Winton to Ilfracombe 17th - 25th April

Thursday 17th
 

 
     Drove back into Winton today, to the Tattersals Hotel Van park for a day or two to do a bit of touring around the town. Found some funny things, like this old Fordson Major sitting at a park at the western entrance to the town (no idea why they painted it these colours though)

      Then in a private residence this old tow truck which I found hilarious, all in the fun of the town, I guess!




I visited the Corfield and Fitzmaurice building, it is heritage listed,one of Australia's most perfectly preserved old style general stores and has quite a display inside, this one of all the old miners tools etc took my fancy, they also had a full size Dinosaur display depicting the dinosaur stampede at Lark Quarry, 95 million years ago, apparently this huge one caused a stampede of all the other dinosaurs and left all the footprints in the mud which is on display now. We didn't go out and have a look, quiet a long way on very rough gravel road.


Went walking around town, discovered this wall," Arno's wall" it is called, it reaches two metres high and is 70 metres long. Made of concrete and rock bought in from Arno's opal mine and is studded with old lawn mower parts, boat prop's and all sorts of machinery as well as the kitchen sink.

      Also visited the birth place of Qantas, situated in the Winton club, it was the first meeting place of the Qantas board. It is told that the second meeting was held in Longreach because it was too wet for them to get to Winton, now there is plenty of conjecture as to who has the right to spruik about being the Qantas beginning, I don't know, I'll leave it to them!!
   
    Saturday 19th
     Went to Longreach today.

    We were going to camp for one night at one of the rest area's on the way
to Longreach, but when we stopped at the first one the flies nearly picked us up and carried us away, same at the next one so we proceeded all the way to Longreach along these extremely long straight roads that are the norm' around these parts we have discovered, they're all the same, long-straight-no feature, but all is good. Arrived at the town of Longreach about 2pm, and ended up driving back about 4km to a rest area called the Longreach waterhole which is a straight stretch of the Thomson river, allowing a maximum of 4 days stay, set up camp by 3pm and had a cold one.

      Monday 21st
     Dawned a beautiful day again, this photo is the Thomson river at daybreak from an old bridge over the river next to the camping area. There is a huge area here, not all for camping but about 1000 acres of dirt tracks to discover the area and the locals kids use it a lot for trail bike riding.

     Went for a drive with the puppies about 5km up the Longreach-Muttaburra road, 2km of very corrugated gravel road, to have a look at Lilly Lagoon. A very nice area but no camping, would be delightful to camp here though. The lagoon has these trees all through it and a few lilies were in flower, very pretty they were too.
Tuesday 22nd
Had a neat 3 days at the waterhole. The long weekend is over so will replenish the larder in Longreach this morning and are heading for Ilfracombe, only about 20km down the road. Staying at the Ilfracombe Caravan park for a few days and checking out this little town which seems steeped in heritage and displays of old days gone by.
         
              Wednesday 23rd

This photo of early morning over the country side in Ilfracombe was my first morning sight in the area, very nice but the country is so devoid of much flora, the farming land is pretty dry still.

Walked the length of the town today, the buildings are well preserved, this is the Wellshot centre which is actually the information centre, housing a wealth of heritage stuff, out side is the town lock-up and this old boundary riders hut which was in use back then for  accommodation for the workers who looked after the outer area's of the station, very basic and tiny, but that was the way it was.







The whole of the main street, (which is the highway through) is a museum on it's own, there is a mile of machinery, vehicles and exhibits of all kinds. The general store has a coffee shop and some basic grocery items and lovely stuff all through. This picture gives an idea of how many items of machinery and vehicles there are in the one mile of museum on the road side all the way along the length of the main street.


    Also a cottage full of Bottles. This is the collection of Hilton and Ike Jackson, brothers. This is only a small part of the collection, as down the road a bit is a shed, chokers full of bottles, any kind that you could think of is here I reckon. I met Hilton Jackson while having a look at this huge mass of stuff, also there are rocks, hubcaps, petrified wood, chains etc, etc and he has been collecting all the goodies for over 43 years. An amazing collection.

          Thursday 24th
    
Another day of taking it easy. Ilfracombe is an amazing little town, the locals are friendly and I think I walked the whole town. Went and had spa this afternoon, it is an artesian bore, the water is very warm to hot, and is supposed to have medical properties, the only thing I can think that it did for me, was make me very tired, but it was a great way to spend a half hour or so, then cool off in the cold water swimming pool.

              Friday 25th
Our last day in Ilfracombe. will spend the day making sure I have seen it all and I suppose we will have to prepare to head off in the morning, we are going to another little outback town, Isisford. will get back to you on that experience later. Catch you soon.

 

Burdekin Falls Dam & onward 2nd to 16th April

3rd April
     Arrived at the Burdekin Falls Dam caravan park before lunch today, set up camp and spent the afternoon relaxing except for unloading the Jimny ready to have a look around tomorrow.

     Friday 4th
     Took a drive to the top of the dam spillway this morning, took this photo, it is absolutely spectacular!!
After admiring it for some time we drove to the boat ramp to check out fishing possies, found plenty of good looking places to put the red claw pots and to catch a fish or two, all happening tomorrow.

    Yeah! the fishing is good, Caught this beauty Grunter this morning before breakfast, after Jim put the Yabbie pots in to soak for a while, hopefully they will do as good.







     Next morning found 5 Yabbies in the traps, I caught a couple of sleepy cod, fantastic eh? Some of the red claw where giants, as the picture shows, with Jim doing his best to keep a grip on them,
(ha ha!!)

    

I was in for a treat, talking to the ranger about the dam spillway I  mentioned that I would like to go to the bottom of the dam wall (the road is closed because water is over the road) he said I could walk down if I wished, but offered to take me down in his Ute, well, I jumped at the chance.

It was AWESOME!! I never imagined the power of the water, but it's pretty Awesome all right. Got my photo taken beside the spillway to prove I'd been there and done that. Dan (the ranger) offered to take Jim down if he wanted, I said I was sure he would love to, so he is picking Jim up tomorrow.

 

Monday7th

     True to his word the ranger took Jim to the bottom of the spillway, only he was luckier than me, Dan took him inside the dam wall. Jim said it was very loud with the sound of the water rushing over the wall and he looked through a tunnel which runs the length of the wall and was showed some of the workings of the hydraulics and other stuff. He was very impressed and also said it was AWESOME! when he got back to camp.

 

     Another great day had by all, caught 5 more red claw and 3 grunter today. Bring it on!!

 

Tuesday 8th

     We may run out of beer! (oh no), have to take a trip into the nearest place to replenish the drinks and that place is Ravenswood, 80 km back up the road. Loaded the pup's in the Jimny and set off. Ravenswood is a mining town so not much there, this photo is of the only shop we could find and it was closed!! oh well, we had a drive around and a look at the mine site

which entailed a walk up a hill to overlook the hole in the ground filled with water,(looked like a good swimming hole but couldn't find the gate to get in and it never had a diving board). The town has 2 pub's, a post office and the little shop, that was all!. The post office had a few grocery items, of which I purchased some.

We went to one of the Pub's to procure the needed carton of beer and headed back to the dam and camp.

     On the way in we encounted  a mob of cattle being mustered, they were still there on the way back, a huge mob which we had to manoeuvre our way through, not hard really. They were a fine looking lot of cattle and would probably bring a nice price at the sales.  We took the rest of the day off relaxing (again).The next couple of days were spent fishing and walking, I even washed the Jimny of Thursday, badly needed it, he was coated in cow sh-- from the trip to Ravenswood. Anyway, the word is, there is a cyclone headed for the coast up by Cooktown, due to cross late Friday evening and we expect to experience flooding, not knowing how the local creeks and rivers react in flood times we have decided, (regrettably) to head west again on Friday.

 

Friday  11th

Back on the road. We stopped for breakfast at Macrossan, there is a free camp here but have decide to go to Charters Towers to restock the larder and everything before carrying on west. The rail bridge over the Burdekin dam very impressive and the river is running fairly fast at present (something to do with the rain we have had). We stayed over night at the

Gold City Roadhouse, treating ourselves to takeaway for dinner. On the way in to Charters Towers this old boat is sitting in a paddock beside the road, it is pretty funny and I can't resist taking photo's of strange and weird things, so that brings another day to close.

 

Saturday 12th

On the road to Corfield and eventually Winton, stopped at Campaspe rest area for breakfast and a nanny nap then on to Prairie overnight to catch up with the guy's at the Pub. Had to take time to have a chat with the guy's at the fruit stall in Pentland on the way through.

 

Sunday 13th

One month to the day since leaving Kooroorinya, we are on our way to explore more of this great land.  Heading for Winton (eventually) we paused in Hughenden to grab a bit of fresh fruit before  cruising down the Hughenden - Winton road. The country-side is pretty sparse with (notably), not much in the way of big trees, as this pic' shows which I took through the bus window.

Parked at Stamford for a rest stop, Stamford used to be a major rail link for the cattle industry but is deserted now.
     On to Corfield, home of the famous once a year Corfield Cup horse race day, the Pub is the only thing there, with 5 private residence and the free camp that we stayed at, and, of course, the race track, but I couldn't find it, must be here somewhere!! Oh well we had a lovely afternoon, Jim had a beer or two at the pub while I went mad with the camera again. Mother Nature was smiling on us with this beautiful rainbow over us, then later in the evening the sunset was superb.

 

 

Monday 14th

Carrying on to Winton today, I did a bit of the driving for a change, experienced some yukky road works on getting close to Winton and the under side of the bus is caked with sticky black soil mud. Did not much enjoy driving in the conditions and handed the driving back to Jim as soon as I got the opportunity. On to Winton where we discovered a flat tyre on the trailer, off to a Tyre repair shop to get it fixed, it had picked up a screw, Oh, the joys of travelling!, no drama, all in the fun of it.

Went to the Information centre to gather some literature about Winton, parked out the back of the information centre to have a cuppa, then to The Long Water Hole, a man made waterhole which is available for free camping, only a couple of km out of town. This photo of the water hole has some menacing looking storm cloud over the back.

 

It is a very beautiful place although there isn't much here except for the water, you need to be fully self contained to camp here. The ground is mostly dirt and the first night gave us a couple of showers of rain which turned it to sticky mud the next morning and caked the pup's feet(and mine) terribly, much to Yips disgust, she wasn't keen on it at all, but seemed to thoroughly enjoy the open area to run around in, as did Dot.

 

We will spend a few days here probably, unless the threat of rain becomes too great, but it doesn't look as though it will.

 Tuesday 15th

The day has dawned a great sight for my eyes, as the above photo's show. The reflections in the water are a beautiful way to start the day.

Been having a ball again, cooking on the camp fire, and all the good things in life. Haven't had much rain and we have had the whole place pretty much to ourselves, it is so peaceful and quiet, where else would we want to go. The weekend is coming up and we reckon it might get a bit crowded as it is the Easter long weekend public holiday, so we will be moving on again in a day or so.

That's it for now, see you later.

 

 

 

 

Left Burdekin Falls Dam

Friday 11th
     What a week we had at Burdekin falls Dam, the weather was perfect, the fishing was great, the setting absolutely beautiful.

      Here is a sneak preview of the views we have been enjoying, there are more, I will get them together later and show you.

     We are now at Charters Towers again, have restocked the larder and will refuel tomorrow before heading west to where ever we get to. There is a cyclone off the coast of Cape York due to hit land fall tonight over Cooktown, it is a category 5 system, NOT nice, with winds up to 300km an hour and lots of rain, that is why we have left the dam area 'cause the road in, is subject to flooding and we didn't want to get stuck there, not to mention the fact that we don't want to be any where near anything that looks like a cyclone ever again after going through cyclone Yasi, so we can keep driving for as long as we need to make sure we don't have to.
     I will catch up with all the happenings at the dam at a later date, with all my photo's to show, catch you then.

Travelling again 1st & 2nd April

Tuesday 1st
Still in Townsville at present, waiting to get parts for the bus which is one of the items we came to Townsville to achieve, unfortunately for us there are no filters available in Townsville and are waiting to get them up from down south.
     In the mean time, we have been camping in the workshop, we have camped in some unusual spots but this has got to top the lot for originality, although I couldn't recommend it to any-one, The view out the window (see photo of truck) leaves a little to be desired and the bird song isn't exactly what I would call beautiful to say the least.
    

But it's not all bad, we have been doing some walking and sightseeing with the pups and there is this neat man-made lake which the pups reckoned was great for swimming. The hill in the background is the famous Castle Hill, the views from up there are fantastic. Also enjoyed watching the bird life on the lake, There were plenty of them around.
     The bus is finished by midday and we went a couple of blocks to Currajong, spent the night there with a friend.
   
Wednesday 2nd
       Packed the Jimny on the trailer this morning and travelled to Charters towers. Will refuel etc tomorrow and are going out to the Burdekin Dam for a week or two. Supposed to be good fishing, so after getting a permit from  here in Charters Towers, that is where we will be. There is no mobile phone or Internet coverage out there so will be off the air for a while, catch you later.

Resuming our travels

     Most of the first couple of weeks of March were spent getting ready to depart Kooroorinya and taking it easy, walking the dogs, watching the water in the creek, (seeing as how there is water in the creek now).
      We left on Thursday 13th only going as far as Prairie for a couple of nights, to farewell all we have met since being in this part of the country. Took a walk to Prairie creek one hot afternoon and found this great old tree, it's a Grey Box, I was impressed with the trunk being so gnarly looking I had to photograph  it for prosperity (or something)

 


     Saturday morning (early) we headed to Charters Towers to replenish the larder, Fuel and drinks. Stayed one night, not big on big centres and one night is enough.

     On Sunday morning we filled the water tanks at this nice park here and headed to Fletcher Creek which is a free campsite that one can stay for up to a month at a time.

We stopped on the way to collect some firewood, as we planned to have a camp fire  and are pretty much guessing that most of the available wood will have already been burnt at the camp area. Continued on, only taking about an hour and a half to reach our destination, we were here in January 2013 on our first trip in the bus, so knew what to expect and I had already picked where  I wanted to park up. We set up camp intending to spend a few days here. Talking to a bloke passing, who had just put some Yabbie pots in the creek, I asked "Red Claw" he replied "Yeah".
Anyway I am excited! I haven't tried red claw yet, so I put our 2 traps in to have a go.
     Monday morning after walking the Pup's I checked the traps with a bountiful ONE (only) red claw, which I cooked on the fire that evening, not greatly impressed with the taste, but nice enough. On Tuesday Morning I got 6 good size keepers, 1 throw-back and a fish(also throw-back) I boiled these this time and Jim had them for dinner. The creek is very pretty and the water was not too cold when I ventured in for a swim with the dogs. On Wednesday morning I got another 3 which I put in the fridge as we are leaving today, 'cause it looks like it may rain and we would get bogged very quick in this country.
      We took our time packing up and headed for Stockyard Creek which is on the Hervey Range Road on the way down to Townsville, only trouble is we couldn't find the camping area where it is supposed to be, passed what may have been the area but not enough room for us anyhow. Continuing on we stopped for drink break mid morning and carried on down the Range road.
     This photo is from the top of the Range looking down on Townsville.

We spent some time admiring the view and continued on to Saunders Beach, on the northern side of Townsville.

 

 

     It's a small camp area but nice and close to beach. In between showers I walked the pups, threw in a line in the hope of catching something and just took it easy, (I never caught anything either) no one minded the wet at all, certainly not the bird life. We spent 2 nights here the decided that with the weather the way it is showery and

overcast, it wasn't doing anything for the solar, so went to the Black River caravan park to spend maybe a week or so. I have to get a check-up on my knee's on Thursday and we will get the bus registered for another 12 months, take the pups into the vets for their vaccinations, etc.



The van park is above the Black River, which the photo shows.
     The track down to it was pretty treacherous but I decided to take a chance and made my way down this very steep and slippery track to give the pups a swim. Well the last 15 odd metres I slid down in all fours - backwards!! That was an experience and a half, now I had to figure a way of getting back up again. O.K. ,- I made it, but took a different route.
   
    It is very pleasant here and plenty of places to walk the pups, one of those places is the Paint-ball shooting range where this funny old-time western town is set up, I'm probably not supposed to be wandering around here, but nobody is here, so no worries about getting shot at.(I hope!!)

That's another month gone, it's good to be back in our bus and taking a look around again. Not sure where our travels will take us next month, have a bit of a plan, but all plans subject to change at short notice. Check in next month to find out where we went.   Hooroo.


3rd to 25th February Still in Kooroorinya (it has rained!)

                                            
                         YES!!  



Our back yard when it started to rain on Wednesday night
 

     We have had some more rain, a little, off and on up until Wednesday 19th when we had a doozy of a downpour over night and more up to Friday 21st, making a total rainfall of about 110 mm over the 3 days. I didn't think we would see it,  but, Kooroorinya falls are flowing, and flowing with a rush and a roar. When it started on Wednesday night, we thought "beauty, a decent downpour, this will put some water in the creek!"





Add caption

The photo on the right shows the waterfall back in August when there hadn't been any
rain around here for 6-7 months.      We thought the creek would have some water in it the next morning and it did, at 7am on Thursday morning, the level was 1.5 metres below the weir and by just after 7.30am it was flowing over the top and gaining momentum by the minute, WOW! never imagined that could happen so quick.




Have a gander at this photo, it was taken from about the same position as the one taken in August, what a difference a day makes, I took it this morning, Friday 21st. Magnificent isn't it?  I am just amazed by how fast the water came up, made me realise what it means when you mention flash flooding in water ways. Nothing like that here though, just very fast rising of the water in the system up stream which filled our end of the creek really nicely.

This picture is at the top of the falls where the weir is, or was, it's disappeared under water for the time being.
     We went to retrieve a rope that was over the other side before it came up, but we left our run a bit late, have to get it when it goes down again, maybe, if it's still there.

So, that's all good news for the farmers in the area, a lot of relieved people around now, you can see it in their faces and hear it in their voices when you meet any of them, or talk to them on the UHF radio or the phone.
    
     I have really noticed the difference  from a month ago, the grass is green, and there are wild flowers popping up all over the racecourse and the camp ground. I have been madly taking photos of them and so far have 16 different ones, they are all weeds I guess, but beautiful you would have to agree.


    Also been taking shots of some of the wildlife that we come across while out on our walks. Like this Blue tongue lizard that the dogs uncovered on the middle of the racecourse, they wanted to have a go at it, but not on! I made them come away, then took this shot, it was pretty riled up and wanted to have a go at me when I got too close with the camera.




    
     Then there was this bug which was on the patio one day, I think it looks like a huge Cicada, but have no real idea what it is, just that it is very big and pretty. I let it go again into the garden.








     Have been having a lot of fun with my camera, taking shots of anything that catches my fancy. The moon was looking really pretty going down one morning when I headed out with dogs and ended up with this shot over the racecourse.








     Then, back in January before it rained, this image appeared before my eyes. I thought that it typified the colours of the outback with the stormy looking clouds behind it and the almost dead tree, couldn't resist.
      Not quite a month later, when I was near the same place, the tree is covered in leaves now and a little greenery has appeared under and around it. Nature is a spectacular thing!!

February is almost done, as is our time at Kooroorinya, it has been a lovely 6 months here but I am itching to get back on the road again and we intend to continue our travels on the 13th March, heading for Townsville for my knee's check-up  on 27th.
     One of the greatest things to happen to us while here was to find our adorable Kooroorinya Kelpie puppy, Yip.  She is really developing into a fantastic companion, not only to Jim and I, but Dot, our other adorable puppy, gets along with her beautifully. Yip is learning a lot from Dot and her training is coming along well, still along way to go yet, but as we know, they don't fully develop until they are 2 years old.
     So hopefully for the local farmers we will get some more rain yet, we will follow the weather to suit our needs, as we can, (don't like too hot-cold-wet-dry la la la la la, - sorry !)

     Anyway, take care and catch you next month with more of my titillating stories, chow.
    

20 January to 2nd Febuary Kooroorinya

Just taking it easy still.
                  The GOOD NEWS is it has rained at last!!!
Last weekend we had a shower each afternoon on Sat. and Sun.  giving us  about 10 ml over the two days. It was quite unbelievable on Monday morning to see the grass that had sprouted  almost over night. Then on Friday and this weekend we have had more, maybe
40 ml to date, that makes about 50 ml so far this year and it seems as though we will get more yet. It is amazing to note that the 50 odd ml we have had so far exceeds the total rainfall around these parts for the whole of 2013. Now we look around and it is becoming very green, the grass is coming along fast and furious, some parts are over an inch high already, next thing we will have mow the lawn!!  (Oh Oh)
     Had another visitor to our garden the other day, a Sand Goanna again, about 1.3 metres long, a different one I think than our last visitor. It spent quite some time digging it's supper out of the garden, couldn't see what it was eating but it had a feast, then waddled off into the paddock again. WOW! all sorts of wildlife around here eh?
     With it being so dry I feel that the Kangaroo have been doing it tough too, there aren't as many around as there were a couple of months ago, maybe it has something to do with Yip and Dot, our beloved puppies, who are doing a great job of chasing them away from the garden and camp area.
      Jim went into Hughenden on Friday and I washed the car before he went, to make it look like someone owned it, waste of my effort since it rained, now its red mud colour again instead of white. Oh well  if that's the biggest problem I have I don't have much to worry about.
       All is good, catch you all next blog time.

1 to 20 Jan Kooroorinya

Not much to tell really, still having a ball at Kooroorinya, still no rain, no happy campers, so not much to do. Spending our days walking the pup's, resting and taking it re-e-eally easy!!




Had a friend stay for a couple of days from the coast and we did the sight seeing bit around the gorge etc and she took this not very flattering photo of me with the pup's at the creek.

 

 

 

Dot and Yip are getting along really well, Yip is still finding out that the water is fun to be in but not too keen on the mud, although she gets pretty muddy on occasion.

We come across all kinds of things while walking and I finally got close enough to this creature to take a photo of it. An echidna, there plenty of them about and the pup's still try to catch them and end up with bloodied snouts occasionally

All is good in our world except that we need some rain, the creek is very low and evaporating each week, it is our water supply for the camp and house, we are doing O.K. so far, but are watching our use of water at all times.

My knee's are coming along well, keeping up with exercises each day, not much pain now, just discomfort with stiffness, should be running soon!
     That's all for now.

New Years day 2014

Happy new year,
Day one has dawned hot and dry here at Kooroorinya. Have been experiencing 40+C temperatures
here over the last few days so I guess we are in for another hot one today.
     Jim spent the end of 2013 fighting fires on the Moorinya National Park, which borders Bogunda station. Had a very long day of it but all is good and the fire is under control. Came home this morning tired and dirty but well. Catching up on some rest just now, will all be good for the rest of day. 
    Here's looking forward to a great year.

Life at Kooroorinya and Christmas

Life is good !!
     Much of our time is spent relaxing, it is so dry our here and the water in Towerhill creek is going down every day, we have to be a bit careful with our water consumption now as it comes from the creek, although we have two rain water tanks, we need rain!! The camping area is devoid of visitors because it so dry, although we did have a couple of travellers just after Christmas on their way through to where ever they were going.
     Jim had a busy couple of days when he gave a hand to muster Bogunda Station's cattle off the Moorinya National Park, which they had the use of until Christmas but had to get off the national park by then.  A very long day for him and he came home buggered but happy, thoroughly enjoyed the challenge
     The park is 85,000 acres and there were 2 or 3 stations with cattle on it making it a big muster, there were 2 helicopters, 13 motor bikes, 4 Quad  bikes, 4 ute's  and about 25 people, not to mention the ladies who supplied food and drinks for the whole gang.
     We have been shopping into Hughenden a couple of times and make an overnight stay at the Prairie Pub, taking the bus in to stay the night, saves having to drink and drive, not to mention the Kangaroos which a menace early evening,  morning and night as they are so stupid that they try to out run any vehicle, then decide to cut across in front of you, much to their demise and sometimes much damage to the vehicle. We had one altercation while in the Jimny resulting in a $3500.00 insurance claim, and once in the bus, but the bus was up to the challenge sustaining no damage at all.
     Yip (our Dingo) is doing really well, growing too fast and very cheeky. Has learnt many commands but still sometimes hesitant to come when we call, that is the way of the Dingo though, think about every decision before committing ones self to action. Dot has decided that Yip is not bad companion to have around and plays with her well.
     Christmas day we spent at our friends station, Bagunda, with a wonderful day having been had, plenty of great food and drinks and many stories told.
     I have to be in Townsville at the end of March to have a review of my operation, so we will depart Kooroorinya then and decide where to go next.
 
     It's been a great year, best wishes for 2014.

December Life at Kooroorinya

21st December

     The month is almost gone already and Christmas is just around the corner and I have only just got around to catching up with my blog.  Merry Christmas to all from Jim and me and the puppies.

Ho-Ho-Ho  Merry Christmas
Santa and his helper with Lily, Bella and Cherry
(Prairie Pub Kids)

1st
The Prairie School Christmas Do that we attended on the last day of last month was very nice, spent the evening being entertained by the Kids and meeting Lot's of people. We spent the night in the bus there and headed back to Kooroorinya on Sunday morning.










Towerhill Creek  upstream of the crossing

On the way back it struck me how dry it is since we got here and hopefully it will rain soon, but I took this photo as we crossed over the creek just short of camp to compare later when it is in flood ( whenever that may happen)

     Spent a couple of days getting things sorted with the supplies we purchased in Townsville, then settled back to relax once again in the peace and quiet of Kooroorinya.





                                                                                   Tuesday 3rd
     We took a drive to visit our nearest neighbours, only 15 km up the road a bit, on Bogunda Station, they said we couldn't miss the their station as it has this huge steam engine at the entrance to the sixty thousand acre property (yes 60000 acres!). Had lovely cuppa with their daughter as the rest of the family was out working on the back boundary about 15km away. I have some difficulty dealing with vast distances and sizes of things around here, but am slowing getting used to it.


The last couple of weeks I have been trying to keep up with my exercises for my knees and doing a bit around the camp. Other than that we have been taking it easy. Were sitting around one after noon when we had a visit from a Sand Goanna, just wondered around the edge of the garden for while, I think it was looking for the moisture in the garden as we had not long since watered it, then it took off across the paddock and disappeared in the dry grass as it was well camouflaged, nice surprise, it was about 4 or 5 feet long and very pretty. That's one of the beaut things about being here, you never know what will turn up in the garden.

25th to 30th November Townsville to Kooroorinya

It's been a few days since we got back to Kooroorinya and all is going well.
     The Hospital rang on Monday 25th to bring my appointment forward by one day, on the Wednesday 27th so we were able to head back a day earlier and were in Pentland by 3pm on  Wednesday. All went well with my final check-up and have to go back on the 27th March 2014 for another check-up, so the plan is to stay at Kooroorinya until then and resume our travels after that.

Jim, Dot and Yip on White Mountain

   

      We spent the first night on the road at a stop-over 14km east of Pentland at a place called Campaspe River rest area, and continued on to Prairie on Thursday morning stopping at the Burra Range lookout which is on the White Mountain National Park, great view.  Had a neat afternoon at Prairie Pub and it poured with rain in the early evening which turned the parking area we were at into a small shallow lake.

  

  Friday 29th
  Due to the rain last night it is pretty wet under foot today. as this photo of Jim sitting in the lake just outside the bus having a cup of coffee shows, the water has gone down by this time, last night it was ankle deep. As it dried out around 10am we made a move to head out to camp at Kooroorinya and did some nice wheel spin on the way out the gate but got through and arrived at camp by lunch time, along with a good shower of rain too, which was nice to have. Had a quiet afternoon and an early night.
     Saturday 30th
Spent some time this morning unpacking the bus and Car etc then we went into Prairie again as it was the Publicans kids school xmas concert for the Prairie State School, which the kids wanted us to go to so we didn't let them down and we had a ball. Spent the night in the bus on the roadside and headed back to camp next morning.

17th to 25th Still in Townsville

Monday 25th
    Well the waiting is almost over, we have spent the past few days getting ready to go back to Kooroorinya, ( or I should say Jim has) I am doing really well but still not much use when it comes to the crunch of actually doing much yet.

Dot and Jim relaxing at Camp in Townsville

Jim and Dot have been able to have a little free time every now and then, but mostly Jim has been busy shopping for stores when we go back and making sure everything is up to scratch etc.

We had a nice afternoon  on Thursday last week when we went to the Ross river for a couple of hours and Dot and Yip and I went for swim, it was a load of fun. Had the last visit from the Physiotherapist on Friday and she said I am going great and won't need to see her again, so I am pleased with that.
    


     We have had a little maintenance work done of the Bus, a service on the Jimny and only waiting for Thursday for my appointment at the Hospital for my final check-up and we are taking off for the west that afternoon, so will catch up later.

1st to 17th November Townsville Post Op.

     Gidday, it's the 17th today and that many days since my knee operation. All going really well getting around fairly easily on crutches and without them, had my first check-up at the hospital  on Thursday 14th and surgeon and every one up there is telling me I am going great guns, keep up the good work, so  just a matter of keeping up the exercises every day and just waiting here in Townsville until my final check-up on the 28th, then we will be heading back out to Kooroorinya and peace and quiet.

Hey Dot! whats in here?, This Townsville place is pretty strange eh!

  



  Haven't been doing much of interest, Yip and Dot have been keeping me entertained and Jim has been looking after me well.



Taking it easy until I feel I'm ready to go up and onwards.

     Catch Ya soon