ARC Day 11 - Drive From Charters Towers to Richmond

Today we drove 365kms from Charters Towers to Richmond. The temperature was up to 32° outside according to our car's thermometer. The Flinders Hwy is generally a good road but there are sections like a roller coaster. Several bridges are very narrow. Two cars could pass if careful but trucks must use their CB radios to announce their approach to each bridge, stating their direction of travel. This requirement should apply to large motorhomes and caravans. We monitored channel 40 and slowed down as we approached these bridges.

One of our pitstops was at Prairie. There is a hotel motel rated 4.5 stars on google and nothing else. Out the back of the hotel there is free camping for those visitors who have a couple of drinks or meal in the pub. In the 1870s the small settlement was a major horse change station for Cobb & Co Coaches. 



The Flinders Hwy closely follows the Great Northern Railway which runs for nearly 1,000kms from Townsville to Mount Isa. It is mainly used by the mining industry. Flooding earlier this year damaged the line near Prairie and it was closed for 3 months. We saw teams continuing to work on the line in several areas as part of a flood proofing strategy. There is a twice weekly passenger train trip on the Inlander which takes 21 hours to travel between Mt Isa and Townsville. One day it would be interesting to travel this route by train, but I would need to get off and not travel the whole distance sitting up.

Here are some of Kerry Brisbane's photos of Beccy and Libby from the jam session last night.



I was careless leaving my glasses within reach of Blue so now have teeth marks on both lenses. Somehow he pulled the stainless steel bowl containing their drinking water out of its plastic holder, without spilling the water. It Blue had a brief running session this morning and I put them both on leads for a walk at one of our stops where there were no other vehicles. Otherwise they have been in their crate in the car or being quiet in the van. I will take them out as soon as it cools down or we might not get much sleep tonight!



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