MOSS VALE TO COOMALIE
With winter’s descent into the Southern Highlands, we are preparing to depart on 16 June 2021, in our Bellagio Living Edge caravan, towed by Linus, the Nissan Patrol. The first part of our itinerary takes us north up the East Coast of Australia, via Brisbane, where we will pause for a few days to catch up with our grandson, Drew. Along the way we will also catch up with some of my ‘Aldridge’ cousins near The Goldcoast; as well as our friends, Narrelle & Pete at Newee Creek and Bruce & Judi at Banora Point.
After we leave Brisbane our plan is to continue north to Gladstone to visit more family we haven’t seen for AGES:
Grandson Max, his partner Natalie and our great grandson, Parker, who turned 4 in March this year; and Max’s sister, our grandaughter, Jessica, who also lives in Gladstone with her partner, Zac and our new great grandaughter, little Ayla Jade, who was born on Valentine’s day this year.
We are looking forward to catching up with them all again and spending time with little Ayla for the first time.
Leaving Gladstone, we will take the Bruce Highway up to Rockhampton then turn west onto the Capricorn Highway to Longreach, home of the Stockmen’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Museum. From Longreach we will amble north west up the Landsborough Highway via Winton to McKinlay where the Walkabout Creek Hotel of Crocodile Dundee fame will be a must stop for a drink and maybe an overnight camp. In Cloncurry we will restock the pantry then follow the Barkly Highway to the Qld-NT Border. We are planning to camp for a few nights at the border near Camooweal. Last time we were there we found a great free camping spot beside Lake Francis on the Georgina River, where the Brolgas and other resident birds kept us entertained.
Leaving Camooweal, we will follow the Barkly Highway to the Three Ways Junction on the Stuart Highway, then turn north. We never drive past the turn off to the quaint old Daly Water’s Pub without dropping anchor in their camping ground for a night or two. There is always a fabulous Beef and Barra feast to be enjoyed along with great local entertainment.
Early Qantas flights to Singapore once landed here to refuel. The original Qantas hangar is still standing, however commercial flights no longer use the airstrip.
One of my main objectives for this trip is to contruct a small memorial cairn beside the Stuart Highway near Katherine, where my darling son, Tony was killed back on 5 November, 2018. I have some rocks, from Tony’s Block south of Canberra, which we will use to construct the cairn.
Once the cairn is completed we plan to reach Coomalie Creek in early August, in time to catch up with a group of collectors of WWII Vehicles, who will be travelling from Alice Springs to Darwin in their old machines. They plan to camp a night on Coomalie before continuing on to Darwin.
https://www.backtothetrack2021.com
We are looking forward to catching up with our friends, Jim and Denise (aka ‘The Wandering Wrighties’), who are living at Coomalie and Richard, who owns the property. Below is a link to a video that features Richard (and includes Denise) describing the history, and in particular the WWII history of Coomalie. It can take a little while to commence.
Below is a link to a recent ABC Back Roads episode in which Heather Ewart visited Coomalie briefly. The link will go to Series 7 and hyou need to click on Episode 11 titled Adelaide River, NT. Our friends Richard and Denise are featured. The Coomalie visit starts at 15 minutes 11 seconds into the Video.
https://iview.abc.net.au/video/RF2027V011S00
ON THE WAY HOME
We may continue north to Darwin, before we turn south and travel down the Stuart Highway towards Adelaide via Alice Springs and Coober Pedy. The Yorke Peninsular is still on our ‘to explore’ list. Depending on how we are travelling by then we may spend a week or so ambling around the peninsular before eventually returning home via Broken Hill, Cobar and Dubbo to late spring in the Highlands. Just in time for the Vietnam Veteran’s Headquarters 1ATF Reunion in Canberra! Life on the road is good.
ON THE ROAD 
Have Fun !
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