{"id":526,"date":"2014-08-03T12:36:54","date_gmt":"2014-08-03T02:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/?p=526"},"modified":"2014-08-03T12:36:54","modified_gmt":"2014-08-03T02:36:54","slug":"rev-robyns-walkabout-diary-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/?p=526","title":{"rendered":"Rev Robyn’s Walkabout Diary Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Robyn<\/a>Walkabout Diary continued<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Page 3<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
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Friday 18th<\/sup> July 2014<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Arrived at Tenant Creek early afternoon to shop and look for an Auto Electrician to check our 12v wiring. The charge doesn\u2019t seem to be getting to the van battery. Sure enough our new van had been wired wrong but only cost $50 to get re-done, thank goodness. Ed was offered a business here in Tenant Creek. The local panel beater has just retired and closed his shop, couldn\u2019t get anyone to take over. What an opening for an enterprising young man. Apparently a good business, but very isolated, of course. I was talking to the post office lady whose husband is the ranger at The Pebbles where we intended to camp for the night and she informed us that there are an average of 60 vans pull in there every night. So that was the end of us going there. The last time we were there, about 5 years ago we were the only ones and they were just building the toilets and fireplaces, very quiet and peaceful. We travelled along the road and turned east at Three Ways to find a good bush camp about 15ks onto the Barkly Highway.<\/address>\n
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Saturday 19th<\/sup><\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Dirty day today!! \u2013 that\u2019s the day when it\u2019s time to shower and wash clothes, but we are bush camped with not much water left and will travel all day so won\u2019t worry about it \u2013 just wear dirty clothes till we shower and put up with the smell. Actually I am the only one to put up with the smell as Ed has no sense of smell at all, too bad for me.<\/address>\n
Our new van is very comfy with all its bells and whistles, which we are trying to get used to but one of the things I like most is the sky lights. They can be closed completely, opened to let the light in, opened fully to let the breeze in or just screened for the insects. It\u2019s so lovely at night to be able to just look up at the stars. Last night I woke in the early hours with the feeling that someone was there, I opened my eyes slowly to see the full moon shining down on my face, just like God shining his torch on me!!<\/address>\n
We camped last night on land owned by the Waramungu people. We don\u2019t like to camp on Aboriginal owned land if they don\u2019t know we are there but in this case it was getting late due to car repairs in Tenant Creek and we had no choice. Therefore we acknowledge the traditional owners and pay our respect to them. We always practice \u201cPerichoresis\u201d \u2013 to walk gently around another\u2019s country.<\/address>\n
We travelled all day to pull in to the Georgina River at Camooweal about 6.30.<\/address>\n
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Sunday 20th<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
The lagoons on the Georgina River are not as lovely as we remembered years ago, not much water and very compacted, surrounding bush and vegetation very dry and sparse. Could be the drought up here or too many free campers or a combination of both. The water lilies are still beautiful, along with the brolgas, ducks, pelicans and many other water birds. Alas they are swamped by a thousand squawking Corellas who crowd the trees all day long. They all swarm down for their evening drink about 7 pm and fly off to bed somewhere till 6.30 am which suits us fine.<\/address>\n
Our little spot here is very quiet and peaceful, about half a mile from the 50 other vans crowding the bank a little further along where there is more water. We have had a young couple from Melb camped a little over from us who sold their apartment, got rid of the mortgage and have been travelling with just a tent since March. Then the next night they were replaced by German backpackers and last night two older couples from Adelaide tenting it around for a few months. We had coffee with a couple of ladies travelling together from Geelong and met them again in the pub that night where we joined another couple from Brisbane for a good old country pub roast (cooked by a Spanish backpacker!)<\/address>\n
A couple of days here is just what we needed, I am starting to relax and enjoy this trip, although I still am trying to get work done that I was silly enough to bring with me.<\/address>\n
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Monday 21st<\/sup><\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Catch up day for washing, showers, cleaning, book work and relaxing if we have time. And a drive around town.<\/address>\n
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Tuesday 22nd<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Goodbye to Camooweal after a great visit to the Drovers Camp Museum. What a refreshing change this was – $5 to get in and a free guided tour with an authentic old drover. The museum was built by these old fellas, is all staffed by volunteer ex drovers, aged over 75yrs, all dinky di Aussie legends with great stories to tell. This place is well worth a visit.<\/address>\n
Off we go again. Hot day today. We arrived in Mt Isa after lunch looking for a lock smith as we can\u2019t undo the spare tyre. We think we are hard done by sometimes when these little things crop up but when we talk to other travelers we realize how well we do and thank God for his protection and guidance everyday we travel. We really needed to shop but it\u2019s just too hot and the locksmith can\u2019t do the car till tomorrow so we move along. We have been told of a great camp spot about 75 ks east of Mt Isa. so will try to get there tonight<\/address>\n
WOW, God is so good. This beautiful, peaceful place has only three other people camped, all a long distance from each other along a dry creek bed, with water holes and rock pools. We passed the Mary Kathleen free camp which was so crowded the vans looked like they were on top of each other and spilling onto the road, there looked to be about 40 vans which is not unusual. We don\u2019t stop at the free camps because of the crowding. Anyway this little spot will be our secret.<\/address>\n
Wednesday 23rd<\/sup><\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
\u00a0We are camped in a gorge between towering red granite hills with beautiful white trunked gums lining the banks of the creek the rock wallabies are plentiful, jumping from rock to rock, but we did see a dingo last night right on dark at the very top of the gorge. Two campers left this morning so there is only a man from Tassie and us, I do hope it stays that way as we want to have a quiet break and will stay another day. We have had a bird watching group in this morning from all over Australia on a tour, and learned a little of the bird life from them, there are many little bush birds flitting around the water holes catching the little insects and a bower bird making his nest.<\/address>\n
Alas, as I write we have two caravans pulling in, Ed quickly puts our two chairs at the old fireplace near our camp to make it look like someone is there. This is the first time we have done this but some campers will pull in as close as they can to others. Early on in our camping life we pulled into a free camp and someone pulled in so close we couldn\u2019t even open our window. That was the end of our free camping.<\/address>\n
The chair thing seems to have worked as they have pulled in behind Tassie, he doesn\u2019t like it too much either, but we can\u2019t do much about it except hope that they don\u2019t have generators going all night. We only use ours during the day time and usually only once or twice a week for a couple of hours to charge the battery. We had a little siesta and just looked out the window and Tassie is gone!! He was so quiet. I think the other campers got too close as he was definitely going to stay till Friday and he has left his cooking pan behind that he was getting ready to cook his meat in. Another couple have come in and seen the chairs, walked around them and discussed the situation, she wants to pull into the space beside the chairs, he doesn\u2019t. They camp not far away and immediately get the generator out, put it between us and start it up!! So much for a peaceful rest.<\/address>\n
Thursday 24th<\/sup><\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Well the generator didn\u2019t go all night so we all got a good nights sleep. I had a good chat to the others who pulled in behind Tassie they are nice people and fixed our shower for us. They headed north early this morning. We went for a walk up to the wall of the dam, where the road has been blocked off, we squeezed through the fence, walked down a steep hill and found paradise! There is a secluded valley with lush greenery, a reed lined creek and birds, birds, birds. How peaceful and quiet it was in this \u201csecret\u201d valley. No dilly dallying for us. Off to Cloncurry we went. Managed to get Ed into doctor with ear infection, showers, washing, groceries all done and quick look around before we headed east once more and camped on Eastern Creek by the bridge about 10ks from Julia Creek.<\/address>\n
Friday 25th<\/sup><\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
This is the way to start the day. Cuppa in hand, swallows darting after the early morning insects and the sun just peeping through the trees, promising a warm day. I am startled by a loud splash and look across the river to see a large bull has just jumped in and is swimming towards the middle where there looks to be a small island of grass, however before he gets there he turns back and climbs up the bank giving himself a good shake as if to say \u2018That\u2019s better, I feel cooler now\u201d I haven\u2019t seen a bull go for a swim before, although I know that they can swim. On the road again, through Julia Creek and on to Richmond where we stopped for counter lunch and tried to find a spare wheel for the car. No luck so on we go to Hughenden arriving late afternoon and set up camp in the dry bed of the Flinders River on the edge of town.<\/address>\n
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Page 5<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
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Saturday 26th<\/sup><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>Hughenden<\/b><\/address>\n
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We woke today as we usually do to the sound of bush birds greeting the dawn. I can\u2019t seem to relax enough to sleep past 6.30 and find I need to get up and into the day. The quiet of the pre-dawn is the perfect time for prayer and contemplation and here in the outback the quiet is QUIET!!<\/address>\n
Early this morning we walked the \u201cEco Walk on Flinders\u201d and decided that we needed to stay in this place and look around a little more. We tried to find a camping spot but due to the annual Country Music Festival and a Netball tournament everything was booked out and no free camping is allowed within the town boundary. We enquired about the show grounds but were refused because our grey water is not in a sealed container (a bucket with a lid is not considered to be a sealed container) in our 10 years of caravanning around this country I have never seen a regulation like this and I was not a happy camper! I, who is known to carry long handled tongs and rubbish bags to clean up campsites all over this country! I, who have been known to escort wayward shopping trolleys long distances to their home! I, who refuse to use modern cleaning agents because of their un-necessary chemical content! I, who complain loudly at other campers who do the wrong thing and disrespect this beautiful land! \u00a0Enough! Enough! You get the picture that I was not happy, however I did not make a fuss as I believe in the principal of the matter it was just that you can carry things a little too far and in this case people are turned away from this beautiful little town because of it.<\/address>\n
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While I had a quick haircut, Ed explored the main street and crossed paths with a local lady several times. Sometime later she approached us for a chat saying that she had been watching Ed for awhile. She was not in the habit of watching strange men or following them in the street but felt she wanted to talk to him and felt better about it when she saw that I was with him. In the course of our conversation we found that the service at the Anglican Church had been changed to 2pm today and we would be most welcome to join them. We had two hours to get ready. This arrangement suited us fine as we would then have time after to head along the road and find a camp spot before dark. I had been looking forward to meeting Rev\u2019d Anne Nixon from Winton, who is supported by BCA and I believed was coming to do the service at 9.30 on Sunday morning, so I would still get to meet her. We freshened up and turned up at 2 to find that the priest had her days mixed up and was a no show.<\/address>\n
Of course you can guess who did the service. I was quite unprepared, of course, but we had a lovely evening prayer service with the three local ladies (our little street lady being one of them) and got to know each other over a cuppa afterwards. A wonderful God incidence!<\/address>\n
\u201cOne good turn deserves another.\u201d So the ladies said and here we are now camped in the big yard of St. Thomas\u2019 Anglican Church, Hughenden, Qld. Under a big shady tree, all plugged into the power for as long as we want to stay, within walking distance of everything in town. We toddled off to the Music Festival at the Diggers Hall and had a great night.<\/address>\n
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Sunday 27th<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Off to the Diggers Hall at 8am for the Poets Breakfast to meet our little local lady, Ailsa, who introduced us to the locals. Country music is not our first choice of music but one of the things we love to do is support the local communities in the outback. For this reason we do all our shopping at the smallest places, where we know that our money is going to support the local communities. We also avoid the larger petrol stations with the shopper docket discounts- we don\u2019t qualify for the discounts anyway as we avoid the bid chain stores. The best thing about the way we travel is meeting the local people and being included in community activities for a few days. The people who live in these little outback towns are struggling with drought and isolation most of the time and to be along side them even for a little while is a privilege and honor. They have always been the real Australians the backbone of this country and quite often feel forgotten by the rest of the country.<\/address>\n
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Sunday 27th<\/sup> continued<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Our day at the Country Music Festival was great fun as the day before we got to know some of the contestants, who had come from all over Qld and today was the big day of finals. Ed had his favorites and I had mine out of the 50 contestants in 4 age groups – ranging from 6 yrs to 80yrs. This morning was Gospel time where each contestant in each age group had to sing a gospel song.\u00a0 I can honestly say that I hadn\u2019t taken much notice of a little wispy blond girl of 12 with the skinniest little legs, until she stood on the huge stage looking like a little dot and with no accompaniment sang beautifully \u201cHow great thou Art\u201d the whole hall was silent \u2013 not a breath could be heard. What an experience it was!!!\u00a0 Ed\u2019s favorite sang a beautifully powerful rendition of \u201cThe Power of Your Love\u201d which I was almost swayed by but in the end my young man, who I had stuck with all through won every section he entered. This young man, Judah Kelly is not yet 18 and will be a young man to watch in the future as he has, I believe, a God given gift and a special presence.<\/address>\n
We are sitting now at the end of another lovely day under the big tree with a cuppa in hand and a casserole cooking slowly in the oven. We will have a shower soon before settling down for the night. Oh the convenience of the shower and toilet in the van cannot be explained!!<\/address>\n
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Monday 28th <\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Well it\u2019s goodbye to Hughenden. We have had a wonderful break in a friendly community with salt of the earth people. Maybe we won\u2019t get away soon as Ed is now having a long chat with the old man (and his dog) who wanders around and looks after the church grounds. Ok here he comes and I hear the old fella yell after him \u201cPlease come back again\u201d how lovely is that! I will continue this later tonight, must go now or we will never get away.<\/address>\n
8.30 pm \u2013 here I am again we are camped in the bush about 50ks east of Townsville and will continue on there tomorrow to visit our granddaughter who is in the army there.<\/address>\n
I have always been a traveler and have travelled over most of this country but I have never seen a dirtier road than the one we travelled today. We found Hughenden to be one of the cleanest little country town we have ever been in and to then find the opposite along the road was so disappointing. Not far along the road it started. The road surface was wonderfully smooth but the road sides were littered with rubbish and the decaying bodies of dead animals. Native animals, I understand, accidents happen in the country but I have heard of some outback councils having night patrols which start out about 5 am daily to clear away the road kill and dispose of them. Not only is it environmentally responsible but also safer for motorists, especially as this road is mostly through hilly country. (It would be a lot kinder on the nose as well) We found lots of piles of old truck tyres in among the bush along the road and when we pulled into a clearing for lunch we counted 57 old truck tyres in several dumps around the clearing.<\/address>\n
Our bush camp tonight revealed several dumps of old furniture and what looks like the cleanout of someone\u2019s shed, garden waste and lawn clippings \u2013 and this is 50 ks out of town.<\/address>\n
It really saddens me that we treat our land as a rubbish dump and we really should know better but I also think councils have a responsibility to keep our road sides clean and safe. Well, that\u2019s my moan for today!!<\/address>\n
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Tuesday 29th<\/sup><\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/address>\n
Well here we are in CLEAN and tidy and beautiful Townsville. Have had a lovely catch up with Lauren and also washing and book work. Lovely afternoon and evening in front of the telly as well.<\/address>\n
We head north tomorrow to catch up with grandson Keagan at Innisfail.<\/address>\n
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That\u2019s enough for now. Will talk again soon. God bless<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Robyn<\/a>Walkabout Diary continued<\/b> Page 3<\/b> \u00a0<\/b> Friday 18th July 2014<\/b> Arrived at Tenant Creek early afternoon to shop and look for an Auto Electrician to check \u2026 Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Zkbl-8u","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":528,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicanswanhill.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}