Up with the sun this morning at Julia Creek, planning an early departure to avoid the worst of the heat and the easterly winds as they pick up during the day.
Stopped at a roadside RA for morning tea and met a young couple from Richmond who had come out to clean the toilets and surrounds. Had a chat about important issues like road and weather conditions, types of vehicles for towing, brands of tyres to use and the tales of the influx of huge numbers of campers that arrive during the peak season of May through August.
The RV free camping area at Richmond consists of a gravelly paddock with no outlook what-so-ever but it does have a 'dump point' and is only one block north of the main street shopping area. An easy distance to walk in more normal temperatures.
It is too hot to get out with the camera on this visit. You can check back at this previous post for photos of Richmond.
http://avantouring.blogspot.com.au/2009/11/richmond-thurs-5th-and-fri-6th-nov.html
Showing posts with label Julia Creek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julia Creek. Show all posts
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Julia Creek
After a fun stay with family in Mount Isa the time had come to say goodbye and leave this Outback City.
Have you heard of the statement 'According to Murphy's Law'? Well, it applied to us at this time. Having driven from Longreach to Cloncurry into W/NW 'head winds' on the way out to 'The Isa', we now face 'head winds' on the way out of 'The Isa'. From Cloncurry to Julia Creek we were punching E/NE winds gusting to 25 km/h. The wind was only one factor against us, the outside temperature was hovering between 43 C and 44 C as well.
I didn't like to push the car this hard, towing the van, so I slowed down our speed to relieve the stress on the vehicle. We were only 20 km from Julia Creek when the engine temp gauge shot up and the Auto Transmission Temp Warning Light came on, the first time I've ever seen it glowing it's red presence. We pulled off the highway and left the engine idling for about 8 minutes. All temperatures 'normalised' and we drove into our free camp 1.2 km east of Julia Creek. Very relieved to arrive without damage to us or the vehicle. The XXXX Bitter tasted wonderfully refreshing.
Have you heard of the statement 'According to Murphy's Law'? Well, it applied to us at this time. Having driven from Longreach to Cloncurry into W/NW 'head winds' on the way out to 'The Isa', we now face 'head winds' on the way out of 'The Isa'. From Cloncurry to Julia Creek we were punching E/NE winds gusting to 25 km/h. The wind was only one factor against us, the outside temperature was hovering between 43 C and 44 C as well.
I didn't like to push the car this hard, towing the van, so I slowed down our speed to relieve the stress on the vehicle. We were only 20 km from Julia Creek when the engine temp gauge shot up and the Auto Transmission Temp Warning Light came on, the first time I've ever seen it glowing it's red presence. We pulled off the highway and left the engine idling for about 8 minutes. All temperatures 'normalised' and we drove into our free camp 1.2 km east of Julia Creek. Very relieved to arrive without damage to us or the vehicle. The XXXX Bitter tasted wonderfully refreshing.
Julia Creek, a free camp and picnic area 1.2 km east of the Town of Julia Creek. Picnic tables and wood fired BBQ's aplenty. Nature Trail to walk, if you are inclined. We walked around to the other side of the creek and saw the 'slither' marks of a very large snake. We were very happy to not make acquaintances with it.
Our camp from a different aspect.
Jude resting in the shade of the van. Cattle flies were a bit of a nuisance, Jude donned a fly net but that makes drinking your XXXX Bitter too difficult.
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