Day 28 all over Queensland & NSW

Apologies for no blog yesterday, I was mentally exhausted! We had a few close calls with the floods.... well not really close calls but just a few occasions where we could have been stuck in Qld for days while the water went down.

 Let me take it from my perfect day the other day, after slipping & sliding through the mud we headed to a place called Theodore, (Ted for short) and decided to try to get to Miles, via Taroom. When we left Theodore there was a sign across the road saying “Road closed” but it did not say where it was closed, SO Ness & I decided to go for a drive & see exactly where it was closed. We drove & drove and did not see much water, now Taroom is 90km from Theodore, so you can imagine when we got to 75km & still did not see water we were getting excited as we thought we would get to Taroom & then on to miles.

WRONG!..... with about 10km to go we came across a flooded river that was deep & across the road. And I mean flowing fast & deep. You would be hard pushed to get across in a boat never mind a car!

 So that meant we had to backtrack 80km to get back to Ted..... Bugger!

 Anyway it was late when we got back to Theodore, so we decided to stay there for the night, we drove through town & everything was closed except the pub. We kept driving & came across a park with toilets & a couple of other vans were parked nearby. Perfect we thought & found a place to park down the road a little and settled in for the night.

 Woke up the next morning & our first words were “SHIT”....we looked out the window and the water was 2 meters from the van. Needless to say we packed up & were on the road within 20 minutes, the local council guy came past & said to us if you are planning to leave town you better go now. This town has now been cut off for the last 24hrs & probably will be for the next 3 days..... good thing we got out when we did.

 To get to our next stop we normally would have only had to travel 240km, but because of road closures & flooding we ended up travelling 700km extra.

 So there is our travelling woes, we eventually made it to Cobar tonight where we have met up with Phil from Sydney, so Ness is cooking us all dinner & we will catch up on stories.

 A few funny & interesting things we have seen this trip, lots of wildlife, because of the floods they are looking for higher ground & often head across the road to get there. We nearly hit another 2 echidna’s, Kangaroos, Wallabies..... and a huge eagle... this was amazing, it was sitting on the road eating road kill & a car came the other way, it flew up but directly into our path, luckily I had slowed down & it missed the top of the van by inches. Saw several turtles on the road but Ness would not get out & move them!

 Some of the towns we travelled through were interesting too, we had to pinch ourselves to make sure we had not been transported back in time with some places.

Have any of you ever been through Walgett, I used to go there a couple of times a year when I lived in Gunnedah, we used to take off for weekends & go to Moree, Walgett & then drive across back to Gunnedah. Walgett is exactly the same today as it was 20 years ago! I reckon even the shops are the same!

 Ness will post some pics of our travels the last day or so, so make sure you have a look at some of our adventure.

 We also took some video footage of some of the creek crossings, we will post it to you tube & give you the link in a future blog.

 Ok have to go, got a couple of beers to drink & have to get to know Phil.

 Goodbye, & if you cross a creek get your partner to walk through first!

 James

Day 27 - Theodore to Moree

What a day!  Took twice as long to get here as it should have back tracked hundreds of kilometres due to floods.  Twelve(12) hours driving, lost an hour coming across the border...need sleep...will give full update tomorrow. 

Goodnight....ZZzzzzzzz

James

Day 26 Moranbah to Wherever?

Ok.... now before I start tonight’s blog I have to let you in on a little secret, I LOVE driving! I think it started when I was younger & my parents shoved 6 kids into an old Holden station wagon & they would sit up the front smoking away with the windows closed & take us for “Drives”. It was fantastic, as claustrophobic & possibly harmful to our health, it was something that we all loved doing! I have even thought of different ways I could combine driving into my career.... even considered driving a taxi, now that would be cool!

 Good thing too as we did a shitload of driving today! Most of you will have read over the last few days that we were flooded in, our challenge was to get as far south as possible without drowning! Now you also have to keep in mind that Ness & I work in the safety industry, so staying safe is important to us (and our business would suffer if we did something stupid!) so for any of you that were worried, we will NOT do anything that is even remotely unsafe!

 But having said that, have you also ever had one of those days that you will remember for the rest of your life? One that makes you smile just thinking about it, and one that you will tell to your kids & grandkids & whoever else will listen to you!.... well I had one of those today.

 It started off early, as we have been getting up at 3 & 4am, it was hard for me to sleep past 5.... so I got up & had a shower, and started to pack up the van & car, Ness slept for about half an hour longer than me but then she started on the inside of the van, we were ready to roll by 8am! Cant beat an early start!

 Now we did not really know where we were going, I had spent time on the net looking at the latest road closures, we were listening to ABC local radio for updates & we even Phoned the RACQ info line.... so we did our homework.

 We set off to our first destination Emerald, which also served as an excuse to have a hot chocolate..... HC Report, Macca’s.... Not real flash, but at least they do Soy for Ness. We left Emerald & headed towards Rolleston, from what we knew the road to Rolleston was open, but we got 5km out of town & there was a flashing billboard thingy saying “Road to Rolleston closed”.... I want to know why they put the friggin sign 5km out of town?..... why not at the turn off!.... oh well that was an extra 10km I got to drive.

 So more research & phone calls to the RACQ road closure line, is it just us or does everyone else hate those voice activated information services..... first thing it said was.... “Thank you for calling the RACQ road closure information line, do you wish to hear the latest road closures”...... I mean why the hell else do you think we are calling? And then it asks you to say Yes or to hang up if you don’t. Ness said Yes 3 times & he came back and said “I’m sorry I did not hear that”...... lucky Ness had the phone, I would have thrown it out the window!

 So we worked out which roads were open & planned an alternate route! We went through a place called Dingo, imagine living there. And then turned onto the Fitzroy Development Road, this road was sealed for 60km & then dirt for 30km and according to the RACQ man it was open to 4WD vehicles.

 The tar section was ok, a few puddles & water at the side of the road, but then we hit the dirt.

 Man I have done some fun things in my life but this just about takes the cake, it was like ice skating for elephants! You have to remember we are close to 5 tonne, the road had been rained on for several days so was way past soaking up the water, there were many times where the car was going one way & the caravan the other! It was awesome, I was driving along with this big stupid smile on my face.

 Ness on the other hand was not as excited, I have to say that when I first met Ness she told me that she has never liked roller coasters or thrill rides, actually for those of you who know her she hates anything that she cannot control.... But she did an excellent job of holding onto her Jesus bar & staying calm (well on the outside anyway)

 Me on the other hand was excited & hoping this road would never end! The traction control light was flashing on & off and the steering wheel going one way then another trying to keep forward momentum.

 We came to a couple of creek crossings, and as they were only shallow decided to cross, we could see that other vehicles had been through, Ness took the opportunity to bail out of the car and decided to walk through & take photos (Check them out, as we have no power and limited internet tonight the photos will go up tomorrow)

 We made it through the creeks, Ness got back in & we drove the last 10km of dirt, slipping & sliding most of the way. Some of you might be shocked to read this..... but we were safe, we were only travelling at 20 – 30km/h most of the way through the dirt road.

 Ended up in Moura, filled up with fuel & then headed off to Banana (no joke!) and on to Theodore. We had planned to get to Miles, but when we arrived at Theodore there was a sign (at the turn off) saying road closed. We decided to go out & have a look at where it was closed..... and drove 70km before we found that it was definitely closed! & then had to drive back to Theodore where we will spend the night.

 So all up an excellent day, plenty of driving, some slipping & sliding & a new adventure to share with you guys.

 Goodbye, stay high & dry! (maybe we should listen to our own advice!)

 Ps ran out of time tonight but remind me to tell you about the party at the drug dealers last night.... it was a doozy, was still going when I got up at 5am.

Day 25 Last day in Moranbah

Ok it’s official, we are stranded! Most of the roads up here are cut by creeks & rivers. The route we had planned to go tomorrow is mostly under water so we will have to go another way! Which is a real bummer as a lot of the roads that we had planned to go on I have never been on before! If we go the other way it will be on roads I have already been on!

 Tonight we have attached a couple of photos of our suspicious neighbours house, does this look like a drug dealers house to you?

 To Mel, thanks for the email... nice to see you are back, hey what colour is Tom? For those of you who don’t know Mel has a new car, a Holden Cruze, so naturally she has named it Tom!... just don’t spend too much time driving it Mel, it might convince you to turn to Scientology!!!

 To Karen & Campbell, How was George Michael? Was he worth $200? From what we saw on the telly he put on a good show..... at least you did not go to Whitney Houston! What a waste of money that would have been.

 To Ilsa, safe travels in Mauritius, bring home a big handsome Mauritian!.... Oh and have you not heard, Australian Customs have recently introduced bag limits for shoes! Australian women are now limited to take 2 pairs of shoes into & out of Australia. Only one of these pairs of shoes is allowed to be stiletto’s..... So that shopping trip where you bought 3 new pairs was a waste of time!!

 Brad Atkins, thanks from Vanessa for the salad recipe, send any more that you find. Oh and tell Jamie that the “Grapevine” comment is still very funny or very stupid, I am actually smiling as I type about it!

 To my sister Georgia, thanks for the road updates, looks like we will not be coming to visit unless we can find a boat! Will check on the roads as we come down, maybe the water will be gone by Monday.

 Meredith, any inside information on Roma? Hope the people you know there are safe & dry. I can’t believe that people go swimming in flooded creeks & rivers.... then complain when someone gets swept away!

 Ok, a short blog today.... we are packing up for our trip tomorrow.... wish us luck, if you see a Land Rover & Trakmaster caravan floating down the river on the news..... good chance it is us.

 Orevwa.... to our Haitian Friends!

 Oh guess what? It has just started raining again!

 James

Day 24 Moranbah – 2 days to go!

Hello Bloggies, well we will only be here for another 2 days. MAYBE! Have you seen on the news that North Western Queensland is under water? Ness & I sat down the other night & worked out how we were going to get to South Australia, some of the places we had planned to go through were Roma & Charleville. Both of these towns have been declared disaster areas and are cut off from the outside world! The Queensland premier is flying out there today to check out the damage.

 So looks like we will have to go a different way! I personally would like to still try to get through Charleville but it depends how quickly the water subsides.

 Hey our new car has arrived, last year we ordered a new Land Rover, we are so impressed by the one that we have now that we decided to stick with what works. It has taken 4 months for them to build it & ship it across. This week we arranged for a set of hand controls to be fitted, & next week it will get trailer brakes, a second battery & a UHF CB radio fitted so it will be ready to tow the van. Ness will pick it up when she flies back next week & then Sandy, David & Ness will drive across to SA to meet me where we will swap vehicles, Sandy & David will drive the old one back.

 For Sale: 2003 Land Rover Discovery Series 2

• TD5 Turbo Diesel & 4 speed automatic
• 105,000km (regularly serviced)
• Codan HF Radio & self tuning antenna (Worth $3000)
• Dual Batteries
• Poly air bags at rear
• Rear DVD player with infra red headphones (4 sets)
• Very little off road use
• Driven 90% of its life by Vanessa (is that a selling point?) Of course it is...
• Log books & manuals

 Settle down Egg, if you really want to buy it we can talk about it when we get back, I know you have secretly loved our Discovery, think of the places you could take Jack & Bonnie!

 Mary & Pete, I know you are in the market for a new 4WD, maybe we could start a bidding war between both of you couples?

 Ness went all cosmopolitan today, she had to go shopping & decided that she would take her book & go up to the local cafe/bakery & get a Soy hot chocolate & read for a while. (I think she just needed a break from me?) but she returned disappointed, the local cafe has a constant stream of mine workers & locals ordering take away so she did not get much of a chance to relax! It was the visit to Coles after that was actually more distressing!!  All I can say I am glad I am not a miners wife....

 Meanwhile I was riding my bike, I have my road bike with me this trip. But I also have a set of “Rollers” which means I can ride stationary. I mentioned in a previous blog that we both have to put the effort in to stay healthy & active. So I sit out on the porch of the Donga, it is under cover so when it rains I don’t get too wet, but it also allows me to look towards the drug dealers caravan & watch his customers come & go. I was on my bike for an hour today and 5 cars (customers) came & went!

 Hey Brad (brother in law) congratulations on your anniversary, I take my hat off to any man that can tolerate my sister for 15 minutes let alone 14 years!..... oh and well done for remembering, it is great that you can set your phone up with all of these reminders!

Heather, just wanted to share with the readers that YOU forgot your anniversary and then madly tried to make it up to him by taking him out for lunch and promising to buy him the new St George Guernsey!.... Tsk Tsk!!!

 To my other sister Creep, good to see you are back on email..... get the kids to send some questions. Thanks for sending Brads (my son....not my B.I.L) mail back too..... we were wondering where it had gone.

 You will all be interested to know that the can count had been considerably reduced, we were slowly getting through them.... Until Ness went shopping today & restocked the van! Another 100KG.  We do have a week on the road next week and if the weather is any indication, there is a chance we could get stranded and you would hate to be without food...wouldn’t you James!

 Today we worked at a site where the sessions were held in the workshop, I had to keep my voice up as there were trucks & vehicles driving past. I sometimes wonder who arranges these things, Ness is quite clear when she speaks to clients about our requirements. And she always recommends that the venue is somewhere that people can hear me & concentrate (I do talk about some pretty heavy subjects!).... yet they go & set up a heap of chairs in a workshop! So my voice is quite strained.... have another session at 6pm, so I told Ness that I can’t talk until then!

 My brother in law sent us an amazing picture of a helicopter crash near Broom! Click on helicopter crash at the bottom & you will see it. Apologies if the graphic nature offends anyone.

 Also go to the pictures page & look out for last night’s dinner & the spray on Balsamic vinegar! That should win invention of the century! And James bike on the porch.

 Tally Ho – tie your horses up securely!

 James

Helicopter Crash