Monday 23rd May
Today we intended to travel from WINTON to MACKINLAY. On the way we had intended to stop at the Combo waterhole, which is the Billabong thought to have given Banjo Patterson the inspiration to write the song Waltzing Matilda, but that was not to be.
We knew that access to the waterhole was down an 8km dirt road not suitable for caravans, and had planned to leave the van at a parking area by the main road. When we got to the spot where the access road left the main road, there was nowhere to even pull off the road, let alone park the van, so we flagged it and carried on towards MCKINLAY and the home of the ‘Walkabout Creek Hotel’, from the film Crocodile Dundee.
As we travelled from WINTON towards MCKINLAY, we were getting passed by lots of cars, all with sign writing and decorations on them. They were obviously part of a Fun Car Rally of some sort. When we got to the Walkabout Creek Hotel, quite a few of these cars were pulled up there. We got chatting to some of the crews and found out they were doing a Fund Raiser for Cancer, travelling from Brisbane to Darwin. They called it the ‘Shitbox Rally’. You can find out more by googling www.shitboxrally.com.au . They had 110 cars registered for the rally, and had so far raised over $600,000.
To enter the Rally you first of all had to buy a car worth not more than $1000, hence the term ‘shitbox’, and then raise $4000. As you will see by their website they were driving these cars over some pretty rough tracks as part of their route. Just goes to show you don’t need a flash car to enjoy the outback.
They were a great bunch of mostly young people having a great time and raising money for a really good cause. We spoke to the organiser and he said he was motivated to organise the rally after losing both his parents in one year to Cancer. This was the second year he had run it, and planned to have many more. It was really great to see so many young people doing something positive.
Unfortunately, having so many of them stopping at the pub meant it was a bit crowded and noisy. Never mind we still managed to have a beer at the bar and get some photographs of this famous Australian Icon. We didn’t see Paul Hogan there, but with so many people milling about, we may have missed him!!!.
Having not stopped at the Combo Waterhole, we were now running ahead of schedule, so instead of stopping at MCKINLAY for the night as planned, we decided to push on to CLONCURRY. We arrived here at about 3.30pm, and after setting up camp, had a drive around town. Nothing much to see except lots of road trains, some with four trailers in tow.
Tonight we had a real Aussie outback meal; Damper with jam and golden syrup, followed by a cup of tea. This was the best damper Christel had ever cooked. Absolutely yummy. I’m thinking of hiring her out to the National Australian Tourism Board so she can teach Aussies how to REALLY cook damper.
From here to MOUNT ISA is only 120 odd km, so it’ll be a cruisy day tomorrow.
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