Northern Territory; The Abbey Girls Play Up At Camp;Sightseeing Around Adelaide and the Barossa; Home
Newcastle and Queensland
Newcastle
| My 10,000 kilometre car trip started on the 8th September 1997. I stayed a couple of days with my oldest friend - oops! sorry Michelle, my friend of longest standing! - in Newcastle. I had fun playing with her 3 year old son who went for a swimming lesson, and cuddling her 5 month old son. While Michelle's husband babysat, I went to see her play competition netball. Her mother is also in the team and they won without much trouble. Another good friend from my school days, Heather, was able to drop by for a visit with her mother so my holiday began well. |
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The Gold Coast
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I then drove up to the Gold Coast in one day to stay with an old work mate, Simon. We hadn't seen each other for a couple of years and it was really great to be able to catch up again. The first evening we went out as Simon bowls in a comp. He and his mate won the games that evening and it was was good to see the enjoyment everyone had tenpin bowling. |
| The next day we spent driving around looking at beautiful beaches, the shopping mall in Surfers, the Hard Rock Cafe, the Point Danger Air Sea Rescue Centre, the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary, the chocolate factory and finished up at the top of Mt Tamborine where all the hang gliders take off. There were so many lovely places to see, and a baked lamb dinner in the evening went down extremely well! |
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The following day we arrived at Movie World at 9.30. We started with the tour of the studios. A tram-like vehicle transported us around. We went into one studio that was the "Riddler's Lair" from "Batman Forever". They gave an impressive show with the Riddler, lots of smoke and lightning rods. In another of the studios I was one of three people chosen to do the sound effects for the film "Lethal Weapon 2". I will never be able to look at that movie in quite the same way again! I was responsible for the footsteps, the door-opening sounds, the gunshot and the window-breaking noise. They then showed the film-clip again with our sound effects - it was very funny and it's a good thing that Mel Gibson and Danny Glover appreciate humour! It was also interesting to see the "blue screen effects" such as how Superman can fly, how an actor can fall from a forty story building and not hurt himself, and to film the Memphis Belle flying over Germany. Humour is a key element of this tour. We visited the Gremlin's Cave, heard Bonnie and Clyde robbing the bank, followed Bugs Bunny's exploits, went to the Maverick Grand Illusion Show, the Police Academy Stunt Show, had lunch at the Gotham City Cafe and much, much more. It was a fantastic experience which comes highly recommended (except for the rides that turn you upside down!) We finished a perfect day with dinner (including lobster!) at the Four Winds revolving restaurant looking out at the lights of Surfers Paradise and having a flutter at Conrad Jupiters Casino. |
Longreach
| It took two days to drive to Longreach. I stayed overnight in a small town called Banana. Travelling the next day I passed through Jericho on a very dry Jordan River and also Ilfracombe, a name familiar to Dorothy Sayer's fans, which has on display from one end of town to the other all sorts of old machinery including tractors, a steam shovel, rail wool wagons and farming implements. A full day in Longreach began with a trip to the Tourist Information Centre and checking out local second hand bookshops. The Qantas Museum was very interesting and occupied about an hour beginning with a short film followed by walking around a large hangar with an old biplane, model T Ford amongst other things all with stories to tell. |
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Just over the road was the Stockmans' Hall of Fame, my main reason for wanting to go to Longreach. Firstly I had lunch in the cafe there and then saw an amazing audio-visual show encapsulating the hardships of stockmen and pioneers. Then a walk through the most incredible collection of artifacts, photographs and murals. There are touch computers that tell you anything you want to know about any given subject of the outback, an amazing "talking drover" whose face changes expression whilst telling reminiscences of droving days gone by, and so much more. I spent several hours there but could happily have spent a full day, or even two. |
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I had to rush back to the caravan park as a bus was picking me up to go on the Yellowbelly River Cruise on the Thomson River. This lasted for two hours and included a barbecue tea, history of the river and the local Aboriginal people, poetry, tall stories and lots of fun. |
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Afterwards I went on to Banjo's Outback Theatre where we were entertained royally by Alan Blunt, a local poet and showman, and Helen Avery who is this year's Australian Woman Poet of the Year. There was bush poetry, songs, stories. We were provided with billy tea and home-made biscuits and then saw a sheep sheared, a spinning wheel in action and a demonstration of an old wool press. There were lots of laughs and a great time was had by all. |
I left Longreach the next morning, lunched at Winton which looked an interesting place, and pushed on to Mt Isa. The countryside was surprisingly hilly from Cloncurry. Slept late, and after doing some shopping left the Isa about 11.30. The road to Camooweal rivalled any rollercoaster! Finally arrived at Three Ways, Northern Territory at 5.30pm (after putting my watch back half an hour) and entered the land where it is hot all the time! The days in Queensland were quite hot but it cooled down substantially at night. However, once I reached the Territory it was hot ALL the time and I was glad of the motel swimming pools and air-conditioners. Three Ways is the junction of the Stuart Highway which runs north-south and the Barkly Highway which runs east through Queensland. There is not much there: a caravan park, 4 utilitarian motel rooms, and they serve good food at the truck stop cafe, but I was very comfortable and pleased to have reached the Territory at last.
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