2019 AU-NZ: Beautiful Valley to Fraser Island Mar 5-7

Welcome to the New South Wales Outback! said the sign early on our drive March 05. Then, in the first 700Kms, we went through two dust storms, two rain deluges, and what Bob calls the "kangaroo carnage highway". We then emerged into 100Kms of puffy white cumulus clouds and a rainbow. Our relief was brief, as in the final 50Kms of 850Kms we watched an enormous disk of black cloud with jellyfish tendrils of rain wisps cascading over the disk edge and lightening cracking in the dark centre. The disk was just south of the night's camp and lightning was cracking all around. The top of the picnic table under the shelter was wet from golf ball-sized rain hitting the ground and bouncing up. As we made our camp dinner in the dark, with lightening cracking around, a gust of wind sent an enormous eucalyptus tree branch crashing to the ground in a camp site. The New South Wales Outback welcome sign, was, we guessed, another Aussie quip.

Home-side administrative needs delayed our departure that morning by about 45min. So, we made up time by eating gas station egg salad sandwiches  - Bob calls it "stealth eating". "Big Yum" ones from "Coles Express" aren't too bad, as they use whole wheat bread & can include lots of vegetables.

The stretch of highway with the hit kangaroos was worse than what we had experienced and wrote about one day in Tasmania. Yolanda was driving the highway lanes, weaving around the "kangagoo" in the same way we maneuver around river rocks in our canoe. It was horrible. We decided on an action plan in case a kangaroo hopped onto the road: steady hands on the steering wheel, no swerving, foot on the brake, honk horn. Suddenly, Yolanda shrieked, Bob's eyes popped open, and a kangaroo whizzed past at 110Kms/hr in the on-coming traffic lane 20cm from the car. Not the kangaroo at 110K, the car. No brakes applied, no horn honked, and the steering wheel nearly abandoned. After that, we practiced until we got it down pat. Next time, the action plan went smoothly and the kangaroo dashed away. The giant lizard was another story, but he did get away unharmed.

After about 100Kms, the kangaroo issue was over. But then in the distance we could see what looked like a fire front. But we could smell no smoke.

Within 20 minutes, we had reached a wall of orange dust. It was an eerie feeling going into it, disconcerting being in it, and a relief when it was over in about a half hour of driving. The rain in the exit from the dust storm was a deluge, and we realized the dust was pushed down by the rain, as the drops were plopping orange mud on our windshield. Then we saw another red wall of dust rising up on the horizon. We reached it in 20 minutes and exited it an hour later. Bob read out a story about a red dust storm the week previous that had been blown as far as Sydney (and he mentioned that he had read that dust from the Sahara eventually falls in the Amazon).

We parked and made dinner in the dark with lightening crashing around. Then a couple from Brisbane, Peter & Vicky, came from their 5th-wheel  motor trailer to see if we were okay and to chat about Australia's extreme weather, and we shared some stories about Canadian weather. That is when the large branch crashed down. The day at points had been 43C. It was 34C by the time we reached camp in the dark, and it was due to drop to 29C by 11pm and 23C by 2am. Due to the lightening, rain and falling branches (and because Peter warned of animals chewing our tent) we thought to boot camp. After 5 minutes in the car boot, we both had a sense of suffocation from the heat, so we set up our tent. A few rain drops fell through the mesh, but it was okay, and within a short time we were looking up at the Milky Way.

March 06 we did another big re-positioning drive over 850Kms. On the long drives, there is no time for photographs, though Bob finally photographed members of a feral camel herd. There is a lot of time on long drives for chatting, listening to Bob's extensive music collection via blue-tooth and discussing ideas.

For instance, at one point a 2011 song written by Taylor Goldsmith was playing and Yolanda commented that it was a great song. Bob paused the song and told a Bob Dylan band tour story in which Taylor Goldsmith is told by Bob Dylan that that particular song is a great song. It is called "a little bit of everything". We not only listened to, paused and discussed each stanza and our sense of the overall meaning of the song, but Bob also Googled and read aloud two articles about the band tour and a review of the album featuring that song by Dawes, the band Taylor Goldsmith leads. A good hour and a half passed (and about 150Kms).

We also think about summaries of the Australia trip and some important items of note.

For instance, for an Australia road trip, travelers need a hard copy map book. The internet is too intermittent and absolutely not available when it is really needed. The map book we have is fantastic, as it also maps out and describes economical ($0 - $24) camps along the way.

We stayed the night March 06 at Millmerran Village Caravan Park. If we built a "camp site", this is how we'd make it. The shared outdoor kitchen had a sign saying "sacred site". The w/c and laundry facilities were spotless, and kept that way by the camp guests, who were prompted by inspired signs posted by the owners. There was a grassy tent area, an area for small caravans, another with concrete pads for larger trailers and space under cover for towed cars. There were crew cabins, a row of little cabins with porches, and a second row of family cabins by a play area. It was beautifully laid out and built up and included two wildlife pond areas. We happily paid $27AUD for our grassy patch.

There is a light snow falling March 07 in Victoria, BC and the corn harvest in Queensland, Australia is just finished. This is the six month shift between the northern and southern hemispheres. There are cactus trees and houses on stilts in Queensland and the road signs and rest stops are a manifestation of a value system that is a shift from what we have experienced in Western and Southern Australia.

"I'll shout out for you", said the cafe owner when Bob went to the till to pay for Yolanda's latte. The proprietress was saying the coffee was "on the house", so that she would pay for the coffee. That was a nice way to start our final drive day to the east coast to arrive at the ferry accessible amenities of UNESCO Fraser Island.