After brekky we hit the road. We had decided to make the journey up as far as Townsville inland. To be honest this part of Australia hasn't lived up to expectations. The general scenery and feel of the country hasn't been as good since we left Sydney. I think that this is due in part to this side of Australia being one of the busiest and commercialised parts of the country. We much prefer the quieter and more laid back places. By going inland now we would avoid some of the most horribly busy and commercials places like Airlie Beach. This part of the country I feel is overrated. Don't get me wrong the scenery is amazing but by Australian standards and by the standards of the breathtaking scenery I have seen everywhere else in Australia this section of coast line has been disappointing. This section of the country is more for young people and those 'sheep' who like being with other 'sheep' and doing what all the other 'sheep' want to do. We don't want to do what the 'sheep' expect. With that in mind we were heading inland. We drove up Highway 1 as far as Rockhampton where we did some food shopping and then we went west towards the wonderfully named town of Dingo where we intended to stop the night. Once we were well out of Rockhampton the land really opened up. There were hardly any towns or settlements on the way and the land was big and flat. Each direction there was a huge expanse of not very much. There was a bit of farming land though and we were heading towards coal mining country. The highway ran beside a railway line and we saw some of the longest goods trains that we have ever seen. They were hauling about fifty or so trucks of coal. The road to Dingo was horrendously busy today. This was one of the busiest roads that I have driven on over here. I think that a lot of people were heading back to the inland towns after spending the weekend on the coast. Everyone was in a hurry and driving like possessed nutters. We have noticed that the drivers in Queensland are mad and even more aggressive and impatient than the drivers on Tasmania! In Australia generally, and with very few exceptions, most people driver much faster than the speed limit. They drive like possessed demonic entities (one woman in particular was up so close to our rear we could make out her horns and a demonic snarl on her face), they overtake in dangerous places, they tailgate dangerously and are just completely impatient. Why are all these f**kers in such a hurry? Why is no one chilled here? They all seem hell bent on killing themselves. I was driving at bang on the speed limit of 100kph. I dread to think what speed some of them were going at. They were not only overtaking us but overtaking each other. It was f**cker against f**cker. They were desperate to get past each other. It was like the wacky races except they were all Dastardly and Mutley! One idiot of a man with four young kids in his car overtook about 10 vehicles in one go a and cut in further up causing all the other, slightly lesser, k*** to slam their brakes on. These people seriously need to chill out when driving. I just got on with it and carried on at the speed limit. About half way to Dingo our Sat Nav went blank. I need to tell you more about our Sat Nav or GPS as they call them here. It is a Tom Tom, and we affectionately call him Bruce. He is an Australian with a strong Australian accent. He has directed us through some difficult places over the last few months and we have got rather attached to him. We think though that he was a tortured soul and had a few problems. Some days we swear he sounded ****** off and some days he was as happy and high as a kite. We joked that he had a drink problem and that the drink affected his moods. Sometimes he would say mate and no worries and too easy and sometimes he wouldn't. Today sadly Bruce passed away. We couldn't resuscitate him and despite our best efforts his screen would not come back on. He had gone to the big satellite in the sky. We would never hear his dulcet tones again or the jovial way in which he'd say at the end of each journey, 'You have reached your destination, windows up, sunnies on and don't let the seagulls steal your chips'!!! We carried on to Dingo a little sad and desperately looking out for the road signs now we were without our Bruce. We missed the turn off to Dingo! We had to do a u'ey and go back. Dingo was a tiny little place and the caravan park was really quirky, just our sort of place. We chilled here and did some laundry as the washing machines were really cheap. Later on Jay went off to have a shower. She returned just a couple of minutes later with a distressed look upon her face. She had seen four frogs in the amenities block. They were actually on the shower wall and one of them was a mean looking albino frog. She took me back with her to investigate. I saw one of the frogs on top of a shower partition wall. He was a luminous green and looked like a right shifty little fellow. I went to check out the gents. It was frog free but I did see a lizard on the wall. I didn't tell Jay this in case it pushed her over the edge.

Win or lose, sink or swim
One thing is certain well never give in
Side by side, hand in hand
We all stand together
Play the game, fight the fight
But what's the point on a beautiful night?
Arm in arm, hand in hand
We all stand together

BUM BUM!!!