with a post office, first established in 1949, a school opened in 1953 but closed after cyclones ravaged Mission Beach and the surrounding rainforest in 2006 & 2011. As a result a great of destruction to local property occurred, the beach stripped of sand and rainforest flattened, leaving a heavy impact on rainforest animals in particular the Cassowary. The shy flightless birds emerged in numbers from the rainforest foraging food.

An investment consortium purchased 200 properties here and on Dunk island in 2019 with the intent of turning the area into a tourism mecca, but by 2020 the Dunk island venture had failed and the consortium came under the scrutiny of the Australian Securities and Investment commission (an Australian government organisation set up to investigate dodgy corporate dealings). Since Covid local tourism has boomed but international tourism is only just returning, albeit very slowly.

As we make our way through the rainforest just outside Mission Beach a Cassowary suddenly emerges from the rainforest, there are signs all along the road warning motorists to look out for these rare flightless birds as many are killed by passing traffic. We slow down and stop and attempt to take a photo, all I manage to capture is the retreating back of this large land locked bird with fine black feathers that from a distant resemble hair. There are many dreamtime stories of the Cassowary, the local one sees the bird flying above the rainforest looking for his home, he lands in a muddy area of rainforest, unable to extricate himself he looses his wings and is forever fated to wander the rainforest looking for the home he only recognises from above. Our sighting is indeed a rare one in the wild, previously we have only seen them in captivity. The Cassowary is closely related to the emu not as tall but can grow to 1.8 metres (6′) but much heavier with powerful clawed feet used for rummaging through debris of the thick rainforest floor looking for its main source of food native fruits and berries.

Back on track we head to the Bruce highway for our long trek south, stopping at Cardwell again along the way for a coffee from the mobile cart there at the beachside.

Continuing on, this time skirting around Townsville, gives us a new perspective on how really large this town has grown. Road works are everywhere with new highways, bypasses and flyovers, sending Apple maps into conniptions as we rely on the navigation app instead of the cars GPS, that is sadly now way out of date.

After a couple of unplanned scenic drives, that give us an insight into the backroad farming districts, we are back on the Bruce Highway. The terrain starts to lose the dense verdant rainforest, drying out, trees sparser on the hillsides with brown dry grasses as an infill taking over from wet tropic ferns. Cane fields and banana’s still dominate but cattle start to make an appearance along the roadside properties.

The constant roadworks slow us down, the Bruce Highway is notorious for road accidents and fatalities, as we ourself can attest after our experience on our way north a month ago. Hopefully all this new work will result in a safer road system as this area grows in popularity. By 5.30pm we arrive at Airlie beach, after a little difficulty locating our hotel we check in for our two night stay.

Day Two

After a a restful night we set out to explore the holiday resort village that is Airlie Beach. From our room we could see the main beach and a man made swimming lagoon. All manner of pleasure craft anchor out in the bay. This is where myself and the boys together with Amanda’s family and friends departed for the Whitsunday Islands, visiting Hamilton and Daydream Islands as well as exploring Whitehaven Beach. Airlie Beach is still the gateway to the Whitsunday islands along with Shute Harbour, most sea traffic to the islands goes through these two towns.

The earliest settler at Airlie Beach, a Scottish farmer named Thomas Abell, took up land offered by the Queensland Government in 1904 with the intent to grow fruit and vegetables, the beach thrown in for good measure but of no real value. Thomas and his wife and nine children thrived in the area, with a number of prominent places named after him. The name Airlie came from his Scottish homeland.

it wasn’t until 1968 that the first motel opened for business, accommodating local tourists visiting the area.

Once out of the hotel door we make for the beach and bay area by way of a series of wide pathways that weave in and out of the parklike foreshore area. The changes are dramatic, the bay seems much smaller, rocky breakwaters offering shelter now line the sides of the bay stretching out into the turquoise blue waters. There are large marina’s on both sides of the bay filled with multimillion dollar yachts and motor cruisers. A housing development still incomplete lines the spit of land that is Boathaven Beach, that separates Airlie Bay and Muddy bay. Impressive homes face the beach and the so called Muddy Bay (definitely a misnomer) on one side and the marina on the other, where we imagine their boats are securely moored. Ferry and Whitsunday day cruise ships regularly leave from a terminal deeper into this part of Muddy Bay.

Walking by the marina three Red tailed Black Cockatoo’s land on a nearby small but large leafed tree, its leaves turning vibrant red before falling to the ground.

To our west the green forested hills of the Conway ranges rise sharply, terraced with apartments, seemingly stacked one complex above another as they climb to take advantage of the view.

In 1987 the Airlie Beach post code became famous for the amount of post office boxes that dole (unemployment payments) cheques went too. The town had become a surfer and hippy hangout where the young and free could spend there time on the beach or in the ocean, rent cheap, camping cheaper with a year round temperature that meant power bills didn’t exist. Today they have departed as the camping sites and caravan parks disappeared making way for more expensive exclusive developments. The feel now is of a wealthy tourist resort town. The real hippies from the the baby boomer years grew up and invested here. Listening to accents along the street, there’s German and British, Amanda’s always has us enjoying good service, shop assistants are always surprised to learn we are from Adelaide not the US. The main street is a gaudy tourist orientated place with restaurants and bars pumping out the latest tune at high volume.

The target market seems to be young well heeled singles, but there is definitely a cohort of our age group. The town would have suffered under Covid restrictions but today a Friday there is plenty of music in the streets, both live and recorded, plenty of people in the shops and at the beach or in the lagoon. A curious item draws our attention here in the main street cars are king it seems, the crosswalks have signs saying give way to cars.

The lagoon opened in 2001, as with all the tropical beaches a jellyfish known as a stinger occupy the waters from November to May making the wearing of a stinger protective suit a necessary requirement, with the lagoon safe swimming is possible all year round. Tomorrow the Queensland school holidays start, we imagine the population will explode over the next two weeks. While Segways might be reserved for organised tours, adults and children whizz by on the system of wide pathways riding motorised scooters, both two and three wheeled varieties, one has to rely on their good sense to pause if you are in their way as unlike bicycles the devices don’t seem to have a bell and are quite silent when running.

That’s a snapshot of a day in Airlie Beach, sunny and hot, tonight we treat ourselves to a seafood dinner at a restaurant named Fish D’Vine. Tomorrow we are back on the road headed for another two night stay in Rockhampton.

PS The fish was divine the chowder advertised to rival San Francisco’s and it didn’t disappoint.

September 14th 2022

We bid farewell to Palm Cove, after in turns both a busy and relaxing stay. Hard to believe it is now 40 days since we left our home in Stirling. The heat and humidity is building in the tropics as we move ever closer to the wet season. News from home is that the weather has remained cool and wet, another La Nina season, the third year in a row, is building sending more moisture across Australia and hopefully not, increased risk of flooding on the east coast, across lower Queensland and Northern NSW.

Our day starts with bright sunshine, temperatures quickly rising to 29c or 88f. We need to be out of our accommodation by 10am but our target is earlier than that. Tracking down all our belongings, packing the car, putting out the trash, etc. etc., all mundane tasks that although mostly completed last night seem to take for ever, or is it that we just move a little slower than we used to. We turn the key in the door to lock position and the ignition in the car to on at about 9.30am. It is not long before we are driving down the Captain Cook Highway heading for the Mamu Tropical Skywalk. Our drive takes us south, skirting Cairns to the west, connecting with the Bruce Highway in the direction of Innisfail. The Bruce Highway runs parallel with the coast but inland along a broad valley floor, ideal for sugar cane production. Some of Queensland’s highest mountains are in this vicinity. Mount Haig, Mount Bellenden Ker, Mount Bartle Frere with a north and south peak is the highest at 1622 metres. All are heavily forested with rainforest that would have come down across the valley floor and to the sea in the days before white settlers cleared the land.

We stop off at Baibinda a town that has a charming railway station with echoes of the past then our journey turns eastward.

Babinda Railway Station

Just before we reach Innisfail to climb into those mountains, the cane fields give way to banana and papaya plantations. The occasional groves of passion fruit vines covering acres across a network of trellises also pass us by, their distinctive white and purple centred flowers standing out against the green of the vine leaves. This all gives way to rainforest, the higher we climb until we reach our destination. The Skywalk site is situated in the World Heritage Wooroonooran National Park.

The Mamu Skywalk is a unique opportunity to explore the rainforest from the forest floor to the canopy, The Skywalk passes through one of the largest remaining continuous stands of complex vine forest on basalt soils in the Wet Tropics. Rainforest plants, insects and bird habitats remain intact, with sweeping vistas of waterways and the rain-forested mountains that surround the area. This rainforest area is linked to the Ma:mu aboriginal tribe that lived here for 2000 generations. 7 generations have seen the rainforest gradually cleared by European settlers but have retained a strong connection to the area, now having control over some of the lands their forebears called home. The Ma:Mu had developed a well travelled network of tracks through the rainforest that linked various camps. They would move seasonally from camp to camp depending on the rainforests food sources. Open cleared areas would be maintained for tribal or clan gatherings. The Ma:Mu had no need to traverse great distances all they needed would be provided for by the rainforest. They constructed primitive housing called Mia Mias, constructed of barbed lawyer cane for frame work (so called because once a lawyer has hold of you then they hang on) (My apologies to the lawyers reading this) with layers of palm fronds covering the frame to make a weatherproof shelter.

This joint venture between the Ma:Mu and private enterprise sees a network of pathways that run through heavily forested terrain. An opportunity became available to build in this protected area after cyclone Larry cut a swath through the park in 2006. Natural areas cleared by the cyclone allowed for minimal impact, materials such as unpainted galvanised steel and recycled plastic became the walkways and boardwalks of today. The gravelled pathways connect to raised cantilevered walkways/boardwalks that hang out over the slopes of the mountains, giving a birds eye view of the rainforest and the picturesque vistas that the elevated height allows.

The walking paths amount to a 1200 metre round trip, with 350 metres cantilevered along the way. At the halfway mark a 350 metre tower rises out of the rainforest, ascending the steel framed tower is by steps made of gridded steel needing at least a moderate head for heights. Amanda watched me ascend staying firmly grounded in the rainforest, the see through steps just not her cup of tea.

The entire experience takes about 2 hours of walking with stops to gasp at the views and study the information provided on local birds, butterflies and animals along the way. The sounds of the rainforest are ever present, cheerful melodious bird calls, shrieks of white cockatoos as they fly overhead. The buzz of cicadas, and other insects as well as croaking frogs. The creature that is on top of most visitors list is the Cassowary, unfortunately a very shy but large flightless bird that keeps to itself in the rainforest. Unlike our humpback whales in Townsville the local Cassowaries kept themselves well hidden today.

Time to move onto tonights destination Mission Beach. We travel east again towards the coast until we reach the Bruce Highway. Then south through, yes more cane fields until again turning east, winding our way through narrow roadways that are cut out of the thick lush rainforest. This is how Palm Cove must have looked before development took hold. Here the rainforest does come down to the Coral Sea at the northern end of the Whitsunday Islands. The Hotel we are staying at is aptly named Castaways, as the town does indeed appear isolated, with rainforest to the west and ocean to the east. A quick walk through reception opens up a scenic view of the Palm tree lined beach and Coral Sea. With Dunk Island on the northern end of the Whitsunday islands in sight a little to our south. The sandy beach itself stretches for kilometres in either direction. After a much needed coffee we stroll a little of the beach.

Then return to our room to rest up before dinner. We enjoy a very pleasant evening listening to the waves ebb and flow just metres away before retiring to our room. As I write the sounds and smells of the sea fill the air through the open balcony doors, the constant repetitive lapping has already sent my dear Amanda to sleep after her stressful night last night packing.

We will have a little time tomorrow to investigate the town further, but are already wishing we had booked more nights here. We travel to Airlie Beach some 600 kilometres tomorrow for a two night stay. Stay tuned as our journey of discovery along the Coral Sea Coast continues..

September 13th 2022

A lot has happened in the last two weeks of our stay since Kylie, the grandchildren Krystal and Tyson together with partners Ken and Bronni with little Lincoln all arrived.

Kylie is team leader with an organised itinerary, first off, the must do historic railway trip up to the rainforest tourist town of Kuranda. Gold Class tickets give us morning tea and a more luxurious railcar, enough morning tea that we are able to miss lunch altogether. The train ride takes us along winding tracks through thick rainforest and through numerous tunnels. We pass by the Baron falls a spectacular waterfall that drops 150 meters (350 feet) into the Baron River below. All the while a warm tropical rain has fallen from the low mountain cloud above and around us, making a declaration that we are after all here in the rainforest realm. Once in Kuranda we split up to walk the streets laden with tourist shops and cafes for some, others take the direct route to view the butterfly farm. The Butterfly farm is a famous sanctuary and breeding place for Birdwing, Cruiser, Lacewing, luminous electric blue Ulysses butterfly’s and other tropical species. Inside their enclosure they fill the air, amazing visitors with a colourful fluttering display. If you standstill long enough you are sure to be subject of a nectar search, especially if you are wearing colourful clothing. The rain pauses for awhile allowing us a couple of hours to wander around, spending some tourist time in the streets of Kuranda before we need to start our journey back to the coast. Kuranda is also connected to Cairns by a cable car system named Skyrail, supports and cables takes us across 7.5 Kilometres of rainforest treetops, where if you are game you can look down into the rainforest eco system spotting babbling brooks, tropical birds and butterfly’s. Our journey this time is hampered by continuous rain, raindrops ball on the cable car windows creating little lenses of reflected rainforest making viewing difficult on our way back down to the plains.

Another busy day sees early nights for the visitors, they will have a day off the following day enjoying Palm Cove until we meet up again on Sunday.

Meanwhile we take a trip to Cairns Botanic Gardens.

Sunday is Fathers Day in Australia, the day starts with a drive to Port Douglas about 45 minutes north of Palm Cove along some of the most beautiful Coral Coast coastline.

The town of Port Douglas has a fascinating history, established in 1877 after the discovery of gold nearby, the Port Douglas Post Office opening on 1st September 1877. The Town quickly grew and at its peak Port Douglas had a population of 12,000 with 27 hotels. A state school opened in 1879, but when the Kuranda Railway opened from Cairns to Kuranda the town’s significance dwindled along with its inhabitants, a cyclone in 1911 further added to the towns woes wiping out most of the town’s buildings save a few sturdily built ones. Significant ones such as the main wharf, courthouse and Catholic church had to be rebuilt, the Chinese population never saw their temple rebuilt though. By 1962 Port Douglas had become a sleepy fishing village with a population of 100.

Today the town is a thriving holiday-retirement destination sporting world class hotels and restaurants. The population of 3500 hasn’t reached the heady days of the gold rush but during the dry season May to September the towns population easily doubles. For us the famous market beckons, every Sunday a large market springs up on a beach front park, hundreds of visitors wonder through inspecting the mainly arts, crafts and hand made products on offer. Amanda is by now well known by one skilled jewellery designer who has manned a stall at the markets for many years, we make a bee line in that direction so that now other members of the family can try her wares.

Back in Palm Cove we enjoy a very special, for me Father’s Day dinner, having daughter Kylie, Grandson Tyson, himself having his first Fathers Day, with Bronni, Granddaughter Krystal and Partner Ken and Great Grandson Lincoln all together is a rare treat.

The next time we come together we are off to the Cairns Aquarium. The aquarium is situated in the heart of downtown Cairns. In another tale of Gold Rush times, it wasn’t until the discovery of gold by the early explorers that the development of Cairns began. Officially founded in 1876 as a frontier town to support the gold rush. The city took its name from the State Governor of the day, Sir William Cairns. The original site for Cairns laid on a sandy bank lined with dense rainforest and mangroves. Cairns looked like it would never be raised out of the ground until the Queensland government chose the site as a starting point for a railway line that would service the flourishing Atherton tablelands. The line would provide a transport route for tin and timber to be shipped to southern ports. The gold rush ultimately began to die out and the people of North Queensland began to look for other ways to make a living. The flat coastal lands became major sugar cane plantations. Cairns continued to thrive with fishing and pearling becoming large industries along the way. Now a fast growing city with a distinctively tropical flavour and an international airport. Cairns has become a destination for lovers of the tropics from all over the world. Usually very evident by the huge number of young backpackers that flock here to sight see and boost the local workforce in the dry tourist season. Sadly those backpackers are missing, save a few, that either stayed on and made it through the pandemic or are newly arrived as Australia gradually opens up.

The Aquarium doesn’t disappoint with both freshwater and Coral sea exhibits, amazing living corals and sea anemones as well as rainforest water loving snakes, frogs, fish and lizards. One feature of the aquarium’s tanks is a walk through glass tunnel where tropical fish, Manta rays, sharks and other sea creatures swim all around and above you. So clear is the glass that you need to reach out and touch it to allay any fears of shark attack. We all meet for lunch at the restaurant where a huge tank forms one wall, it’s a seafood restaurant, is this a visual menu? Once seated at our table we have a constant view of the antics of a colourful array of tropical fish. One Trigger fish repeatedly shows off his skills as a limited chameleon, changing colour from black to white, while resting from short sharp dashes around the tank in a volcanic rocky hollow. Meanwhile a diver clad in a full wetsuit, goggles and mask, tethered by an air hose vacuums up any fish waste from the crystal clear waters. Oh, and the food is good too! I decide to have squid as I don’t see any of their kind gazing accusingly at me.

The next adventure for the visitors is Green Island, Green Island is one of the most popular destinations on the Great Barrier Reef. This 12ha island is a true coral cay formed over thousands of years by the build-up of sand and coral rubble deposited on the calm side of a platform reef. The ferry ride is just 45 minutes making Green Island a relatively close option for first visitors to the reef. From the beach, there one can snorkel swim or catch a glass bottomed boat to view the coral and tropical fish without entering the water oneself. Ideal for little Lincoln. As we have had various visits to the outer reef we decide not to go with the kids on this visit. Instead deciding to spend the morning in Cairns checking out the new city works along the esplanade that have taken place since our last visit pre Covid in 2019. The local government haven’t wasted anytime, the entire length of the esplanade has had a make over enabling the area to be more people friendly and less attainable to vehicle traffic. The restaurants that line the esplanade, once the hang out of backpackers look decidedly more sophisticated. A few outlets remain where a visitor on a budget can pickup a cheap meal, but like every facet of the consumer market in Australia prices have skyrocketed.

Away from the esplanade, alongside the Marina a large building housing a hotel once operated as a tourist mall with art Galleries, various shops and a mini clothing market. At one end the hotel still operates but the mall space, although surrounded by busy restaurants overlooking the Marina is now practically empty. One remaining occupied shop draws our interest, not a shop at all but a display area for a wonderful array of model buildings, in fact it is a replica of historic Cairns from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s the amount of work on the exterior of the building models is phenomenal, with some having internal detail as well. The model builder switches off, the overhead light and switches on the internal model buildings lights and the town comes alive. Not only are there the usual major civic buildings but also Chinese temples and shanties from gold prospecting times. A Chinese visitor is taking a deep interest, seems an ancestor once lived in Cairns during the depicted era.

Some expansion of the Marina area has occurred since ur last visit, with a floating heliport, sitting on the mudflat’s that are a feature of the Cairns harbour. When the tide is out the muddy sand is in constant movement as mud crabs scurry about their muddy business. A seafood restaurant we visited in 2019 still remains floating along side a wharf in the Marina, the floating restaurant only sells fresh seafood, that is, it is uncooked sashimi style or simply plunged into boiling hot water for seconds, placed on ice to cool and served, the restaurant is unique. Fresh Oysters from the shell, king prawns, scallops and lobster are among the crustaceous fare. Situated on series of small fishing boats moored together, aptly named Prawn Star 1, 2 & 3 etc., as the restaurant grows they just add another boat. That slightly rocking motion makes an interesting walk to your rudimentary table with the possibility of walking the plank across several boats before finally being seated, but all very worth the visit. Definitely good to see them flourishing, a testament to the experience, on this occasion however we pass them by.

Instead finding a coffee shop over looking the mudflats between the Marina and Cairns with the rain-forested hills beyond. Amanda and I enjoy a coffee as we watch aircraft disappear into and emerge from the lush mangroves that surround the Airport further north along the coast.

Time to move on we walk back along the esplanade, alongside the man made lagoon where children play in the cool waters and young adults tan themselves on the surrounding lawns.

A new feature on the esplanade is a large Ferris wheel with lantern shaped gondolas, lights flicker as it wheels around, but today their are not too many riders at this early part of the afternoon.

We wander back to the car through the city seen through new eyes, thanks to our miniature model maker we can now identify several of the original historic buildings on the way.

The evening brings dinner with some old friends from Melbourne that we met through our involvement with a development on Kangaroo Island. Like us Palm Cove holds a special place in their hearts but unlike us they purchased a property here and now live here during the dry season returning to Melbourne only for the the southern summer. Each year on our visits we always catch-up with them for dinner and tonight they have chosen a restaurant in Cairns. A chance for us to see a little of Cairns by night. We enjoy a wonderful tropical night, with great food and conversation. Ron and Lorna are an amazing couple in their 80’s and still enjoying life to the full. Inspiring indeed.

Tyson, Bronni and Lincoln are frequent visitors to Trivia street, Lincoln enjoys the privacy of his own pool.

Kylie & Co. take in Mossman Gorge a 56,000 hectare area within the World Heritage Listed Daintree National Park. About a 50 minute drive north is best known for its spellbinding beauty. Tree-clad mountains rise sharply from the riverbanks of the Mossman Gorge and set the scene at the spectacular entrance to Daintree National Park. This is the spot where crystal-clear waters tumble over ancient granite boulders and the Kuku Yalanji people happily share their culture, stories and legends through Dreamtime walks and tours. This is beautiful area one that we have visited numerous times with family and friends over the years, Tyson and Krystal have childhood memories of visiting there in 2005 and are interested in renewing their acquaintance with the area. Meanwhile grandpa and grandma relax back in Palm Cove as the weather becomes decidedly warmer. Everywhere we look the Hawaiian influence is pervasive, Hawaiian shirts for sale, a Tommy Bahama store even our morning juice is an Aloha blend.

Kylie and company’s time in Palm Cove came to an end too quickly, we meet them on the beach the night before they leave to watch a fireworks display, but not before visiting our favourite ice cream kiosk. The display is to be put on by a private wedding party, but since a public warning notice is required to be displayed around the village holidaymakers turn out in numbers. The night is perfectly still, the full moon rises out of the sea reflecting glittering moonlight across the ocean, the tide laps at our toes as we watch the fireworks start up down the beach about 50 metres from where we are standing. Starting slowly the colourful explosions gradually climb higher and higher into the velvet night sky. Filling the air with smoke tinted colour. Until the last largest, loudest firework explodes raining down shards of white fire that is extinguished before it reaches the moon rippled sea. A fitting farewell to Kylie & Co. The next day sees them flying out with grandpa and grandpa giving a hand with the luggage before we drive back to Palm Cove to enjoy the last few days of our time here and prepare for our ten day adventurous journey home.

Farewell to Palm Cove for us also comes too quickly, tomorrow we drive the 167 kilometres to Mission Beach stopping along the way to trek the Skywalk boardwalk just outside of Innisfail……..to be continued.