This Adventurous Age

March 26, 2020
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2006 Travels April 29

SATURDAY 29 APRIL DALY WATERS TO MATARANKA 180kms

Today was to be a more leisurely day, now that we had made it through the bad weather.

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Morning at the Hiway Inn, and an easier way to get around, in these conditions

On the way out, we detoured to take photos of the flooded fords that had stopped us reaching the Daly Waters township, yesterday.

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At Larrimah, stopped for an early lunch at Fran’s Tea House, which I had read somewhere had really good pies and the like. John was most interested. We had a curried camel sausage roll each, John had a pasty, and we both had coffee. The food was very nice, but expensive at $22 for that lot.

Arrived at Mataranka at midday. I wanted to swim again in the springs there, so we booked into the Homestead Caravan Park. $22 for the site.

The whole place was very different from my memories of when we were here in 1993, but that had only been a quick call in. It seemed more run down. The thermal pool seemed smaller than I remembered, somehow. There were new looking board walks to the pool, river and Rainbow Springs.

The whole area had obviously had recent floods.

The ablutions block was pretty dirty – leaves and water everywhere. They said it was cleaned three times a day, but I saw no evidence of that, and if it happened, it was very superficial – the walls were really grubby.

There was an issue with fruit bats setting up colonies in the trees. They were using sprinklers to try to persuade them to move elsewhere.

We went for a dip in the thermal pool. It was quite pleasant. When we got out, it felt really cool – briefly! The day was actually very sultry.

We scored a new bird – a Shining Flycatcher – as we walked near the river’s edge.

After the bought lunch, neither of us was feeling all that well, so just had soup for tea.

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March 24, 2020
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2006 Travels April 28

FRIDAY 28 APRIL SOUDAN BORE TO DALY WATERS ROADHOUSE 690kms

We woke early, after a fitful night’s sleep, to a very wet and dark grey dawn. It was still raining solidly, but the wind was less.

The ground in our parking area still seemed fairly firm.

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Morning – grey, bleak, wet

We took our time having a basic breakfast, hoping conditions would keep easing.

Stopped at the Wonarah Bore Rest Area for a quick coffee and look at what that area was like.

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Wonorah Bore

Called in at Barkly Homestead Roadhouse and topped up the fuel – at $1.81cpl. Ouch. We’d done 271kms from Camooweal by then.

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Barkly Highway bush – and some hints of blue sky!

At Three Ways, the junction with the Stuart Highway, after another 195kms, topped up the fuel again at the roadhouse there where the fuel was a more reasonable $1.68cpl.

It was still raining at Three Ways, but began to ease off as we continued north.

There was lots of water lying about the road sides and there were flowing streams. It was actually really interesting to see the country like this, in contrast to what it had been like the other times we had driven this way.

North from Three Ways was a pretty section of country to drive, with lots of hills and ranges.

We stopped for lunch at Renner Springs Roadhouse. John bought a pie and an icy pole. I had a hamburger, which was probably not a good idea, but it was a generous one with everything. A bit greasy though. My preferred lunch of a salad sandwich was not an option. The place smelled heavily of sewage, too!

Having been planning on staying for a few months at Adels Grove, and not being able to shop since then, we were not very well endowed with supplies, at the moment.

The bush still smelled great, wet. There were lots of birds about, due to the road side water and full swamp areas.

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About Elliott, the rain petered out.

As we continued north, decided to stay the night at the famed Daly Waters Inn, which we had not visited before, but which is almost a grey nomad rite of passage. But it was not to be. We turned off the highway, only to find that the way to the township was blocked by a stream that was almost a metre deep and flowing very fast. There was not even a creek or river marked here, on our map.

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The signposted detour route was blocked by the same stream. There was a sort of side track over a very small bridge structure, but we were not sure it would take the weight of our rig, so played it safe and went back to the highway, to the Hiway Inn at the Roadhouse.

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Refuelled there – $1.66cpl. Had done 400kms.

At the Hiway Inn, we paid $16 for a powered site.

The camp ground was extremely soggy. We found a site on spongy, muddy, lawn, but it held the weight of the van. Further along, there was a full sized bus motorhome, bogged to its axles on the grass. Bet management was happy about that!

From the radio weather reports we picked up along the highway, we thought there had been several inches of rain where we were last night. Guess it was yet another experience to add to the collection – spending the afternoon and night in the tail end of a cyclone – because that was what we had encountered.

The path of Cyclone Monica (BOM)

Cyclone Monica had been a Category 5 cyclone when it came across northern Arnhem Land a few days before, but had quickly turned into a tropical low and turned to the south east inland, dumping lots of rain along the way. Not having access to news or radio at Adels, we had known nothing of this when we decided to drive west – right into the path of the tropical low!

from BOM site

Phoned M to update her. She was in Moree for the night, having just spent a great time in the Warrumbungles. She loved it there. Gave her details about the Clermont station teaching job, in case she was interested. She was about to head off to Carnarvon Gorge National Park for almost a week. She seemed a bit taken aback by our change of plans. Said she would check with Adels if there was work for her, before heading up that way, later. She said she would come to where we were, if there was work for her. We would suss that out when we got there.

It was a strange amenity block here. It was a transportable structure, but with louvered batwing doors on the showers – and not very big ones at that! They certainly did not give a sense of privacy!

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March 24, 2020
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2006 Travels April 27

THURSDAY 27 APRIL ADELS GROVE TO SOUDAN BORE REST AREA 340kms

After breakfast, we hitched up, then took Truck to the bowsers to refuel. We’d done 368 kms since the last fuel (in Mt Isa), so John only bought 40 litres, at $1.50 cpl.

O had been expected, at 8.30am, flying in from Pungalina in the Jabiru, on the way to Isa, but had not appeared by the time we left. Pity – I had been looking forward to a quick catch up with him.

As we left, wondered if this was goodbye to Adels forever? Or if we would be back sometime?

Headed south, on the Riversleigh road. This was a lot drier than when we came up, less than two weeks ago. The areas broken by the trucks had not been fixed yet, but the side tracks around them were well settled and would present no problems for travellers.

The sky was grey today and it looked like it might rain. It was actually strangely cool, which was a pleasant change.

Near Riversleigh

We stopped at the Site D at Riversleigh, for a nostalgic look around. John had expected to be doing the Adels tours down to here! We went in through the entrance structure, with its informative displays, then walked around the track through the site.

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Inside the Riversleigh entrance shelter. Representations of creatures re-created from fossil bones found at the site.

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Walking track round Site D at Riversleigh

The ford through the Gregory River was about half the height of twelve days ago!

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One section of the Gregory River ford – much lower than the last time we came through

Still a fair current across the ford!

Took the Thorntonia road again, to the Barkly Highway, then turned west.

We picked up some radio reception. Heard that a trough was coming across these parts – the remains of Cyclone Monica that went through Arnhem Land three days ago. That explained the change in the usual weather.

Stopped at Camooweal to refuel. 225kms. $1.56cpl. The guy had to come out of the pub to serve us and did not seem at all happy to have a customer.

Rain set in, west of Camooweal, as we crossed the border into the NT.

There was plenty of surface water lying around and little streams were flowing, in places as shallow floodways across the road. The country was very green and pretty.

On a tableland section, with no trees at all, there was a repeater station with a high fence around it – and a bird of prey perched on every post. It looked quite surreal.

We noted a very good looking overnight free camp area at Avon Downs Police Station – with toilets and a phone.

Our intention had been to reach at least as far as Barkly Homestead Roadhouse. But the rain grew steadily heavier, and the head wind stronger, until we were facing into almost horizontal, driving rain. John was driving very cautiously and quite slowly, but the conditions continued to deteriorate to the point where driving was unwise.

Then, about 5pm, we found a rest area, that we later found was Soudan, and pulled into that.

The conditions by now were such that it was almost dark at this time.

There was another caravan and a group of camper trailers pulled up there. We found a spot where a small tree night act as a bit of a wind break. It was actually quite hard to see far and we did not want to risk driving around and maybe getting bogged. Neither if us wanted to get really wet and cold, walking around and looking!

There was a water tank and windmill there, but no facilities for travellers.

We did not unhitch or put up the poptop on the van. The wind was moaning around and getting stronger all the time. The rain was heavy on the van roof and getting heavier.

We got drenched, just getting from Truck to van. It actually felt very cold.

The bush smelled wonderful wet – really aromatic.

We wondered how far north this rain band was reaching, and whether it would delay the opening of the Gulf Track even longer. Also wondered whether Pungalina was affected – that might have accounted for the no-show by O.

I prepared a scratch meal, having to work partly bent over due to the low roof. Just tinned tomato soup, with Salada biscuits.

It rained heavily and the wind gusted, shaking the van, all night. It was certainly the worst night we had ever spent in the van. Had no way of knowing just how bad it was going to become and could only hope that the weight of the rig would keep us on the ground!

John was really worried that the unsealed surface of this parking area would be bog by tomorrow and that we would not be able to drive out.

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March 22, 2020
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2006 Travels April 26

WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL ADELS GROVE

I did smoko for the builders in the morning. Made potato rosti, cooked bacon and eggs to go with same.

The mail plane came in and we received the mail that the house sitter had forwarded from home.

The weekly supply truck came in and we helped unload it and put things away.

John used the public phone box to start making calls about jobs. Yes, there was work at Bundaberg, but it was mostly picking vegetables. That was too hard for our physical abilities and mental inclinations!

The lady near Clermont who wanted a teacher wanted him and offered him $700 a week wages. That was equal to what we would earn, combined, here. But there was no role for me. I could not see myself sitting around in the van doing little, for months on end, on some remote station.

An ad for a couple to do our sort of work, at the Bark Hut Inn, in the NT, on the road to Kakadu, seemed interesting. John tried to phone them, but could get no answer to his repeated calls. We found out later that they had just had the cyclone come through and were busy dealing with the damage. That included to the pen that held their “pet” saltie croc, where a tree branch had fallen over the fence. The croc apparently did not like chain saws, because it had attacked the man who was up a ladder cutting away the fallen timber, and taken away the saw! The worker was very shaken. A photo of the croc with the chain saw in its mouth subsequently made the front page of the Darwin paper.

John phoned friends H and D, who we had previously worked with here. They had spent the summer working at a resort on Fraser Island and we knew they were about to leave there to travel. The company had just hired replacements for them, so we were too late there. They suggested we call the Monsoon Cafe, at Wangi, near Litchfield National Park. Last Dry Season, H and D had staffed a tour company’s seasonal camp near there, and gotten to know the cafe owners. They said they were great people and they had previously mentioned us to them, as fellow seasonal workers.

So John phoned and spoke with one of the owners. Then he wanted to talk to me, and he hired us then and there, because I could cook. He offered me $15 an hour and John $13 for outside work. John took over and negotiated that up to $16 and $14.

We decided to give it a go. It could be good. It would be new scenery in a great part of the country, at any rate. Being paid by the hour appealed too – provided we got enough hours to make it worthwhile. It might even end up being better than here.

It was arranged that we would start in a week’s time.

Reflections

John phoned the Clermont station to say we would not be coming and explain why.

Then we went and told the bosses that we would be leaving tomorrow. They were really taken aback. One said to John : “But you’ve got all the knowledge!”. I think they were both truly surprised that we were not prepared to stick around, doing some of the work and not being paid, indefinitely. Also keeping M on hold, somewhere, as we’d been asked to do, in case she was wanted later. But there did not seem to be any hard feelings, so that was good. I guess they understood.

As if to underscore the point, the couple we had encountered at Tambo arrived at lunch time. There were staff queued up, waiting for work! I wished them more joy than we’d had!

The back packer bus groups would not be coming until the Gulf Track was open, which would be another month or more. Last year, we had made it through, quite easily, on 10 April. This showed that there could be such variation in seasons and conditions, up here.

We told V and F we were going. V said that she and F would not go off camping tonight – tomorrow was their day off – but would stay to spend a last night with us. We said they had to keep to their camping plans, knowing how much they valued time away on their own.

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By the late afternoon, we had done most of our packing up.

Phoned everyone who needed to know that we were moving on: our offspring, M, the house sitter – asked her to hold the mail until we contacted her again.

An email came in from the Pungalina boss. He said the place was slowly drying out. O had bogged the tractor on the track to the Safari Camp! I found it hard to imagine that track that wet. He said it would be many weeks more before they would be able to get supplies in and open the camp.

Said our good byes to V and F, with promises to keep in touch and see each other when we could.

There was no fuss at night. It was just staff and builders to tea – no guests. The bosses went to the office after the meal, for a video conference with the Isa partners. We helped with the dinner clean up. John helped MS learn a computer program for a while. I gave her some ideas for the builders’ smokos, because it looked like she would now be doing them. Then we went off to the van.

We felt sad to be going like this, but at the same time felt we needed to be true to what we had been feeling. We had been here for eleven days and in that time, contributed substantially.

March 22, 2020
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2006 Travels April 25

TUESDAY 25 APRIL ADELS GROVE

After I’d had my breakfast in the van, went up to do the builders’ smoko.

Before that, did some of the kitchen clean up after a big breakfast had been done for the departing bus group.

I had put sausages out to defrost last night, and for smoko did sausages, eggs and fried bread. Then cleaned up after that had been consumed.

John spent some time on the computer in the office, browsing on the internet to see what alternative jobs might be on offer. He saw some fruit and vegetable harvesting vacancies, over on the east coast, and also an ad for a teacher wanted on a station west of Clermont, to assist School of the Air students.

No mention was made today of putting us on the payroll, despite our good work whilst the bosses were away.

We discussed the situation between ourselves. We could stick around here for weeks, or more, with no pay. There was no promise that the tourist situation was going to suddenly greatly improve. The whole of northern Qld was so wet that the usual dry season tourists and grey nomads might just decide to go elsewhere. At the same time, we were seeing a growing trickle of customers, which seemed to be a sign that the season could pick up before long.

John was feeling that our good natures were being exploited. I felt that having made the commitment – and expenditure – to get here, that we were “owed”. John had gone to the trouble, and expense, of getting his medium rigid driving licence, in preparation for doing the tours. We were experienced staff and better than some here at the moment. Given MS’s great discontent, they could go at any time. The other woman was definitely not a good person to have on Reception. I tended to think that, since the bosses knew we were coming, and given our past experience here, they should have put the previously arriving couple on hold, and given us preference. First come was not necessarily the right policy, in this case. They should really be making an effort to hold onto us.

So I was prepared to consider John’s suggestion that we start to look for alternatives.

It was as much a matter of principle, as of the money.

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Paperbarks

March 22, 2020
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2006 Travels April 24

MONDAY 24 APRIL ADELS GROVE

The bus group was in for tonight, too.

I helped MS cook again today. Big numbers again, because the builders who would be working on the new house arrived this afternoon.

I made apple crumble dessert for about 55 diners.

She asked me to do the builders’ smoko, from tomorrow, as I’d experience of that from 2002. That meant making them a substantial hot, brunch type meal in the mid morning.

John took many of the bus group on a walking tour at the National Park. He charged them $40 a head for the walk and a canoe trip. In this way, he earned almost $1000 for Adels. Well, that would have covered a week’s wages for us, had we been getting wages!

The family arrived back mid-afternoon. They should have been impressed with the way things had gone in their absence, but there was no comment from them.

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The threatened cyclone had crossed the top of Cape York and headed straight across the Gulf – there would be no impact here, according to the news the bosses brought back with them. There was so little access to the outside world here that we did not hear about such things.

I served in the bar again and we both helped out with the dinner service and clean up.

My dessert worked well and there was sufficient for all.

March 22, 2020
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2006 Travels April 23

SUNDAY 23 APRIL ADELS GROVE

A large bus tour group was booked in for two nights and arrived as scheduled. There were five fly-ins arrived too.

There would be 44 guests for tea, plus the 9 staff. MS was a bit concerned about it – not her usual remit to be cooking for numbers of guests. She cooked roast lamb, having found sufficient legs of same in the freezer. A did the vegies. I made a nice, varied, fruit salad and whipped cream.

John had to go to the National Park in the afternoon, to do canoe hire for the guests. He was not as vital to the cable laying and associated work as the other three men. And he was more experienced with the canoe hire than two of them.

I helped serve in the bar in the late afternoon, and with serving up dinners, and with the clean up after. Basically, I worked a full day.

The bus group were very appreciative of their meal.

More of the informal camping area of the Grove

March 22, 2020
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2006 Travels April 22

SATURDAY 22 APRIL ADELS GROVE

John spent the day with H’s tour group, at the National Park, learning stuff that he could use when he was running tours, once the season got going.

The other men compared him to one of the historic colonials who went to India and fell in love with the culture, atmosphere, essence of the place, and had to keep returning. I felt there was an element of truth in that, in regard to us and the Gulf Country. The same would be true of those of us who came back here, year after year, to work, like V and F.

I phoned the caravan parks in Cloncurry and told them that we – and the road in through Gregory Downs – were open, so they could pass on accurate information to tourists.

Spent some time on my laptop. Sent daughter an email. Composed a letter to a friend.

While I was working in the van, a cheeky bower bird came onto the van step and looked in at me. We have noticed, especially at night, that there are bird noises around that we had not heard before – Wet Season species staying late.

A couple of lots of campers came in.

Camp sites, before wet season growth worn down by campers

I was finding one of the female staff very raucous and could not warm to her. I thought her phone manner, on Reception, was very abrasive and abrupt. She did not seem to me to have very good customer service skills at all.

We staff got together to put on pre-dinner nibbles. I contributed some semi-dried tomatoes from the van pantry. We had a very pleasant staff get together before dinner, together with H’s two guests. My cooked pears from yesterday were used for tonight’s dessert.

March 22, 2020
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2006 Travels April 21

FRIDAY 21 APRIL ADELS GROVE

Daughter’s birthday.

The boss phoned to check the road conditions and found that the route via Gregory Downs was OK, even for ordinary vehicles. So tourists should have been able to get in, even though the RACQ bulletins were not up to date.

However, it looked like another cyclone might be coming into the Qld coast – bit further north, right up Cape York way. That should not affect us here, but might put tourists off travel into these parts. It could be a really super-late start to the season! Which did not help us.

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Ready and waiting for guests

The family left for Townsville. In their absence, the couple who had been here since January would be in charge.

John helped the men with the electrical cable laying for the new buildings. All the men were mainly working on that.

I made the salads for tea – a green mixed one, and a carrot/sultana/spring onion one, with honey, oil and lemon juice dressing, that I “invented”. It was popular – I must remember that one!

H arrived, with a group of two, on the standard company tour. It was so good to see him again.

Lawn Hill Creek

Phoned daughter at night. Her paternal grandfather had a little stroke, last week, but it was not too severe. Those grandparents were getting on in years now. I found it sad that, since daughter’s divorce from her husband, the very rigid beliefs of her grandmother prevented any real contact between them.

March 20, 2020
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2006 Travels April 20

THURSDAY 20 APRIL ADELS GROVE

I did some work in the kitchen. Poached some old pears in red wine, for a small dessert to be used later – it saved the pears from going off and being thrown out.

The weekly supply truck came in and we helped unload and unpack and put the load away.

Superb old fig tree

Boss told me they had no cash flow because there were no tourists. That was pretty obvious, but one presumed they should have reserves to tide over the running of the place at such times. It was, after all, a rather seasonal business.

A staff meeting was called, for after tea. It was explained that the usual takings for this time of year were well down, due to the weather. We were told that they could not afford to put us on the payroll, but they did want us to stick around, for when business picked up. So we would not be on the work roster for the foreseeable future!

We were not too happy about this. They had asked us to be here for Easter, and we had made a considerable effort to make it – at least to Mt Isa – by then. Getting up here had cost us fuel money and for accommodation. Our wages would not be a great amount – with the super contribution included, a maximum of $1000 a week, for the two of us. Really, if they wanted us for later, they should have contingency funds to pay us for being here, now.

The RACQ had posted on its travel web site that all roads here were closed, even though that was not the case. The Visitor centre in Mt Isa had the true information, but still the tourists were being deterred.

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