Homeward Bound

Sat 3 Aug – Filled water and left the Katherine Gorge for the short drive back into Katherine where we shopped and then drove 100kms to Mataranka and a camp at Bitter Springs. After lunch we walked to the Springs. This is a hot water spring which flows down a river. The idea is to hop in with a noodle and float down the river for about 300m and then walk back along a path. No noodles so we just swam down the river. At the top end the water temperature is about 30C and slowly gets cooler at the bottom. We did 2 trips. Very unusual!! A bit like the warm lazy river at Hanmer.

Sun 4 Aug – Our drive back to Townsville really starts today with a 415km drive, so we got away to an early start. (less wind and cooler). Val drove the middle stint which made it much easier for me. We were driving south down the Stuart Highway and stopped for the night at Renner Springs Roadhouse, backed right onto the highway. Fortunately, hardly anyone drives at night including the road trains.

Mon 5 Aug – Pancakes for breakfast as we have a slightly shorter trip today. (323kms). We stopped at Three Ways. This is where the Stuart Highway meets the Barkly Highway. We had now completed the western circuit of Australia. We turned east onto the Barkly Highway and are now on roads we travelled last year. Our overnight stop was at the Barkly Roadhouse and we stayed here almost exactly a year ago when we were going west. This is a great roadhouse, always busy and a lively atmosphere. We had a good meal and enjoyed a two piece band singing some great songs.

Tues 6 Aug – Back on the road east for 400kms. Val again drove the middle stint over some rough Northern Territory roads until the border into Queensland and Camooweal where we had lunch. We also had a ½ hour time change. Our overnight stop was at a rest area 60kms short of Mt Isa.

Wed 7 Aug – We are now about the same latitude as Townsville and the temperatures have dropped at least 5C to around 11C in the early morning. The road was very rough and bumpy and we discovered this was due to the floods around this area. Most of the roads after the hills around Mt Isa and all the way west to Hughenden had been underwater. No wonder the tar seal was rough. We stopped at a free park beside the Julia Creek. It was a great spot and we decided to take a day’s break. Happy hour under a tree with many of the campers.

Thurs 8 Aug – A rest day! Hopped on our bikes and rode into the town of Julia Creek. There was a good information centre with very interesting stories of the history and the geology of the area. Another great happy hour.

Fri 9 Aug – The road today was even worse than before. We spent a lot of the trip at 70kph dodging the pot holes, ridges and slumps. Fortunately, we have covered the majority of the trip and stopped for the night at Hughenden at another free park. A camp draught was happening in the show grounds over the fence. Lots of horses and cowboys. We walked in to find out what it was all about. A competitor (on horseback) had to separate one steer out of a group and then try and guide the steer through a series of gates, all timed. It went on for three days. This was day one. We watched for about an hour! There were 250 competitors in the open grade alone. The day’s competition finished at around 9:00pm and we were amazed to here on the P.A. that the competition would commence at 6:00am in the morning.

Sat 10 Aug – We were woken at 5:30am by the P.A. announcer getting the day underway. It was a bit cloudy and cooler as we drove on much better roads over the great divide and on to Charters Towers and a camp.

Sun 11 Aug – We spent some time walking around the historic town of Charters Towers with its lovely buildings. It was a rich town due to the discovery of gold. It was a bit like Kalgoorlie. It was only a short drive down to the coast to Townsville. We had not seen the sea since leaving Darwin. Our camp was at Rowes Bay where we will stay for 5 nights before flying home on Friday. We walked along The Esplanade and The Strand following the beach and the parks. Lots of families enjoying the beaches and swimming in the large Rockpool.

Mon 12 Aug – We drove out of the camp and checked the storage for “Andy”, all good. We checked that the people fixing our windscreen had the right one. (All on insurance). Managed to buy a replacement running light (lens fell off on the rough roads), and a small food shop to get us thru to Friday. Back at the camp we washed “Andy” and the bikes and installed the new running light. That pretty much filled in the day!! Quite chilly today (23C) due to a cool change from down south. NZ temperatures could be a shock!!

Tues 13 Aug – We spent the morning tidying up some of “Andy’s” paint work and getting rid of some surface rust much to the amusement of our fellow campers. The end result was very good for a couple of amateur spray painters even if we say it ourselves. In the afternoon we biked along The Strand and into the CBD. Townsville is another Aussie city with a great sea frontage.

 

Wed 14 Aug – Out to the windscreen place by 8:00am to have our cracked windscreen replaced under insurance, thank goodness. This crack has been here for 6 weeks and slowly getting bigger. In the afternoon we walked along Rowes Bay where our camp is. It is a beautiful golden sandy beach with Magnetic Island in the distance. Unfortunately, it has been low tide while we are here with no swimming possible.

Thurs 15 Aug – We spent most of the day cleaning and doing laundry ready to go home tomorrow. Cooled off in the pool. Later in the afternoon we caught a bus into the city. We walked along the main streets. All very quiet and lots of empty shops. We ended up going into the Cowboys Leagues Club for a drink and a meal. It was very busy. Caught an Uber back to camp.

Fri 16 Aug – We did the last checks and drove 14kms to our storage place. Covered the windows and put the bikes inside and then caught an Uber to the Townsville Airport. A 3 hour flight to Sydney and then on to Christchurch arriving early Saturday morning. Since leaving Perth 16 weeks ago, we have travelled 9,200kms with no problems. Well done “Andy”!!