Thursday 12th May.
So with our hearts in our mouths we took one last look at CAMERON CORNER and headed back towards NOCCUNDRA, 250 km of dirt tracks and metal roads away, with a 9 year old boy at the wheel.
We had decided to let Cameron drive for maybe a couple of kilometres and then I would take over, but by the time we had done a couple of kilometres he was up to about 50 kph and doing such a great job we decided to let him do a couple more. Before we knew it we were zooming along at between 70 and 75 kph and he was handling it no trouble. So we left him to it and in this fashion we travelled for the first half an hour, and travelled 25 km.
His only bad trait was his fascination with how much dust he was making, and to this end spent a bit too much time gazing into the rear view mirrors admiring his dust. Finally at our suggestion he reluctantly pulled to a stop and I took over. We complimented him on how well he had done, and needless to say, for the remainder of the journey, we had the company of a very proud boy who wasn’t backward about coming forward to give me a few tips on how to best handle the road conditions. I was happy to accept the advice of this ‘Veteran of the road’.
Somewhere along the way we could see a huge cloud of dust ahead of us which we guessed would probably be a Road Train, but as we got closer realised it was in fact a sizable mob of cattle being driven along the road. When we got closer, we stopped to let them drift past us. They were mostly huge Brahman bulls with a few other unknown breeds thrown in. We asked one of the stockmen how many head were in the mob and he said about 900.
After that we had the road to ourselves again until we got within about 50 km of NOCCUNDRA, when we met two utes heading out to the Oil Rigs. Back at the NOCCUNDRA Water Hole there was a whole new set off campers who quickly made themselves known and wanted to know where we had been. They were a group of six vans travelling together, and when they heard we had just returned from CAMERON CORNER they became very interested, as they were planning to go there themselves the next day. We were able to fill them in on road conditions and times etc. Made us feel like seasoned travellers.
We quickly unpacked the car and then chucked the yabbie net in the creek. When we lifted it about 2 hours later we had about 20 good sized yabbies. We chucked about 6 of the smaller ones back and reset the net for the night. We were looking forward to our first real feed of this delicacy. Shortly after, another camper came over with about another 20 yabbies. He said they were getting sick of eating them and did we want them. Our feed was rapidly turning into a feast, and our net was still in the creek. We decided not to cook them until we had lifted the net in the morning.
After dinner we joined the group of caravanners and sat around their camp fire swapping travelling stories and learning about places to see and go.
Friday 13th May
First thing on the agenda this morning was to lift the yabbie net. Only about 5 or 6 smaller ones this time. We had been told that daytime was the best time to catch them, and also our bait was probably getting a bit stale. Never mind we still had a huge feed to look forward to for tea tonight.
We packed up the van, drove up to the pub and fuelled up before heading off towards QUILPIE, our next overnight stop, about 250 km north east. The roads were more of the same, one sealed lane down the middle with miles of room either side to pull off for oncoming traffic. Long flat straights and a surprisingly good surface. Again we had the road to ourselves and for the first 160 km to EROMANGA we were the only ones on the road.
As we entered EROMANGA, we saw a Road Train pulling out from a fuelling station.
It was a great opportunity for a photo. EROMANGA is basically a service centre for the surrounding Oil Fields. Its main claim to fame is that it is the Furthest Town From The Sea In Australia. Let’s face it, it would need something to skite about.
From EROMANGA the road improved considerably, probably due to the amount of traffic related to the Oil Industry that was using it. We set the Cruise Control to 100kph and sat back and enjoyed the ride, arriving in QUILPIE at about 2.30. We soon found our motor camp and booked in for two nights.
There was a guy at the Office helping the owners, and it was obviously his job to guide new arrivals to their site. First of all he took us to one site then decided we should move to another. Heaven knows why, they were all the same. Then he decided he would give us directions on exactly where he wanted the van positioned on the site, and I mean exactly. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, except I don’t think this guy had ever driven a car, let alone backed a caravan in his life.
For ten minutes, well ... probably only five, but let’s not let a few technicalities ruin a good story, he had me going backwards and forwards, over to the left a bit, forward a bit, over to the right a bit, back a bit, right a bit, no, too far, back a bit, Ok that’s good, come forward and over to the left, no, back a bit, etc. By this time we had gathered quite a crowd of bemused onlookers. My only comfort was they had probably suffered the same fate themselves when they arrived and had come out to enjoy the show. It slowly dawned on me that this idiot had no bloody idea what he was doing, and I could see Christel starting to chomp at the bit as well.
Finally I got out and asked him exactly what he was trying to achieve. “I’m trying to get you as close to the concrete slab as I can, and parallel with it”, he replied. I looked and saw we were about 2 inches from the slab and maybe 2mm out of parallel, but obviously this wasn’t good enough for Mr Bloody Perfect. “I reckon that’s near enough mate” I offered. “Awe I don’t know” he says, “You could straighten her up a bit; you’re not quite parallel you know”. “I think we can live with it mate, she looks pretty good to me”. Christel must have felt the same, because by now she had the van open and was unhitching from the car.
Mr Bloody Perfect must have decided he was fighting a lost cause at this stage, and he rather dejectedly walked off casting many a worried backward glance at our ‘not exactly In Position’ Caravan. We half expected him to come back with a tape measure, but thankfully he never showed up. We set up camp, had a cuppa, and then went and made use of the camp ground’s Artesian Spa Baths. Lovely. Then it was back to the van to prepare the yabbies for tea. Boiled for 5 minutes, and then fried in garlic butter. Beautiful.
Saturday 14th May
Today was spent with washing, school work, groceries, and other odds and ends that needed doing. QUILPIE is in the middle of another Opal Mining area, and the camp ground had an area set aside where you could fossick. Most of the rock there had tiny flecks of Opal in it, and Cameron became very excited every time he picked some up. In his mind he was on to a gold mine, and was finding millions of dollars worth of Opal. It took some time before we could convince him that the great pile of rocks he had accumulated were actually worthless. He couldn’t understand it. He knew Opal was valuable, and he knew he had some, so how come it wasn’t worth heaps of money. Needless to say we are now carrying around about half a ton of rock with tiny flecks of Opal in it which Cameron intends cashing in on one day.
Tomorrow, Sunday, we will continue on east to CHARLEVILLE and from there head north towards LONGREACH, and hopefully no more caravan parking assistants.
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