We have been offline for the past few days – the joys of the outback. Some people miss it more than others.

Since we left Tennant Creek, we have had a strong south-easterly head-ish wind all the way to where we are now. The fuel economy has been shocking on these wind driven roads.

There haven’t been too many things to talk about, as we basically wake up, have brekkie, get in the car, drive to where we intend to get to, setup camp again, and go to bed.

Our first night out of TC was at the Camooweal Waterhole. It is a billabong just west of the township, and we drove 3.5km south along the river. We setup camp, and for the first time, we felt really cold. The wind was blowing from the SE (as usual) and when we got up in the morning, it was only 6 deg C! No wonder we were cold. I even had to put on my tried, proven and holey Saucony trackie dacks. I have not had to use them since, but I am sure the further south we go, the more I may need to get them out again. See the photos for what it looked like.

The second night we got to Wal’s Camp in Cloncurry. Never again! It was disgusting, with us all lined up in alleys, which was a pain, but the worst part was the amenities. The toilet/shower block was made of a little tin shed, with 2 ramps up the middle. One was to the men’s, the other to the women’s. The 2 sections were divided by only a shower screen! Ahead of you when you walked up the ramp, was the men’s toilet, and the door between you and the toilet didn’t go anywhere near the floor. The women’s was the same, so you could see if anyone, either a man or a woman, was on the loo! The showers were no better with only a shower screen between you and the rest of the world! Luckily we found the handicapped toilet/shower out the front, so we used that. At least it had a door, but it did get completely flooded, so the floor was wet all the time. I do not think the whole affair would come close to any sort of building and health standards….let alone privacy rules! We shall not be going back there, and will tell everyone who asks. Also, they only take cash, and no receipts, so it is all a bit dodgy.

The third night we made it to a roadside camp, 25kms NW of Longreach. This was a huge camp, and very few people, so we put up camp, and settled in. Of course, when we were all settled after dinner - at about 7:30pm - 3 road-trains pulled in for the night, and left their engines running for a while. Eventually they turned off the engines, and went to sleep. Surprisingly, we didn’t hear from them until about 6am, so all was good. Of course, quite a few road-trains went past, but we were about 100m from the road, so we were able to cope.

This morning we broke camp again, and left about 8:30. Our objective was Emerald, and that is where I sit now. We pulled into a nice caravan park so that we could get a good, and private, shower!

The following photos show our ‘exciting’ road travels over the past few days. We are only here for the one night, with another free camp tomorrow (don’t know where), and then we are booked in for 4 nights at Harvey Bay. None of us have stayed there before. I know people who have stayed there, and I have driven through there about 6 years ago, but didn’t stop. We are looking forward to it.

Enjoy!

Sunset at Camooweal Waterhole - it wasn't our best sunset, but was still nice to watch.

The setup at Camooweal, with the setting sun giving a nice glow...

Things can look a bit upside-down when wine is involved.

Sunrise at Camooweal....it was cold!

This is our setup at Wal's Camp......never again!

All set up at our roadside camp near Longreach. We didn't put up the awning, as we were not going to be there long..

The sunset...

The sunrise next morning....

One of the road-trains kept us company overnight.

It was very tempting not to run over the 40+ Apostle birds that ate their way past our tent. Wendy doesn't like these at all. Lucky she was still in bed.