Re: Cooktown here I come!

Bruce I enjoyed reading your blog and looking at your photos. Looks like you have visited some very interesting places. I would love to have seen the Miner's cottage, it looked like a treasure trove inside

Re: Cooktown here I come!

I am leaving Cooktown today. I want to visit Atherton where it was raining on my way up.

Re: Cooktown here I come!

This is fabulous! You know how we Americans are going gaga about kangaroos !

Queensland is on my shortlist, but I will never have the privilege of seeing it the way you can as a resident, and it seems you are doing it in fine style.

Thoroughly enjoying the blog - I even have it bookmarked

How is the camper and all the technology holding up?

Happy trails!

Re: Cooktown here I come!

The technology is holding up fine and I rarely take the camper on dirt roads though it does get bounced about a lot especially on the single lane roads (though they are getting fewer) however after the wet the roads can be a bit rough.

I carry a Telstra dongle as well as my own phone because they are with different companies. Telstra is our main, and most expensive, Telecoms company (used to be government owned) and have a universal service obligation so they are often the only service provider in remote or small towns.

When I first came to Australia over 50 yeas ago you knew when you were near a town because the bitumen would start (ie the dirt ended) nowadays you know when you are near a town because the phone springs back into life.

I don't know if you call paved roads bitumen maybe tarmac?

Re: Cooktown here I come!

We just call the paved roads asphalt, Bruce.

What's the latest?

Re: Cooktown here I come!

I crossed back into NSW today and am at Lightning Ridge which is an opal mining town.





Here's a Lightning Ridge road.



I hope to visit my daughter and SIL in Canberra on Friday because they fly to Europe for a couple of months next week. My youngest son is in the UK at the moment and will meet them in Italy. I will go home on the Saturday

My middle son is at sea and goes to Hawaii soon when his ship (HMAS Success) takes part in exercises with the US Navy. He has been away for about three months (might be only two months) so far and won't be home until August.

Re: Cooktown here I come!

Great photos and more interesting stops. Did you try your hand at searching for opals? Lush looking campground. Temperatures comfortable?

I expect you will need a car wash after a few hundred miles on those iron oxide dirt roads. Are they well-graded?

Your kids seem to be thriving and having as much fun as you are with their travels and work. I happen to be traveling to Hawai'i next week for some time, but will primarily be on the Big Island and Maui. He will undoubtedly see the vog being expelled by Kilauea.

I believe your son will be entering Pearl Harbor on O'ahu, right past my old house that backed up to the western lock. It was damaged in the Pearl Harbor attack and still bears some of the shrapnel in the stucco.



Happy travels to Canberra.

Re: Cooktown here I come!

Here are some statistics for the trip:

Total Distance: 7905 Km (4911 miles)
Total Fuel: 824 Litres (181 Gallons or 217 US Gallons)
Length of Trip: 26 Days
Total Fuel Cost: $1205 (£600)
Average Fuel Price: $1.46/L (73p/L)
Total Accommodation Cost: $723 (£262)
Average Park Cost: $28.96 (£15)