More Garden Photos

These photos show the development of the garden in Bodalla; taken in September.  Nigel you will see how well your trees grew in the first few weeks of being planted.

Things have really progressed since these photos.  The strawberries have been producing up a kilo of strawberries per day. YUM!  We have also picks kilos of broad beans, lettuce and spinach as well as rhubarb.  Now we need to weed desperately and harvest all the potatoes and garlic.  Then I will plant summer crops.

Heron Island

Thank you Mum and Dad for giving us all the gift of going to stay at Heron Island.  It was VERy special!  We all had a wonderful time with each other.  It was great to have such a lovely family gathering!  Here are some photos!!

Heron Island

Waiting Patiently at Gladstone airport for the taxis to collect us!

A New Garden in Bodalla

Many people have requested photos of the new garden in Bodalla. So here they are attached!! We have attempted to beat the wallabies, roos and other fauna as well as the salt wind by purchasing 1/2 an acre in Bodalla. It is just 10 minutes away - a place where we can grow vegies and fruit!

We have worked like dogs to get it to this stage and are very proud of our efforts! It has a wonderful shed on it as well, which is now my "wet studio". It comes completed with a small bathroom with shower toilet and hand basin. Has a small kitchenette and is fully lined with a concrete floor. PERFECT!!!!

What we have learned from our travels

What have learned from our travels?

1.  People need to visit the pristine and isolated places in Australia to fully appreciate the destruction wrought by white settlement and the demise of so many of our native species. This destruction has occurred though inappropriate use of fragile ecosystems for cattle, sheep and other grazing; the greed of mining giants; introduction of feral pests and diseases; and clear felling of marginal areas. The destruction of country by cattle and sheep is more obvious in Queensland than anywhere else.  Whole islands off the Kimberley coast are disappearing before our eyes.

2.  We've been horrified by the numbers of feral animals everywhere, especially in the National Parks, where they need to be destocked, urgently.  We've seen feral cats, dogs, pigs, donkeys, cattle, camels, horses, buffalo and goats, in enormous numbers.  In addition, the national parks are overrun with cane toads.  Introduced grasses, weeds and escaped garden plants all add to the woes. A very special place for us is Mornington, off the Gibb River Road, where the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, is making every effort to protect our fragile ecosystems, by destocking, removing introduced flora etc, eco-fire management.  It is one of the VERY few places left to see the endangered Gouldian Finch and Purple Crested Wren.  A ray of hope lies in their new acquisition of managing one of the few pristine and inaccessible places left in the Kimberley; the Artesian Ranges.

3.  We've most enjoyed being away from the "madding crowd", especially the "grey nomads"!  To do this it's best to travel on dirt, to out-of-the-way National Parks, preferably 4WD only and to travel before and after the "great migration", which happens annually between Mother's Day in May and Father's Day in September.  Most grey nomads take three to four weeks to arrive at their destination and three to four weeks to return. They usually stay in one place only - in the warmth, but sometimes travel slowly between caravan parks.

4.  It's best to avoid "free" overnight camping spots on highways where there are no toilets.  Otherwise you have to deal with the detritus of human existence - rubbish, excrement and toilet paper!

5.  A very pleasant surprise was the friendliness of the Indonesian people, particularly those on Lombok.  This is particularly surprising given the extreme poverty we witnessed. There was little evidence of crime, and the people were concerned to ensure visitors had a wonderful time. The discrepancies between the haves and the have nots was extreme.

6.  The iPad has been a wonderful traveling aid.  We have used it to make phone calls, check emails, make bookings, keep photos and diaries, navigate, banking, play games etc.  But you must remember to turn off "data roaming" when overseas!

7.  Good points about the camoer: Being off the ground has has so many advantages.  We have avoided mud underfoot in Harndorf and Mallacoota, Flash flooding flowing through the tent in Port Pirie, mouse plague invasions throughout SA and the centre of Australia as well as other creepy crawlies getting in. Being up high has meant that the tent as been able to take advantage of any breeze and with all the windows open very cool inside in the hotter areas. It was warm during cold nights in Victoria and SA with the heater - got too hot! The tropical roof is a bonus and ensures the tent stays dark inside at night as well as cooling the inside whilst up north. The kitchen is out of reach for dingoes and possums.  The seals to all cupboards and the kitchen are dustproof and waterproof. When the weather wasn't so nice the space inside allowed us to set up a table and two chairs inside.  It's excellently designed and well made. The canvas and window materials are all excellent quality and didn't let any mosquitoes or sandflies in. the kitchen is very well designed with it's storage shelves.

8.  Some bad points about the camper:  we had to purchase eggshell overlay and new woolen overlay for the mattress because it was cold underneath to begin with.   This prevented us from keeping the bed made up when closed. Pillows, blankets and dons had to be stored away. We also had to purchase non slip strips to place on the steps - this should be standard. The gas stove needs to be more powerful and it needs a windshield. The plastic water tank tainted the water too quickly. It needs better electrical connections that are more robust in corrugated road conditions. The bed isn't quite long enough for Peter, but better than some where you have to climb over each other to get in and out of bed.

9.  The people, we met, from all walks of life and from all over Australia, are seriously concerned about the lack of leadership in our country at the moment and the lack of vision for the future.  They all expressed serious concerns about what happens to our future generations when the mineral boom finishes and we've sold all our best land and assets to overseas conglomerates. 

Drive home

The weather turned foul from Jundah and beyond. So this meant that our intended stops at national parks was not sensible. All of them lie in the Channel Country with dirt roads leading in and out of them. The roads become impassable with even the slightest wet, so we were lucky to have reached the Tarmac without too much trouble.

In addition the tent on the camper as become quite dusty from all the red interior dust. We wanted to avoid making the canvas streaky and washing the grime into it. The weather forecast is for continuing showers, so we are now on the way home. And will arrived this evening having done over 1500klms in two days!

Stonehenge, Jundah and Quilpie

Stonehenge

Eventually we found a laundromat in Longreach that had room to put our dirty washing.  So whilst it was washing we investigated the local RSL club for lunch.  Unfortunately the drying took longer than necessary because, Sue only emptied the washing from one machine.  When she emptied the dryer, there wasn't enough washing!,  Ooops another washing machine still had the remainder in it all still wet!

When all the washing was dry, we took the road towards Welford National Park.

The road was one strip of tar, and badly formed.  In some ways worse than the dirt roads we had already travelled on because, if you meet a road train on a road like this, unless you get right off the road, they will shower you with stones!  Visibility from behind is limited by the width of the camper, so a one stage, as we were pulling off to let the 35meter road train full of fuel, overtake, he deliberately swerved to ensure we copped the biggest showering possible.  The tar strip is sometimes very difficult to get off as the edges form a sharp drop and the sharp edges can cut tyres to shreds

It started to get late in the afternoon and we still had some 90klms to get to Jundah, before another 64klms to Welford National Park.  The paddocks were not fenced from the road, so cattle and sheep are able to wander at will.

So we decided to pull in to a small town called Stonehenge.  There are 25 residents living in the tone, most of whom were at the local pub when we arrived.  The caravan park was a dusty strip diagonally opposites the pub and payment was by "honor system".  But there were clean hot and cold showers, electricity, if required, BBQ facilities, if you had wood, rain water to drink and all for $10.

Meeting the locals was an interesting experience. Most were in some way connected to the pub. The two girls serving were the publican's daughters, the two blokes sitting outside were employed by the publican, who also owned the local RACQ and earth moving business.  The teacher from the local school of just four children, taught the pulican's grandchildren.  

The local gardener turned up later.  His job was to keep the town's garden in order. This being the grounds around the campsite - not much in the way of gardens and the gardens around the community hall - again not a big area. They were very pretty and very green. He had a helper two days per week.

At the shower block, later in the evening, Sue spotted what looked very similar to a Cane Toad!  Let's hope it hasn't made it's way down as far south west as this!

By morning the wind had really picked up and it was threatening to rain. So we were unable to use the has stove to make tea and breakfast.

The road out of Stonehenge in the morning took us along a magnificent dirt road until it looped back onto the one strip of tar to Jundah. 

In Jundah we stopped for fuel, which was a rusting pump in the middle of a paddock.  We waited and no one came, so Peter went to the local store.  Kathy the owner, also ran the fuel stop, so she ambled over, filled the car and told us to meet her back at the store to pay.

The store was something out of the 1900's, old wooden display cabinets, very dusty and minimal products for sale.  We went in and ordered two toasted sandwiches.  Kathy went down the back to cook the toast and whilst she was gone, two other customers came in to be served.  They waited for some while and eventually left.  When Kathy came back out she said, "Did I miss some customer?"  When this was confirmed she said, " Oh well they can wait for me, if they want something they will be back".  As she is the only store in the town this would be true.  She was the dictator to the customer!

From Jundah, we took the dirt road through Welford National Park.  This is a magnificent park, with red sand dunes, rocky outcrops, clay pans and stony plains.  Here we saw heaps of bustards, and emus with their chicks.  We also saw plenty of red and grey kangaroos.  On the road were large lizards standing up high on their front haunches. Again the dirt road was great.

Towards the very end of this road, we came across the large clean lake.  Wildlife abounded here.  Birds of every variety were on and around the water.  Bird chatter and noise could be heard all around.

We stopped here to make a cup of tea as the wnd had finally stopped. And then we felt the first spits of rain.  

When we got back onto the tar strip, it started to rain in ernest. This was not pleasant diving.  Every kilometer or so we would have to stop to avoid colliding with either kangaroos, emus or cattle. Cattle grids and sheet water, together with flood dips proved to be additional hazards. In addition, large road trains were also using the road.  This was for 247klms.

After Quilpie, the road widened marginally and the number of animals decreased slightly, but the number of road trains increased. This was for a further 210klms.

So we have arrive in Charleville very tired and not wanting to open the camper in the rain.  So we have booked motel accommodation for the night.