Week 2 May 25-31

After a great knees up at the opera last night today we headed to Aramac and the start of the Lake Dunn sculpture trail. Milynda Rogers, the sculptor, has created over 40 pieces using mainly barbwire and metal of every shape and size. These are situated along a 200 km trail on both bituman and dirt. We started out as early as we could because it was a 68 km trip to the start of the trail. There are no distances marked between pieces and it became a game trying to spot the sculptures. We found all 40 but it took us 4-5 hours in all. We took our lunch and sat under a tree by the side of the dirt road to eat it. All in all we did 330 kms for the day, and that wasn't a travelling day. Well worth the effort. Unfortunately we were back in time for happy hour again and had to endure Ken and Annie again.

Leaving Barcaldine we headed toward Longreach then Winton where we stopped at the Age of Dinosaurs exhibition. The fly count was off the scales as was the cost of a tour $75 per person. Last time we were there it was a minimal amount and only one other couple and ourselves, this time there were hundreds. We gave it a miss as we had seen it before. From Winton we drove onto our overnight destination, Middleton, population 2. Literally out in the middle of nowhere, there is a pub that was run by an elderly couple for all their married lives. Unfortunately 8 days before we arrived, the man had a heart attack and was airlifted to Longreach and his son and wife and their two children had arrived to run the pub. He was 82 so we'll let him off the hook this time. The population of Middleton had literally doubled overnight. There were probably 6 vans camping across the road from the pub that night. We had dinner there, which was forgettable, and a chat to the other travellers before we sat back to watch the total eclipse of the moon and the resultant red moon in the clearest of skies.

We drove along the Kennedy Developmental Rd to Boulia, the land of the Min Min lights. It was here we saw our first eagles, truly magnificent birds. The way they spread their wings and literally lift off the ground is a sight to see. It was also on this road that I had a 10 minute fight with a fly, yes a pesky little sticky fly that refused to be expelled from the car. It was happy to try and crawl up my nose or sit behind my sunnies but everytime I got it near the window it would lull me into a false sense of security then take off and bother Stephen. Finally man beat the insect and I shoved it out of the car. A nice camping ground at Boulia that became very busy as the day wore on. Spent the afternoon at the Min Min Discovery Centre hearing all about the strange phenomenon where lights appear in the night, from seemingly nowhere, to follow you. There is no science that has been able to define these lights but the guide in the encounter centre guaranteed that she had seen them as a young married woman. Her family had been to a party at the Middleton pub and drove home well after dark. Her story was that as she drove into her property two balls of light followed her and bounced on top of the gate posts. She promised that she was a non drinker???? It was about now that we became aware that Melbourne was going into lockdown.

Great!!!!! As we only left Victoria on 18 May we have only been out of the state for 9 days, not the obligatory 14 days for crossing state lines, so we were pretty worried about what that could mean. Stephen has had his vaccine but I wasn’t able to have mine and was planning on having it in Broome. The lockdown has given me the boost to organise an appointment for the jab in Mt Isa. We arrived in the Isa on Friday around 1pm and I rocked up at the hospital for my 3pm vaccine. Must say we have been very lucky with neither of us having any reaction to the vaccine at all. Mt Isa is, well, a mining town (the home of Bob Katter) so, of course, Stephen went on a 3 hour mine tour. I gave no thought at all to doing such a thing and caught up with my bridge buddy online and played for a couple of hours. We spent the afternoon taking a drive out to Lake Moondarra, a pretty picnic spot frequented by the locals.

So, Mt Isa became decision town ….. what to do?? In order to enter NT we have to have been clear of Victoria for 14 days, which means we can cross the border on 1 June. All good and well for NT, however, no way says Mark McGowan. WA’s border is closed to ALL Victorians and they require 14 days of no new cases before they will change that decision.

After much discussion we have decided to explore northern Queensland more than we intended and then spend some time in NT. We have cancelled our booking in Kununurra and also the 2 days that the kids bought for Stephen’s birthday in Cygnet Bay. Very disappointing but it is no good worrying about what we can’t control, so it is what it is. We are hoping at some stage we might get into WA and, let’s face it, we’re not in a hurry.

After a brief look around Cloncurry, where we had intended to stay for a night, we decided to drive to Four Ways, a roadhouse pub on the way to Normanton in FNWQ.  Had a chat to some Taswegians who were going to Gregory Downs then for a daytrip into Boodjamulla NP aka Lawn Hill.  I have been really wanting to go here and they managed to convince Stephen that we should give it a go. Yay for the Taswegians.  We had another very ordinary dinner at the pub, think we'll be skipping outback pubs for meals in the near future, then home to watch Masterchef and our first really warm night without AC.

That concludes Week 2.  We have now been 14 clear days out of Covid plaqued Victoria without symptoms, so I think we are in the clear.