Charters Towers

Up early and walked to the snorkelling beaches only to find that the waves were still to big and the sea too murky. We walked around the beach and collected any rubbish we came across, fishing lines, hooks, plastic etc. Back to Bertha to pack up. Drove to the beach in front of where we stayed and went for a swim and a sunbathe.

While we were wandering around, Bun managed to step on a twig that had massive thorns on it; one went through her flip flop and into her foot. We have two first aid kits and both were pretty useless. We managed to clean the wound and put a plaster on it, but it was not disinfected so we needed to improve our kit and buy some TCP or similar ... oh, and obviously mend Bun’s foot.

We found a cafe overlooking the marina and planned where to go next. We have a flight to Lady Elliot Island early on Thursday, so need to be at Hervey Beach by Weds night. Do we carry on north and then race back, or go inland to see what happens there? We decided to go inland. Next stop will be Mount Coolon Hotel on the way to the gem fields.

We started off by missing the turning we wanted to take onto Highway 77. An impressive name, better than Route 66. We turned back to find the road and set off down it. The directions were simple, travel for 120km and then go straight across the roundabout, then travel for another 80km and turn right.

We were concerned that the road may not be sealed, ie no tarmac. After 140km we found that it wasn’t. We w ere on the red earth associated with inland Australia. The road was “gravel” but smooth. We managed speeds of around 50mph and everyone was comfortable. The sun was going down and we could see great plumes of dust approaching as a vehicle came towards us. We’d already had our first experiment of a 4 wagon road train on the tarmac roads, goodness knows what it would be like on a gravel road. Fortunately the vehicle was simply a large SUV (ute - utility) and the wind was blowing across the road away from our carriage so all was well.

The red clay gave way to a harder and whiter clay that had been baked into ridges. We had read about corrugated roads and, at times, it felt exactly like that. It was good to turn off the road and pull up outside the hotel. We’d travelled about 200km and gone back in time 70 years..

There was bloke (Bill) sat outside the bar, he was waiting for his wife. He installs cattle handling equipment and this area is big in cattle. The farms average 60,000 acres with one of over 360,000. The drought is causing all of the farms to reduce their stock levels.

Liz, the owner of the hotel told us where we could park. The site is free of charge but offers electric plus toilets and showers. It’s becoming increasingly common for the areas suffering from economic challenges ie drought, to offer free sites for the grey nomads as they bring revenue into the area from eating at the restaurants, buying groceries and fuel. We have stayed in one other free site, but that didn’t offer any amenities.

We hooked up and decided to spend the evening in the bar. We chatted to the locals. Their language was as colourful as their lives are tough. Expletives, including words no longer widely used in England, were so frequent that they made up almost the entire sentence. Most of them worked on “The Stations” where the farm/homestead is. Some work as “musterers” who work freelance to master the cattle, this is don on horseback and trials bike, sometimes assisted by a helicopter. They also have to sort the cattle etc. The cattle sound a bit wild and not too amenable to being bought in, sorted, castrated, tagged etc. Kat, one of the girls in the bar, works doing contract fencing, outside in the heat all day. None of them gets paid much, but they do get their board and lodgings. All in all it was Avery entertaining evening and Bun had some of the best fish she’s eaten (sweet lips - that was the fish).

We went off to be at about 10. We heard the utes leave just before midnight. In the morning, one was parked on the other side of the road with a pair of feet hanging out of the window. One of the girls had decided to sleep in her car.Read more