Round about

A complete transformation of scenery as soon as I joined the coastal road heading north from Townsville. Very green, hilly and lots of foliage. Also very humid – so much that I’m now starting to sprout curls again. Some nice looking fresh produce stalls along the roadside, but given we’re departing on our tour on…

I arrived in Townsville last Thursday after an uneventful and largely uninteresting drive across outback Queensland. Overnight stops at Mt Isa, Julia Creek, Hughenden and Charters Towers. I thought I might have spent a day or two at Mt Isa, but changed my mind on arrival. Charters Towers was very nice, lots of historical buildings…

Forty minutes out of Kununurra I arrived into the NT. The immediate difference was an increase in the road speed to 130kpm, accompanied by a deterioration in road conditions. Interesting. The other more useful change was in the time zone. Kununurra was light at 5:30 in the morning and dark just after 5pm. With the…

Well I’ve started my journey eastward along the Savanna Way. So far I’ve clocked up 9200 kms on my wanderings and it will be another 3000 or so to Cairns. I’m not taking the most direct route as I’ll be leaving the A1 just out of Mt Isa when it turns to dirt going north.…

On Monday, we joined 3 other passengers, our pilot and his trainee, in a flight up along the Dampier peninsula to Cape Leveque and over the Horizontal Falls. On the way out, we flew across the Buccaneer Archipeligo, which is home to over a thousand little islands. The area was discovered by William Dampier, in…

I arrived in Broome last Monday. This was always planned to be my mid drive rest, so I had booked a cabin at the Caravan Park in Cable Beach, and I’m really glad I did. It’s been a great break and the cabin had an extra bonus of a washing machine, so everything I own…

Onslow was a great stop over with the park right on the ocean with nice sea breezes. The trade off from sitting outside enjoying the outlook was midge bites. I’m now covered in red welts and it’s taken 3 days for them to start to settle down. Onslow is a small township- mostly known internationally…

My guide book advised that it was a long journey from Denham to Carnarvon. That didn’t make a lot of sense at the time, as it’s only 3.5 hours which isn’t a long drive out here. However, as soon as I exited the national park I got what he meant. Miles of nothing. The only…

There’s something special about Anzac Day marches in country towns. Only a handful of vets in the Denham march, but I guess that reflects the passing of time and also the small population of this area. Lots of supporters and family on hand, and they’ve all headed up to the local bowlo for afternoon festivities.…