Cairns to Darwin – Day 2

Breakfast on the go

Breakfast on the go

I woke, packed up the van and headed south to the first picnic spot I could find. Here I parked up again and prepared breakfast: sausage sandwiches and HP sauce. Yummy. It was stinking hot and not even 9am when I put all the food stuff away and headed south.

I’d have preferred to have continued west along the Developmental Road but as it’s unpaved in parts I wasn’t allowed. So south it was to Cloncurry and through Mt Isa again. Legend has it that once you cross the river in Mt Isa then you’re bound by supernatural laws to return to the city. Well, I crossed the river a few days ago and I was indeed back again! This time, though, my stay was barely an hour.

I filled up (twice), had a McFlurry so I could get some free wi-fi and bought some beers for later. The reason I filled up twice was due to a problem with the van. When it was hot (pretty much after it had been running for more than an hour) it would make any fuel squirted into it “froth” and spill back out. As such, filling it was a very slow and tedious process. At some times I was lucky to get 1l of diesel per minute into the tank. The first time I stopped, I thought I had filled it but when I got in I found I’d only made it to the 3/4 mark. Hence a second stop to put another 10l in.

Another border crossing

Another border crossing

West it was. I passed the border into the Northern Territory at around 6pm and duly put my watch back half an hour to cater for the time difference. As duck fell, the insects arrived in their droves and made little “tak” noises as they squirted their innards all over my windscreen (which now sported an impressive chip courtesy of a road train and a piece of gravel).

Some of these insects were the size of small birds, although the effect when they hit the windscreen were different. Birds made more of a “whump” sound before whipping over the top of the van and not leaving a mark.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t aim for birds. The opposite, I tried to swerve and slow to avoid them but the smaller ones in particular were just intent (it seemed) on bouncing off the van. Maybe it’s some weird avian version of “dare” but they’d fly into the path of the van, often flutter away and then cut back in again at the last second in a bid to make me duck pointlessly behind the steering wheel as they “whump”-ed harmlessly (for me) overhead.

Oh, I think I got a snake as well. Although it could have been a bit of old tyre rubber. I couldn’t avoid it as there was a car coming in the opposite lane at the same time so there was no swerve space.

Anyway, after driving through the dark for some time I made it off the westbound road and up onto the Stuart Highway which connects Adelaide with Darwin. I’d been up here before, but there was little other choice. I had toyed with the Tableland route, but the distance between roadhouses was too far.

Food, drink, expensive diesel

Food, drink, expensive diesel

I hit the 3-Ways roadhouse for some fuel and a leg-stretch, pushed north a bit and pulled into a picnic/rest area. Amazingly – and wonderfully – a lot of these are clearly marked as allowing 24-hour camping. So if you’re not bothered about showers or electricity then they make for a great place to pitch for the night. Many have toilets and barbequeues as well as seating areas and information posters. The one I stopped at already had about six vehicles parked up, the occupants – I assumed – already in the land of Nod.

After prepping the van so I’d not concuss myself should I roll over in bed, I joined them.

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Mt Isa to Townsville

A bye-bye hug

A bye-bye hug

OK, I don’t have wireless but I’m typing this up as the Inlander service approaches Townsville. The 21-ish hour journey has gone fairly quickly, partly as I didn’t sleep a lot the night before I set off so I snoozed a bit in the early evening.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the train. From the outside it looks like a bit of a banger, but the fittings inside seem almost brand new. The seats are comfy and the dining car area is very pleasant. A few TVs in there are used to show very family-friendly DVDs (a lot of people who use the service are pensioners) and the food from the canteen isn’t too badly overpriced.

Sleeping in the seater cars isn’t the most comfy option as the seats don’t recline at all. However, you get what you pay for and it’s now 9am and I don’t feel too knackered. With luck I should be in a hostel by 11am.

This in itself will be noteworthy. I arrived in Australia almost a month ago to the day and this will be the first night’s accommodation I’ve paid for. It will also be the first of only three if I have my sums right (Cairns tomorrow and again the night before I fly to Japan). So again, a huge shout out to everyone who’s been kind enough to put me up over the last four weeks. If ever the chance arises for me to return the favour, all you have to do is ask!

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Last night in Mt Isa

After quite a chill-out, some relaxing, a lot of doing not very much and more kicking back than I think is normal… it comes time to leave Mt Isa.

Last night we drove up to the city lookout and ate chips. Talia and Ben also took me out to the lake, 15km or so from the centre. It’s nice out there. Very peaceful. There’s good fishing, too, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Aside from the expensive and sporadically-operating “mining experience” tourist trap, I think I’ve done everything here.

I checked my options for getting to Cairns where my $1-a-day campervan awaits. Flying can be written off on the basis that at short notice you’re looking at $500 or so. The bus was my next option. They depart each morning, take 12 hours to Townsville and that leg costs around $150. If you connect with the Cairns bus there, expect to arrive up north at around 1am and parting with an extra $80.

I’ve opted for the train. It takes 21 hours, roughly, but a seat costs $123. Sleepers of various classes are also available, but I’m not fussy. It also saves me money in accommodation and beer as I’ll be in transit overnight. As a bonus, it also means I arrive in Townsville in the mid-morning which gives me more time to explore the place.

If you decide to book a train trip, especially out of Mt Isa, the only place to get tickets from it one of the travel agents. However, the procedure is to ring Queensland Rail direct who then give you a booking number which you then take to the agency who then give you the ticket… and charge you $30 for the privilege.

However, this rigmarol can be avoided by simply paying by credit card over the phone direct to QR. They can email you a ticket or even just give you the reference number and your train seat number. Turn up on the train, quote your reference and name and the guard should have you listed. In the worst case, he can ring and confirm that you’ve paid in full. Quick, easy and around 20% cheaper!

The number (within Oz) for Queensland Rail is 132232. I dealt with Sandy who was incredibly helpful, answering my battery of questions and being a great help.

On Sunday I’ll hitch up to Cairns – it’s only a 4-hour drive so that should be easy enough. Then on Monday, I begin a 3-day drive to Darwin. I have the van for 5 days in total, but I want to get to Darwin while Katie’s off work. I am visiting her, after all!

As mentioned below, my flight to Japan is also booked. I’ve got one flight (JetStar) from Darwin to Cairns which was around $200, and another from there to Tokyo Narita which was $384. Being a budget flight, though, things like food and the entertainment centre are extra. I’m not bothering. $30 for airline grub seemed overpriced and the Air Asia X flight I caught from KL to Perth didn’t have any films that interested me anyway.

Dates: Darwin to Cairns at a stupidly early time on Wednesday 8th, then a lunchtime departure for Tokyo arriving at 6pm local time.

Then the fun begins. I am partly chomping at the bit, partly freaked about dropping myself into the Land of the Rising Sun with very little preparation.

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Up the creek

Cheese!

Cheese!

I was woken at 8:20am by Talia ringing me and telling me to get downstairs. I gathered some basics and met her and Ben in the car park. The plan for the day was to grab a McDonalds, then pack some snacks and drive out of town for some beer, swimming and picnic.

This we did. And, lo, it was fun! For those who say “why are you going to Mount Isa – there’s nothing there”, this is one of the reasons for going. It’s surrounded in all directions by very beautiful, unspoiled nothing.

Lisa chills out

Lisa chills out

Two other people happened to walk past where we were splashing in the entire five hours we were out there. Fish nibbled at our toes, people fell off inflated inner tubes and the sun turned us a lovely shade of crimson. My back’s going to tingle tomorrow once the sunburn sets in but I know I’ll end up with a great tan afterwards.

Sometimes the simple plans are the best, and it was a great afternoon out. The scenery where we were was lovely. Tall, barkless trees with some noisy birds hopping amongst them. I spotted an eagle (or some kind of bird of prey) and a host of dragonflies. The water was clean and cool, but not freezing. And the sky had that beautiful unpolluted blue colour you just don’t seem to find anywhere in England any more.

The water's lovely

The water's lovely

As I type, I’m back in “my” room having had a freshen up. I’ve got an hour to kill before I meet up with everyone for dinner and then we can figure out what to do tomorrow – apart from figure out how the heck I’m going to get to Cairns on the cheap.

Yeah, it was a pricey flight to get out here but to catch up with nice people and see somewhere new… I’m thinking it was worth it.

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Arrival in Mt Isa

I ate well on the flight over. As Qantas isn’t a budget airline, pretty much all flights have a free meal and i was actually given two as they had spare on board. Only a chicken salad sandwich, but they were good enough. I spent the flight reading and doing the crossword in the in-flight magazine.

Talia, her boyfriend and one of their friends met me at the dinky airport in Mount Isa. Like Launceston and Kathmandu, the luggage was just dragged on trollies into a free-for-all area. No fancy-dan conveyor belts here!

Our first stop was, of course, a bar. Tonight was the regular trivia competition which we managed to not come last in. We were joined by a couple of other people, had a laugh then moved on to the Irish bar where we played pool for a dollar a game until they kicked us out at midnight.

The only place left open was “The Club”, actually a strip joint. We had no other choice if we wanted to continue drinking so I ponied up the $15 entry (ow – it’s only $5 if you’re a nurse!) and paid over the odds for bottles of fizzy water.

Now, I’d not booked anywhere to stay. My original plans had been to crash with Talia, but as she got herself all boyfriended-up this became a bit awkward. There is one hostel in town and I’d not been able to sort anything out with it so decided to wing it. And I’m glad I did.

One of Talia’s friends had a key for a spare dorm in the accommodation near where she lives. I’m not saying exactly where in case someone gets in trouble! Essentially, someone moved out recently and there’s nobody to replace them for some time. So – free room!

Happily boozed up, I passed out in my cheap bed.

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