Category: Australia

I arrived in Australia in October 2008 with little in the way of expectations but some media generated preconceptions e.g. all sun, sea and surf. Although I knew some of the distances involved in circumnavigating the continent it still came as a surprise to find my next destination would be three days driving away. What I was not in anyway prepared for are the extremes experienced in Australia such as weather, flood levels, bush fires and some of the wildlife. The country is vast and sparsely populated; the people warm, generous, and what I particularly liked, individualistic but with exceptional community spirit. I believe it may have many parallels with parts of the United States of America although I doubt that I will find the Americans quite so generous. It has been an immensely interesting visit during which I have travelled over 11,500 miles bringing the total for the first two legs to almost 22,500 miles. Names, previously unknown, but now indelibly...

Not unreasonably I felt that the worse was behind me as I had been told by the people in Broome that the road to Port Hedland was not normally subject to flooding. The rain stopped shortly after we left and the temperature started climbing. Bridget was running well and I looked forward to another good day travelling. The landscape south of Broome is different to any that I had previously seen in Australia with miles and miles of what I would call ‘savannah’. It put me in mind of what I think the great American prairies must be like. After about 90 miles I saw a car at the side of the road and an aboriginal man with it so I pulled over to see if I could help. The car was an old Nissan that had seen much better days and the chap told me that he thought the battery was flat. I looked under the bonnet and noticed that...

Bridget’s engine is not well. Having arrived in Darwin my first priority was to ascertain how serious Bridget’s engine problem is. I called Barry Fowler, the bloke I met on Sunday around a hundred miles south of here. We arranged for me to take Bridget over around midday to check the engine’s compression. On arrival we conducted a vacuum test which together with the compression test confirmed that there is a problem with cylinder 3. Either a piston ring is broken or the valves could be worn. Either way it will need to wait until Bridget and I return to Perth. I have put an oil additive in the engine that should help reduce any damage and also changed the spark plugs, checked the points and timing. Meanwhile the news is that the road from Darwin to Broome is closed to traffic by flood water at Victoria River. The level is 3 metres above the bridge. It means that we are likely...

Mount Isa’s main feature is somewhat unusual for the centre of a city and certainly conspicuous. It is a huge mine owned and operated by Xstrata and is one of the largest producers of copper ore in Australia. Situated around 550 miles from Townsville on the Queensland coast Mount Isa has been referred to as the Oasis of the Outback. I noticed the thousands of acres of green pastureland on the journey from Charters Towers but this was very deceptive. The country I saw is normally arid, brown sun-scorched ground and was only green because of the recent rains and flooding. Many Australians have never seen it in this present state. Situated around 550 miles from Townsville on the Queensland coast Mount Isa has been referred to as the Oasis of the Outback. I noticed the thousands of acres of green pastureland on the journey from Charters Towers but this was very deceptive. The country I saw is normally arid, brown sun-scorched...

Charters Towers was a small gold mining town established in the mid-1800’s. The mines all closed down when the seams ran out in the early 20th century but many of the buildings have been lovingly preserved and restored where necessary. Not surprisingly there is a mining museum and a number of tourist attractions centred around those times. Included in these is the Stock Exchange established to curtail mining stock scams that flourished for a time, and there are a number of interesting stories about prospectors, mine claims and claim jumping. The town was wealthy and boasted good educational services, including its own School of Mines, gas street lighting in 1888, and its own medical facilities. In its heyday it became known as “The World”. I started my second day here running half way around “The World”, and that before breakfast! My fitness level is woeful and I need to shape up. I had plenty of time to take in this interesting period...