Here We Go Again - Chapter 48 - Gregory River to Mary Kathleen

Disaster.

We awaken to nothing electrical working. This is a huge problem especially seeing we cannot raise the steps. Robyn looks for a manual release but no joy.

There is much harrumphing and gnashing of teeth as we attempt to sort out the problem. Robyn plays with the display and consults the manual and finds the shut off and reset button and we are all sorted for now. Just as well. The thought of getting assistance from anywhere to Gregory River would have been an experience in itself.

The generator is going to need to come out if we are to free camp on a consistent basis.

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We are heading back down the previously traveled road for the start of the day. In order to go forward we need to go back via Burke and Wills Roadhouse. Thankfully we are not staying there again. The pong from the sewerage was too much once, to have it again would have been…..

The road is strewn again with road kill. This time there are many new ones added including 2 snakes. UNlike the drive to Gregory River where kangaroos hung by the side of the road eating the new green shoots, none are there today. 

It was 13 degrees when we left Gregory River, by the time we get to Burke & Wills Roadhouse an hour later the temperature is already at 23 degrees

The plan is to top up fuel at Burke & Wills. There is no line, so we are back on the road quickly. Almost too quickly as Silver Leader and Forbsy get to the road just in front of a van screaming along the road. I almost catch him, but stop in time, let him past as he slows violently to avoid hitting the other two. Silver Leader tends to get a bit focussed on the destination doesn’t he?

The trip then becomes a convoy of 4 vans as the affected one is doing our sorts of speeds. All the way to Cloncurry we head through the landscape lined together at 100 kilometres per hour enjoying the ever changing vista.

Cloncurry is a place where we intend to shop. The town that meets us is amazingly neat and tidy. In looking for a place to park we come to a memorial roundabout. This monument to our soldiers is pristine in its presentation. Nestled between a pub and other businesses, music permeates. Having parked, we walk to it, (looking for public toilets) to take in the entire monument.

The public toilets are in the municipal area. This facility is also very well maintained. The town gives the impression people care about their town.

Shopping time. We have parked close to Foodworks and head on in. We don’t need a real lot, but some vegetables are on the list.

The selection does not seem very large at all. In fact there is nothing on our list to be seen.  We continue around the shop looking for the other listed items and are confronted with the “vege section”. Its a cooled room specifically built to house the fruit and vegetables.

To enter the room is to walk from the equator into Antarctica, or so it seems. The temperature difference is so significant you can only handle the change for a short time. It takes me several entrances to the room to obtain the items we need.

At the checkout I question the attendant about her town and its respect for itself. It seems she is the owner of the shop and our conversation, elongated because Robyn has forgotten something, is a mish mash of a devil may care attitude and an inbuilt interest in the impressions we have of Cloncurry. We leave the Foodworks with the impression she was proud of her town and more than happy with the efforts of the local Council in keeping it in a manner which impresses visitors.

The troop of 3 congregate again and head out towards Mt Isa on our trek towards tonight’s destination, Mary Kathleen.

Mary Kathleen in its heyday was a bustling mining town. They mined uranium here, in fact the mine, although abandoned, still contains mineable ore. The mining company built the town to house the miners and their families. The houses are now gone but the slabs on which they were erected remain, leaving perfectly level caravan sites to camp.

Robyn’s cousins, Kevin and Colleen are here and we contact them to sort out a place to camp. There are plenty of site as there is a sparseness to its usage, coupled with the quarter acre block mentality of town planning.

We drive into the town and past what must have been the local bowls club, the lawn green, although gone is still made out by the rink type construction remaining. 

Keeping to the right as suggested, we soon find Kevin and Colleen and the reunion begins. They, like Kim and Johnno, are simply holidaying. They have befriended their next door neighbours, not as easy as you might think as we were to find out, and have settled in for a time, enhanced by our arrival.

The battery levels have not come up in the trip to Mary Kathleen as we would have liked. We dig out the generator and fire it up. Its not obtrusive but it is, like others in earshot, making some noise.

We let it run and it fills the battery. On shutting it down, still in sunlight we cop an earful from a camper some distance away. I suggest to the camper to pull his head in. There was no attempt to use the generator in the dark, unlike those closer to the road, still functioning well into the dark. Kevin and Colleen note this camper “hates” everyone and is very quick to chastise anyone who affects their experience.

Dinner is a family affair making sure Kevin and Colleen are the centre of attention. They have a fire pit which we get going quickly and enjoy the ambiance well into the night. 

Free camping on another level again with more to come.