Thursday, 6 October 2011
North by North West
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Going west
We have travelled 1000km so far since leaving and continue to travel west to Charleville made a sandwich down by the river and headed south to The Gladstone Hotel the first in the book. Our first impressions were amazement to view a street lined with bra's! It turned out to be a fund raising effort for breast cancer, but with over a thousand bra's lining the street which only went for about 50m it was a sight.
The pub is as the book says, a plain pub without all the banter on the walls.
We needed to get going as it was becoming overcast and given we were still on dirt roads, did not want to get caught. We left around 11.00am and drove north as the clouds came in from the west, the road was pretty good until it went to black soil with about 80 km's to go and it started to spit. We got to 25km's out and the rain started to fall, luckily we got to the bitumen strip before it got too heavy and made it to town around 2.00pm. So been to the Wool Scour great place, full of history, now thinking about what to do with the rain, heading further north or staying put, we will probably toss a coin. - until next time.
The pub is as the book says, a plain pub without all the banter on the walls.
Inside and out of The Gladstone Hotel Wyandra
when we arrived a lady told us of a road across to Toompine, our next destination. We had a couple of beers and spoke to a property owner who got out his truckie maps and showed us the roads out to properties, we checked in with the local police who confirmed the roads and explained some had been closed 20 years ago and which way to go. So to the disappointment to the lady serving, we decided to head off and camp by the Parro and head directly west across property tracks. Great camp site down by the river and a great trip out, heaps of wild life around. Headed off the next morning, met a couple of cow cockies along the way and they told confirmed the way to travel. We stopped off at Duck creek for lunch it's an old opal mining area, had a bit of a scratch around, but came up empty. Got to Toompine hotel around 3.00pm, great set up, free camp, showers and the bar lady told us to throw our swags in the hall as there might be a bit rain (which there was over night). What a contrast as a pub, good atmosphere, talked with a local property owner and fellow travellers, had a great feed and shower (much to Kevin pleasure).
The place has all the history of the pub and surrounding district and samples of bolder opal found in the region. The beer was cold although no tap beer. We had to be out of the hall early as they were running a craft class in it. We took off at 7.00am after having a cuppa with a couple of donkeys and headed north to Quilpie. The plan was to travel to Blackall via Yaraka, but Kevin suggested that we go via Adavale, although the Yaraka pub was in the book, the write up was not inviting and Adavale had a pub we were told about in Toompine. So we headed to Adavale, the trip was 150km shorter and as it turned out was a wise move. The pub at Adavale is a nice looking bush pub run by a lady who was born and bred in Coffs, a member of the local Jorden family. Is was a good choice on Kevin's part, we had a beer, a mars bar and read the walls.
Note to Matt - The solar setup working brilliantly and no need for a recovery vehicle yet.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
First days on the road
So left Friday (30/9) and got to Paul's place outside Warwick Qld, on the back of Leslie dam - great spot to have 100 acre's, went over to Brian's and helped unload his house contents as he moved on to the neighbouring property and built a new house and then had a feed and slept in comfort, practiced with a couple of beers and a bottle of red. Paul has loaned us his GPS for the trip which means we will be coming back through this way when heading home. Drove to Neal's place (170 acre's) over looking Lockyer valley. Went via Charlton and got a supply of jerky for the trip at "Jim's Jerky". Helped to put up a Trampoline and take down a race and set off again the following morning after more practice with beer and Wild Turkey. Looking at the map we found a place west of Roma (at Neal's suggestion and a quick call to the previous manager) called Muckadilla. We figured we could get there comfortably before kick off 4.00pm before the telecast starts of the NRL 2011 Grand Final.
The Muckadilla pub is 30 mins west of Roma in a small town that has a fuel stop, a rail head and a couple of houses. You can camp in the grounds of the pub free and they have toilets and showers available for use. You can pay $10 for the night if you want power (we don't, solar working well). While this first pub is not in the "Book" it was well placed for us to watch the game. The pub has a selection on tap of Carlton, Toohey's and XXXX, it even had Toohey's old. The first couple went down quick while we chatted with the owner John. He told us he was from Woodburn down our way and about how the pub was 64 years old. He pointed us to a bit of the history of the town and the original plans to set up a health spa because of the therapeutic nature of the water, this never eventuated. John gave us a couple more pubs to look up along the way and confirmed some of the ones in the book.
We settled in and watched the game with around a dozen others, some local's and some fellow travellers who had the same idea to find a TV for the afternoon. Kev was happy with the result and it was the deserved outcome, (Kev was not the only one going for Manly, there was one other demented soul). After the game we had a feed at the pub and for $12 got a choice of roast port, chicken or bangers and mash, great value. We rolled out the swags early with plans to head for the Gladstone Hotel in Wyandra.
The Muckadilla pub is 30 mins west of Roma in a small town that has a fuel stop, a rail head and a couple of houses. You can camp in the grounds of the pub free and they have toilets and showers available for use. You can pay $10 for the night if you want power (we don't, solar working well). While this first pub is not in the "Book" it was well placed for us to watch the game. The pub has a selection on tap of Carlton, Toohey's and XXXX, it even had Toohey's old. The first couple went down quick while we chatted with the owner John. He told us he was from Woodburn down our way and about how the pub was 64 years old. He pointed us to a bit of the history of the town and the original plans to set up a health spa because of the therapeutic nature of the water, this never eventuated. John gave us a couple more pubs to look up along the way and confirmed some of the ones in the book.
We settled in and watched the game with around a dozen others, some local's and some fellow travellers who had the same idea to find a TV for the afternoon. Kev was happy with the result and it was the deserved outcome, (Kev was not the only one going for Manly, there was one other demented soul). After the game we had a feed at the pub and for $12 got a choice of roast port, chicken or bangers and mash, great value. We rolled out the swags early with plans to head for the Gladstone Hotel in Wyandra.
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Fitting out the truck
Final Preparations
It's the day before the off and we are making the final adjustments with gear and packing. The truck has had the once over, and all the normal spares have been packed (BFT and a can of WD40). Thanks to the generosity of Matt (our resident electric man), we have the loan of a solar panel, deep cell batteries and other assorted gadgets which hooks up for our "green energy" source to run the fridge and all the rechargables. We have had a dry run of packing most of the gear in the back and with the space we have, have decided on taking a bit extra fuel and water. Kevin's tool kit, spares and safty gear all fitted along with tarps, poles and recovery gear.
We have the carring capacity for 110 litres of fuel and 115 litres of water, this should be more than enough for where we will be going. The food will be interesting with sealable wet and dry esky setup (expecting to have to ward off a mice plauge), we will be taking limited supplies until Longreach where we can stockup before heading west. Most importantly the music has been organised, with each of us armed with a 2 gig thumb drive, with Kevin loading his collection of favourite 1000 and not to out done my 600 songs (I'm expecting most will complement each other and sorry Steve it's a Celine Dion free zone).
Next entry should be on the road. With such "great coverage" across the country from our national carrier, I'm expecting to do up loads every couple of days from where ever we can find access to the net.
One sleep to go!!
We have the carring capacity for 110 litres of fuel and 115 litres of water, this should be more than enough for where we will be going. The food will be interesting with sealable wet and dry esky setup (expecting to have to ward off a mice plauge), we will be taking limited supplies until Longreach where we can stockup before heading west. Most importantly the music has been organised, with each of us armed with a 2 gig thumb drive, with Kevin loading his collection of favourite 1000 and not to out done my 600 songs (I'm expecting most will complement each other and sorry Steve it's a Celine Dion free zone).
Next entry should be on the road. With such "great coverage" across the country from our national carrier, I'm expecting to do up loads every couple of days from where ever we can find access to the net.
One sleep to go!!
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Which way, where and when?
With the football season over (sorry Alex) its down to planning this week. First things, where do we want to go and which way round do we travel. Kev got the bible out (his addition of the Australian bush pubs) and we marked a number of pubs on the map. We want to ensure we include a visit to the Stockmans Hall of Fame in Longreach and climb Ayres rock. I always feel it necessary to include an educational stop over on a trip such as this so a stop in Balcaldine to the birth place of the tree of knowledge and Innaminka to see the dig tree. To finish up we need to include a spot of fossicking at Haarts range (to pay for the trip lol) and view a once in a life time image of water in Lake Eyre.
Taking account of all these factors, we have decided to head north first into western Queensland and then travel west into the Northern Territory via the Plenty Highway and then down into South Australia and back up to North Western NSW and back home. I estimate 7500 km's to travel over a 5 week period with around 24 pubs to drink at. So based on 9km a litre times an average of $1.60 a litre (recent info says Birdsville is charging $1.74 a litre for diesel) we can expect to to budget for $1400 to $1500 should cover fuel. Kevin says he will be trying the beer diet so we won't need much in the way of food.
We have both started with lists of things to take, with tools and equipment at the top. Kevin has a lot of good tools, spare parts, recovery gear and first aid stuff. I reckon we will have heaps of room in the truck with just the two of us in the truck. We decided not to go shooting on properties in Western QLD as it's all too hard with permits for rifles across 3 States and the Territory. Its time we had uniform federal gun laws, we all live in the one country!
Till next time and the next planning leg
Pub Crawlers
Taking account of all these factors, we have decided to head north first into western Queensland and then travel west into the Northern Territory via the Plenty Highway and then down into South Australia and back up to North Western NSW and back home. I estimate 7500 km's to travel over a 5 week period with around 24 pubs to drink at. So based on 9km a litre times an average of $1.60 a litre (recent info says Birdsville is charging $1.74 a litre for diesel) we can expect to to budget for $1400 to $1500 should cover fuel. Kevin says he will be trying the beer diet so we won't need much in the way of food.
We have both started with lists of things to take, with tools and equipment at the top. Kevin has a lot of good tools, spare parts, recovery gear and first aid stuff. I reckon we will have heaps of room in the truck with just the two of us in the truck. We decided not to go shooting on properties in Western QLD as it's all too hard with permits for rifles across 3 States and the Territory. Its time we had uniform federal gun laws, we all live in the one country!
Till next time and the next planning leg
Pub Crawlers
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
History
September 2011 - After nine months in the planning and a postponement from March due to flooding, we have set down October for the trip. Last time I went on a trip west, I kept a diary, time to update I thought, so will try a blog this time, although still need to figure out if I will have access to upload accounts of trip regularly.
Why the trip? It started from a book I gave as a Christmas present to Kev, on some of the great outback pubs across the interior of Australia. I thought it would be a great idea to select a number of pubs to visit and combine it with a bit of a trek. I have been to 6 of the pubs already, but I had only taken scant interest of their history and setting at the time. Now knowing how much Kev loves the bush and a beer, but also a genuine interest in history, I thought it a perfect excuse to trek with a fellow traveller and a good mate.
So the plan is to take my hilux, provisions and a couple of swags and head west for 5 weeks. The real planning is yet to begin, but we have heaps of time (3 weeks) lol. We still need to plan the route and decide on an itinerary (neither of us is into spontaneity) and the provisions to take. The truck is a goer, with a new motor (thanx Carla) and a new clutch and gearbox. We will have a couple of planning nights with a beer of the next couple of weeks and agree on a kick off date.
Why the trip? It started from a book I gave as a Christmas present to Kev, on some of the great outback pubs across the interior of Australia. I thought it would be a great idea to select a number of pubs to visit and combine it with a bit of a trek. I have been to 6 of the pubs already, but I had only taken scant interest of their history and setting at the time. Now knowing how much Kev loves the bush and a beer, but also a genuine interest in history, I thought it a perfect excuse to trek with a fellow traveller and a good mate.
So the plan is to take my hilux, provisions and a couple of swags and head west for 5 weeks. The real planning is yet to begin, but we have heaps of time (3 weeks) lol. We still need to plan the route and decide on an itinerary (neither of us is into spontaneity) and the provisions to take. The truck is a goer, with a new motor (thanx Carla) and a new clutch and gearbox. We will have a couple of planning nights with a beer of the next couple of weeks and agree on a kick off date.
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