The next few days we drive north west. The first day we’re both a little mouse-tired, but okay. The corona virus situation in Brisbane is developing and we really don’t want to get locked out of the NT, so we move a little faster than planned.

So far the drive has been pretty steady landscape, unremarkable but not unpleasant. Heading out of Emerald on our way to Longreach we start to encounter mountain passes, rugged terrain and rocky outcrops. It’s a happy surprise which makes the driving more interesting. We stop at the Tree of Knowledge in Barcaldine (where the Labor Party was formed).

We have a night in Longreach. In the morning we go to the Qantas Museum (obviously!)

Winton is next. We go to the Dinosaur Museum, which is really impressive. It was particularly cool to see the fossils being uncovered by volunteers using tiny die grinders – it seemed almost meditative. The Museum’s plans for expansion in the next five years are quite impressive, we may have to come back when it is complete.

Now is the first real compromise of the trip, do we head to the border early or see the dinosaur stampede? Having seen a good example of dinosaur track at the Museum we decide to cut our time in Queensland short.

We stay one night in Mt Isa before we head to the border…

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It is great to be on the road! Donna sits well on the road and we listen to an audio book as we drive (Great Expectations). Our journey begins with a air of calm freedom.

We set-up camp for the first night. Camp is on top of a hill with views all around: hill and winding roads. Green trees and golden light.

Like our America road-trip we’ll be camping and hiking for most of the trip. In America we found it best to do hardest hike(s) first, followed by a good sleep and the shorter walks the next day. So we put on our boots (I can’t remember when I last wore them!) and we set off for the gorge.

It was a misty morning. Between lush bush I could see glimpses of the high rocky cliffs, made pale by the fog. As the sunlight warmed the rock walls to orange the mist lifted and the bush thinned out – high above us, now all around, we were walking into the embrace of the gorge.

Initially on sand, the walkway became rocky, we were met with river crossings and then the path was just to follow the river. The main track was to a place called Big Bend, but there are many short offshoots on the way.

At The Art Gallery we saw amazing rock art. Only a narrow ribbon of light could penetrate Boowinda Gorge and the effect was quite mesmerising.

In all we walked 25km, quite exhausted we collapsed for sleep at camp. It wasn’t meant to be…

Someone (not me) left some food in their pack and brought the pack into our tent. And so came some mice. Only two managed to chew through some mesh and get inside. And only one taste-tested Anna’s index finger – but that was enough! Eventually with everything removed from the tent except me and the mice I chased, flicked and kicked until our night friends had left. Our restful night didn’t eventuate.

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We spent two and a half weeks in Goondiwindi. The sense of relief for getting into Queensland brought some calm into our life, although we still limited our time out of the motel room (we were still working after all!)

It was a good time to tie up all the things I couldn’t focus on while still at work. And I felt more calm when I found out that Goondiwindi was the most vaccinated town in Australia while we were there – good on them!

Once we were settled we found an airbnb instead of the motel and started to walk along the river in the afternoons (or morning if we were rugged up for the cold). We explored the local takeaways, a Chinese restaurant and a milk bar became our favourites. At night I prepped the car further (improving the roof rack set-up, adding a wind fairing and a small light bar).

Eventually the border was closed, and the nearest bridge barricaded to all traffic. By then we were accustomed to the town and very glad to be there. On our walks it was odd to look over the river into forbidden NSW.

We finished work on Friday the 30th. The car was all packed so that on Saturday we could leave early to start our trip in earnest!

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