Friday August 30th
We had a flat, well and truly mangled, tyre on the caravan. Fortunately we were in a small town pulled up on a fairly level part of the road when Ross noticed the tyre. He changed it and we bought another spare as we passed through Mt Isa. It is lucky we were near a large place so we got the tyre Ross wanted with no problems
We are at Cloncurry Qld tonight and travelling back home at a fast rate of knots. We have travelled 1406kms and have been out of Internet reception most of that time.
We are staying at a caravan park we stayed in a few years ago - Discovery Parks Cloncurry. A lot has happened since then. Half the park has become a workers camp. According to the news
articles I can find on the web Cloncurry is the place for the next mining boom in zinc lead silver and copper mining. We will follow that with interest over the coming year or two and see what happens.

Saturday 31st August
We began the southward trip going slowly home via South West Rocks driving to Winton today. It has to be classed as the worst trip of any we have had so far. The road was so rough, the scenery so flat and depressing. Ironically this road is flood damaged and is under repair, begun in 2011 and due to be completed in 2014, but it has a long way to go before it can be even close to a decent road. Now they are in a major drought up here. They have had no major rain for at least two years. There is no grass in parts and what there is, is so dry. The small shrubs that used to be green and grew where there was water are mostly all dead. The cattle and sheep are being shot and buried on the properties or they are droving the cattle along the roadsides looking for feed. The rivers, creeks and dams we saw were all dry. What a hard life these people up here lead! To cap it all off we thought that the end of our days had come when this enormous road train approached us on this really bumpy road going hell for leather with the back trailers swinging all over the road like a snake. It was the most scary thing ever, but we survived and here I am writing this blog so all is well.

Sunday 1st September
We have an unplanned stopover for two days in Longreach due to another flat tyre. It's hard to believe but the same new tyre that Ross replaced on Friday was shredded on this terrible road called the Landsborough Highway. It all happened on a stretch of road where it was impossible to pull up as it dropped away on both sides. The road trains were coming from both directions one after another or so it seemed. It was very scary and Ross admitted that even his heart was in his mouth so Ross went very slowly with hazard lights flashing till we found a track that lead to a farm-gate where we could pull off completely and once again change the tyre. As a result we decided to stop here so we can purchase another spare tomorrow. Luckily Longreach is a fairly large service town for the region and has two tyre centres as well as an Auto Pro as Ross now wants to buy another breaker bar.

Monday 2nd September
Ross found everything he wanted today except for a GT Radial tyre which will be here tomorrow. Ross should never be left alone in a well stocked hardware or auto shop. I went for a look at the other shops while he went and got what he needed. He bought three bags full of stuff "he needed" or had to have!!!

Tuesday 3rd September
We left Longreach today with an overnight stop at Blackall. At Blackall we stay behind The Barcoo Pub for $25 with the use of toilets and showers in the accommodation section of the hotel. They only have 14 powered sites, but not too many people know about it, which is good as we have never missed out on a spot.
Then we moved on to a place we have never been called Mungallal which is also a little piece of grass, this time beside a pub . In this town there is only the pub and no other shops. They charge $12.50 for a powered site with the use of a shower a toilets attached to the pub. from Mungallal we drove to Inverell where we went to the local sports club which was walking distance from the the park. from Inverell we drove to South West Rocks to visit our very good friends Jan and Barry for a few days.
On the way to Inverell we couldn't believe the amount of motor bikes on the road one after another,about 15 to 20 in each group. we figured about three hundred had gone up the road. When we got to the next service station to fill up, the place was fullof bikes about 200 at least. We stopped and had a chat and asked what was happening. They said they are on an annual ride which has increased in size each year and this year there are five hundred of them. They are called Southern Cross Ride for MS. It's called a Poker Ride and they were collecting money for MS research.

We arrived at South West Rocks late on Saturday. Jan and Barry were not at home so we went and had a lovely Chinese meal and then went home to watch the football. Next day I walked up to Jan's at about seven in the morning. She wasn't expecting us till the following week so she and Barry were very surprised. Jan and I went shopping, as South West Rocks some great summer clothes shops with clothes I haven't seen anywhere else. Yes I did buy something , but don't tell Ross. Jan is a fabulous cook and made us a wonderful meal one night and we went out for tea to the Country Club on the other night. Ross also played his very first game of bowls with Barry as instructor on our last day there. Ross feels he may need many more lessons before he takes up the sport of bowls.
On Wednesday 11th September we left South West Rocks at 6.30am, with some sadness at leaving our friends and drove 1098 kms to arrive home in Mulwala at 9.30pm. It was a very, very long drive for Ross who drove all the way, but he says the roads were good - The Pacific Highway the M1. The Sydney toll roads M2 and M4 then the Hume Highway and the Murray Valley Highway to home. All I can say is I thought it was the invasion of the trucks, no matter which highway we were on, there seemed to be hundreds.. The scary part is as they pass they create a suction which draws the car and van towards it and Ross had to be on the ball the whole time to correct it. We arrived home very tired and ready to go to bed after a cup of tea. We really loved our trip and are looking forward to next year, but for the moment we are enjoying the space, our friends and being home.