18th September 2008

On the move again today. Before I did move, I felt like a bike ride so I rode just over 30 kms around Longreach. Part of my ride took me into the parking area of the QANTAS Founders museum that we visited when we were going north at the end of June. I did go out a little on several roads just to see what was a little further out on those roads. Not much!! However, there are some really nice homes scattered around the town.

I showered and had a coffee when I returned. Then I packed up the Karavan ready to go. After this I went into the CBD of Longreach and had a coffee at the Hideaway Cafe. It was not a bad cappuccino at all.

Eventually, I made my way from Longreach to Ilfracombe. Right beside the Highway is a marvellous display of old machinery that was used on various stations and councils in the surrounding area. There was even a tank that had been turned into a light bull dozer. Various tractors, road graders and a variety of trucks. There were numerous items of machinery that carried out specific jobs on the stations such as delvers to clean out artesian bore drains, several “Cherry” post hole diggers, as well as sundry other either manufactured or homemade items.

From there, I drove to Barcaldine where I had some lunch. Then I set off for my final destination for the day, Alpha.

I arrived at the Alpha Hotel /Motel and found another friend from the past, Kelly Naidoo. Kelly was originally a sales representative for an agricultural seed company based in Gunnedah. He and his wife and 4 sons had just migrated from South Africa in 1985. As their sons were a similar age as our sons, we made them feel welcome by having them to our home.

We recounted quite a few stories from the past and caught up on what our sons are doing. Kelly and his wife, Evanee, have moved around a fair bit since the Gunnedah days being involved in Banana farming, pest control and now hotel owning. They have been involved with hotels in a few towns such as McKay, Dalby and now Alpha. The current location is set to grow massively as there are large coal deposits quite close. There are numerous exploration personnel that are staying in the Hotel ensuring a busy time for the currently small staff. The motel is another part that is busy and all of this makes for a busy time in the Bar.

At the moment, Kelly is the chef and does a wonderful job. He is helped by an Israeli backpacker and her friend mainly works in the bar. The other vital member is Maurice who is a working partner with Kelly have the major share. Kelly’s son Cal is often around to lend a hand as are several others.

So I had dinner as a guest of Kelly and that included many drinks and of course a very nice bottle of Shiraz from the Granite Belt in southern Queensland. So ended another interesting day not only catching up with Kelly but also meeting a lot of his customers and hearing their stories. Quite a few are involved with mining and come from across the world.