Fossils and a Pyramid

9/9/2018 Sunday R & R slept well and woke at 6:30am.  It was 17*C and promised to be warm again.  By 8:30am, they were on the road with several stopovers planned before leaving Charters Towers.  First, they stopped at the Sellheim store where there were two monuments; one for the Sellheim army camp and, the other, for a bridge crash in 1948 when 13 persons died as a result of the accident.  Sellheim also had its own cemetery with a roll of names rather than grave stones but it was inaccessible behind road works.  RL also wanted to stop at the place were a trawler sat high and dry on concrete blocks.  Lake Wanted - Boat Grumpy it read.  Next stop was at the Columbia Poppet Head on the bypass so that RL could fill up the water tanks.  That proved an impossible task as there was an air block preventing it taking in any more even though it was not full.  Past the industrial area, a little further on the bypass RL stopped again this time to refuel.  All that done, it was 9:40am and R & R were headed west on Flinders Highway towards Hughenden with the intention of sleeping at a rest area about 140kms away.  RA put an audio book in the CD player.  This time they were listening to a story called “Knitting” by Anne Bartlett which turned out to be set in Adelaide, South Australia, so RA was happy about that.  Generally, the road, which was well surfaced, was flat to undulating and good cattle station country with adequate grasses and good stands of trees.  In many sections, like on Southern Cross Downs, it appeared that allowing trees to regrow was a commonplace farming practice.  In some places the soil was red but more often than not it was lighter with yellow grey ant nests.  R & R saw a couple of dead black pigs, a small brown winged hawk and the Mt Stewart Ranges to the north.  They pulled into Homestead briefly at 10:45 where it was 26*C with quite a strong 21km/hr breeze from the south east, before continuing on over Cape River and stopping again at Pentland at 11:30am.  R & R walked up and down the main street, popped into a couple of art and craft shops, admired the Anzac mosaic at the memorial, looked into the Norwood Lockup, rang their daughter, S, ate lunch and had a shower.  All in all, it was a most enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.  Shortly before 2:00pm, RL headed for the Burra Ranges and White Mountains National Park which form part of the Great Dividing Range, though not particularly steep or high at 550m.  The rest area was called Pentland West Rest Area but the Navigator had it called Warrigal for the Warrigal Creek which is nearby.  The road became increasingly hilly to 450m and continued to rise.  RA noticed many piles of concrete sleepers which were being used for the railway line and RL commented that the ore trucks with three dogs, which they had seen so many of heading the Townsville, were the ones coming from Townsville.  R & R arrived at the rest area and unhitched the camper before heading off into the White Mountains National Park to have a look at Sawpit Gorge.  Access to the park is via the track that leads to the microwave tower at the western end of the rest area.  It was about 8.2kms in, on a 4WD track that was most interesting for the way its surface changed.  In parts it was: deep red sand, soft yellow or white sand, corrugated, smooth, deep with round white pebbles, rutted with channels from water and winding though not too steep.  It only took about 15 minutes to travel the 8 kms despite RL being determined to keep to the 25km/hr suggested speed limit. There was widespread evidence of regrowth after a fire, probably only a year ago and possibly quite a severe burn, as the ant mounds, of which there were a great many large ones, appeared severely damaged.  RL wondered what impact that would have on the ant colonies below.  RA noted the round white pebbles that were, not in a stream or creek, at the height of 530m and wondered if they were reminders of the time millions of years ago when the area would have been under water.  The view from Sawpit Lookout was a good display of the white sandstone cliff and gorge formations for which the park is known.  When R & R returned to the camper they went quickly back east on Flinders Highway about 5kms to the Burra Range Lookout which they had missed on the way out.  It too had a good view of sandstone cliffs and was worth returning for even though they were only there for a few minutes.  Returning again to the camper, RL rang his brother, J, before R & R set up the camper.  By 5:00pm R & R were having coffee in the camper.  RL read and RA wrote some diary, worked on the ipad, prepared dinner and wrote some more.  It had been a long day … and RA was tired.

10/9/2018 Monday R & R slept well and woke at 7:15am to 12*C with the promise of another hot sunny day.  As they had big plans for the day, they did not delay in eating breakfast, tidying up and packing the camper down.  They were on their way along Flinders Highway bound for Hughenden about 110kms to the west at 7:45am.  No sooner were they on the road than they saw a sign Lake Eyre Catchment Area – Cooper River and mused about the sheer distance that Lake Eyre was from the area they were driving in.  R & R listened to more of their “Knitting” audio book as they travelled on a road that was flat to undulating and mostly straight at 450m.  In some areas there were good tall trees and grasses and in others it was more scrubby and, though it was cattle station country, there were none to be seen.  RL saw two sets of beehives and they noticed a short train on the rail that ran alongside the road that had only chemical tankers on it.  RL passed through Torrens Creek and by the Prairie Hotel which had a horse on its roof and several hitching rails with saddles on them.  Shortly after, R & R saw four wind turbines and acres of frames being installed for a solar power farm. To the north of the road a row of long flat-topped hills could be seen and to the south, isolated round ones.  An eagle and several hawks were seen feasting on the few carcases on the road.  It was 9:00am when R & R arrived at the information centre in Hughenden.  They asked for a map of the Porcupine Gorge National Park and its trails and were promptly given one as well as another sheet of paper called Hughenden to Porcupine Gorge – Points of Interest.  It was just like a treasure map and RA was excited to check them all out and tick them off as they went.  By 9:30am, R & R had dumped the camper for the day and were heading north, just short of 70kms, towards the park.  The National Park is a long slender corridor of vegetation that grows east and west of the Porcupine Gorge and Porcupine Creek.  Having zeroed the trip metre, R & R were able to keep an eye out for the places/sites mentioned on the list.  They crossed the Flinders River and its currently dry river bed.  It is Queensland’s longest river extending 1004kms, flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria and was named after Matthew Flinders.  They passed Mt Beckford which was where sandalwood was harvested and processed at a mill in Richmond for the Asian market.  The Dingo Proof Fence at one of the grids was not being maintained as there are no longer sheep in the district.  The road was running at about 400m with hills to 550m.  RL crossed the Porcupine River before stopping at Eaglehawk Gorge and Devils Elbow which was surrounded by acres and acres of rocky ground which made RL wonder how difficult it would be to walk across.  The gorge was a surprise, full of big black rocks and quite deep.  Just beyond it, there was a square of white rocks with four posts marking a grave; either of an old Chinaman or of a young aboriginal girl who are both to have known to have died nearby.  R & R stopped off at the Porcupine Gorge Lookout where the view looks across the gorge and down into the drop of 120m where the base of white rocks looked like a concrete path.  RA was truly fascinated with the Whistling Bore when they stopped to listen.  The capped bore, approximately 500ft deep, which never produced water, makes a whistling sound when you put your ear to a hole near the cap.  Why it whistles is a mystery, but one possible explanation is that a cave-in somewhere in the shaft of the bore had caused a wind tunnel.  Again, RA was excited to see Ebony & Ivory, two trees entwined into each other; one white and one black.  R & R had a coffee and their apple before heading down the 1.2kms Porcupine Gorge and Pyramid Trail at 11:30am.  It only took 20 minutes for them to climb down but the path was so steep with so many steps that R & R wondered how they would find the return journey.  There was a delightful cool breeze of about 16km/hr at some vantage points but at others the warmth was uncomfortable.  At the bottom there was a fantastic view of the pyramid formation, many waterholes with fish in the rock pools and crevices and overhanging ledges where no doubt birds and animals took umbrage in the heat of the day.  R& R took their shoes off and paddled a little in the water, noted the sea shells and sparkles of mica in the sand and spent about 40 minutes walking around.  The journey back up was not as difficult as RA had anticipated though it took a little longer, time wise, to achieve.  By 1:00pm R & R were back at the Ute enjoying lunch.  On the way back into Hughenden they stopped to look at a native well and another grave site.  They stopped one last time at the Belemnite locality which they had missed on the way out.  Despite scratching around and finding some poor quality quartz crystal, they did not find any belemnite (ancient marine creature) fossils.  It was 3:00pm before R & R were back down town Hughenden taking in some of the local features in the main streets.  There were several art works and statues relating to dinosaurs, a rotunda made using Comet windmills and a Coolabah tree that had been blazed by Walker and Landsborough in their search for Burke and Wills.  R & R picked up the camper and headed for Apex Park where the toilet block had been decorated with murals depicting transport history.  It was a striking example as far as murals go.  R & R enjoyed a shower and were on the road again by 4:00pm.  Their days journey out to the national park and around town had been 155kms and it would only be another 65kms west on Flinders Highway to the rest area at Marathon.  Immediately there was a change of scenery.  The road was straight and very flat with very few trees in view and the cattle and horses R & R saw looked to be in good condition so there must have been adequate grasses.  RL crossed Walker Creek where a line of trees accompanied the creek on both sides as it meandered its way from south to north.  At 4:45pm R & R arrived at the camping area, picked a level spot, set up and within the hour they were having a treat for afternoon tea.  R & R watched a train on the track nearby and counted 55 ore trucks behind the first engine with a second engine in the middle and another 25 trucks after that.  RL finished another “cowdy” while RA looked through maps to plan the following day.  RL helped RA with the preparation of dinner before they read and wrote again.  RL rang his brother S and chatted a while.  It had been an adventurous day … following the treasure trail.

11/9/2018 Tuesday R & R were awake early at 6:45am.  It was a pleasant 14*C and promised to be another warm day.  By 8:30am, R & R were on their way to Richmond about 48kms west on the Flinders Highway.  The road was flat to undulating at about 230m with the Grampian Hills in the distance to the north.  There were not many trees but the grasses appear adequate for the cattle seen.  What trees there were in the paddock, not those seen in corridors along creeks, appeared to be the weed type of acacia bush which tends to take over and drain nutrients from the soil.  R & R passed over the Namoi Creek and noted that the rail line was built up above the floodway level of the land.  They saw new blue metal in piles on the side of the road and under the rail line with stacks of old metal sleepers which had been replaced with the new concrete ones.  A few kilometres east of Richmond there was a rail workers camp and machinery working along the rail line.  Shortly after 9:00am, R & R were in the information centre which is fully focused on, the town’s main attractions, dinosaurs and fossils.  R & R could not resist the temptation to pay a $5 permit fee to the fossil dig site and armed themselves with the cheat sheet which had the site map and pictures with descriptions of the sort of fossils one might find.  Just in case they didn’t find anything, they settled on a piece of fossil rock in the shape of a pyramid to remind them of the Richmond/Hughenden area.  First, they walked up and down the main street to orientate themselves and then they headed north on the Croyden Road over the dry Flinders River, where sand had washed over the road in several places, to the Fossil Dig Sites 1 & 2 about 12kms out.  The sequence of rocks was deposited about 100 million years ago when the area was covered by a shallow sea.  R & R had a wonderful couple of hours picking and digging in the piles of rubble looking for anything interesting.  RL wasted no time and in minutes he had a handful of rock with white shells in them.  Not long after he found a Belemnite which is the internal shell of a tiny squid like creature, is black and bullet shaped.  He also found a good specimen of a fish vertebrae.  RA found some good samples of Inoceramus which was a large clam that was very thin.  It presents itself as layer upon layer (shell upon shell) of very fine crystals.  R & R were lucky that one of the volunteers who worked at the dig sites for the museum chatted with them a while, giving RA information while his wife/partner/friend gave RL a piece of rock with a fossilized fish scale in it.  R & R were only briefly at Site 2 when their daughter, H, rang and since it was a hot 32*C and nearly lunch time they drove back into Richmond as they chatted.  RL parked the Ute in the shade of a tree at the war memorial park and they ate lunch while H filled them in on all that was happening with their family.  About 2:00pm R & R went to the Cambridge Downs Heritage display which is a museum work in progress.  The building was a replica of the original homestead at Cambridge Downs which was built, in the mid 1860s, of flagstone and had bars in the windows somewhat like a fortress to protect from them from attacks.  In the shed out the back there was a beautifully restored Cobb & Co coach.  R & R took photos of the individual moon rocks in the main street roundabout and the stack of moon rocks in the park.  Moonrocks are a common find in the area; round boulders that often look like cow pads plopped and dried and smooth while not having been weathered by water. R & R walked round Lake Fred Tritton, chatted to a local while her children played under the water playground and then had a shower.  About 4:00pm R & R refuelled before heading out to Maxwellton (about 50kms) where they intended to sleep the night.  Immediately out of town there was a mob of sheep, the only one R & R had seen anywhere recently and after that it was back to open flat cattle country with few trees and, although there appeared to be adequate grasses most of the time, cattle raised dust as they walked.  RA was not happy to find that recently the rest area had become closed for free camping.  That required RL to drive another 100kms before dark and take pot luck on there being space at the Julia Creek caravan park.  At one point the land was so flat and low lying that the road required lifting with a concrete wall to avoid being flooded too often.  Thanks to the “Knitting” CD the journey did not take too long.  Shortly before Julia Creek RL had to slow down to a crawl, as did a truck from the other direction and a train on the railway track, for a herd of cattle in the long paddock.  They were being driven by two men on horses with one of them leading a second horse as he wielded his stock whip. Nearby, there was a horse float behind a utility and, in a spot between the road and rail, there was a water trough on a trailer at which the cattle drank as they passed.  Dust rose and settled on the windscreen as the late afternoon sun shone in.  At 6:15pm RL pulled into the caravan park and RA paid for a spot.  The manageress offered R & R an 8:00pm appointment in the spa baths and RA was not about to refuse but it did mean that they would need to set up and have dinner in quick time so as not to miss out.  R & R were eating dinner when their daughter, S, rang so they warned her that they would have to terminate the call.  At the appointed time R & R were on the spa deck.  It was still 23*C.  RA thoroughly enjoyed the experience of lying in a warm tub only partly sheltered with half the roof open to the night sky.  What shelter there was, was for privacy.  The pleasure was only temporarily interrupted by a cricket that landed on RA’s knee which caused her to startle.  She had to make an effort to stand up and remove it!  In half an hour, by the time R & R had prune-like crinkles on their fingers, they hopped out and returned to the camper to read and write for a while before bed.  It certainly had been another day full of surprises … fossils, nowhere to sleep and a spa.

12/9/2018 Wednesday R & R slept well enough though it was relatively warm.  It was already 15*C when they got out of bed at 6:40am.  There was a delightful screeching of thousands of tiny pale green budgies as they swarmed overhead and gathered with other flocks in the distant sky.  R & R had no need to hurry so they rang to arrange for both the Ute and the camper to have a service done in Mt Isa.  Unfortunately, the work could not be done until Monday and Tuesday of the following week which meant that they had nearly a week to get to Mt Isa which could easily be achieved in one day.  R & R would need to rethink how to fill in that amount of time in an area with which they were already familiar.  They thought that it would be best to ask at the information centre.  The lady there suggested all the free camp spots, especially the Mary Kathleen mine site ruins and, maybe, garnet fossicking.  R & R would have to think about all that!  The visitor centre was a great place to spent an hour or so looking at all the videos and listening to the audios all about the history of the town, the dunnart, artesian water, industry and the geography of the area.  Julia Creek is part of the McKinlay Shire and the area was first explored by John McKinlay in 1860 and then the following year by Landsborough.  The McIntyre brothers first brought cattle to the area in 1862.  The dunnart is a small mouse like creature which was thought to be extinct until about 20 years ago.  What makes it unique is its ability to adapt to the dry conditions by keeping cool in the cracks in the soil, storing food for lean times in its tail and being able to hibernate if necessary.  The Great Artesian Basin is one of the largest supplies of underground water in the world.  Originally bores were allowed to flow continually but more recently there have been initiatives to cap old wells and to control the flow as to minimize wastage.  Although sheep were many in the region in the past, cattle are the most common stock in the area.  Graziers practice what is called cell grazing which means that pastures are rested for about three months at a time to keep feed vibrant and healthy.  The prickly acacia bush was introduced into the area as fodder but had proved to be destructive to the good growth of other plants and grasses.  Cannington Mine to the south is the world’s largest single mine and the lowest cost producer of silver and lead.  Redclaw, a freshwater crayfish has become an aquaculture pursuit.  The level above sea falls from Julia Creek to the Gulf roughly one metre every 4-5 kilometres.  Julia Creek, Cloncurry River, Saxby River and Flinders River are all waterways in the northern part of the shire and all drain northward to the Gulf of Carpentaria, while the other waterways which begin in the south of the shire all drain southwards towards Lake Eyre.  After all of that, R & R needed a cup and a snack before walking up and down the main street.  They took the Ute to a park and enjoyed lunch at a picnic table undercover.  It was 31*C at 1:00pm and breathless.  RL rang his friend, N, to see how he and all the family were going.  Well after 2:00pm, R & R headed back down town to the Duncan McIntyre Museum and then to the library where they were able to exchange a couple of books.  They had been waiting for 3:00pm for the pool to open.  Right on time they used the tokens they had been given at the caravan park to head in for a dip.  The children’s pool had bubbles in it like a spa so R & R enjoyed lying in it as well as swimming in the pool.  Only prune fingers was enough to make them get out and get going.  By 4:30pm RL had driven the 69kms from Julia Creek west on Flinders Highway to a rest area at Oorindi where they sat for a cup in the car before even contemplating setting the camper up.  Once it was up, they rested a while as it was still very warm.  RL read and RA finished some diary before dinner.  As they were preparing dinner, their daughter, S, rang to chat for a while.  After dinner, R & R read and wrote again.  Both R & R were excited with their find for the day … a hard copy Louis LÁmour book to add to RL’s collection.

Charters Towers

5/9/2018 Wednesday R & R had set up the camper near a couple of shipping containers that turned out to be refrigerated for the storage of roo meat for market.  The generators rumbled on and off and hummed all night.  It was quite different from the sounds of trucks and cars going by all night and it really was a little distracting.  It was 14*C at 6:30am when R & R woke and it promised to get to nearly thirty.  Humidity was high and it looked cloudy but not like it might rain.  R & R breakfasted, tidied up, sorted out the washing and packed down before filling up with fuel.  Then, RL headed 2kms west off the highway into the town of Clermont itself as one of the staff at BP had said that Hoods Lagoon was well worth a visit.  Indeed, it was!  Its pathways and bridges, windmill with rock and water fountain created a lovely environment for man and birds to enjoy.  There were water birds of many kinds including, black ibis, while ibis, pelicans, cormorants and several different ducks and geese.  Add to that, RL was able to fill the water tanks in the camper.  R & R went down town to see what was there as they had no maps or information.  They walked up and down the main street and were impressed with the pictorial representation of the town’s history in its murals.  Agricultural endeavours included crops like sunflower and cereals, sheep, wool and cattle while gold, copper and coal had all been worked in the area.  It was hard to believe that all three op shops that R & R saw were closed.  By 10:15am, RL was heading back to the Gregory Development Highway north towards Charters Towers nearly 400 kms away.  Sealing the section of road between Clermont and Charters was only completed in 1997.  Immediately the road veered round Prospect Hill on the one side with the Apsley State Forest on the western side.  For several kilometres the activity of the huge Clermont Coal Mine could be seen on the east and then on the west the conveyer belt ran coal to the Blair Athol Colliery and Dam a few kilometres inland. RL crossed over a bridge under which a rail line ran directly from the colliery to Mackay.  In between there was some scrubby cattle station country and some green cropping with a flock of emu.  Beyond that there was the Blair Athol State Forest and the Drummond Range which was undulating rather than hilly at 250m.  The Navigator indicated places where gold mining had been abandoned. R & R knew it would be a long day’s drive so they listened to “The Potato Factory” as they drove.  Much of the journey was similar, in that the undulating countryside ranged in level above sea, up and down, between 250m and 300m.  For the most part it was open cattle country, more or less scrubby or well treed and grassed.  RA noticed that beside scrub and mallee there were some larger gum trees with the coarse black bark about halfway up the trunk and wondered if they were brigalow.  In some higher places the soil was red, in others yellow and in a couple of flat areas the ploughed soil looked black and ready for growing cotton.  R & R did see two semi-trailers loaded with cotton heading south.  Shortly after Mazeppa National Park, R & R stopped in a rest area for a cup of coffee about 11:15am.  It was sad to see the amount of rubbish, plastic bottles and wrappers that were on the side of the road and had blown deep behind the fences.  R & R were back on the road in fifteen minutes and then drove through a very large national park called Nairana before arriving at Belyando Crossing and its roadhouse about 12:30pm.  R & R were surprised that in order to use their toilet, the traveller needed to patronize their shop or pay $2 for the code.  They thought they could hold out!  After that they passed Blackwood National Park which was only small, before stopping on the side of the road for lunch at 1:00pm.  Forty minutes later they set the Navigator for Cape River rest area and noticed bigger hills to the west up to 490m and to the east just below 400m.  At 2:30pm they arrived at their camp site, picked a spot and were set up having coffee by 3:00pm.  RL sent a SPOT message and had some quiet time while RA wrote the diary.  R & R both read for about an hour before they walked up and down the bitumen driveway of the rest area, for want of a better path to walk for exercise, in the cool of the afternoon before preparing dinner.  After dinner RA sorted through the maps and brochures and read a couple of magazines to have them ready to leave at a swap spot, be that at a caravan park or a rest area.  It was really warm but R & R had no way of knowing how warm … as there was no reception on their phone.

6/9/2018 Thursday R & R woke about 6:30am and because RL was keen to get going they breakfasted and packed down.  By 8:00am they were back on the Gregory Development Road heading north 112kms to Charters Towers.  Almost immediately, they passed Green Swamp with waterholes nearby and saw cattle feeding in scrubby country.  The trees were more and bigger, in the creek lines, with the road undulating between 225m and 250m.  R & R noticed ant hills for the first time in a while; the anthills were grey with yellow soil on the surface.  RA was keen to get to the end of “The Potato Factory” so they listened to the last couple of chapters as RL drove.  The sky above and all round was full of dark grey clouds and there were the hills of the Seventy Mile Range to the north east with Mt Windsor at 591m and Mt Farrenden 490m.  The last few kilometres into Charters Towers became more undulating with Tower Hill rising above the town and its sale yards and truck washdown facility.  Tower Hill had no less than eight towers on it.  By 9:30am R & R were parked near the information centre and ready for a town map and information about car and caravan service centres if there were any.  As the two service centres suggested were within walking distance, R & R left the Ute and walked down the main street taking in all the lovely old buildings including the front and back of the historic Stock Exchange Arcade built in 1888.  Both the vehicle and caravan service centres were too busy to fit the work in, and since neither was desperate, R & R were not too worried.  In the process, they popped into no less than four op shops, bought a couple of cowboy books at the library book sale, picked up a couple of grocery items and switched the phone from Optus to Telstra.  RL had been thinking about it and as they planned on being more remote, it made sense, as there was no doubt that Telstra had wider coverage.  The girl at Telstra had it all switched and going within five minutes of signing the contract which was a bonus.  It was 2:00pm before R & R were having late lunch back at the Ute.  Fortified they took the road to Townsville, past Macrossan Park over the Mosman River and on to Macrossan rest area about 20kms out.  Along the way they passed good cattle country where there were horses and a quarry.  They were set up and having coffee just after 3:00pm and had showers soon after.  About 4:30pm R & R were pawing over the maps making a general plan for the following week as they headed to the NT border.  RL put the Slim Dusty CD in the player which was actually working.  It did not always want to turn on, possibly a lose cable somewhere.  At 5:00pm RA worked on her ipad and then did diary while RL read for the best part of an hour.  They had just begun preparing tea when their dear friend, J, rang to see how everything was going.  R & R ate dinner and chatted with their daughter, S, before retiring.  R & R knew it was going to be a warm night so they slept with the windows open.  They also knew it was going to be quiet as the Macrossan rest area, alongside the Burdekin River, sits with its two bridges, one road (Flinders Highway) and the other rail, more than a kilometre apart.  R & R had picked a spot right in the middle.  All bidded well …for a good night’s sleep.

7/9/2018 Friday And … sleep well?  They did.  R & R woke about 6:15am to a warm 16*C with a promise of over 30*C.  After breakfast, RL helped RA proof read through a draft post.  Then they had to download the photos off RL’s camera before selecting some to compliment the post.  Shortly after 9:00am, RL rang his brother, S, and left a message before reading a while.  RA published the post. R & R did a search for caravan repairers near Mt Isa who may be able to do a brake and bearing job on the caravan and solve the latch problem.  RL removed the empty gas bottle and chatted with S, who had rung him back.  About 10:00am, R & R headed back into Charters Towers, stopping at Apex Park to look at the Droughtmaster and country music statues, on their way to the top of Tower Hill.  There they enjoyed the company of some fellow travellers, the fantastic view over the town and country side, watching a rock wallaby and the birds of prey taking advantage of the thermals, and learned a lot about the town, its history of gold mining and its connections with WWII.  Besides old mine shafts and the remains of the refinery chimney, the hill is littered with bunkers (29).  It was 12:30pm when R & R stopped at Centenary Park and walked around it to take in the statues and public art and enjoy the lovely cool breeze under the shade of the trees.  It was 34*C. They sat on the green grass, enjoying lunch and just letting the world go by.  By 1:30pm, R & R were back downtown to enquire about their phone account, put the gas bottle in for a refill, pop into Woolies for a couple of food items and buy a couple of screw top 600ml food containers.  R & R soak their oats for the following day as soon as they have been washed up after breakfast.  With the screw top closed, they are placed on a tea towel in the sink and remain there without spilling as they travel.  At 2:30pm, they were back at the camper for another quiet afternoon.  R & R had coffee and snacks, a cat nap, looked at maps, read emags, filled in the ipad numbers charts, read books and wrote some diary.  Some things R & R learned about Charters Towers include: Ludwig Leichardt camped close to Macrossan rest area in 1845 and Edward Cunningham took up Burdekin Downs as a pastoral lease in 1861, Charters Towers is 335m above sea level with Tower Hill rising to 420m, gold was first discovered in 1871 by Mosman, Clarke, Fraser and an aboriginal boy called Jupiter, the pyrites works which used a new method for gold extraction was able to rework old tailings as approximately 50% of the gold remained in the workings, Brown who was the manager of the works shot Haygarth, the chairman, in a rage and was hung for his crime, the Chinese who were many in numbers were much despised but Europeans benefited from their skills with fruit and vegetable growing and with herbal medicine, the deepest shaft was just under a kilometre deep, the 55m chimney of the pyrites works was destroyed in 1945 as it was a navigation hazard for military aircraft, during WWII thousands of US service personnel were stationed in Charters Towers and the use of coupons for food and clothing became a way of life,  About 5:00pm, R & R took a break from reading and writing to have a shower before it became much later.  S, R & R’s son, rang as was his habit for a Friday afternoon to give R & R a run down on his working week and their plans for the weekend.  After dinner RL read while RA looked at the maps and brochures before getting back to her book.  It had been a long day and it promised to be a warm night … but there would be no hurry in the morning.

8/9/2018 Saturday R & R slept well, and in a while, only getting out at 7:30am.  It was already 19*C.  Having breakfasted, RL decided to head back into Charters Towers in the morning rather than after lunch as he wanted to buy some fuel additive from Repco. Although it was tempting, R & R had agreed not to drive to Three Rivers Hotel at Greenvale (of Slim Dusty fame) 200kms to the north west as it was too far just for the sake of being able to say they had a drink at its hotel.  Similarly, with Dalrymple Dam, one of the largest dams in Queensland at four times the size of Sydney Harbour (similar in capacity to Fairbairn Dam that R & R had seen a few days before) and Burdekin Falls not quite as far but to the south east.  With both of those long excursions off the list, R & R thought to take a look at the Burdekin Weir and the Texas Longhorn ranch.  At 8:45am R & R headed into town.  Along the way, they stopped to look at the only remaining head stone from the Macrossan Cemetery belonging to a Cornelius Wetherley born in England and died at Macrossan in 1893 aged 21.  Next to it was a monument with a list of 35 others whose graves were known to be there.  Interestingly, the oldest of the recorded burials at Macrossan was 51 years and of the 35, 20 died as infants before the age of one.  RL stopped next at the Macrossan Bridge to read the marker.  The biggest known flood was recorded in 1946 at 21.79m.  The totem towered above R & R and it was almost incredulous to imagine that depth and volume of surging water. R & R bought the fuel additive before heading to the weir, which was about 13kms north of town on a good sealed road.  The first few kilometres were residential on large blocks of land and small farmlets into cattle station country.  The dam provides the city with its water supply and had picnic tables in a shady park.  There were signs warning of the dangers of walking/climbing down to the bottom of the overflow but R & R did so, carefully, and saw a family sitting almost in the middle while Dad threw out his line.  It really was quite a delightful sight with the temperature really warming up.  RA noted that the Brahman cattle had a curious way of looking as they observed people.  Their little piggy eyes, so low on their heads, meant they had to hold their heads quite high to look ahead, while their large ears drooped.  R & R headed nearly back into town before heading north on Gregory Development Road a couple of kilometres and then east about 5 kms to look at the Longhorn cattle enterprise.  They were just a little disappointed to find that although the gate was open, the shop and tours for viewing longhorn were not available on Saturdays.  They returned to Charters Towers and had a cup of coffee in Centenary Park before returning to the camper.  RA noticed a sign 1941-1982 Sellheim Army Camp along the way.  When they got back, shortly after noon, RL rang his brother, G, before he read while RA did some diary. About 1:00pm R & R contemplated lunch. As the conversation between G and RL had been interrupted by a knock at G’s door, G rang back and they chatted while eating lunch.  After, it was time for a cat nap though R & R were a bit restless as the day had surpassed its maximum of 33*C.  RL read while RA worked on the laptop.  Shortly after 4:00pm, despite the heat, R & R walked around Macrossan rest area and down to the near-dry river bed to look at the signs and the rail bridges.  They, the old, cut off at one end, and the new, were impressive structures, but R & R were not surprised that they needed to be, as they had seen the totem pole with the Burdekin River flood markings on it.  After that, they had their showers and hung the wash before heading into Charters Towers for 6:00pm Mass. By 7:15pm R & R had returned to the camper and were preparing dinner after which J, their son, rang so they were able to catch up with how his week went. Later, RL read and RA published the post they had been working on.  R & R had a plan for the coming week … to head straight across to the NT border … to Tennant Creek. 

Central Highlands

1/9/2018 Saturday R & R woke about 6:00am so RA decided to get out and start her diary from the day before.  Shortly after 7:00am, R & R had coffee and breakfast before packing down as they wanted to be in Biloela 27kms north before 9:30am to make sure reception was good for Facetiming their son, Z.  It was very pretty country, with dry open cattle farming on undulating to hilly land where crops and irrigation could be seen especially near creeks and rivers.  As it turned out they were in Biloela at the information centre just on 9:00am where they were given a map with points of interest and they were able to enquire about a particular fodder crop they had seen while driving.  Turns out it is called Leucaena and was brought to Australia from Mexico in the 1800s.  It is equivalent to lupins for its protein content but is extremely hardy and drought resistant.  Cattle need the fodder to be spaced with adequate grasses as it can be toxic causing them to lose their hair.  Other crops grown in the area include: wheat, oats, safflower, mung beans, sorghum, cotton and herbs.  After an initial hiccup with connection R & R chatted happily with their son, Z, for about an hour before popping into an op shop.  About 11:00am RL drove south 10kms back to Thangool and then another 7kms out to Mt Scoria and its conservation park.  Its rare rock formation, long six-sided basalt columns, was once the core of a volcano, and stands 150m above the surrounding park which is already 150m above sea level.  R & R enjoyed the walk around the back through the vine thicket and over the black rocks. There they saw many of the blue winged kookaburras.  They have the same call and are easily distinguished from the common kookaburra by, not only their blue wing but, the disproportionately small size of their head compared to their body.  R & R rang to say Happy Birthday to R, their four-year old grandson.  On the way back to Biloela, they stopped to take a photo of cattle feeding on the leucaena crop at the same time as a lad was putting them through a gate from one paddock to another. At 12:45, RL headed west on Dawson Highway, by passing the opportunity to drive out to its coal and power station.  Knowing it was going to be a long afternoon R & R listened to “The Potato Factory” in between stops.  They drove through undulating to hilly open cattle farming country with the road running 250-300m and a good view of the warm smoky haze all round.  They passed two dead black feral pigs.  At 1:20pm they refuelled at Banana, only 47kms later.   Banana, a town where no bananas were grown, is part of the Banana Shire and there is actually a property called Banana Station.  Beyond that R & R saw coal mines (Dawson Coal) on both sides of the road, a railway, power station, QNP Gas operations most of the way (about 19kms) to Moura where on the outskirts of town there were many SMQ (not sure about that – maybe SPQ – single person’s quarters). R & R also saw a log truck which they had not seen for a while.  At 1:45pm, they stopped for lunch and rang RL’s brother G to see how he was going.  RL set off for Rollestone, over the Dawson River, about an hour later with a distance of 170kms on a road that was quite bouncy.  At one point a bush turkey stood in the middle of the road, near Roundstone State Forest which was a pretty part of the drive, and was most tardy at moving, so it was just a swell that RL had slowed for it.  RL dove past a sign which read Welcome to the Central Highlands where the paddocks were less well treed with more grasses and open where trees were in clusters and cattle fed.  Sometimes there were paddocks of the Leucaena crop.  R & R had seen some cotton fluff on the side of the road ever since Biloela but had not seen a single crop as they drove but then they realized that at this time of the year the crop would be low and green.  The countryside became quite hilly to 500m in the Expedition Ranges and there were a few places where there was green on the verges indicating that it had rained there recently.  There were a couple of green crops but no sign of irrigation and a couple of other paddocks were just brown soil.  R & R stopped briefly in Rollestone, where there was a coal mine, power station and railway, about 4:30pm before continuing the last 70kms to Springsure for their planned rest area.  At first it was flat open grassed cattle country but it became more mountainous where trees were taller with the Carnarvon State Forest to the east and Mt Sirus at 532m on the west.  R & R passed the Staircase Range Lookout as it was getting late in the day.  With the sun lowering in the north western sky RL commented on how the telephone wires looped like the silver threads of spider webs.  RL spotted a dead snake.  It was about 5:30pm when R & R arrived at Virgin Rock rest area.  It was one of those wow moments for high above the camping area were huge rocky cliffs.  It was only later that RL learned that they are flood lit after dark.  RL rang his brother, S while RA cooked dinner.  After dinner they admired the cliff face before reading and writing a while.  R & R had seen a sign that the last section of Dawson Highway was a Droving Route but they had seen no sign of it.  At the toilet block there was a sign for itinerant work available for droving … momentarily, RA wondered if she might have any useful skills.

2/9/2018 Sunday R & R woke about 6:00am to 9*C and had a leisurely breakfast and tidied up to be ready for 8:00am Mass in Springsure.  They were delighted to be able to share morning tea with them and chatted for quite a while to a nonagenarian whose family cattle farm was now in its fourth generation. No doubt he had seen many dry and wet seasons in his life time but he was able to cite weather record since the 1860s which R & R thought was pretty impressive.  R & R returned to the camper which was no longer smelling of gas as they sometimes do when they run out and have been switched from one bottle to another.  R & R changed into shorts as the day had warmed considerably. Having realized that the cliff face was part of the Minerva Hills National Park and that there was a road with several lookouts, vantage spots and a couple of trails, they had decided to stay for the day, go to the park and not shift camper.  In that way they would be able to enjoy a not too busy Father’s Day.  Leaving the camper behind at 10:00am, the park was easily accessed by returning the couple of kilometres into Springure and then 3-4kms along the Dawson Developmental Road before the turn off. From there the road was unsurfaced, not suitable for caravans and was signed warning of minimum maintenance and the need to drive to conditions.  RL engaged 4WD and, considering the steepness and winding nature of the terrain, drove carefully over the corrugated sections and even more carefully over the really tough bits with either ruts or rocks.  It was slow moving at less than 10km/hr in sections and almost impossible for RA to write any notes.  RA was acutely aware that, in a couple of instances, the Ute pointed so steeply upwards that nothing but blue sky could be seen in front, with the warm dry wind blowing yellow sand across the ridge.  She was appreciative of the few sealed sections, maybe even less than 100m, which gave temporary relief to the rocking and swaying motion of the Ute.  RL drove all of the tracks: Springsure Lookout, Fred’s Gorge, Eclipse Gap, Skyline Lookout and Norwood Creek.  R & R took photos and chatted with a young family at Eclipse Gap.  They were out celebrating Father’s Day.  They casually recommended doing the walk trail at Skyline and its two lookouts because the further lookout is a really good spot to see the Virgin if you look carefully.  It had not really crossed R & R’s mind that Virgin Rock actually referred to the Virgin Mary.  So, R & R walked the 800m trail in the midday sun.  It was lovely in the breeze at the top to look into the bundles of black rock jumbled together, to look out over the valleys below, to read and contemplate the origins of the cliffs and gorges, see the lightly wooded hills where Mitchell grasses thrive in the harsh conditions on nutrient poor soil, smell the sweet lemon scented gums and to sit on top of the world receiving and sending messages and chatting with the children on Father’s Day.  Mt Zamia at 559m and Mt Boorambool at 602m featured as the two tallest hills in the park.  R & R were not quite sure where or what to look for about the Virgin and were not really convinced. It had taken R & R nearly three hours to drive about 30kms and walk about 2km by the time they returned to the sealed highway.  RL turned north and drove 10kms as they had seen a sign about a Wills site.  When they arrived at the turn off, it indicated that the road to the Wills site was 21kms unsealed.  Neither RL or his wife was keen on that, since they did not even know what it was about.  Instead they returned to the camper, but not before taking a closer look at the Virgin from ground level at the rest area.  Sure enough!  There on the face of the most southern cliff was what could be perceived as the figure of a woman standing much like the Virgin depicted in a grotto, commonly seen in church gardens. Contented with that R & R had a late lunch about 2:10pm followed by a cat nap.  It was a warm 26*C at 3:30pm so they planned on spending a while reading and writing at one of the tables under shelter in the pleasant breeze.  Two hours later neither had written or read a word as they got chatting with a fellow camper who was doing a motor cycle road trip on his own.  It was a comfortable conversation and a pleasant way to pass the afternoon.  RA was able to watch the light behind him on the Virgin and it was clear that she was more visible in certain light than others; clearer in the middle of the day than either morning or evening.  R & R also looked into the Wills story.  The Wills Massacre, Cullin-la-ringo Massacre or Wills Tragedy are different names given to an event when in 1861, 19 white people, including women and children were murdered by aboriginals just north of Springsure in the Minerva Hills.  This lead to retaliation where aboriginals were tracked down and murdered and to the building of Rainworth Fort in 1862.  The building was a store, a shelter from fire and a place for protection in the event of attack by aboriginals.  The site of the massacre and the building stand as a reminder of time which came to be referred to as Australian Frontier War.  RL helped his wife make dinner before looking at maps to come up with a vague plan.  Then they did the reading and writing they may have done earlier.  It certainly had been an interesting day … for you never know what you might learn … just by listening carefully.

 

3/9/2018 Monday RL did not sleep too well though he was not sure why.  It was about 7:00am when R & R got out of bed.  They had breakfast and looked through maps again.  About 8:00am they began to tidy up.  RL needed to sort out a couple of bits that had come to grief in the bumpy drive they had been on, the day before in the Minerva Hills; the gas bottle needed securing and the charging unit had come off the Thumper Pack.  So, it was 9:15am before they left Virgin Rock north on Gregory Highway for Emerald.  The road switched between being very flat and undulating where, when it was flat, there were paddocks of crops, irrigation and ploughed ground, and in other places, cattle feed on good grasses with tall trees.  The hills from the Minerva Hills National Park could be seen near and then further away for the first 15km or so: Red Hill 413m, Crystal Hill 343m, St Peter and Mt Minerva.  RL passed Minerva Coal Mine and noted that there was a railway running along beside the road.  Further, at Gindie there were several large grain silos on the rail as well.  R & R had decided that it would be worth the trouble of driving the loop road to Emerald via the Fairbairn Dam and Lake Maraboon which they had seen on the map.  It had looked quite large in area and they did not want to arrive in Emerald to find out that they had missed something and would then have to weigh up the time and effort of going back.  As it turned out the distance from Springsure to Emerald was about 66kms while the loop via the dam ended up being about 85kms – not much more.  Transpires that it is the second largest dam in Queensland and is about three times as big as Sydney Harbour.  Built in 1972, it created the opportunity for a system of channels (3) which supports crops and orchards as well as the coal mining industry and is a favourite with the locals for fishing because red claw cray could be caught there.  The wall and spill way are what make the dam while the body of water itself is called Maraboon meaning “where the black duck fly”. R & R went first to the lookout where they engaged in conversation with a guy who had worked in the area a long time.  He said he had never seen it so low, possibly as low as 16%.  RL then drove to the recreation area where they watched a boat head out fishing as they drunk their cup of coffee shortly after 10:00am.  RL drove over the dam wall and past the Fairbairn State Forest where R & R saw a couple of eagles, before the country opened up first to cattle then to crops, some on trellises and orchards.  Each paddock of orange orchard, including the verge to the road, was surrounded by a type of fir or pine which RL presumed was to act as a wind break. Shortly after, the road came to the highway just west of Emerald where R & R popped into the information centre.  Within minutes they had parked the Ute and detached the camper at the Emerald Botanic Gardens free camping rest area.  R & R took a walk all the way to the end of the gardens on one side of the Nogoa River with a view to walking the other side in the morning.  As they neared the river to look for a good photo spot, they spotted a lung fish, which surprised by their presence, jumped up and dived down in a flash.  About 12:45pm, R & R went to the nearest shopping plaza where they were able to get RL’s glasses fixed.  One of the tiny screws holding the glass in place had sheared off a few days before and RL really missed having them.  Fortunately, the lady at the optometrist was able to sort it all out, so they went off and did their shopping.  The Ute was parked under cover, so R & R first ate lunch right there, and then walked down town taking in all the public art and op shops.  The most noteworthy of the public art in Emerald was the giant copy of Van Gogh’s Sunflower Painting on an easel.  It stands 25m and is the world’s largest Van Gogh painting.  And why that painting as opposed to any other?  Emerald was once a major sunflower producer. R & R also enjoyed the centenary pathway mosaics which depicted the history of the area.  On their way back, R & R popped over the road to admire the beautifully restored railway station, with its pillars and wrought iron lacework, that had been built in 1900. It was 29*C, really rather warm for hiking it around town.  A couple of hours later, R & R were back at the Ute and then at the camper.  After setting up they took quite a while to sort out the shopping because RL had to sort out the problem with the gas ignition of the fridge.  They helped each other to sort out the stored supplies in the blue esky which they had not been into for about a week.  Both also noticed the latch on the door was looking like it might just break at any time. All done, R & R had coffee before RL read and RA sorted out stuff on the ipad.  RL helped cook dinner.  S, their daughter rang while they were eating.  At one point a train thundered by on the rail overhead making conversation difficult.  The free camp was situated in a car park near the Botanic Gardens on the old highway under the rail and road bridges.  Later RL rang his sister, E.  RL read and RA wrote a while before quitting.  R & R were both relieved that RL’s glasses problem was so easily fixed … neither wanted to contemplate the idea of getting a new pair … while on the road.

4/9/2018 Tuesday R & R slept relatively well and they were up just a little before 7:00am to an already warm 17*C.  There was a high chance of rain so RL was keen to breakfast and set down as soon as possible, just in case.  Shortly after 8:00am, R & R walked under the bridge and along the other side of the river to take in some more botanic gardens.  They were pleasantly surprised by the changes in the landscapes and the vegetation.  One moment they were in open warm dry woodland and the next in dense cool green rainforest.  They were also taken by the outdoor chapel, the yarning pit inscription and the Federation Pillars; columns with paintings depicting the history of Emerald.  Within the hour they had returned to the Ute and RL was determined to head downtown to Big W.  It was a bit of a mystery why to RA.  RL wanted to see if they had any ladies’ watches!  So together they picked one for $10 which hopefully would replace RA’s play watch which had died recently.  They also popped into the 2 op shops they did not see they day before.  RA was lucky enough to get a pair of brand new thongs for half price; down to 50 cents!  RL returned to the camper and they hitched up and had a cup of coffee before leaving Emerald.  Shortly before 11:00am, R & R headed west to Anakie 44 kms on the Capricorn Highway.  It was their plan, rather than just head 50kms north to Capella, to take the gemfields loop across to Anakie then north through Sapphire and Rubyvale and then head to Capella.  At least the first 10kms from town was farmed with crops like sorghum using irrigation, some of it being cotton.  R & R had seen a truck loaded with cotton bales driving south through Emerald.  Then the countryside was more undulating through the Fairbairn State Forest before returning to cattle stations.  Some of the land appeared to be being allowed to regenerate.  R & R turned 1km south into the little township of Anakie and were pleased to stop at the old railway station built in 1884 and see its dam dug by pick and shovel to a depth of 6m at its deepest.  They were even more taken by the 130 year old bottle tree in the station yards which bears the carved initials of loved ones parting as their young men went off to war.  R & R read some of the interpretive signs and had a cup of coffee while they rang their daughter, H, for her birthday.  Her door bell was ringing and she was heading out so they agreed to try again later.  After crossing over the highway and heading north 9kms, it was not long before R & R arrived in Sapphire, where there was a free camp at which R & R might have stayed.  The country side was rather scrubby with horses as well as cattle.  As it was still relatively early, 12:30pm, and because Rubyvale was only about another 8kms they decided to keep moving but not before popping into a couple of the gem stores there.  R & R were not inclined to go on a fossicking tour or to venture off alone fossicking but RA was tempted to buy a bag for washing.  There were large $20 bags which contained all sizes of gravel but there were also $5 bags (much smaller) which had all the larger rocks removed.  The rocks from the smaller bags could be dampened and placed on a mirror.  Then, the ones that glisten can be picked out with a tweezer. RL was not keen to try his luck on either of them.  The area surrounding Sapphire and Rubyvale has a grid at both ends of the highway and is called the Miners Common which allows residents to have a few head of cattle roaming an unfenced area of 4,500 hectares that includes the townships.  Mine workings, holes and mounds as well as machinery and equipment could be seen most of the way between the two towns. After eating lunch, R & R went into a sapphire jeweller’s shop where the owner explained how seemingly dull uninteresting black rock is actually sapphire by shining a light under it.  RA deliberated a while before choosing a heart shaped pendant with several blue sapphires in it.  All the jewellers were keen to point out that not all sapphires are blue!  It was about 2:00pm when R & R headed for Capella 62kms north east on a winding and bendy road with suggested speeds of as low as 40km/hr, through scrubby countryside that supported cattle farming. They passed through Kettle State Forest and after about 25kms the scenery was more open with less trees.  R & R noticed some peaks to the distant eastern skyline and observed that some were pointed or conical and others were flat.  It was still 24*C with a 16km/hr wind.  RL passed a sign which said sheep yards but they had not seen any sheep.  Some of the land was better grassed and treed than other sections while others, again, showed signs of regrowth, either after fire or flood or perhaps even being purposefully let unstocked.  The last 5kms before Capella had some cleared land with cropping and ploughing and there was a farm producing performance horses.  Just before 3:00pm, R & R took a break at Capella and rang their daughter, H, again.  They went for a walk up the main street and back down along the avenue of bottle trees.  There, they saw the monument to the Light Horsemen as it is believed that the origin of the feather in the hat originated at Peak Downs.  Peak Downs was the name of a station in the area but got its name from the peaks (the ones R & R had seen while driving) which were originally named by Leichhardt.  They set off again, another 50kms to Clermont where the BP Roadhouse offered free camping.  At first there was a lot of cropping, cereals as well as sorghum and lots of cotton before returning to open cattle country.  R & R had seen a thistle plant that must be a weed but unlike the thistle in WA that has the traditional pink/purple scotch flower, it has a single rose-like flower in a primrose yellow colour.  At 4:15pm RL pulled into the camping area behind the Clermont BP and had a look around.  The expectation was that campers would patronize the business but it was not necessary.  R & R had a shower and put a wash in the laundry.  As the only drier was still in use RL strung a line between the Ute and a nearby tree.  In the near dark they hung it and hoped for the best.  RL was a little more than annoyed to find that the door latch had sheared off again.  RL helped RA prepare dinner after which they read and wrote.  RL rang his sister, R, and chatted for a while. Having travelled 170kms in the day, R & R had seen a quick glimpse of the sapphire gemfields … and RL had given RA a special one of her own.