Saturday, February 17, 2007
A reminder of times past – Aussie 3
Margaret concludes her recollections of the Oz trip:
Traveling south we were soon in South Australia. We began to wish we hadn’t stopped for lunch as there was a strong wind blowing dust into everything and heaps of
little bush flies. People had to constantly wave things around to keep the flies off the food and we were all glad to be on our way. The red dust was visible in the sky and great clouds of it were blowing across the plain, slowing down the vehicle.
At a roadside bore we stocked up all drinking containers and had showers. At Mt Willoughby homestead we spent the night in the shearing shed, sleeping in the sheep pens.
Close to Coober Pedy we sighted many mine shafts from the digging for opals. In the town most of the houses were below ground and water had to be purchased from the Desalination plant. We walked around some of the opal working field and in one area we were allowed to scavenge (known locally as “noodling”) for opal chips. We all found some pieces, with a few people finding large pieces which they later sold in the town – one piece for $15 and two others for $45. We stayed the night in Coober Pedy and were allocated 1 gallon of water per person for showers.
After leaving Coober Pedy, we spent some three hours virtually driving round in circles before ending back at Coober Pedy where the police gave us directions which got us back on the right track.
At what was reputed to be the worlds biggest cattle station, Anna Creek, we bought a complete leg of beef for $2 which fed us all for four meals – steak for a BBQ and breakfast, boiled beef for lunch and a stew – good value! We drove out to Lake Eyre
which was shimmering in the bright sunshine and wandered out onto the salt pan. The salt was in huge flakes, almost a pink in colour and there were small amounts of water lying around. It was far too glary to stay for very long.
Upon arrival at Marree we called at the police station to check on the conditions on the Birdsville and Strezlecki tracks and were warned about non-drinkable water, losing our way, road conditions etc. The Birdsville Track was a slight disappointment. We were expecting it to be a lot rougher than it turned out to be. The road was good for most of the way, and we traveled well, seeing some abandoned ruins and an old fridge being used as a post box. We did have to stop when we discovered a hole in the fuel tank. Lunch was had while it was fixed, all of us standing around in the hot sun. The road subsequently became a little rougher when we hit a stretch of sand hills. We crossed into Queensland and reached Birdsville in
the late afternoon. The Birdsville pub was a welcome sight for some very thirsty visitors.
Traveling on to Bedourie we passed through flat, stony, sandy countryside. In the ladies toilets the water, which came from a Artesian bore, was almost too hot to use. A passing road train near Mt. Isa threw up a stone breaking the windscreen on “Stan” and covering everyone in the front seats with broken glass. The Land Rover
went ahead to find out where we could get a new windscreen fitted, but to no avail. It seemed that there was nowhere until we reached Townsville, so we hoped for no rain. At Mount Isa, the boys went down the mine, while the rest of us went on a tour of the surface workings. (Ed: We were told on a number of occasions that miners considered it to be bad luck for a woman to go down a mine.)
From Mount Isa we journeyed to Julia Creek and on to Richmond which was where Jenny’s family lived on a cattle station. In Richmond we had to split up and drink at both hotels in town to avoid any suggestion of favouritism, and then drove the 80 miles to Jenny’s parents place where we camped under some shady trees. We stayed there for four days and had a very relaxing and enjoyable time. (Ed: Some of us had
our first experience of “riding” a horse while here. It was something akin to driving a truck with square wheels…and no brakes. Not easily forgotten.) We ate excellent meals of home cooked food and consumed ham and eggs for breakfast. Drove around the property seeing the bores and dams where the cattle were gathering, as food was scarce and hay needed to be left for them. On the Saturday we drove into town to one of the hotels for a homecoming party for Jenny. We all had a great time, but it was a long drive back. The next day we all tried to have a sleep-in but it was too hot, and the galahs and cockatoos were flying amongst the trees making a cacophony of noise.
We bid our sad farewells to Jenny and traveled to Townsville to have a windscreen fitted to “Stan”. Unfortunately we could not swim in the sea here because it was the box jellyfish season so we decided, in lieu of the days planned for Townsville, we would head to Cairns. On the drive north we passed sugarcane, pineapple and banana plantations. In many cases the sugarcane was being burnt off and smoke was everywhere in the sky. It was a spectacular sight when the flames and sparks flew up into the darkness and was visible for many miles.
From Cairns we traveled around the Atherton Tableland and stopped at the “Honey House” where we saw the bees in a hive and bought a huge jar of honey. People also bought honeycomb and we mad pigs of ourselves consuming it all. It was contrasting scenery to the centre of Australia with tobacco growing, cattle grazing, vegetables and fruit in abundance and beautiful lakes, tropical flowers and jacaranda and flame trees. There were many luxury launches tied up at the Cairns jetty.
Sandflies were a constant problem and people were out of bed early, eager to be on their way, as we were all constantly scratching ourselves. We caught a launch out to Green Island, and went out on a glass bottomed boat tour of the reef. Many different types of coral, fish, sea anemones, clams, and brightly coloured fish.
We made a brief stop at Townsville to stock up on food. Our sandfly bites became so itchy and people could not stop scratching so the boys tied our hands behind our backs. Our money was running low so no-one ventured out to the islands east of Proserpine.
Some lazy days were spent at Caloundra by the beach, camping on a vacant block of land. The local Health Inspector moved us on saying there were not enough facilities, so we moved to the caravan park. We amused ourselves one night by setting off some distress signals and flares to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. Lou and Peter had carried them in the Land Rover for their journey across the Sahara Desert. We then set off into town to meet Ned, (Ned had been on the early part of the trip in Europe) who had come up from Brisbane. From here we went to the Nambour Rodeo and watched the bareback or bronk riding, saddle riding, roping, bull-dogging and bull riding.
At Brisbane we camped in the area under Ned’s house. While here it was Butch’s 21st birthday so we had a few celebrations and went out for a few more celebrations.
(Ed: I seem to recall driving to a high point outside Brisbane, where there was a television transmitting station, and ending up on the local television news that night.)
It was soon time to travel down to Sydney where we stayed at Noels parents house, being put up in the garage and a shed. We all explored the sights of Sydney and
drove around the beach areas, out to The Gap, walked over part of Sydney Harbour Bridge, visited the Opera House and rode on the ferries.
From Sydney we headed to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, then on to Goulburn passing through beautiful pastureland. The days were now much cooler and we often had to put up the tents at night. Shortly after Goulburn, where the highway divides, three of our number, Brutus, Lou and Butch, fare welled us to hitch to Melbourne due to a
shortage of funds. We continued to Canberra to visit the sights then stayed on a farm belonging to a friend of Grahams, staying in the shelter of a hut near the house.
We drove to Cooma, at the beginning of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme, and it became colder and colder. Just before reaching Jindabyne the clutch on “Stan” went for the third time, so the Land Rover towed us to a safe place by the roadside, where after a couple of hours, with the new clutch in place, we were on our way a gain.
Camp was very cold that night. We lit a fire for warmth but the water was freezing and the night pitch black. The wind came up strongly, the ropes blew off the big tent and people were running around at 3.30am using torches to help find ropes to hold the tent down. We tried to start “Stan” to use the headlights but had no luck. Finally made make-shift guy ropes and were able to move “Stan” into a position to shield the tent as gusts of wind became stronger and one of the small tents by now was torn. We had just about got the vehicle into position when a stronger gust of wind came and completely lifted up the big tent with Sarita in it!
The tent took off as the guy ropes broke, poles were thrown around, one breaking a window in the land rover, while people’s belongings and cooking equipment went flying around the area. There was a scramble for everything and then we packed all we could away. We finally got Stan started and the vehicle circled so we could use the light from the headlights to pick up any stray items. We then relit the fire, had some coffee and waited until it got light enough to see further afield and pick up any other scattered items. We left the area at 6.00am heading for Thredbo, with snow on the mountains and sleet falling, later turning to snow while we had breakfast.
We could not go up the chair lifts at Thredbo due to the strong wind but enjoyed a beautiful cup of hot coffee inside the heated chalet before heading to the Victorian border. We could not use the tents any more as they required repairs so camped the next night in the shelter of a shed beside a football field at Corowa, and paid 20 cents for hot showers at the hotel over the road.
Traveling through Deniliquin and onto Mildura, we bought another sheep for $2 and went through the usual procedures of cutting it all up. We crossed the Murray River into Mildura, visiting the Mildara Winery and a fruit farm, and on to Wentworth at the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers. Crossing into South Australia, we visited a number of wineries in the Barossa Valley.
In Adelaide we stayed in Hoppy’s garage and in the flat of a friend of hers, just up the road. We spent some time around the city and had a few relaxing days before heading on the last leg of our trip towards Melbourne.
At Keith we went out to the property where Graham had worked and then stayed the night in the local Scout Hall. We stopped briefly in the Grampians then drove on to a farm nearby sleeping in an old shed attached to the farmhouse. It was a bit dirty and a few possums made their presence felt about 2.00am running around and causing quite a commotion. In the morning we watched the shearers at work and then
drove to Ballarat for a look around the Eureka Stockade and Sovereign Hill.
On reaching Melbourne it was guesswork to get us through the city streets and down to the suburb of Aspendale on Port Phillip Bay, the home of Graham, where we finally arrived at about 4.30pm. The end of the trip had now arrived and a huge buffet
dinner was provided for us by Graham’s mother. A photographer and reporter from “The Sun” attended to take photos and notes, and our final goodbyes or ‘au revoirs’ were said to each other. It was 30th November, 1971. We had all been overseas for varying lengths of time, but had together shared a wealth of experiences on a trip never to be forgotten.
Traveling south we were soon in South Australia. We began to wish we hadn’t stopped for lunch as there was a strong wind blowing dust into everything and heaps of
little bush flies. People had to constantly wave things around to keep the flies off the food and we were all glad to be on our way. The red dust was visible in the sky and great clouds of it were blowing across the plain, slowing down the vehicle.
At a roadside bore we stocked up all drinking containers and had showers. At Mt Willoughby homestead we spent the night in the shearing shed, sleeping in the sheep pens.
Close to Coober Pedy we sighted many mine shafts from the digging for opals. In the town most of the houses were below ground and water had to be purchased from the Desalination plant. We walked around some of the opal working field and in one area we were allowed to scavenge (known locally as “noodling”) for opal chips. We all found some pieces, with a few people finding large pieces which they later sold in the town – one piece for $15 and two others for $45. We stayed the night in Coober Pedy and were allocated 1 gallon of water per person for showers.
After leaving Coober Pedy, we spent some three hours virtually driving round in circles before ending back at Coober Pedy where the police gave us directions which got us back on the right track.
At what was reputed to be the worlds biggest cattle station, Anna Creek, we bought a complete leg of beef for $2 which fed us all for four meals – steak for a BBQ and breakfast, boiled beef for lunch and a stew – good value! We drove out to Lake Eyre
which was shimmering in the bright sunshine and wandered out onto the salt pan. The salt was in huge flakes, almost a pink in colour and there were small amounts of water lying around. It was far too glary to stay for very long.
Upon arrival at Marree we called at the police station to check on the conditions on the Birdsville and Strezlecki tracks and were warned about non-drinkable water, losing our way, road conditions etc. The Birdsville Track was a slight disappointment. We were expecting it to be a lot rougher than it turned out to be. The road was good for most of the way, and we traveled well, seeing some abandoned ruins and an old fridge being used as a post box. We did have to stop when we discovered a hole in the fuel tank. Lunch was had while it was fixed, all of us standing around in the hot sun. The road subsequently became a little rougher when we hit a stretch of sand hills. We crossed into Queensland and reached Birdsville in
the late afternoon. The Birdsville pub was a welcome sight for some very thirsty visitors.
Traveling on to Bedourie we passed through flat, stony, sandy countryside. In the ladies toilets the water, which came from a Artesian bore, was almost too hot to use. A passing road train near Mt. Isa threw up a stone breaking the windscreen on “Stan” and covering everyone in the front seats with broken glass. The Land Rover
went ahead to find out where we could get a new windscreen fitted, but to no avail. It seemed that there was nowhere until we reached Townsville, so we hoped for no rain. At Mount Isa, the boys went down the mine, while the rest of us went on a tour of the surface workings. (Ed: We were told on a number of occasions that miners considered it to be bad luck for a woman to go down a mine.)
From Mount Isa we journeyed to Julia Creek and on to Richmond which was where Jenny’s family lived on a cattle station. In Richmond we had to split up and drink at both hotels in town to avoid any suggestion of favouritism, and then drove the 80 miles to Jenny’s parents place where we camped under some shady trees. We stayed there for four days and had a very relaxing and enjoyable time. (Ed: Some of us had
our first experience of “riding” a horse while here. It was something akin to driving a truck with square wheels…and no brakes. Not easily forgotten.) We ate excellent meals of home cooked food and consumed ham and eggs for breakfast. Drove around the property seeing the bores and dams where the cattle were gathering, as food was scarce and hay needed to be left for them. On the Saturday we drove into town to one of the hotels for a homecoming party for Jenny. We all had a great time, but it was a long drive back. The next day we all tried to have a sleep-in but it was too hot, and the galahs and cockatoos were flying amongst the trees making a cacophony of noise.
We bid our sad farewells to Jenny and traveled to Townsville to have a windscreen fitted to “Stan”. Unfortunately we could not swim in the sea here because it was the box jellyfish season so we decided, in lieu of the days planned for Townsville, we would head to Cairns. On the drive north we passed sugarcane, pineapple and banana plantations. In many cases the sugarcane was being burnt off and smoke was everywhere in the sky. It was a spectacular sight when the flames and sparks flew up into the darkness and was visible for many miles.
From Cairns we traveled around the Atherton Tableland and stopped at the “Honey House” where we saw the bees in a hive and bought a huge jar of honey. People also bought honeycomb and we mad pigs of ourselves consuming it all. It was contrasting scenery to the centre of Australia with tobacco growing, cattle grazing, vegetables and fruit in abundance and beautiful lakes, tropical flowers and jacaranda and flame trees. There were many luxury launches tied up at the Cairns jetty.
Sandflies were a constant problem and people were out of bed early, eager to be on their way, as we were all constantly scratching ourselves. We caught a launch out to Green Island, and went out on a glass bottomed boat tour of the reef. Many different types of coral, fish, sea anemones, clams, and brightly coloured fish.
We made a brief stop at Townsville to stock up on food. Our sandfly bites became so itchy and people could not stop scratching so the boys tied our hands behind our backs. Our money was running low so no-one ventured out to the islands east of Proserpine.
Some lazy days were spent at Caloundra by the beach, camping on a vacant block of land. The local Health Inspector moved us on saying there were not enough facilities, so we moved to the caravan park. We amused ourselves one night by setting off some distress signals and flares to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. Lou and Peter had carried them in the Land Rover for their journey across the Sahara Desert. We then set off into town to meet Ned, (Ned had been on the early part of the trip in Europe) who had come up from Brisbane. From here we went to the Nambour Rodeo and watched the bareback or bronk riding, saddle riding, roping, bull-dogging and bull riding.
At Brisbane we camped in the area under Ned’s house. While here it was Butch’s 21st birthday so we had a few celebrations and went out for a few more celebrations.
(Ed: I seem to recall driving to a high point outside Brisbane, where there was a television transmitting station, and ending up on the local television news that night.)
It was soon time to travel down to Sydney where we stayed at Noels parents house, being put up in the garage and a shed. We all explored the sights of Sydney and
drove around the beach areas, out to The Gap, walked over part of Sydney Harbour Bridge, visited the Opera House and rode on the ferries.
From Sydney we headed to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, then on to Goulburn passing through beautiful pastureland. The days were now much cooler and we often had to put up the tents at night. Shortly after Goulburn, where the highway divides, three of our number, Brutus, Lou and Butch, fare welled us to hitch to Melbourne due to a
shortage of funds. We continued to Canberra to visit the sights then stayed on a farm belonging to a friend of Grahams, staying in the shelter of a hut near the house.
We drove to Cooma, at the beginning of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme, and it became colder and colder. Just before reaching Jindabyne the clutch on “Stan” went for the third time, so the Land Rover towed us to a safe place by the roadside, where after a couple of hours, with the new clutch in place, we were on our way a gain.
Camp was very cold that night. We lit a fire for warmth but the water was freezing and the night pitch black. The wind came up strongly, the ropes blew off the big tent and people were running around at 3.30am using torches to help find ropes to hold the tent down. We tried to start “Stan” to use the headlights but had no luck. Finally made make-shift guy ropes and were able to move “Stan” into a position to shield the tent as gusts of wind became stronger and one of the small tents by now was torn. We had just about got the vehicle into position when a stronger gust of wind came and completely lifted up the big tent with Sarita in it!
The tent took off as the guy ropes broke, poles were thrown around, one breaking a window in the land rover, while people’s belongings and cooking equipment went flying around the area. There was a scramble for everything and then we packed all we could away. We finally got Stan started and the vehicle circled so we could use the light from the headlights to pick up any stray items. We then relit the fire, had some coffee and waited until it got light enough to see further afield and pick up any other scattered items. We left the area at 6.00am heading for Thredbo, with snow on the mountains and sleet falling, later turning to snow while we had breakfast.
We could not go up the chair lifts at Thredbo due to the strong wind but enjoyed a beautiful cup of hot coffee inside the heated chalet before heading to the Victorian border. We could not use the tents any more as they required repairs so camped the next night in the shelter of a shed beside a football field at Corowa, and paid 20 cents for hot showers at the hotel over the road.
Traveling through Deniliquin and onto Mildura, we bought another sheep for $2 and went through the usual procedures of cutting it all up. We crossed the Murray River into Mildura, visiting the Mildara Winery and a fruit farm, and on to Wentworth at the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers. Crossing into South Australia, we visited a number of wineries in the Barossa Valley.
In Adelaide we stayed in Hoppy’s garage and in the flat of a friend of hers, just up the road. We spent some time around the city and had a few relaxing days before heading on the last leg of our trip towards Melbourne.
At Keith we went out to the property where Graham had worked and then stayed the night in the local Scout Hall. We stopped briefly in the Grampians then drove on to a farm nearby sleeping in an old shed attached to the farmhouse. It was a bit dirty and a few possums made their presence felt about 2.00am running around and causing quite a commotion. In the morning we watched the shearers at work and then
drove to Ballarat for a look around the Eureka Stockade and Sovereign Hill.
On reaching Melbourne it was guesswork to get us through the city streets and down to the suburb of Aspendale on Port Phillip Bay, the home of Graham, where we finally arrived at about 4.30pm. The end of the trip had now arrived and a huge buffet
dinner was provided for us by Graham’s mother. A photographer and reporter from “The Sun” attended to take photos and notes, and our final goodbyes or ‘au revoirs’ were said to each other. It was 30th November, 1971. We had all been overseas for varying lengths of time, but had together shared a wealth of experiences on a trip never to be forgotten.
# posted by Brutus : 9:16 AM
