THURSDAY 8 JUNE     CLONCURRY

Today was a cloudy day, with some intermittent rain.

I washed the bedding, and was lucky to get it dry. I finished a letter to V. John did banking updates.

We heard that, due to heavy rain further north, overnight, all the Gulf dirt roads were closed. I phoned the Gregory Hotel to confirm – yes, it was true. The 4WD Road Trek lot were stuck at Burke and Wills Roadhouse. The hotel man said the roads would be closed for two days to a week, depending on whether there was any more rain. More is actually forecast.

This created a dilemma for us. Would we hang around here, for an unknown time, in order to go north west to Lawn Hill National Park? Or would we give up and continue west, since our main goal for this dry season (ha!) was the Kimberley?

We decided to push on. Next year’s rough plan would probably see us coming back across this way from north west WA, and we could try for Lawn Hill then.

Drove to the shops – John wanted some internet time. I bought some food for tea. We filled the gas bottles and Truck – 95cpl! Big jump in price from Winton.

Tea was soup, chicken drumsticks, salad.

Then we went off to social bowls – Cloncurry style. A unique and unpleasant experience. It was a drinking club. Social bowls turned out to be beginners’ night, with a few young kids, a very drunk young aborigine, and the usual hard core bowls types. The kids were nice and keen and had some potential. The indigine kept falling flat on his face every time he tried to pick up a bowl. It was awful. At one stage, he fell into the narrow gutter at the side of the green, and was there for some time. It was disgraceful that the kids – ages about 9 to 12 – were witness to it all.

We queried why he was allowed to stay – and why he kept on being served yet more alcohol – and were told that, if the club tried to remove him, or refused to serve him, they would be accused of racial discrimination! Political correctness has gone crazy! He was a drunken fool who should not have been tolerated in anyone’s company. Had he been white he’d have been well and truly out.

I shall be very wary of night time social bowls in such towns, in the future!