Cloncurry to Winton To Ilfracombe to Tambo,& Charleville

Back again, I'm trying to catch up.
After leaving Cloncurry, we drove to McKinlay & the "Walkabout" pub, where Crocadile Dundee was made. It was a good little pub, but was disappointing due to the poor response from the publican.At lunchtime that day, we stopped at another pub in Kynuna, that was called "The Blue Heeler Hotel". The atmosphere there was great. Our next stop was at Winton, where we stayed for 4 weeks, whilst I worked for the local electrician.Avril voulenteered at the hospital during this time. We really felt like we were part of the community, & almost felt sorry to leave. The next stop was at Ilfracombe, where we stayed for two nights. Whilst there, we spent time in Longreach, & the Stockman's Hall of Fame. We had one day & night in a little town called Tambo, & we saw Lawn for the first time in 2 months. Now, we are in Charleville, & will be leaving here on Sunday morning. I will post some photos very soon.
Love to you all,
Avril & Doug. XXXXXXX

Mareeba to Cloncurry

It's been a long time since I wrote, so here goes. When we left Mareeba, we travelled through the Atherton tablelands to a little place called Mount Surprise. This was a nice little town that was near the Larva Tubes & near some gem-fields. We spent 2 nights in the caravan park that was called, "Bedrock". The showers were called Fred & Wilma. After that we stayed at a tiny place called Greenvale. There, the caravan park shop was, the local grocer, greengrocer, hardware, & electrical shop. From there we went to Charters Towers, where we stayed for a week. Driving on some of these roads takes some getting used to. First, the bitumin is only a strip the width of one vehicle, then there's the cattle that roam where-ever they like. There are no fences. Then theres the road-trains. These monsters are about 53 metres long, & when fully loaded, take about 5 ks to get up to speed, & about the same to stop. When you see one comming toward you, you slow down & get right off the bitumin strip & leave it to them. If they have to go on the dirt, they spray you with stones as they go past. I've learned the value of the CB radio out here,The road trains warn you that they are comming, & tell you how many more to expect. It certainally makes for safer travelling. We had a great week in Charters Towers, & had a good look around the area. One day we went to a place called "Ravenshoe", The buildings were fantastic. You will see some of them in the previous lot of photos that I posted. On our way to Ravenshoe, we went through a ghost town withall the houses & the pub all broken down. On our way back, we went to have a better look at th pub, only to find it open trading. To open it they removed a section of galv iron, & there it was. Another one of the photos, shows a flood marker by the Burdican River. Look at the flood levels. After Charters Towers we headed west, inland, & travelled through Hughenden,(1 night) Julia Creek, (2-nights & Avril's birthday) , Cloncurry (3 nights). At Cloncurry, we went to the "John Flynn" place & spent hours there.
I'll write another blog within a few day to bring you up to date with our progress .
Love to you all,
Doug & Avril. XXXXXX