Day 3
Tuesday 28 August 2012
Day 3 Hungerford - Eulo - Prairie - Toompine - Quilpie 336
km
After an amazing star lit sleep in the open, we traveled on a pretty
good gravel road through the Currawinya State Forest and arrived at
the intersection near Eulo for morning tea and wonderful scones baked
by Ron G and Moira.
Our intention was to fill up with fuel at Eulo, but we were informed
that the station had been burnt down a year ago and still not rebuilt, so that did not work ! No worries, we'll
get fuel at Toompine, other wise we may run out.
Then onto the third turnoff towards Toompine, where we met and took
off again until everyone started running out of fuel. So another fuel up and off again.
Jason's bike stopped soon after, the engine seizing, another consequence
of the dust inhalation yesterday. And not far down the road, Ron's
bike stopped.
Stopping at Toompin for a beer and refueling using the last of our
reserves. There was no fuel at Toompin, so fingers crossed we will
get to Quilpie without having to be carried.
We arrived at Quilpie at around 4pm, fuelled up as we had zero reserves,
and headed for the caravan park. This was so we could have showers
as it had been a warm day, and we didn't want any smells setting in.
The motor camp was full, seemed like half of Brisbane was heading
west for the Birdsville races.
After settling in and making camp, it was down to maintenance.
The fix for Jason's bike was a major motor overhaul, but was successfully
accomplished by a team of mechanics led by Ado.
We found that a bolt had come loose in the magneto area of Ron's
bike. The magneto is the thingy that makes the spark for
the spark plugs - short mechanical lesson for some of the girls.
The resulting metal filings shorted the terminals. It was an easy fix, so all ready to go for the next day.
It was then off to the local pub for dinner and then we attended
the annual Quilpie street party, timed to coincide with the Birdsville
races. About five or six hundred were there and the town put on a
good do, and some of the shops stayed open. Singing, wool bale rolling,
table top horse racing, line dancing and more typical outback country
activities were to be seen.
We all sat down for the evening, drinking and laughing and watching
activities too strenuous for us, like the line dancing.
The master of ceremonies was an outback lad, and his language reflected
his heritage, not that it matter to us or most attending. He did a good job of keeping the show going and
probably got roped into the job, as happens in the outback - everyone has to pull their weight there.
Coming back to the camp we were pretty happy and we woke up the camp
with our last bit of exuberance for the day.
Most of us slept out in the open hoping to catch some falling star
dust, but a few opted to pitch their swags under the awning of Ron
G and Moira's bus Betty.
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