The long trek north

We spent a lovely Christmas with our Canberra family after lining out the courtyard, roughing in the electrical plan and finally tying the trusses to the frames. When we left, the house was very close to lockup, sans a couple of doors and windows.

MacK got a kite for Christmas. He really enjoyed the afternoon we had enough wind to fly it. 

In case you are wondering, there was no conscious attempt to match his shirt to the kite...

Leigh had hoped to get up to the farm in the week prior to Christmas but was held back by work commitments. The new plan was to install in the week beginning 04 Jan 2016.

One of the memorable nights we spent in Canberra has become somewhat of a tradition, where Leigh and I choose a selection of interesting craft beers (interest based purely on label) and have a wee session. This year’s selection of 14 beers included an Icelandic beer called ‘Viking’, a ‘Beard’ beer and ‘The Landlord’ – an English beer we bought for Peter as we were drinking on his premises!

If the ‘Viking’ is representative, then those Norse warriors of old didn’t derive their strength and ferocity from their ale…. Or maybe they were so angry at the weakness of their beer that they had to conquer the world in search of something more palatable.

The beard beer was a lot more interesting. The label story has it that the hipster brewer (does that make him a hopster?) has brewed over 15,000 batches, and that they combed his beard to extract the yeast used in that batch. Great story and really good beer, with brilliant company as always. Our pick of the night was a beer from Burleigh Heads called ‘FIGJAM’. Lucky the beer lived up to its self praise! On the booze front, we were also lucky enough to be there when Peter decided to open a bottle of 1939 Seppelts Para Liqueur port. It was quite extraordinary – very mellow and somehow rich on the palate. We had an opportunity later in the trip to compare it against another very good but much younger sticky. The Sandalford in isolation is very, very good, but seemed a bit rough in comparison. We are very fortunate to have the luxury of being able to experience the difference.

We also found ourselves the owners of a set of Cards against Humanity, which proved to be great fun on several occasions over the holiday period. All too soon the holiday period ended, and we began our 5000 km (+) drive north from Canberra to Darwin.

We overnighted in Kempsey before driving through the incredible green that is the North Coast of NSW before driving up to Tamborine Mountain to stay with Lee and Pat. They have a lovely home in what is probably the pick of the South East. The façade of the house gives no clue as to the space of the interior, and it was a wonderful surprise. We had a really nice night that allowed MacK to connect with a couple of his young cousins for the first time.

From there it was up to Brisbane to catch up with the Aleksiuk clan. This was such a relaxing day, and MacK was exhausted after spending a couple of hours in the pool. We finished the night with friends in Brisbane, eating steak and prawns and drinking good wines and stickies.

Mark and Tiff were overseas for the festive period, but we commandeered their house for a night as a base before heading into Watto’s for New Year’s Eve. I was finally able to introduce Jane to an excellent bloke who I shared my deployment with, and his lovely family. We had a night of laughter, good food, and excellent games (think Cards against Humanity and Cranium). MacK stayed awake until after midnight, and was probably fresher than we were for it!

 MacK and Jane - New Year's Eve

We travelled up to the Sunshine Coast on the first, to spend some time with my side of the family in what will be our last visit to the Palmwoods property before it is sold. Dad wasn’t working quite so hard this trip, which meant we could spend some time with him. We had a really relaxing time, and got to catch up with a work colleague in Maroochydore and see Tyson and Maddie’s new home. Ty has a very distinctive building style, and his home is very livable. All in all, a very relaxing visit to the South East.

We decided to take the inland route North to avoid the summer only drivers who tend to populate the coastal highways (with a seeming inability to drive). This was a fantastic option, as we rarely had to share the road with other cars and the road trains are very good at signaling when it is safe to pass.

Our first day was the big one, from Palmwoods to Clermont. This had us in the car for almost 12 hours, and MacK continued his track record as an excellent travelling companion. Sometimes he does get a bit crazy on exiting the car, which is perfectly understandable after sitting there for several hours. He just travels so well – might even take him on an international flight in the near future! (We are thinking about Legoland in Malaysia…).

From Clermont we had an easy run into Townsville (only about 6 hours driving), arriving in time for me to shower and get on a plan back to Canberra (see the next post for details). Jane and MacK had a very relaxing week, and were able to catch up with old friends, eat copious serves of gelati at Juliettes (a must do in Townsville) and swim. The rest was good, as MacK had picked up a viral infection, and needed time out of the car to rest.

Catching up with great friends in Townsville

I flew back in (only slightly exhausted) and we were able to catch up with the D’arcys, the Edens and most of Clan McGlinchey. It is wonderful to see these friends, even after the break, and it feels as though we have never been away. Until we see the kids! What were young kids and gawky teenagers are now self assured and confident young adults. As well as a credit to their families, they also bode well for the future of the country, if they are representative of the generations coming up behind us.

We said goodbye to Townsville in the midst of a tropical storm (she was sad to see us go too…) with a Danish and coffee/chocolate from the Precinct, and headed due west. Our travels had us drive west with stops at Cloncurry and the Three Ways Roadhouse before turning north and stopping at Daly Waters before hitting Darwin. Cloncurry’s stop was at the Gidgee Inn, which was a beautiful poured earth building that was lovely and cool – necessary in this hot climate. The Three Ways Roadhouse was a bit different! We were jammed into a tiny ‘donga’ but at least we had air conditioning. The food was brilliant though – the current chef trained in England, and is enjoying the pace and challenge offered by Outback Australia.

The most expensive petrol we saw was at the Barkly Homestead, where it was on the bowser at $1.86/l. Makes it pretty cheap for any urbanites out there… Travelling at a legal speed limit of 130km/h definitely chews through the distance and cuts time in the car. It also chews through fuel, but the temptation to get out of the car outweighed fuel conservation at that stage of the journey.

The scenery on the drive west through Queensland is nothing short of spectacular. I don’t know that a photograph can do it justice, because part of the majesty/beauty of the landscape is the scale. It was certainly nothing like I had seen before. We were also amazed at the changes in the landscape was we travelled west. Between Cloncurry and Mt Isa the basic landscape is scrubby farmland, which just becomes really rocky as you approach Mt Isa (and become a real Aussie, if the sign is to be believed). I expected long straight roads, which was generally the case except around the Isa. Leaving that incredible geological landscape behind we opened up into massive expanses of grasslands without a tree in sight.

We crossed so called creeks – that were several kilometres wide, and wouldn’t have been able to make this trip a week ago due to flooding.

Our last travelling night was spent in the historic Daly Waters Pub. This is a fantastic place to visit, and was featured in the original Crocodile Dundee movie. The collection of memorabilia left behind by tourists has to be seen to be appreciated, and the staff are really friendly. The pub sells petrol as well as beer (and if you ask what there is to do they will tell you to drink beer and swim), with the only difference being that you have to pay for the beer when you get it. You pour your own petrol and then head into the pub to tell them how much you owe them!!

When we got here it was blisteringly hot, but we had a mid afternoon storm while we were all in the pool. It took all of the heat out of the air, and for a while we were actually quite cool. That feeling didn’t last long!

 The pub has an incredible collection of random 'stuff' - including the enormous collection of bras hanging from the bar!

Jane was very happy to discover that this tiny pub served her favourite brand of cider!

 MacK had played one game of pool at this stage, and thought he now knew enough to provide advice and coaching to a couple of other patrons!

The move into Darwin went off with only minor hitches - we did reject the first house on the grounds that we couldn't fit into it, but we are nearly settled. Our aim by the weekend is to have every box unpacked. Don't know that we will have everything that we started with, but that is a nice ideal!

 

We are lucky that MacK did a lot of this during the drive, and was very good. All up we travelled for a month, and some of our driving days were up to 12 hours.

 

 

Our big boy is now in the grown ups seatbelt, and out of his harness. He is a whole lot more happy than Jane!

MacK now has a school uniform, and Jane is searching for work. We are enjoying (?) the change in climate, but I think will even more enjoy the all too infrequent trips back south to get a seasonal perspective.