RECENT outback wanderers, Will and Delma Milligan are home and have brought with them an enthusiasm to encourage everyone to ‘get out there and see Australia’.
The last leg of their journey started in Julia Creek.
There they parked on the banks of a water hole to enjoy some fishing, push bike riding and taking to the streets to explore the town.
Next stop was Richmond before moving on to Charters Towers where they witnessed cattle sales in action.
“Wow, what a sight to see perfectly healthy cattle and road trains lined up for transportation, this was quite an experience.”
At Belyando Crossing Roadhouse they found a roadhouse with a vacant mobile camp capable of housing 170 workers and their support staff like cooks and cleaners.
“It had been used to house workers developing a road overpass bridge for off-road mine vehicles.
“Obviously a huge mining investment to sustain this country’s flourishing coal industry, ironicly on this day it was reported that the coal industry has developed a method to burn coal without any greenhouse emissions, to secure the coal industry for at least the next 50 years, great news.”
Moving on to their next destination they stayed at Tereasa Creek Dam outside Claremont, Rubyvale and Sapphire where Will said he saw “how the other half live”.
“There were lots to see and explore and you can even try your luck in finding a fortune,” he said.
“Springsure and Wondai were the next two stops, when touring a lot of these western towns, I have regularly asked myself, why would the early settlers have built a town here?
“The answer is of course because of a permanent water hole.
“On the last five nights of our adventure, I decided to splurge on water front parking at the Torquay Caravan Park.
“Amazingly, this park was full with about 70 percent of Victorian car registrations, 20 percent New South Wales car registrations and 10 percent a mix of the other States.”
On their way home, they stopped at Hervey Bay to get some repairs made to the caravan.
“Caravan repairers were booked out till mid October and it was impossible to secure a mobile repairer,” Will said.
“My advice if you are handy with tools, set yourself up in the caravan repair industry as your market,” he quipped.
“Home sweet home. The house sitter had done a great job, the dog was glad to see us, the chooks were off laying, and then we were busy attending those specialist appointments and preparing for school holiday ‘grandkid sitting duties’, vehicle services and planning for the next adventure.”
