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    • Australien 2023/24
      Day 18–19

      Blue Heelers, Queensland

      January 11 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

      Wir starten morgens um 7. Vor uns liegen weitere über 750 km Einöde. Nach 260 km passieren wir die Grenze zu Queensland in Camooveal, legen einen Tankstopp mit Frühstückspause ein und stellen hier die Uhr wieder um eine halbe Stunde vor. Weiters gibt es über die Strecke kaum was zu erzählen. Rund um uns ist in jeder Richtung ganz flaches Grasland soweit das Auge reicht. Ab und zu taucht in der Ferne ein Roadtrain auf. Die sind schon sehr beeindruckend, wenn sie dann mit ihren drei bis vier Anhängern an uns vorbeidonnern. In Queensland dürfen sie 53 m lang sein und im Northern Territory sogar 54,5 m. Im Outback sind das oft Viehtransporter oder Tankwagen.
      Etwa um 5 nachmittags sind wir am Ziel. Das Pub strahlt noch immer den Flair längst vergangener Zeiten aus. Es muß uralt sein und es ist berühmt. Genau hier in diesem Pub wurde "Waltzing Mathilda" zum ersten Mal gesungen. Das ist Australiens inoffizielle Nationalhymne.
      Das Lied erzählt die Geschichte eines Wanderarbeiters, eines Swagmans, der an einem Billabong, einem Wasserloch im Outback, unter einem Eukalyptusbaum sein Lager aufgeschlagen hat. Er fängt einen herum streunenden, aber nicht herrenlosen, widerspenstigen Widder, um ihn zu schlachten. Als der Eigentümer des Schafbocks in Begleitung von drei Polizisten erscheint, ertränkt er sich lieber selbst im Billabong, als seine Freiheit durch eine Festnahme zu verlieren.
      Die Wände des Pubs sind allesamt mit Unterschriften und Grüßen von Leuten aus aller Herren Länder beschrieben. Gegen eine kleine Gebühr bekommt man einen Stift und kann selbst eine Grußnachricht hinterlassen. Der kleine Sohn des Wirts checkt uns ein, kassiert, schenkt uns Bier ein und nimmt unsere Bestellung fürs Abendessen entgegen. Er ist vielleicht 12 oder so, aber schon ein kleiner Tausendsassa und wahrscheinlich der nächste Wirt. Wir verdrücken schmackhafte Steaks und planen den morgigen Tag.      Read more

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    • Weltreise 2019 bis 2021
      Day 203

      Eingekesselt von Rindern

      August 1, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      Gefahren wurde gemeinsam im Konvoi, genau wie am Tag zuvor. Dabei waren wir also im ständigen Funkkontakt mit all unseren Fahrern, so kam erst recht richtiges Truckerfeeling auf ;) In unserem Pajero haben wir ja auch ein eigenes Funkgerät. Auch wenn man die Hälfte der Funksprüche durch das Knacken in der Leitung nicht versteht, bietet es einem Sicherheit und Hilfe im Notfall.

      So werden beispielsweise auch Warnungen vom Fronttruck an die übrigen Fahrzeuge mitgeteilt. Unsere lautete: eine riesige Rinderherde wird über die Straße getrieben, durch die wir hindurchfahren müssen.

      Umleitungen gibt es übrigens nicht, denn es gibt ja nur diese eine Straße Richtung nach Cloncurry, den Flinders Highway. Also Augen zu und durch!

      Der Anblick von zigtausenden Rindern auf und neben der Straße ist nervenaufreibend, denn gefahren wird im Schneckentempo und man muss aufpassen, dass man kein Rind anfährt oder erschreckt, denn sonst tritt es gegen das Auto.

      Die Rinder kommen von vorne, von hinten, von rechts und links, mal langsam, mal schnell. Gleichzeitig muss man darauf achten, dass man seinen Vordermann nicht zu nah kommt und ihm vielleicht ins Auto fährt oder gar ein Rind einquetscht.
      Zwischendurch reiten dann aber auch Cowboys bzw. australische Drower auf Pferden durch die Herde, um die Rinder weiterzutreiben oder auseinander zu scheuchen. Und immer dabei: viele, viele Hunde.

      Aron war im Truck in der Mitte des Konvoi.
      Lara fuhr ganz am Schluss des Konvois und hatte nach kurzer Zeit nicht nur Rinder um sich herum, sondern auch noch den Kühlergrill eines riesigen, drängelnden Roadtrains direkt hinter sich. Das beruhigt nur bedingt ;)

      So kam es, dass wir alle für die eigentliche Strecke von nur drei bis vier Kilometern locker 40 Minuten brauchten.

      Nach diesem Erlebnis war der Rest der Strecke ein Kinderspiel und wir kamen alle wohlbehalten noch bei Tageslicht auf dem Rodeoground in Cloncurry an.      Read more

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    • TravelerLake Eyre & Uluru
      Day 70

      Nonda Camp Billabong

      October 6, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

      Another nice spot out of the blue! We had planned to stop at Julia Creek but since we had a very early start decided to head on a bit further.

      This is a stock route watering point still in use to this day. Often there are huge mobs of cattle here for a night or two. The billabong is topped up by a flowing artesian bore. Water exits at about 45 degrees and flows into the BILLABONG where cools down ready for the cattle when needed.

      Nearby was a thriving little township in days gone by. Mostly railway workers and their families. Now all the houses are gone leaving only the old school building that is privately owned

      Someone has dropped 4 domestic ducks here. They are hanging around hoping for a handout. Probably they do better with other travellers than us.      Read more

    • TravelerMarkTula Exploring Oz
      Day 20

      Cloncurry and Julia Creek

      May 10, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      We spent 2 nights each at Cloncurry and Julia Creek. Second time in Cloncurry we were here before going to Karumba. This time we did the tourist thing. We went to Mary Kathleen Memorial Park and museum and also John Flynn Place Museum. So much to see.
      On to Julia Creek, I must admit I really did like this town. When booking the caravan park found out that Camerata was coming to town (QLD Chamber Orchestra). That was Thursday night and then campdraft was on the next 3 nights. We went to the Duncan McIntyre Museum and WW1 Memorial site at the RSL. The number of men from the region that enlisted is mind boggling. Of course we did visit the pub. Sometimes I think we are on a very large pub crawl.      Read more

    • Duncan GrantNorthern Territory & Qld
      Day 36

      Julia Creek

      May 29, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Julia Creek is a small outback Queensland town with a population of approximately 500. It is a service center for the surrounding wool, sheep and cattle properties and today is increasingly a stopping point for travellers between Townsville and Mount Isa.
      The Julia Creek Dunnart, a small nocturnal mouse-sized marsupial, is listed as critically endangered. Yes ! Julia Creek does have an actual creek, ( In pic) and a Julia Street which has a dog park , kind of funny as our Julia loves her doggies 😁      Read more

    • TravelerNorth Queensland then West

      Combo Waterhole

      August 18, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      Text from the sign near the waterhole. I did not write this. 😁

      Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda
      Inspired in the outback

      Banjo Paterson was just one of many to come this way, but he recorded something of his visit that remains with us today. A catchy, well-known tune is born, inspired by colourful outback characters, larrikins and gentry alike.

      Penned in this landscape.

      The outback landscape drew many a poem and some fine prose from Paterson's pen. Perhaps as a visitor with a love of the outback and as a solicitor and poet, Banjo saw events with a clarity reflected in the simplicity of the ballad of Waltzing Matilda.

      Swagmen were story keepers and kept the bush telegraph alive. They carried newspapers and magazines that were old news to the city, but news of the day in the outback. Ballads circulated with shearers on their annual 'run' of sheds. Wool carters and drovers listened eagerly for reports of rain on recently travelled tracks,

      In 1895, grazier Bob Macpherson managed the family property Dagworth Station named like many other stations after a racehorse. Bob's sister Christina was a talented musician. Banjo heard her play a "catchy, whimsical, haunting tune that deserved words to keep it alive". His words continue to capture the hearts of Australians today.

      An early Aboriginal camp and popular meeting place for European settlers thereafter, Combo Waterhole is immersed in a history of music and sharing of talents, laced with lively discussion and stories.

      Language, and song, like everything in the outback, is full of colour. Words and terms are drawn from as many countries as the characters who have lived here. Waltzing Matilda, of Germanic origin, came to mean living on the road, carrying a swag.

      Sheep were favoured over cattle on Dagworth from 1880's to the 1960's. Thousands were grazed in many outback areas in the good years.

      A ghost may be heard.

      Sit for a while, flick fles away and listen for the ghosts of those who sat here before you as they did. Hear the birdcalls, raucous and sweet, the chatter of family and friends, the buzz of files and imagine the distant sound of a jingling harness or a horse snorting away a fly.      Read more

    • TravelerNorth Queensland then West

      Washed out Overshot Crossing

      August 18, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      Called an overshot the hand built crossings have survived well, however this one has seen tests of time. Others have survived in better condition.

      Note mention in the sign text that no mortar was used. There are some parts of the pitching that have had rough mortar added, possibly many years later to lock in dislodged stones after flood damage.

      **** Text from an info Sign. ****

      Stone overshots paved a more dependable future

      Before these overshoots were built for Dagworth Station around 1890, precious waterholes dried up just a few months after summer rains

      Now floodwater streams over the walls until the water drops to overshot level and is captured in Combo and numerous other waterholes, about one metre higher than the natural level.

      A sunburnt country

      Months of dry days under a pitiless blue sky are broken by an average rainfall of just 400 mm, falling mostly in summer. In drought years less than ton mm may fall.

      Then steady soaking rain

      When good rain does come it may come in torrents. The mighty Diamantina River's shallow braided channels unite, and water stretches over vast areas.

      Harnessing droughts and flooding rains.

      Grazing was not viable without permanent water to supply more than 100 000 sheep already in the region by the early 1890s. The Macpherson. brothers bought Dagworth Station and faced the challenge of improving the supply of water.

      Combo Waterholes provided a reliable water source for wildlife, drovers, travellers, swagmen and locals alike. The waterhole remained useful even with Artesian bores.

      Ancient skills

      Dry stone walls have been built in many countries. Perhaps the Macpherson brothers or the Kynuna contractor (Mick Fahey) or the labourers (probably Chinese or South Sea Islanders) could have told us from which country's ancestors they took their dry stone wail secrets.

      Over 100 years ago, a team of men used horse and dray and baskets to cart in stones and sod carefully selected stone after stone laid them in tightly packed and interwoven row strengthened by keystones (no mortar to withstand the mighty force of flowing water and so transformed the interaction of people with this land.      Read more

    • TravelerNorth Queensland then West

      Wide Stone Pitch Crossing

      August 18, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      This crossing is quite wide. Think of the massive amount of manual work to pile foundation rocks then key all the flat rocks in place. It is amazing how well they have remained in place. Many stagecoaches, horses, cars, trucks and cattle have travelled this track over 100 years.Read more

    • TravelerNorth Queensland then West

      Blue Heeler Hotel, Kyuna

      August 17, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      This morning we left the fantastic Clem Walton Park. We did lots of walking and spotted an amazing number of birds. That was the longest we have stayed in one place while travelling.

      Now we have moved on enroute to Bladensburg National Park south of Winton. The shopping is done and the water tanks full. We are spending the night at Kyuna.

      There are so many travellers on the road. The powered sites are all full with not much room left in the unpowered paddock. The old pub probably has not seen so much activity since the swagman drowned.

      Yes, we are in Matilda Country. The waterhole of tragedy is not far from here. We will probably visit there on our way to Winton.      Read more

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