The beginning of it all...

We woke with butterflies in our stomachs as the day had finally come to pack up and hit the road.  We were done and packed by 8.30am and then had time to sit and enjoy a BBQ cook breakfast with Mum and Dad.  It all went by so quickly and before we knew it we were hooking on the mule and saying our farewells.  Daniel had shown up with Lochlann to collect Maggie, it was nice to say our farewells to them also.  We said our farewell's and they stood and waved us down the street.  We were off headed north west for Wuruma dam which is just north of Eidsvold.  We made camp by 2.30 and got a rock star position right on the edge of the dam so close that James nearly slipped in while walking past the front of the car.  It is a free camp with basic flushing loo's.  I would recommend it to anyone. We enjoyed a quiet afternoon and then shared a fire with our neighbours Liz and Keith.

We woke early on our anniversary as we had gone to bed fairly early.  We laid in bed and watched the fog roll in over the dam. Then had a slow morning just relaxing and reading and enjoying the peace and quiet.  We modified a connection on one of our solar panels and then went for a walk to discover the area.  It was full and the BIG vans were still rolling in. We had a very quiet day just chatting to our new neighbours and then I cooked a roast for dinner.  Tonight we shared the fire with Clare and Alan and Russ and Di. They both had children our age so we didn't have lots in common but it was nice to sit at the fire and listen to their stories and adventures.

Laying in Bed enjoying the view of the lake while reading.

James comparing his boat to our neighbours.

It was all very funny till James used his boat and it stopped working about 10mtrs off shore, he went swimming.

 We wanted an early start as we knew we had plenty of kms to cover today.  Emerald was the final destination. We pushed out of camp at 8.15am and our first stop was at Banana (yes theres a town called Banana) for morning tea about 11am we then headed for Rolleston for lunch.  We made it there by 1.00pm and had a 30min break.  The roads in this area are VERY straight with plenty of undulating hills we even celebrated the odd corner in the road.  It makes for very boring driving which at times is hard to stay awake. We shared the driving so we could both take a break. We made it into Emerald and found a spot at the Show grounds by 3.15pm.  We set camp and then took a tour back through town and to fuel up.  We also had nearly run out of butane so we stopped in at BCF and picked up some more.  When we arrived back at camp we had neighbours.  We had neighbours so close that when we step out its only 5 steps to their awning.  They could have camped anywhere in a space the size of a football field but no we must have looked super friendly when we were not here.  At least its only for a night. 

Onto Longreach we pushed.  We woke early and had only unpacked the basics so it made for an easy pack up. We packed had breakfast and were on the road at 8.10am. We had 410kms to travel today and wanted to be in for lunch time. Well to say the roads were straight would be an understatement. We barely saw any corners all day. We did see plenty of road works and animals. An emu and his emu mate nearly became bonnet ornaments when they decided to cross the road in front of us. We had a quick stop in Bogantogan but other then that we just pushed into town.  We found camp and battled a little with the wind setting up but now its set it wont move. We enjoyed reheated lasagne for lunch and then went for a look in town and to the info centre.  Back at camp we are surrounded again by vans and people much older then ourselves but hey they make good neighbours.

We had a very relaxed and slow start to our morning.  We headed into the Stockmans Hall of Fame just on 10am as I had read that there was a show at 11am each day.  We booked tickets and looked through the show for the first hour and then saw the hour long show.  It was brilliant and without it the place wouldn't have left me with such good memories.  I would highly recommend it to any families it was great for all ages. After the show we looked through the rest of the floors.  We left there after 1pm and headed over to the QANTAS founders museum.  We had lunch under the trees outside before going in.  We booked on the 2.30pm tour and had an hour to look around.  It is a very interesting place with lots to see and read.  We really enjoyed the 1.5hr tour of the planes also. Again this tour really made the trip worthwhile.  By the time it finished our brains were so full it was back to camp for some quiet time.  I saw an add on the toilet block for a travelling hair dresser who happened to be a neighbour so I booked in for the next morning and received a great $10 hair cut. BARGAIN.

 This is how to clean a horse.

 Help I'm being sucked in.

 Super strong James

Thursday it was onto Winton.  We had decided to take the shorter route to Mt Isa and spend the night in Winton instead.  There was plenty to do in Winton and the park we chose to stay in put on a free comedy show each night.  There was also an optional dinner which we booked into.  So we were up and packed early, I had my hair cut and we were on the road by 8.40am.  It was only 2hrs to Winton so we were in and set up by 11am.  After set up we showered and then decided on a walk to town.  We set up the car and trailer to charge and run while we were out and had lunch.  We then walked into town to see the sights.  It was enjoyable to slow down and walk and look through the town.  On our way back we passed the park and walked out to the Musical Fence.  We were back at camp about 4pm so we relaxed in the shade while chatting with other camper trailer people.  Dinner was served at 6pm and the show was from 7-8.45pm.  We laughed lots and had a really enjoyable night.  We got back and chatted with our neighbours and got to bed later then we have all week it was nearly 10pm!!!!!!!

Scary Bins in town, James being very scary.

 Being scary is hard work so he found a place for a nap.

Friday we were off to Mt Isa. We woke and packed and had breakfast a little later then we usually do but today we were not in any hurry as no one could take our spot or camp on top of us, we had a guaranteed spot in Ben and Bonnie's back yard. We were on the road by 9.30am and had a really quiet run into Cloncurry.  I commented to James today that being out here on these roads is great we pass virtually everything we see very few people pass us and we are not even doing 100kms per hour.  Where as usually we get passed by everyone. The road to Cloncurry is very very boring where as the road to Mt Isa from Cloncurry is far nicer, it actually has trees and turns and scenery.  Bonnie met us at their place and showed us in, we put the trailer in the back and then Ben came home.  James and I went for a look around town and up to the look out then back to set up shower and we went out to the Isa Hotel for dinner.  I've had to put away my winter PJ's and I'm sitting here under the fan keeping cool.

So that was the first week from Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast to Mt Isa. Approximately 1900kms.

We have had many hours to talk and find games to play on the road and James wont play eye spy with me :( so we came up with the waving game which is a little different from the one we play when we travel with a group.  The aim of this game is to see who can get the most waves back from other motorists. The scoring goes as follows,

If we wave and they wave back then its 1point
If we wave and they don't wave back its a -1 point
If the other car waves and we don't wave back in time for them to see its -1 point
If we wave at a truck and get a wave its 1 point but if they don't wave or we cant see it due to glare its neutral.
If neither car waves its neutral, no points gained or lost.

So since we invented the game James went from 4 to minus 13 then back to 6 and he got to drive twice, with a total of 5 in a row before he lost a point. I got to drive once and got as low as minus 5 but my total stands at 13, my highest straight run is 9. Just a little competitive ;)

We have observed the following, the further west we go the more people wave. Camper-vans rarely wave, Camper trailers are hit and miss and caravans almost always wave, locals with no trailers almost never wave and we are yet to get anyone towing a horse float to wave.

Each week we will reset our tally so when we see the scores at the bottom of the post you will know why its there.