It is time to leave the east coast and head south-west,to Mareeba, over the Great Dividing Range. As we drove up into the mountains the scenery was fabulous and sweeping as it changed to the healthy green of English pastoral. This was the Atherton Tablelands. The blue sky was, unusually, streaked with white cloud. It reminded me of the start of, 'The Simpsons' and made me smile. However,the next sign said, 'Abbatoir Swamp'! Blimey, talk about a reality check! The sun came out again. This morning had a damp feel to it but this was better. The breeze was still cool.
The Malloy camp area reminded me of Cannock Chase. It was being well used and someone was collecting wood. We have not stayed in any of the free camp areas only on sites because of the need for shower and power facilities. There was a little 'town' within walking distance-a pub serving meals and a few houses.There was also a sign for unfenced animals. I would not fancy negotiating his way around a cow in the middle of the night!
As we travelled on I noticed the rocky formations of yellow termite mounds everywhere. The marshlands, beyond this, supported prolific bird life. Many Australian birds seem to be pied in colour.
Approaching Mareeba, the first thing we saw was 'The Golden Drop Winery', based on mangoes. This was also sugar-cane country, and it was almost cutting season when all the train tracks would be in use. The second thing we saw was, 'The Kingdom Hall' Jehovah's Witness church, which had a lot of cars outside it, and the third was MacDonalds, which only had had only a few! We passed through the town and continued on our way. It was too soon to stop so we headed out to Mount Garnet.
The 'Brahman Stud' just outside the town reminded us that this was cattle droving land and the start of the huge cattle stations along, 'The Savannah Way,' that stretches from Cairns, in the east, to Broome, in the west. It is usual to see wacky things along the way too. It is part of the Aussie psyche. A washing machine on a stick, at the end of a road, was someones post box! There is a trend for large 'statues' or models of things too. We have already had a lobster, banana, shrimp and mango. This time it was a giant gumboot with a gecko clambering up it, outside the Information Centre. Another shop had a giant model of a Cassowary outside it. A huge wind farm whirred up on the hill and it reminded me of England until a gash of rust-red soil told me otherwise.
The camp site was a bit empty so we parked virtually in the kitchen! There were shabby live-in plots at the back, still, it was only for one night. There was a fridge-freezer, benches, a kettle and a sink with hot water. The television had poor reception but we watched an interesting programme on Australian history whilst we prepared spagetti bolognese. I had a couple of cold beers and set the van up for the night. We rang England from here as the telephone worked, in a fashion! The operator had to connect us as the buttons were not registering.
The next day we headed out on a road that was, at times, just a wide gash of red sand and gravel with a single lane of tar in the middle. The rule is that you drive on it until another vehicle approaches, then you have half each, unless it is a road-train, in which case you pull over and wait for it to pass! Initially we were stuck behind a two carriage, milk-tanker road train, travelling at 80kms. We overtook it and travelled on, however, when we got to the next narrow strip of a tarmac a passing road-train spun a couple of stones up and hit the windscreen, cracking it! I was shocked but Lee said that it would be okay, if it stayed like that. There was a four inch crack on the bottom of my side of the windscreen. I looked at the map and noticed the town on the gulf called Karumba, not the Simpsons again! In the next town we drove into the automatic vehicle wash down, as we were covered in bright red dust, only to find out that it was out of water! We headed off again. The next town was Bedrock. Wasn't that in the Flintstones??? Two more stones hit the screen, only chipping it this time. I held my breath every time a road train passed us. I only breathed out when the dust cleared. It was hard going! The Brahman cows chewed quietly near the termite mounds that rose like huge gravestones among the endless grasslands on either side of us. A sign warned us to 'Avoid bulls and roadtrains'! I wished we could! Eagles and kites circled overhead. I would only worry if they turned into vultures! We ploughed on. When we encountered another vehicle it became impossible to see anything on the road because of the amount of dust that was being kicked up. Qwerky Oz reared its head again with the local garage model of a huge kangaroo wearing shorts and carrying a spanner!
As we approached Georgetown we noticed a small cat in the middle of nowhere. It seemed to know where it was going and disappeared into the long grass. I heard later that ferel cats are killing local wildlife, such as the Bilby, to the point of extinction! The sky was full of wheeling kites, about 30 of them. We had stopped outside the post office to post some letters then we had an ice-cold beer. We got talking to a couple from Victoria, with a dog called Ned. They said that they might see us at the camp site. As we arrived a lady booked us in and just said,"Choose your spot." We did, near the ammenities block, as usual! Nearby a man lay sleeping on the ground where he had thrown his lorry tarpaulin and sleeping bag! We unloaded our two chairs a table and two beers, very quietly. A couple of young men arrived with a van so crammed with stuff that it looked like Rubric's Cube to undo it, and they looked as though they could survive a fair amount of time in the desert! It took them an age to pitch two tents. I don't think that they could find anything! I put some washing on the line and chatted to an elderly couple, from the Atherton Tablelands, who were taking a look at the outback. He had been a truckkie for many years and never seen it. I don't know how he managed to avoid it! Ned's owners arrived after we had set up and asked us if we wanted to go with them to the local pub. Lee went for a game of pool. I did not feel sociable so I stayed in the van and read. As the sun set a whole flock of white parrots, called Corellas, set up a squawking as they swooped from tree to tree then roosted for the night. I took some pictures of them. Lee had a good night and made a few more friends.
On Tuesday 3rd June we were on the road for 9am, a first. We hoped that we could settle before the sun got too overwhelming. There was a good road,and cool air. We felt refreshed and full of hope for the day ahead. The kites were circling spoilt for choice after the night's roadkill! We avoided a wandering cow. By afternoon the air was hot, our joints had grown stiff. We had seen wallabies at 10 in the morning and a group of storks flew gracefully overhead sometime later. Apart from that it was 360 degree views of grassland. The single tarmac road was back, as was the mounting tension about the windscreen. We reached the Burke and Wills roadhouse and took a break. Everything was very expensive so we made sandwiches up out on the drive. (See the pictures of Lee making sandwiches and the sign.)Refreshed we moved on.
There was so little around us the thought about what we would do if we broke downhere was a scary one. I felt tense for quite a while. There were endless termite tombstones, the odd cow and shredded tyres everywhere. We even saw a cyclist!! Tough call that one! 'Dismal Creek' did nothing to lift the mood. We ploughed on for the Three Ways Roadhouse. Ah the joy of being on the road! It said in the Lonely Planet Guide that crocs have been run over on northern roads! As if there are not enough hazards already! I saw my first camel the other day. Fortunately it was not in the road but quietly munching grass on the side. I peered at the termite mounds. They are certainly getting a lot more creative-there are huge phallic constructions or, six-foot heaps that resemble 'Sideshow Bob's' hair.
A sign warns of unfenced land. It warns you about wandering stock. I could not be a truck driver. They run into all sorts of animals when driving. Cows are not exactly small! I would swerve to avoid one and probably kill five innocently munching wallabies in the nearby grasslands! One anthill has just resembled that rock in America with the presidents faces carved on to it! The flies seem clever too because there are plenty of them around but they do not seem to get splatted on the windscreen! Why? I hate all the insects and always check under toilet seats for the old redbacked spider! There was a report in the local paper the other day that told the story of the lady who lived on the 12th floor of some flats in town and, when she went to the bathroom she was confronted by a python coming out of the toilet! Apparently, he had come into the plumbing system and decided to come out on her floor!!!I have got used to sharing my shower with a frog but I would draw the line at that!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment