“It’s a long, long road……..”
An 8am departure from Miami, Gold Coast, we pick up the Lotus Caravan at our friends Gilston property and by 9:30am we are heading north up the M1 highway. The timing seems right as the going to work morning mayhem has abated leaving us in a stream of well spaced traffic on the 3 lane highway. South East Queensland is the most heavily populated, and from experience we expect traffic to decrease on the far side of every provincial township we pass through, something to look forward to.
Our planned 2,150klm four night journey north starts with a 6 hour trip due west, climbing the Great Dividing Range, through Toowoomba, across the Darling Downs food bowl and on to Roma for our first overnight. With the Gold Coast still in the rear view mirrors we already look forward to setting camp in Roma as the driving involved in this journey is way outside our norm. We’ll average +500klm per day compared to our average +-200klm, hell, we’re wearied just thinking about it. So you may ask, what’s at the end of this travel rainbow? Well we are meeting up with the junior Richmonds, Tom, Aisling and 10 month old Grandson, Lorcan. Also we will visit old mate Jed who has recently purchased a cattle property on the Atherton Tablelands up from Port Douglas. After the January 2019 floods, volunteering with BlazeAid, we did a few weeks on Jeds cattle station at Richmond (no relation) helping him replace kilometres of lost fencing. Jed’s a character, you had to be to rebuild and stand tall after such devastation, and we look forward to catching up.
With the Great Divide climb and Toowoomba behind us the expected decline in traffic occurs and the drive takes on a very relaxed mode. Rain has recently fallen across the Darling Downs and everything looks fresh and clean. With summer approaching the promise of green feed and good harvests, the small townships seem more alive than for the past several years of drought. Across the plains we come to one of the major towns, Dalby, and just in time for lunch, well, maybe. We want a quick service Hamburger and opt for Hungry Jacks. Parking our rig always requires that we find a backstreet with space. This of course means a short walk back to the main road for our quick serve….. not this time though as there are at least eight cars lined up in the Drive Thru, and inside looks like a school tuck-shop! Ah, yes, it’s school holidays so we retire still hungry and cross the street to a pub.. not open for lunch, really? Next door is a Red Rooster… no onsite dining allowed due to CoVid. We return to the rig and head west…. still hungry!
Chinchilla offers respite, a pub, with lunch menu and cold refreshments. Now with hunger sated we have a casual 190klm run due west to Roma where we book into the Roma Big Rig Caravan Park, and then dinner at the Royal on Ninety Nine, a beautifully revamped pub with excellent food. Tomorrow begins the true journey north!
Australia. Dust, Fire, Flood & Pandemic 