Driving with the Flying Doctors

http://www.outbackcartrek.com.au/index.htm

Day 1 : Grafton to Kingaroy - Wednesday 3rd June - 596 kms – Page 29 & 9
Grafton’s famous jacarandas won’t be out but more than 300 Trekkers will be as Trek number 20 prepares for one of the most adventurous trips in its history. The first day will not be typical of what lies ahead but it will be a beautiful drive through the undulating countryside of New England to the Queensland border. While gravel roads might be hard to find, there are some great stretches, none more so than north of Somerset Dam on the way to Kingaroy.
Bill’s Note: Glengallan Homestead for lunch, via Bonalbo and Warwick
Kyogle - Walking in the Border Ranges National Park

Day 2 : Kingaroy to Taroom – Thursday 4th June – 463 kms – Page 9
Kingaroy is famous for peanuts and Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Last night it was a gift of
peanuts, this morning a visit to Joh’s home, “Bethany” and a taste of Flo’s famous
pumpkin scones. Then the road snakes over the spectacular Bunya Mountains
before turning north and west into grazing land. Lunch will be at the historic 1847 Boondooma Homestead before striking west through state forest and farmlands to the service town of Taroom and a fairly formal feed in the town hall.
Bill’s Note: Bethany for breakfast (Joh Bjelke Peterson’s family farm), then to Boondooma Homestead for lunch.
Day 3 : Taroom to Buckland Tennis Club - Friday 5th June - 535 kms – Page 9,11,10
There is an old Trek legend that began early this century. It’s about a night planned for the event at the Buckland Tennis Club which is off the Springsure - Tambo road.
It rained on the way and a lot of entrants, when faced with the prospect of a wet
campsite, pulled the right rein and chose warm motel beds. Predictably they missed a great night and the Trek went back there the following year to prove it. On the 20th anniversary it seemed an appropriate place to revisit. The roads from Taroom to Buckland won’t disappoint either, with beautiful mountain scenery much of the way.
Bill’s Note: Lunch at Bauhinia, Buckland is 1 hour out of Springsure. Located near the site of Australia’s only bentonite mine (pevltd.com)


Day 4 : Buckland Tennis Club to Isisford - Saturday 6th June - 551 kms –Page 10
A younger legend began in 2008 when rain caused many Trekkers to miss Isisford
and, once again, it was the best night of the Trek. So it’s back to Isisford so everyone can see what they missed. The drive from Buckland is spectacular with distant views of the Carnarvon Range and a climb up the pale rock cliffs into Tambo.
Lunch will be at Scrubby Creek and in the afternoon the roads pass through grazing land, including the famous Terrick Terrick stud.
Bill’s Note: Fuel up at Tambo (look up Tambo Teddies – buy one on the way through. Tells a little about the resilience of people from the bush). Banjo spent many years in this part of the world – hence Clancy’s Overflow Hotel (one of the better AB Patterson poems – learn it before you leave)

Day 5 : Isisford to Longreach – Sunday 7th June –115 kms – Page 17
Today is a lay day and an opportunity for those who want to split the trip to change crews as Longreach is serviced by daily flights from Brisbane. There are also plenty of workshops for cars that need attention and motels for crews that would like clean sheets and a hot shower. There will be a special dinner at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame which is celebrating its 21st anniversary.
Bill’s Note: Longreach is the official gateway to the outback. Home of the QANTAS museum (was QANTAS founded in Longreach, Cloncurry or Winton???) and RM Williams, also the Bushmans Hall of Fame. Full day here can be well spent. Consider pre-booking a sunset cruise, but the Thompson River definitely worth a history tour

Day 6 : Longreach to Julia Creek - Monday 8th June - 573 kms – Page 17, 16
Longreach claims to be the gateway to the Outback and today certainly has an
enhanced feeling of remoteness. Soon after leaving the ‘gateway’ we are on to mail roads that service properties between Longreach and Winton. The track almost peters out at the half way mark and ‘grows’ again towards Winton. On the afternoon run the roads get longer and straighter and houses are further apart. Some say that the meals at Julia Creek in 2007 were the best we’ve ever had so we are back for seconds.
Bill’s note: No tar around these parts. MUST have a beer at the North Gregory hotel in Winton. Burnt down and rebuilt, but the site of the first public recital of Waltzing Matilda. Put to music based on a Scottish folk tune. Dagworth station is about 50 miles north, but we won’t go through there today. I have actually sat at the very desk that Paterson wrote Waltzing Matilda on. Lawson lived here for a while, and it is Winton that is credited with being the place where their very public dislike for each other started.

Day 7 : Julia Creek to Burketown – Tuesday 9th June – 525 kms – Page 12
This is real Australian cattle country and by now the stations are huge and the skies endless. The Gulf Savannah starts along these tracks and we stay with it for most of the next four days. Burketown is the ‘capital’ of the Gulf and a frontier town both spiritually and literally. The next landfall north of here, beyond the marshland and the waters of the Gulf, is Papua New Guinea. It’s where Burke and Wills decided that, in spite of not seeing the water, they had reached the northern coast of the continent and set off on their fateful journey home.
Bill’s Note: We leave the “traditional” outback behind us, and head into savannah country. Very desolate, but not dust & desert. On to Burketown, the edge of the Gulf. Consider a 20 minute joy flight if you can – majestic comes to mind. Wondoola Station for lunch – 1,000,000 acres in the old currency. 300,000 hectares doesn’t sound the same….
Burketown was the site of the World Barra Championships when we were here at Easter. You’ll see why.

Day 8 : Burketown to King Ash Bay via Borroloola - Wednesday 10th June - 534 kms – Page 12-99
It’s remarkable that in a country as big as Australia that there so few east-west routes that can take travellers all the way from coast to coast. Two are sealed, one only partially so and the others, are across deserts and the Gulf Savannah. The one we take today is very remote and isolated and impassable in the Wet Season. There were just four roadhouses between Burketown and Borroloola and two of those have closed. Tonight we will be at King Ash Bay, a fishing camp on the Macarthur River run by the King Ash Bay Fishing Club. Inland fishing clubs, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, also have areas there. Tonight the Trek will too.
Bill’s Note: Following our Highway One (?) very remote. Kong Ash Bay is an oasis, but watch the crocodiles. If you want to break your heart, drive around Borroloola. At least the kids are smiling

Day 9 : King Ash Bay to Mataranka – Thursday 11th June –596 kms Page 97-96
For most of us, today will be the main reason we are on this Trek as it includes the very remote track from near Borroloola to Roper Bar. Road conditions vary a lot depending on weather and how recently, or indeed if they have been repaired. At worst it is a rocky, corrugated gravel road with bulldust holes and at best it’s about the same. The scenery is spectacular and everyone should take the short diversion to see the Southern Lost City, a remarkable rock formation that lives up to its name. Tonight’s camp will be at Mataranka, near Elsey Station, the setting for the classic Australian story, ‘We of the Never Never’. A dip in the thermal pool will soak off the red dust and ease the weary body.

Bill’s Note: Highway One takes on a whole new meaning here. Roper Bar is the home of the $1,600 drum kits – sold 20 or so when the stimulus package hit

Day 10 : Mataranka to Darwin – Friday 12th June – 432 kms – Page 95
After the jolting of the past few days the smooth fast bitumen road to Darwin will be a revelation. But there has to be one last dirt track and the diversion from Pine Creek goes past the amazing, historic Grove Hill Hotel – certainly worth a look. Lunch will be with family. Bob Smith once hosted our social functions at the Peachtree Inn at Penrith and has been a keen Trekker for many years. Bob now has the Adelaide River Inn and it is one of the Territory’s great pubs. Darwin is our destination and this fascinating town which is going through a giant mining-based boom, is Australia’s most different capital city.

Lawson didn’t like the bush, and saw no point in romanticising it;
I am back from up the country - very sorry that I went
Seeking out the Southern poets' land whereon to pitch my tent
I have lost a lot of idols, which were broken on the track,
Burnt a lot of fancy verses, and I'm glad that I am back.
Farther out may be the pleasant scenes of which our poets boast,
But I think the country's rather more inviting round the coast.
Anyway, I'll stay at present at a boarding house in town,
Drinking beer and lemon squashes, taking baths and cooling down.

Where Paterson waxed much more lyrical. Very public dislike hit the front page of The Bulletin – I think 1891 or thereabouts.
So you're back from up the country, Mister Lawson, where you went,
And you're cursing all the business in a bitter discontent;
Well, we grieve to disappoint you, and it makes us sad to hear
That it wasn't cool and shady - and there wasn't plenty beer,
And the loony bullock snorted when you first came into view;
Well, you know it's not so often that he sees a swell like you;

Coach Surfing the Australian Bushfires

I am constantly amazed at how Australians come together to help those that have been hard-done-by and the recent bushfires are another incredible example of the open arms that are offered to those in need. One of the first major examples of the generosity of Australians that I witnessed was in 2004 when the Asian tsunami devastated the lives of millions in the Indian ocean. Within hours of the distaster there were plames, supplies and drives to raise money for the victims. In the end the Australian government led the world in providing moetary support through a contribution of over $1 billion USD. The majority of that money went to our closet neighbour, Indonesia, the same country that harboured the Bali bombers who were responsible for blowing 88 Australians into bits.

The Victorian bush fire disaster has left hundreds of people dead and thousands homeless. These are the immediate effects, but the long term effects will be much greater with the livelihood of thousands of farmers and rural workers in jeopardy. Imagine trying to feed your herd with the ashes off the land, or returning to a business in a town that would make Faluga look like a paradise. These are the realities that they face, but Australians have answered the call.

I don't know anyone here that hasn't contributed to the victims, whether by supplying blankets, donating money or giving blood for the burn patients. I think one of my favorite examples of providing an immediate solution was setting up a "Coach Surfing" service http://bushfirehousing.org/ that connects people in need of accommodation with those that have extra space in their house. This was a service set-up hours after the enormity of the disaster was known and has been able to place hundreds of people who now have no home to return to.

The Australian spirit will persevere in the end, but if you want to help, you can donate through the Australian Red Cross . Every little bit counts and you'll feel good helping those who have a tradition of helping others.

A Look into the Universe and More...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a scientist? Making new discoveries, collaborating with others and contributing to the knowledge of humankind? Don't wonder any longer...get involved!

I have always been one to gaze into the sky, squint my eyes, and imagine how many others are doing the same from another galaxy, solar system, or planet. How many eyes are looking back? Okay, not to get carried away, but there is a way that you can support your neighbourhood astronomer by classifying galaxies allowing us to get one step closer to discovery. With no more squinting I might add.

How does it work? Hop on to www.galaxyzoo.org to assist in classifying star systems. Don't worry if the closest you've come to the stars was seeing U2 in concert. After a brief tutorial you will be off and running millions of light years away, providing very important scientific data. A motley crew of astronomers have been given the task of classifying photographs of over 250,000 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and they need our help!

Who needs to study for years, spend hours in front of a telescope, and write pages of academic papers? I spent a few minutes with a glass of red wine and managed to scroll through dozens of amazing pictures whilst helping the scientific community at the same time.

Let me know what you thought of the experience.