Miramsmeanderings

On our last day in Alice Springs we were lucky to coincide with some NZ friends who are doing a year's trip around Oz. It was great to see Marian and Clive and we hope the rest of their time here is full of good times. Unfortunately, the (so called) Plenty Hwy didn't quite live up to the information we were given on several occasions about the good state of the road. It has certainly had an enormous amount of money spent on it in recent times but the volume of huge B Doubles full of many heavy cattle haven't done the surface much good at all. It is a generally a very hard rocky surface that is deteriorating into corrugations. The scenery is pretty ordinary, flat, dusty, yellow grey soils and sad straggling grey plants. The first day on the road was a long and tiring as we missed a good camping spot that had been indicated on the map by a bloke we met because it was in the wrong place on the map. We ended up bush camping at night fall on the bank of the Arthur River (dry river bed, of course). The next day wasn't such a long drive and we pulled into Tobermorey Station early in the afternoon. Our timing was good because helicopter mustering was in progress and it was fascinating to watch the skill of two young helicopter pilots controlling a large herd of cattle (hard to tell how many but between 500/1000). They flung those tiny choppers around the sky and did amazing things with them. Swooping and diving, climbing and spinning, and hovering like enormous dragonflies. Tobermorey is a real oasis along the track. Grass and flushing loos and very interesting to get another insight into station life. Tobermorey is about 6 or 7 thousand square kms! We really enjoyed our afternoon there. The next day we made it into Boulia, thankful that we hadn't suffered any tyre damage as many others had. One young family with five children had 3 punctures. However, the next morning we discovered that the fridge hadn't been so lucky. Things were getting rather warm in there and eventually I was forced to throw out everything in the freezer (which was full). Obviously a problem so we had no choice but to go to Mt. Isa where there is a Dometic (brand of fridge) service centre. Sadly, we were informed that the cooling system was kaput and that there are currently no spare parts available anywhere in Australia. A boat is due to arrive in Melbourne on the 30th with the necessary! So we are travelling with our fridge acting as an old fashioned ice box. Every day we put more ice in the vegetable bins and this keeps things cool enough if we buy frequently. It is working out perfectly well. We have decided to make our way to the Gold Coast and spend some time with our friends, Sylvia and Ron and to see my niece and family and my friend Evi, who has recently moved up there. We have a booking with a service centre in Burleigh Heads to get the fridge fixed as soon as the part turns up in about 12 days time (hopefully). We have met others with the same happening and the Mt. Isa man had a string of people in the same boat. Why is this happening is the question. So, at present we have moved down through Winton and Longreach and tonight are camped in a little country spot called Alpha. Very quiet and peaceful and a lovely soft afternoon. That is all for now.