Ian and Jenny met Andrew on Portrush Road and we headed off to Broken Hill to meet Gary, Jack, Ashley, Bruce and Pat. We had a leisurely trip stopping at the Gas Light café at Burra for a

We had a leisurely look around Broken Hill and after viewing the city from the slag heap and a cup of coffee we all headed off to Tilpa Weir through Wilcannia. About 6km east of Wilcannia we turned north along the Darling River and followed the river on a good dirt road to the Tilpa Hotel. We recharged our batteries at the hotel and Ashley donated $2.00 to the Flying Doctor enabling him to write his name on wall. Andrew erected his Taj Ma Hal for the first time.

We rose early in the freezing cold to the sound of the sheep at the weir drinking with the goats and after a leisurely breakfast set off heading north east on the dirt track along the eastern side of the Darling River to Bourke. At Bourke we all refueled and visited the Bourke Wharf. Town residents were "gob smacked" to see a Nissan with a bed strapped to the roof of the car. After the hearty lunch at the Bourke Bakery we headed north along the bitumen to Wyandra. Immediately north of Bourke we struck a vast area planted to citrus and signs pointing to cotton farms. No wonder SA is short on water as much of it is used on irrigation around Bourke. It was a good road, littered with road-kill, and we made good time to the NSW, QLD Border. At the border town of Barringun we ventured into a quaint hotel which had been open since the late 1870’s enabling us to quench our thirst as it was right on afternoon tea time. Bruce had corresponded with the postmaster at Wyandra and he sent us to the "Beach" situated close to the town on the Warrego River. It was a great camping spot except for the Noogoora Burr. Jenny was surprised by a spider which turned to be Gary’s plastic spider.

Prior to leaving Wyandra we called into the Post Office and said thank you for directions to one of the best camp grounds you could wish for. As it was Ian’s birthday the Post Master set the day by giving chocolates to the birthday boy after a prompt from Gary. A good day’s travelling north; with a stop at a small lake on the south side of Tambo for lunch, a very pretty spot.

The champagne corks popped when we reached our stop for the night with a great tea over the road from the caravan park with the wine flowing. The waitress called every one "DARLS" and that was our initiation into the Queensland lingo. The staff were hassled getting orders wrong with the restaurant only a quarter full and when Jack suggested that they should consider changing their butcher as his meat was very tough the air became many degrees frostier. We ended around the campfire for birthday raspberry pavlova and more drinks.

Travelling north we arrived at Porcupine National Park where we had pre booked sites at the pyramid camping ground. One of the group kept asking whether we were half way there yet. On reaching Aramac our original plans had been dashed as the Aramac to Hughenden road was closed due to rain, so we met the Hughenden to Charters Towers road at Torrens Creek where we had lunch. We then headed west to Hughenden with its association with Dinosaurs and the recognition of wind power with monuments to the windmill. On arrival at Porcupine we found our camp sites muddled. Ian and Gary found two tent sites close together and backed their trailers up on them. Andrew found his obligatory park table with benches and Bruce grabbed the last area suitable for his trailer. It was a great gorge and prior to tea we all did a short walk to see the sunset over the gorge and the reflection in the pools at the bottom.

After breakfast and before the sun rose too high in the sky Gary, Ashley, Jenny, Pat and Bruce hiked to the bottom of the Gorge. It was a very steep descent of one and a half kilometers. They had great views of the pyramid and Gary played his usual jokes on the others in the walking party. Ian and Andrew walked around the rim whilst Jack minded the camp. Ian and Andrew, after their brisk walk around the rim had a restful time back at camp collapsing Jenny’s camp chair with ease. The walking party returned to camp prior to lunch very hot and bothered, Pat and Jen in particular were affected by the heat so they all drank plenty of water to revive. The walk back up the gorge was particularly taxing. Everyone had a lazy afternoon around the camp and a communal tea.

We packed up reasonably early for the drive to Undara Lava Tubes National Park. It was an interesting drive with many different and changing road surfaces. It was like a lottery to what road surface we would encounter next including cattle and the native fauna. We arrived at a very busy Undara camp ground mid afternoon and decided early to book for a visit to the Lava Tubes for the next day. We then set up camp and some wandered around the camp to meet others with similar campers and swap notes whilst others rested. Every thing at the Lava Tubes was very expensive.

The locals (Kookaburras) woke us up early so we were ready to beherded into a bus at 10.30 am as we headed for the Lava Tubes. The Lava tubes are now a national park but earlier a cattle station. The owners knew that the tubes existed but did nothing until the cattle market crashed. It was then that the tourist potential was recognized. In the early days of tourism about 4,000 people visited the area and after the acquisition and confirmation of a National Park and the input of public money to improve the infrastructure 43,000 people now visit the area annually. It was interesting to visit the area with its dry tropical forest and lava tubes. The afternoon was spent washing clothes, swimming in the resort pool while the wood collection for the evening camp oven was left to Ian and Bruce. The camp oven was loin of pork, beef, onions, potatoes, carrots and peas, followed by fresh fruit salad and icecream. A great evening enjoyed by all.

We rose early and hit the road headed for Cairns. On the whole it was a good road changing from a wide 2 lane road to a very narrow one lane, pot holey, bitumen one. Andrew, leading the group notified us by radio that a cow had been recently hit and was on the side of the road. To our astonishment at the next town, Innot Hot Springs, the floodway was blocked by a vehicle.

It was thought the bridge was unsafe. However it was "the owner" of the beast who blocked the road way to stop the vehicle that had hit his beast from leaving the scene. All present came to the distinct

conclusion that he was mad!! We conquered the Great Dividing Range and drove down into the lush tropical areas of North Queensland. The dry vegetation of mainly Mitchell grass changed to large eucalypts, to tropical vegetation, sugar cane fields and deep alluvial soils. It was a very pleasant surprise when we filled our tanks at Atherton for $1.70 per litre after paying up to a $1.90+ for most of the way. After filling up we drove around the town finishing up at Subway and Gloria Jeans for a tummy fill up. Arriving at the Cairns caravan park we once again encountered the

Queensland saying of "DARLS". The lass at the reception desk called everyone "DARLS". After we settled in, Ian and Jenny found their friends Peter and Shirley and introduced them to the group.

We all went up on the train to Karanda - an exciting trip with 15 tunnels and a number of bridges to encounter with the train stopping so all passengers could take pictures of the Barron Falls, On arriving at Karanda every one went their own way. Many of the shops reminded us of visiting Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. There were many attractions and Ian and Jen visited the butterfly enclosure and learnt about their life cycle and habits of the different species they had in the enclosure. We returned via the Sky Tube. The view from above was awe inspiring

flitting above the rain forest and admiring the palms, orchids and many of the large tropical trees. Once back at Cairns everyone readied for the trip north Andrew collared the last ticket for the Asian affair dinner at the caravan park and for his $7.50 believed he received $6.80 in fair value for money.

A day of doing your own thing, meeting for lunch, and making sure that we understood the alcohol laws for the different aboriginal communities we were going through.

The day started with last minute purchases of pork and ice cream before we met in the shopping centre car park and headed north. In convoy we travelled to the exclusive town of Port Douglas where we had the best coffee we had tasted all trip. After wandering around the town in single file we went out to the Mossman Gorge with all the other residents of North Queensland. Trying to find a park was impossible so we continued our journey north. Lunch at a very pretty spot on the Daintree river after we once again put our lives in the hand of Andrew’s trusty Tom Tom and successfully found the punt to cross the Daintree River. The road narrowed becoming very windy in places and it was reassuring having a lead vehicle to inform the back markers of oncoming cars and trucks. Over the Daintree we made a detour out to Cape Kimberley. We walked through a small stretch of rain forest to a great beach and a secluded camping ground at the Koala Resort. Heading back to the main road we made our way to the Noah Beach Camping Ground after seeing the view from the magnificent Bailey Point lookout. At Noah Beach all the dramas began for the day. We had been allocated 2 sites for 5 vehicles and 4 camper trailers. A few sites had the capacity for camper vans and the remainder were only suitable for tents. We

should have been allocated 4 sites and Andrew could have doubled up with the Tarj on one of the larger sites. To put more salt into the wound one of our sites had been taken by some one self registering. The easiest way to overcome the problem was for Ian to travel further north and book in at the Cape Trib Campground. Both locations had their adventures with Noah Beach having the resident weirdo who sidled up to Gary with out saying a word as he was escorting  Ashley to the toilet block. From then on the group was very watchful. The Cape Trib camp ground was not with out its experiences when a group of drunken German tourists partied until four in the morning. Jen had great delight in banging on the van on our way out waking them.