This was the longest hop -- 380km this time, but on remarkably good roads. Just now and again the road narrowed to a single lane and of course Sod's Law kicks in and that is where you meet the traffic in the other direction. Some 4WD drivers are absolute hoons and don't even slow down, barely get off the road and send up stones and gravel all over the place. Several of our mates have ended up with chipped windscreens from such circumstances. So far not us. Touch wood. A convenient stop on the way was Burke and Wills Roadhouse, about half way. Burke and Wills are well-known as explorers, who unfortunately did not make it back from their expedition.
The temperatures at Normanton are at last worthy of the Tropics, except for the mornings. This morning at breakfast there was a biting cold wind and we were all in jackets or layers of pullovers. An hour or two later, with the sun full out we were discarding those layers and now, at 2:15, it is 27 degrees.
We have just done a wonderful trip on the Gulflander train, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary. A picnic lunch was part of the trip and there was a birthday cake to follow a substantial array of sandwiches, wraps, damper, fruit and drinks.
For the rest of the day we are free to do as we wish, which allows time to catch up with e-mails, blog, etc and the plan is for a group of us to go to The Purple Pub to eat tonight.
We are all becoming very aware of the short time left, as the safari ends on Monday. It will be strange to revert to our own schedule after nearly three weeks in the group.
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| Burke and Wills roadhouse |
The temperatures at Normanton are at last worthy of the Tropics, except for the mornings. This morning at breakfast there was a biting cold wind and we were all in jackets or layers of pullovers. An hour or two later, with the sun full out we were discarding those layers and now, at 2:15, it is 27 degrees.
We have just done a wonderful trip on the Gulflander train, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary. A picnic lunch was part of the trip and there was a birthday cake to follow a substantial array of sandwiches, wraps, damper, fruit and drinks.
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| The Gulflander with Kenny hanging out of the window |
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| The top of the birthday cake The railway goes from Normanton to Croydon on its regular schedule once a week, one day there and the next day back. For our tourist trip we only went about an hour down the track, to Critters Camp, so named because it is where a triangle of line has been created in order to be able to turn the train and the workers involved complained about all the spiders, scorpions and snakes that abounded there. |
For the rest of the day we are free to do as we wish, which allows time to catch up with e-mails, blog, etc and the plan is for a group of us to go to The Purple Pub to eat tonight.
We are all becoming very aware of the short time left, as the safari ends on Monday. It will be strange to revert to our own schedule after nearly three weeks in the group.
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