This travelling trio crossed into Queensland while I was peeling an orange in my lap. A small small sign on the side of the road announced our arrival. “Whoo Hoo”, we said in unison.

I lamented that (again) we were going too fast for me to get a photo and Ray gave his usual, “so do you want me to go back?” But, as we both know, it’s not as easy as doing a quick u- turn when you have a 24 ft house following at close range behind you.

We “got stuck” behind a couple of other caravans travelling together at a considerably slower speed than we were and we noticed that they had a UHF Channel 40 sticker on the back of their van. This gave Ray the perfect opportunity to turn on our 2 way radio (aka walkie talkie where I come from) and see if they “had their ears on.” A different language exists when you are talking into a 2 way. It’s more “ocker”, filled with numerous “buddies”, “over”, and “ over and out”.

Their exchange went like this:

“Silver Jayco Journey, this is Crusader trailing you. Do you have your ears on, Buddy?”

He replied, “I’m on buddy.”

“Morning, I’d like to squeeze past you if I can, Buddy”

“All good, buddy.”

At which point we’d pass (checking it was still clear), waving as we passed them.

Then the thanks.

From Ray, “Thanks for that, Buddy, over.”

“Safe travels, Buddy, over and out.”

There is no way I can covey the Australian drawl that went along with each exchange. It’s a bit like when you sing a country and western song and just HAVE to put in that special drawl to make it more authentic. (Try it with John Denver’s “Country Roads.” The lyrics start with – “Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue ridge mountain…).

I had to sit, looking out my passenger window, lips pursed and locked tight trying not to giggle. These boys and their toys! Although theses 2 way radios are very important safety tools to be sure and most caravanners do have them onboard, and use them.

Further along we saw something come into our view. Was it? Yes it was! A bloke walking on the side of the road coming towards us. He had his T-shirt off and had it thrown over his head, over his hat, only half protecting his back. Ray pulled up and lowered his window, the hot air rushed in and I imagined the poor man’s body taking a beating in the direct heat. The temperature gauge read 34 degrees but the heat coming off the bitumen must have been a lot more than that!

Perhaps he needed help. “You OK mate?”

“Yeah, I just needed a good walk. My Mrs is up ahead with the car and van. I’ll catch up with her soon. Thanks for stopping.”

“Rightio.”

Off we went, in silence. Thoughtful. Until….

Ray said, “We haven’t passed a car and van in quite a while and he looked like he’s been walking a while because his back was pretty burnt. “

I had a theory.

I explained. “Well…I reckon he had a blue with his missus. He got out of the car and walked off. She moved into the drivers seat and took off, leaving him there and his explanation is actually what he hopes is going to happen. That she is waiting for him just around the next corner.”

Whatever the truth, that man is going to need a whole lot of Aloe Vera tonight!

(You can zoom in on him in the mirror – just.)

We reached Hebel in time for morning coffee.

The Captain and I went in search of a good spot to wee. That meant Henry went first of course, looking for a patch where another pooch had warmed up the site for him or where the grass was exactly right for his needs and in need of a bit of watering. For me that meant being on the lookout for the blue and white “Public Toilet” sign.

Ray came out of the cafe which was advertised on a sign outside as “ A bit of elegance in the bush” holding 2 take away cups. Winner!

There is always the worry that he will be holding just one cup which would mean that they didn’t serve almond milk (or almond juice as Ray calls it because he is adamant that it’s NOT MILK). So far I haven’t had to miss out and I’m astonished. I suppose that many of these outback cafe and roadhouses have to cater to travelers like us who have a specific palate and also to the many tour buses that pass through these ways. It’s just supply and demand the world over.

St George was our stop for lunch and we followed the blue and white signs with pictures of caravans on them to make our way to a lush green picnic spot by a river. It was the Apex Park which had the Balonne River running beside it. This River runs into Lake Kajarabie and resembles the colour of the Yarra River in Melbourne, that is, it’s brown like milk chocolate. We enjoyed our picnic lunch and visited the public toilets which obviously used water from the river to flush with because they flushed brown water, like chocolate milk.

We tried to have a bit of a photo shoot with Henry to show how beautiful this park and river was, but “The Captain” (obviously in charge) of the agenda had other things in his mind and wanted to hit the road again. A few creepy shots were gained.

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The time change as we crossed the border earlier meant that we picked up an hour, This made our 5 hour trip into a 4 hour trip…well kinda.

We needed fuel again so we stopped by the fuel stop that we drove past on our way to the park. 45 minutes earlier the board outside advertised diesel for $199.9c per litre. Now it was $205.7c per litre.

This was clearly shown on the board outside on one of those old fashioned kinds that stands on its own metal legs and the prices are displayed in chalk on a blackboard. Many petrol stations, fuel stops or roadhouses actually don’t have their fuel prices advertised so you don’t know what you will be paying until you are at the bowser. I just think that the prices are so volatile with the added costs of freight going up and down that they’d be out to the board like yo-yos so…why bother.

People have to pay it, there’s probably a discount for locals, and tourists just have to buy a tim tam or two less or stop in one place longer to conserve funds if they find fuel costs are too high. It’s a constant concern of the travelling community and they talk. If a town is known for high fuel prices travellers will soon pass through and buy elsewhere.

When we pulled out of Wilcannia last week, we used a self- serve bowser to fill up with fuel. You know, swipe your credit card, lift the bowser nozzle and the pump starts flowing.

This bowser was fenced off with cyclone fencing and two very vicious cattle dogs (Ray says Blue Heelers, I say Cujo’s cousins) were guarding it. All you could access was literally the swipe area and the signage to read how to operate it and the bowser nozzle and the screen to see how much fuel you are receiving. The whole set up screamed “we’ve had trouble and we don’t want anymore”.

As Ray lifted the nozzle the screen display jumped to 19 cents. What the?

We looked at each other…the dogs snarled and barked…Henry sunk lower in his seat.

“Who am I going to complain to?” Ray asked. He pumped the fuel knowing we had no choice and crossing our fingers that we only got charged once for the fuel and not for anything else…petrol for your tractor anyone?

We drove on remembering the last time we travelled to central Australia. We filled up with fuel at the turn off to Uluru. As Ray lifted the nozzle the display jumped to 35 cents. (We were paying $2.30 a litre.) Ray went inside to check only to be told yep, that was right. The 35 cents was to pay for the fuel sitting in the nozzle. He also got a, “If you don’t like it, buy your fuel elsewhere.” Unfortunately, there was literally nowhere else to buy fuel. So, Ray had to suck it up and pay the “surcharge”.

It was funny to see that things hadn’t changed! Anyway, I digress!

Outback Queensland is much greener here than outback New South Wales and we are finding that our (my) nostrils and sinuses are getting the relief they have been searching for with much less dust to contend with.

We pulled into Roma not knowing if we would stay one night or two. Dave, the very friendly caravan park owner assured us there was plenty to see and do and we would need more than one night. After setting up we poured a cold one, (water because it was 37 degrees) and checked out what was on offer. Unfortunately, a lot of what Roma has to offer is amazing, but not dog friendly. We decided to do what we could straight away as well as pick up a few groceries and Ray would go out later that night and see the Sound and Light Show at the Big Rig on his own. We accept that there are things we have to do on our own or not all all for the pleasure of having The Captain’s company.

We ventured back out into the heat, found the supermarket and had a look around town. The last time I was here I was 9 years old so it has changed a little bit. Actually, I t’s totally unrecognizable from my memories. Ray and Henry found the Avenue of Bottle Trees planted in memory of those who have served in wars and apparently the seeds were brought back from Gallipoli, the plaque asking visitors to “shhh…don’t mention it to border security.”

The Bottle Tree is not to be confused with the Boab tree of Western Australia. It’s entirely different. Roma boasts a very large Bottle Tree that was transplanted in 1927 from a private property to a public park. It is 15metres high and has a girth of 9.62metres. Bottle Trees live for about 200 years. This one is quite the local celebrity and has had a platform built to make photo taking easier and to protect the tree.

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The off lead dog park in Roma looked great but it was just too hot to give it a visit so we went back to the van to rest before Ray had to go out.

Ray returned from the Light and Sound show smelling like a drunken sailor and waving a glass around in his hand. Well, that may be an exaggeration. While they were watching the show, if you were “of age” they poured you a port in a shot glass and you could keep the glass. Ray was impressed with the Big Rig Tour and show and learned a lot about Roma and it’s history. First being settled for its oil in the mid 1800s. Except that there wasn’t any really abundant supply of oil there. Oops! What they did find was…gas. Natural gas in the 1900s.

Now Roma’s gas is exported all around the world (it’s frozen first) and they are the biggest gas supplier in Australia. However, if you live in Roma you probably don’t have gas at your house because it’s much too expensive to get connected and to have it supplied. Go figure!

Ray is very vocal about the stupidity of this. If you are a Roma local your gas should be cheaper than if you live elsewhere. If you lived next door to an orange orchard, would you pay top dollar for oranges? No you wouldn’t. They’d be top quality and very accessible. Makes sense to him. Right? Right!

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