We set off from Karumba at our usual late hour. Travellers generally head off before 8:00 am to get plenty of space between them and the town before it’s morning tea time. 

We tend to get our money’s worth, not heading off until mandatory check out time (10:00am), even after 10.00am a couple of times. 

It’s not really a problem. We have no time schedule, or itinerary to keep to but we don’t tend to get much driving done between us and the next town before someone needs a drink (Caleb), toilet (me) or to chat on the phone (Ray).  

We headed down from Karumba (the end of the road) having to travel many kilometres that we had already done on our way here. 

Our new destination (tomorrow) is Mount Isa, the inland mining capital of Queensland. It’s a 2 day trek so tonight we stopped at 3 Rivers Roadside stop which is a FREE camp by the side of the road.

There is absolutely NO river in sight, let alone 3 of them but that’s OK because then I would have to be concerned about crocodiles venturing to our camp. Crocs have been found in pre-school sandpits, people’s backyards and in the middle of main streets in outback towns. I’m sure they wouldn’t be too picky about waiting outside our caravan door. 

After a long day driving we pulled over and set up a basic camp. When FREE camping, it is important to leave all valuables inside as much as you can because they easily go missing in the middle of the night- sad but true. 

I sat down to finish some reading required by my ecourse, Caleb disappeared to finish his schoolwork and Ray went searching for rocks. He returned with a varied collection of different stones. After closer inspection of one in particular he was convinced that he saw gold. I saw quartz, but he saw gold!

Every single place that we have pulled over for a cuppa, to camp or even for a toilet stop, Ray has been picking up rocks (sometimes hitting them with his hammer) and throwing them down again at an alarming rate. On this occasion, I decided not to say too much and let him think that he has finally struck some flecks of gold. I will probably find him digging in the early hours of the morning in the spot he picked up the rock, determined to find the “big ” one. 

The evening was peaceful, Ray and Caleb built an impressive roadside fire, the sunset was impressive and we spent a couple of hours chatting to our “neighbours”. All for FREE and in the middle of the stunning Australian Outback.