We are obviously getting quite good at packing up as I didn't get up early enough for any sunrise photos but we were on the road by 8.20am.
The scenery is really spectacular in this area and the hills surrounding provide a beautiful backdrop for the interesting natural (and not so natural) sights along the way.
We got to Charters Towers which was the point where we turned south and into new territory for us, and it was at this point I figured I should give mum a call since we hadn't spoken for a few days.
We arrived at Belyando Crossing service station which had originally been our overnight stop plan but the first thing I noticed as I got out of the car was the terrible smell as Shane went up to enquire about a site for the night. I almost ran after him to say maybe not but he returned to say the cost for the night was $15 - no power - no water and an additional $10 deposit for a key to the amenities. We have our own amenities and so $25 for nothing but a smell of cattle manure and heaven knows what else seemed a bit steep so we decided to drive on and find a freecamp somewhere down the road. Wikicamps indicated there were a number of them dotted along the road.
Drive on we did - for about 2km until I suddenly realised we only had 1/4 tank of fuel. In making the call home I had been completely distracted and forgot to fill up at Charters Towers and so we had to drive a further 5km to find a place wide enough to turn back to "Smellville" for fuel which to add insult to injury cost $1.89 per litre - about 40 cents dearer than Charters Towers.
Back on the road again and needing a bit of cheering up I spotted a leaf blowing across the road, no wait - it's not a leaf - it's a Stinkin' Lizard! At the very last moment I realised that this leaf had legs and was actually a young frilled neck lizard running across the road. Finally I got to see a stinkin' lizard and the irony was I wasn't sure if I squished him!
Rough road doesn't even go close to describing what we endured today. At times I had to slow to about 70km just to stop the car bouncing right off the road. The ruts along the side of the lane and also the rough edges were hard to navigate and being quite narrow in places it took all your concentration not to get run off the road by oncoming road trains and trucks. We were also surprised how many wide loads travelled this road. Then there are the narrow bridges which don't allow overtaking and certainly you would be brave to cross with an oncoming truck which was what I had to avoid at one as I approached when a large semi rounded a bend and headed for the same bridge. I had to brake fairly hard and unfortunately one wheel on the van locked, smoke poured out the back, but we managed to stop and let said truck through as he obviously had no intention of being the one to do so.
We pulled over a little way up the road into the entry driveway of a cattle station and found that the tyre was completely stuffed and poor Shane had to change it. While doing so we were passed by so much traffic and even a truck and a ute owned by the same company pulled in to the driveway to check something on the truck and neither of the guys even asked if we were OK. No-one pulled over at all.
Freecamps, it seems, are a bit of a freely used term up here as the majority of the gravel pits listed on Wikicamps were nothing more than a pull off barely large enough for a van let alone anywhere you would want to spend the night with traffic roaring past you barely 5 metres from the road. Feeling very tired having driven 540km and with sunset looming behind us, we finally found a large one on the other side of the road with a bit of a track down the back which put us away from the lights a little. It actually turned out to be not a bad spot and we settled in with a wine and a few nibbles to watch the sun go down. To top it off we had phone reception and got a call from Lakeisha wishing Shane a Happy Fathers day and had a chat with granddaughter Kiara.
As the sun was setting I noticed that there were hundreds of spiders making their homes on the barbed wire fence, their webs catching the strong light of the sun and shining almost like miniature rainbows. Just amazing watching these little creatures repair their webs.
I guess freecamping always has an element of concern especially when you are on your own and visible, but we were very fortunate when two large trucks pulled in to the area as well, shielding us from much of the oncoming traffic. I did have concerns that the cattle may have kept us awake but thankfully that didn't happen as I suspect the stress of the last couple of days caught up with both of us and we slept through.
540km
Total - 10,118 km
Top today 23°c - expecting overnight 16°c
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