Last Cab(pervan) to Darwin

Mr Gato Jnr safely bedded down outside Miles, Qld.

If you haven’t seen the Australian film “Last Cab to Darwin” starring Michael Caton as a dying Broken Hill cabbie and cancer sufferer who drives to Darwin in his taxi to attend an euthanasia clinic it is worth the watch. As with all these tales he meets a diverse group of no-hopers and their redemption stories including, of course, his own. Well, we have loaded up Mr. Gato Jnr and set off in that direction. Hopefully not for redemption and certainly not to die. I received the unfortunate news of a cancer of the prostate diagnosis in March. It is of an early enough stage that surgery is a great option and all should be well. My consultant says that an eight-week frolic away is fine and we have scheduled a return for mid-July and a nice hospital visit. This will not be news or of any great moment to those of you men in your seventies and beyond. It is to be expected in men of a certain age. As they say “It is what it is”.

We had planned to go south early in the year then north through the centre and Alice Springs with visits to Uluru and Kings Canyon. Scout is disappointed but I have been there before in 2000. It was a time when you could climb “the Rock” and I did. Such a magnificent natural structure. I understand why the local “mob” put the kaibosh on it (and that is their right) but it does seem a pity. The climb to the top was hard work, often scrabbling through loose scree but it was certainly worth it. Hard work anyway for the young Japanese tourist who got about 100 metres up the side then sat down and refused to move – up or down. They had to send the boys up to coax (read carry) her down. Anyway those places are for another day.

Our grandson, Josh has made the Queensland U12 cricket team so what a great excuse to head for Darwin where the interstate tournament takes place for a week from June 2nd. We will then cross back to Port Douglas to meet the family and grandkids including Tammy and the Americans for a week of R and R. Meantime on 22nd of May we left for Miles some 340kms west of Brisbane in central Queensland. This is the Western Downs on the eastern edge of the Outback and even here dry and flat are the relevant adjectives. This is cropping country based on wheat, sorghum and cotton. It is a pretty town of some 1,800 people. We found a camping spot at Gil Weir Bush Camp beside a stagnant and obviously man-made lagoon. But we are camped under Grey gums, it is deathly quiet and the night sky is spectacular. Something you only see when miles (no pun intended) from the city lights. It really is breathtaking and something only the outback can provide. There are the two Pointers, the Southern Cross, the Pot and …… um …. all the others. To say we are sleeping under a twinkling canopy is to do it an injustice. And hey… the Queensland Govt kindly provides toilets. How convenient! On to Charleville – or more precisely Morven and the Sadleir’s Waterhole pub.

We had stopped in Murgon for lunch with friends Chris and Jen Paton. Chris had been engaged to paint one of the apartments we managed in Alexandra Headland. He ended up painting 19 of them so he must have been good. Anyway we became friends and now stopped for a catchup. Chris and Jen explained that they had been cajoled into relief managing the pub at Morven some 300 kms west by a friend and the new owner a few years back and had ended up there for five months. They recommended it as our next stop. There is a free camp behind the pub with facilities and we stopped for the night and a fabulous dinner at the Sadleir’s Waterhole Hotel. This is a typical Australian outback one room, one bar pub. Captain T.J. Saddlier and his wife stopped by here in 1860 and camped at the waterhole on the Hamburg River. The town was formed and the waterhole became the town’s water source. The hotel is nearby and perhaps an equally importing drinking source. This night there was a mixture of campers and locals enjoying a drink and a feed. They are generally staffed by backpackers working out their visa requirements of three months in the rural areas before being able to go to the cities. They are a mix of European, Japanese, Chinese and South American and all appear to me to be having a high old time of it. Believe it or not we even meet some who have come back to the back of beyond for a second go. This night was a mixture of campers and locals enjoying a drink and a feed. These country hotels survive on travelers passing through and the hotel owner has wisely erected some motel units beside the pub. The units were full this night with passing travelers and workers who had temporary jobs nearby. Morven is 100 kms east of Charleville and we were glad for the stop there.

An early morning treeful of galahs (or pink and grey cockatoo) in Morven.

Charleville is also an attractive town of 3,500 people established in 1865. It is the largest town in western Queensland and the centre of the Flying Doctor Service in south west Queensland. It services are provided to communities some 900 kms further west. Whilst Longreach is considered the home of Qantas it was from Charleville in 1922 that the first Qantas flight actually took off. It was a mailrun to Longreach, Winton and Cloncurry. Qantas in fact continued to provide a service from Brisbane to Charleville until 1921.

.These are all service towns and also centres for the Aboriginal Communities that are nearby. It is clear that the locals have put a lot of effort into ensuring that their town is is attractive to both live in and for tourists. The pleasant main street is dotted with family community centres, supported family violence shelters and gathering spots for oldies. It seems to me that as the cities become more troublesome there is a real effort in these rural communities to grow and thrive. This is as far west as we are going so after a walk through town we set our compass to the north.

A cafe in Charleville