MONDAY 30 JUNE     ADELS GROVE

John was on rubbish and donkey fires duty today. He got a bit too enthusiastic in his fire lighting and boiled one of the donkeys. There was hot steam spouting out the top, in a large circle. Boss was not best pleased!

I was on float again. It was a very long day. I worked 7.45am to 2.45pm, then 6 to 9pm. There was a huge wash up – the biggest yet – and I was very weary by the time it was all over. It was like the day off had never been.

We were very busy in the shop during the day.

Odyssey Tours brought a group in to stay – some nice old ducks amongst them.

The campground was now getting full, regularly. The Grove was also getting pretty packed. Those who were eligible (no dogs or gensets or vans) usually wanted to go down there, and because it was pick your own spot, it could be hard to control the space and numbers. We wrote down the details of those who were going down there to camp and both V and I had tried to get the boss to set a numbers limit, but so far that had not happened.

The area where we put the big bus tour groups, with their own tents, across the driveway from the shop, was also serving as an overflow area for would be caravanners who arrived without a booking. It was not a very attractive area, and was a long way from the campground showers, so some were often not very happy. Others were grateful that we just didn’t turn them away.

Bus group and camper overflow area to left of main driveway

It was the end of the financial year. We were supposed to stocktake the shop, in amongst our normal work. Bit of a joke that!

A stand of conkerberry John found; inside the thin trunks is a vivid orange timber, for woodworking

The aborigines were still out there. They came back to the shop again today and had another hunt for meths. Then they sat out on the veranda, spinning hard luck stories to tourists, to try to get a ride back to their camp – or to Doomadgee. One tourist took them back to their camp, but drew the line at going to Doom! They offered him $50 to do so, but he was not interested, for which no-one blamed him.

It really was time something happened about them. The boss had tried a few times to get back onto the police head honcho, but he seemed to always be too busy to talk to her. We thought there was something suss about it all, because of general lack of interest in their welfare from the Doom end.

Mind you, if they were white travellers, they would be expected to be pro-active about organizing their own retrieval, rather than just passively sitting around waiting for someone else to rescue them!