I had help to pack up this morning as Marcel, who collects his Kimberley Karavan soon, was keen to assist in removing the awning and packing it away. Also, he wanted to see how I pack the Karavan up. His brother in law, Brian who has one of the big supposedly off road caravans, watched on in amazement as everything was packed up. As we agreed there is a place for all types of caravans. Brian and his wife actually are living in their caravan almost full time whereas Marcel and his wife, Lynn, are only going to travel like we are. The old saying “Horses for courses” applies here.
My departure was about 0810 and I just cruised along towards Cloncurry which was the first stop of the day. When I arrived in town I finally felt like a cappuccino after a break of some days. I think I am feeling a bit better again.
After the coffee, I went to the John Flynn Place. It highlighted the founding of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). It explained how John Flynn, who was a minister of religion in the Presbyterian Church, made creative use of the emerging technologies of aviation and radio together with the practise of medicine which is the basis of the RFDS. This all occurred around 1928 and really did start a social revolution in the ‘real’ outback.
The first aircraft was a specially modified De Havilland 50. This was supplied by the fledgling airline QANTAS.
The radio communication problem, in the early days, was solved by the brilliant radio engineer Alf Traeger from South Australia. He invented the pedal radio initially with messages being sent by Morse code. Not everyone could send Morse code so he invented, in 1934, an automatic key board, laid out the same as we know now. Each key stroke sent the appropriate Morse code signal enabling almost anyone to send a message. Eventually this was replaced by voice signal which subsequently led to the famous School of the Air.
There have been many wonderful doctors and pilots and flight nurses that have worked for the RFDS across outback Australia. Having seen the remoteness of the north west of this country as well as the centre, I am amazed how such a wonderful man set the ball rolling for a fantastic organisation. Today, the service provides as much assistance to the outback as one major city hospital. Only recently this has been recognised by the Government and funding has been made available as it is to major hospitals. Previously, this remarkable service has been funded through donations and massive fund raising across the country. This still goes on.
There is a wonderful artistic display along with all the items of radios and articles about the development of the RFDS as we know it today.
Then I went to visit the Mary Kathleen Memorial Park and Museum. A magnificent display of rocks and minerals which is ranked among the best in Australia. Also, there is a lot of history about the Mary Kathleen Town and Uranium Mine, which is now closed. There are some amazing photos of the mine and its surrounds. As well, there is quite a bit of information on the early explorers, Burke and Wills. They travelled from south to north and on their return they perish having only missed their other members who stayed back by a few hours. Only one member of the party survived and could tell the story. He was looked after by friendly aboriginal people in the location.
All this history and exhibit is housed in the original Mary Kathleen Town Office which was moved into Cloncurry when the mine closed for ever. The current Tourist information office/kiosk/ souvenir shop was the original Police station first located at Oona then Dobbyn (early20th century mining towns) before its final job as a Police station at Mary Kathleen.
After the visits to the John Flynn Place and the Mary Kathleen Museum, I had a sandwich and iced coffee at the Shell Roadhouse. Following this I had about a 2 hour drive to Kynuna.
We stayed in Kynuna on our way north in late June. It is a very small village with a handful of houses, a fuel station/caravan park, school and the famous Blue Heeler Hotel/Caravan Park.
As I pulled into the parking area before paying for a caravan site, another couple that had parked beside me in Mount Isa, at the Sunset Caravan Park, had just booked in before me. I had dinner with them in the Blue Heeler Hotel. Charlie and Jenny are from Gawler in South Australia. They are retired wine grape growers and are just doing what we are doing. They were great company for the evening.
As I drove today, I thought about how hard and rugged the country, I was leaving behind, is especially when I was thinking about the Kimberley. This was made all the more noticeable as I left Mount Isa with the very rugged and stark hills with little to no vegetation. This continued on to Cloncurry where they have had a little fall of rain in the last few days. The landscape is very bare of grass and trees. This changed a little after I left Cloncurry and moved on towards Kynuna. The countryside has responded to the little bit of rain and does not look anywhere near as harsh. The country is flatter, softer and more rolling land that would respond very quickly to rain, when it does occur. Mainly cattle are visible on the grazing lands. I have not seen any sheep but I am aware they are in the area, somewhere.
Now that I am leaving the real outback, one has to admire the people who live and work in this environment. If you make a mistake in this type of country, it will punish you severely. It is amazing how our early explorers managed to survive in this atmosphere, even though some did not. Many people have died from either not respecting their location or from being so remote from assistance.
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