19 - June 2018 - Rubyvale - Injune

I spent three nights at Bedford Weir looking at sunsets like this.

The rest of the time I spent looking at the water and tidying the van and ute. And I also read two more pages! Monumental effort!

After three nights I figured it was time to move on, so I put everything away inside the van, turned off the fridge, turned off the gas, wound up the jockey wheel (forgot to do that at Chinchilla, much to everyone’s amusement!), wound up the awnings, pulled down the pop-top, secured the roof, checked for any loose bits on the van, put the step inside the van, checked the hitch, checked the indicators and tail lights, warmed up the engine, and set off. First south to rejoin the Capricorn Highway just west of Blackwater, then further west to Emerald.

Emerald is clearly thriving as a regional mining centre and transport hub, with at least two new shopping malls that I saw, and several new residential and industrial developments. Also the old shopping centre with what must be the same traditional rural Chinese restaurant where we bought fish and chips in 1973. The Emerald Golden Dragon.

So I stopped for groceries and packaged up the chicken thighs for the freezer - one chopped up thigh per meal - and pressed on. This time to Rubyvale in the Gemfields area about 45km west from Emerald to Anakie, then 15km north through Sapphire to Rubyvale. Megan suggested I call in to see her sister, who owns the caravan park, so I stayed there a couple of nights. 

Rubyvale is a very nicely presented little village 

which has a post office, 

a new pub, 

a new café, and a big new roundabout.

The Biggest Little Roundabout in Rubyvale

I had a shower, the first since Baralaba, had some naughty lunch

And went for a walk, which didn’t go too well because I found the street signs somewhat confusing.

After that mental exercise I required a soothing ale so popped into the pub for a look and a beer. I had to admire the artwork (or else).

after which I retired to my little home

put on some dinner and watched the rugby (union, guys) on the laptop, wherein Otago (rah! rah! rah!) beat Wellington (boo! boo! boo!).

After a very pleasant two nights in Rubyvale I pulled up the anchor and turned south.

It turns out that Bedford Weir and Rubyvale are about the same latitude, with Bedford Weir being fractionally further north, and both located north of the Tropic of Capricorn. So after travelling 3,300kms I had achieved one of my goals (that I made up on the spot once I figured out those latitudes) which was to cross the Tropic. Done.

I very much enjoyed Rubyvale - a much less entropic place (at least on the surface) than some of the other mining areas I passed through. A soft landing, as it were, for city-lubbers like me. With an option to get hands dirty or clean. Next time I will get my hands dirty but not this time around.

So a big thank you to Megan, her sister Vanessa, and Mick, who suggested and made my short stay in Rubyvale a pleasant one.

Although I still didn’t read my book. Too comfortable.

So on the way back towards Emerald I noticed some of the agriculture. Wouldn’t you know it … cotton!

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

Stopped and picked up some more stuff in Emerald including another cheap blanket for the journey south, then filled up the diesel, turned onto the Gregory Highway (part of the Great Inland Way) and started south.

Lots of new developments on the way out of Emerald, quite a lot of roadworks. I sped south at a breathless 80kph.

I had decided to forgo the Springsure and Emerald Shows. My calendar was getting a bit crowded and I need to get back to Victoria around mid-June.

For a long time the landscape was like this

and this

and this …

When I was small I imagined all of Australia was like that, from watching movies like Smiley and The Sundowners (this was before my mate Skippy).

So I continued south …

Until I saw these imposing rocks over on the right …

Minerva Hills National Park

To be fair there were some more imposing rocks earlier on the day’s journey but nowhere to pull over to get a good shot. This bluff is apparently lit up at night. I hope the Springsure Council gets its moneys worth. There is also a driving route up through the Minerva Hills National Park so I will get to that next time around.

So I continued south until I reached Rolleston, by which time I was ready for an invigorating flat white. Duly invigorated and relieved of cash, I rejoined the Great Inland Way (this time on the Carnarvon Highway). Apparently the Carnarvon National Park is worth a visit so I will do that next time around, too.

This time, though, I quite enjoyed the occasional big tree at the side of the road

Then the road became quite windy and steep in parts, with a change in vegetation

And some beautiful trees on a rugged backdrop

There were some big Bottle Trees …

and some little trucks.

It was around this point I had my first driving fright. Many of the roads have been compressed by the heavy traffic - road trains mainly - and in particular where the underlying road foundation is soft or affected by drainage the heavy vehicles cause ruts to form in the tarmac. Well my ute and caravan got “caught” in one of these ruts which decided where the vehicles were going to travel. It was only for a couple of seconds, I was at a comfortable 80-ish kph and the rut was formed by hundreds of road trains so it wasn’t going anywhere stupid, but it was unnerving to not have total control over the ute & van. While I’m getting used to it, I am still very conscious that I’m driving & towing around four tonnes.

Anyway, I survived that momentary discomfort without needing another coffee and eventually made it to Injune where I booked into a spot behind the racecourse.

Before long there was a row of us.

My back door was looking out over more parking area and farmland.

As usual sunset was richly coloured. Here the whole process took about 20 minutes.

And thirteen hours later it all happened again in reverse.