10 August 2019
Our northward traverse has ended. We have now turned east and south. We have passed through the town of Emerald where there are no emeralds and are now in Roma. We have driven through the gold mining town of Charters Towers and the vast coal country of the Galilee Basin.
Before we left Cloncurry we visited the site of the old Mary Kathleen uranium mine. The open cut mine now looks like a most inviting swimming pool in the middle of a dry and stony landscape. The vivid blue is thought to come from copper leaching from the rock walls. This picture does not give justice to the blueness of this lake. The mine closed in 1984 and the thriving town complete with school and swimming pool dismantled and sold off.
Along the way to the lake we came across yet another Burke and Wills memorial. I can’t imagine the privations they faced travelling through this country in the middle of summer in 1861. I was left wondering whether this is the remains of one of their campfires from 1861.
Along these roads it’s not uncommon to see herds of a 1000 plus cattle on the long paddock. Out here these herds take priority. Like the cows of India these guys have attitude and don’t move for anyone including large trucks. As you creep forward they just move around the car in their slow meandering pace. Their drover masters on horseback in the background.
Speaking of large trucks, let me say the mind is focussed when you have a four trailer road train heading toward you on a rough piece of road. Our most exciting moment was when the 4th trailer of one of these massive trucks was swaying across both lanes, twisting and distorting as it went. This was all happening at 100 kph. It went passed us as we withheld our breath with our car as far to the left as was possible.
This country is very flat and largely empty. Moments of excitement have come with the occasional bend in the road or even a hill. This country is so flat that we crossed the great dividing range over an insignificant hill of 441 metres. The Rocky Mountain it’s not.
Travellers to these parts seek to entertain themselves in strange ways. There are many instances of termite mounds dressed in tee shirts, collared shirts and caps. Its quite a sight to see hundreds of dressed termites mounds across the expanse of the bush.
The architecture of the larger towns is also a surprise. In days past Charters Towers was a gold mining town. There were no fly-in-fly-out miners in those days and the main street reflects the wealth that was invested in the town. Charters Towers even had its own stock exchange! Today the display windows of department stores from the 1930s still survive. The smaller towns boast shaded car parking in the main street.
There is a real shortage of skilled labour in these parts. I was chatting with the caretakers at a caravan park, showing interest in their work. Their response was to ask me ‘and what are you doing’ I think that was a job interview. Today in the barber’s chair getting a haircut I hear from behind me ‘if you have truck licence there’s plenty of work, we can’t keep drivers’. Methinks that was another job interview. We will continue our travels.
The crack in the windscreen continues to grow at an alarming pace.
A Traveller's Tale 