Isisford, Longreach, Winton and The Mistake Creek.

 Isisford - Winton 

Stopped at Longreach just for a walk around. Sunday most everything closed. 

Arrived at Winton for a quick walk of the main and noted how much it's changed since my last visit about 13 years ago. Lots of growth and improvements even looking prosperous. Drove south a few kms to Mistake Creek. Nice, no mistake here a good spot for the night. All the roads so far have been sealed and in good condition, even if recently patched.

Some moments I'm wondering what I'm doing, so far from home. Then the next I'm set up, beside a creek, like I am tonight, and think how lucky I am to be able to do this.

Very lush - green everywhere.

Blackall, Isisford and The Barcoo.

 Blackall - Isisford

Good road, easy run for today.

Isisford is a nice spot, very quiet, as it's not on the way to anywhere really. Small  with just one surviving pub and a general store that keeps bank hours. Fuel price about the same as Longreach. The town has a great free camp down by the Barcoo River and it's very popular with caravaners. About 50% have Vic rego plates. 

Second night with no power, morning expected to be 3deg. Brrr.

Some never forgive!

The Barcoo.

Welcome

Nice Pub but closed.

Morven Charleville Augathella Blackall

 Morven - Blackall

Stopped in at Charleville and the IGA, stocked up. Turned north on to Augathella. Realised I had been there before and didn't like it then either. Stopped for lunch road side rest ~50km north near Nive. Checked a few other rest stops but finally continued on to Blackall. Free hot shower was the incentive and stopped in the free camp in town. First night without power, expecting ~5deg in the morning. See how we go. 

Silo art.

Windmill goes round and round
legs go up and down
wheels go round and round, nice.

Chinchilla Miles Muckadilla Mungallala Wallumbilla Morven.

Chinchilla, Muckadilla, Mungallala, Wallumbilla all good Australian names.

Google says via Gympie, VW says via Caloundra. Kms and travel times similar so I prefer to travel the Wide Bay and Bunya Hwys so north rather than south on the M1. Will get plenty of the Warrego later. 

Stopped in at Chinchilla Lake free camp but was too busy. Fuel at Miles is cheaper than on the coast, go figure. Drove on to Wallumbilla a fav with hot showers and the power free. Made a donation.

Checking road conditions online; closed, 4x4 only or open with caution. Still fluid exactly where I will be going, but heading west again.

Next morning managed to snap some street art on the approach to Roma then cruised right on through. Stopped outside the Mucka Pub (Muckadilla) for smoko. Then another health stop and photo at Mungallala. Made me think: what do the locals shorten it to? Lala.

On to Morven. A counter lunch at the new pub, mistake. Stopped at the Recreation Reserve for the night. Power with donation, nice to be warm. Not a mistake.

Always wondered what to do with the old wire.

Always a fav use of old horseshoes.

I love street art!

Lala.

Maroochydore surf and sand.

 Cotton Tree - tour north

Building a plan. Cranking up the anticipation. Head west get more central then north. Road restrictions in far west Qld. Resent floods? Need to keep checking road status.

On the morning I'm leaving the dredge has started replenishing the sand on the beach in front of the surf clubs again. Should be finished in time for summer, nice.

Pumping sand from the river to the beach.

Cover up the coffee rock again...

Miles BA.

 Of late I've helped out at a BlazeAid camp at Miles. 

Quick facts:

Miles is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Miles had a population of 1,746 people. (Wikipedia)

The work was rebuilding fences after a significant bush fire. As always dirty work. Lots of chainsaw work. But the side hustle for fires is the amount of timber requiring removal from the fence line.  Lots of fire wood for our nightly camp fire. 

And the boys got to play...

A chimney - hollow log

A candle - chainsaw prep

Yep, yet another fence photo.

Nabiac to Maroochydore.

I've been remiss and misleading with my posts, so a not so quick update on the bits left out of the story so far. Maybe I've finally come to terms with it all. Between October and now this is what else has happened.

September 2022 ended with me returning to Cotton Tree for a few weeks to organize the temporary garaging of the MH at Adelong in NSW. To do this it required using the VW and a co-driver. So all set and off we go in the two vehicles.

An easy tour down the M1 till the town of Nabiac and exiting via the slip road for fuel. A loud clatter from the engine bay suggested all was not well. Luckily we cruised to a stop within a few hundred yards and were able to park up till assistance arrived, three days later, in the form of a low-loader. The MH is returned to Maroochydore. So yep I have been trying to forget the experience ever since.

Turns out not quite so bad as the MH's insurance company came to the party, after their assessor's inspection, agreeing the damage was covered under the policy. Mind you a saga was to unfold in the form of getting a replacement engine.

First a quote from the repairer. This required finding an engine supplier and working out all the other bits needed and summitting the quote. The assessor assesses and advises the insurer. The insurer commits to pay for the repairs. Job done, Nup!

The next saga. The engine supplier has quoted for a engine they do not have in stock. Weeks pass with very little feed back from them. They are holding a significant amount of the repairers money, in the form of full payment, for the yet to appear engine.

But wait there's more - yet another saga. The engine is finally shipped coming from South Australia but the courier has failed to secure the load and the engine has rolled over during transport. The damage is significant and the engine has to be returned.

It's now May so from the outset it's been 6 months. In the meantime the repairer has the MH up on jacks and the old engine ready to be swapped out. The MH is waiting, taking up valuable space in the workshop, awaiting someone else's convenience.

All Type Diesel Service is my repairer and I highly recommend them. They are a resourceful, competent and professional company in Maroochydore.

MH loaded in Nabiac.

p.s. So for the last 6 months, when touring, it's been in the VW Multivan.