Stonehenge, Jundah and Windorah The tiny burg of Stonehenge has a population of around 30 so a couple of streets it about it. A helpful person in the information centre which was also the council office, the store, the library and internet centre, chatted to us about the local area's attractions which amounted to a lookout from a jump-up and a waterhole (dry at the moment). The lookout did indeed afford excellent views to the horizon all around and also offere...

Ilfracombe and Isisford Just a few kilometres east of Longreach is the little town of Ilfracombe (population less than 100) whose claim to fame, according to the tourist brochures, is its Machinery Mile, a long outdoor display of farm and other machinery lining the highway into town. Sound riveting? Well, in fact it was one of the more interesting things to see. The local history society has put together a fascinating selection of old graders, bore hole digge...

Longreach We had planned to stay at a free campsite we had heard about near the banks of the Thomson River just outside Longreach for at least one night before heading into town proper. But the sight that greeted us was too ghastly to contemplate. Hundreds of caravans squeezed into a dusty site with only two toilets in a small block could only be called a slum. Just about anything was preferable so we checked into the Longreach Tourist Park, a vast sprawling p...

21-24 July 13 Our first night in Winton at the overcrowded Pelican Caravan Park had us cheek by jowl with grey nomad caravans and trailers. Its only saving grace was that it was just down the road from the Tattersall's Hotel where we all got together for our last meal with the Hay River group. But it gave us time to wash ourselves and our clothes, and have a sleep-in for the first time in weeks. Well, a sleep-in until the caravan next door decided to turn on i...

TheSimpsonDesert 4-11 July 13 Here we are at the end of the crossing of the Simpson Desert. There is no mobile coverage, no landlines of course, no communication at all except satellite phones. We have a sat-phone with us and checked it out at home before we came away. It all worked just fine of course then … but we cannot get it to do anything for us up here. We'd love to get it sorted but we leave tomorrow for the Hay River so there is no time for anything...