The 'Big Lap'...restart!
- jmsrtldg
- Sep 22, 2024
- 6 min read
15 September 2024
The early draft of this post was entitled "...My Big Lap comes to a crashing (and crushing) halt..."! Having waited in frustration for almost three months for any word of the suspension and Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) upgrade on 'snailspace', I was seriously considering the option of selling my trailer, inflatable boat, outboard motor and trailer contents in order to resume my travels both safely and legally.
In my last update to you, dear readers, (and having been told that the upgrade would be available in June or July at the latest) I had indicated my intention to loiter in the vicinity of Townsville (this city having the northernmost QLD branch of the company doing the GVM upgrade...) so that I would be poised to continue my trip to Cape York and subsequently travel the 'top end' of Australia during the winter months. Accordingly, I meandered up the Capricorn coast of Queensland via Mackay, stopping at Airlie Beach (from where I took a catamaran day trip out to Whitsunday Island to check out and swim the stunning Whitehaven Beach.
I subsequently spent a week in early June in Townsville, including a delightful catch-up with Kim (a friend from the Royal Australian Navy that I had not seen for some thirty years when I was posted to Canberra) and her partner, Steve. I took the opportunity while there to take a day trip out to Magnetic Island ("Maggie" to the locals). The local island brewery was terrific for a post-lunch 'shandy' and made up for the lousy water visibility snorkelling in Arthur Bay!
Anyway, I got as far North as Hinchinbrook Island (me...not the motorhome...). You can just make out Zoe Beach in the picture where I was dropped off by boat before walking up to the falls - a suitably stunning spot for a much-appreciated and refreshing dip, to say the least! Once back on the mainland (I was camped at a place called Lucinda where they have the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere (just under 6km in length) servicing the sugarcane industry).
Following a stunning sunset and pub meal on the Lucinda foreshore at Dungeness Harbour looking out to Hinchinbrook Is, I decided to head southward in anticipation of getting the nod for the chassis/ suspension upgrade. A further call to Explorer Motorhomes in July for an update elicited the response that federal approval for the GVM upgrade could now take up anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months!, and that their recommendation was to get it done at the company's head office in Toowoomba (@190km W of Brisbane), as that is where the design and testing engineering expertise resided - and they ended by saying "...stop calling us - we'll call you the moment we hear anything".
So I went inland to Charters Towers, in order to follow a different route south. After three days of light rain, I subsequently managed to get myself completely bogged in mud at a Free Camp at a place called 'Joy's Camp' (certainly wasn't a joy for me!). I had seen a caravan and tow vehicle parked up as I drove past the site, so assumed all was OK - and the ground did look deceptively firm. As it later transpired, the other campers were also heavily bogged (and it took them two more days to extricate themselves)! I ended up staying an extra 24 hours waiting for the mud to dry out a bit more and enable my escape back onto the highway. The four recovery boards I carried definitely proved their worth in helping extricate me from the worst of the mud, but it was so viscous that I only just managed to lift the boards out from beneath the moho as they had become incredibly heavy. I spent 5 hours of the following day sitting in the sun cleaning out the recovery boards of the mud using a screwdriver!
I then hit the gemfields of Emerald, Sapphire and Rubyvale. lying on the tropic of Capricorn in central QLD. I stayed at a great little campground at the back of/run by the Sapphire Returned Services League (RSL) exclusively for the use of veterans and Service members - a nice idea. From here I ventured out to do a spot of fossicking on a couple of sites open to the public (and not part of the multiplicity of private claims marked by distinctive white posts) in Rubyvale. It was hot, dirty and ultimately unsuccessful work, so instead I acquired a small bag of excavation wash (you can see the bigger bags in the photo on the left...mine were a fifth of the size) from one of the established minefields and set about learning how to wash, seive and identify gemstones from the mix. Armed with a pair of plastic tweezers and a jar, it was a surprisingly therapeutic activity and, supervised by a gem expert with 45 years experience, I managed to find a number of gemstones suitable for cutting an polishing.
I had so much fun that I went back the next day and 'did' another bag of wash. All of the stones were then sorted and assessed by the gem expert into #1 or #2 grade for gem cutting and polishing, and others for a 'cabuchon' finish (flattish on the bottom and curved on the top) and 'star/skin' finish for pendant style polishing. I have sorted almost 80 of the best gemstones, including blue and green sapphires, zircon, ruby zircon and black spinel, which I intend to send to Thailand for cutting and polishing (as it is considerably cheaper to get them done in bulk there).
From Sapphire I headed south via Springsure and another Free Camp at Virgin Rock. Like many other visitors, it was a little bit of a stretch to see the classic pose of Mary holding baby Jesus, but it was a nice spot to camp and the rock was nicely floodlit at night, too.
Further down the Dawson Highway I stopped at a campground in Rolleston, from where I took a monoplane flight with one other guy (...who generously paid for 3 seats to ensure the flight went ahead!) to fly to Carnarvon Gorge and over Lake Nuga Nuga - both eventual destinations.
Lake Nuga Nuga is a natural water body (and a National Park campground ($7 a night)) well off the beaten track in the Arcadia Valley, Central Highlands region of QLD - normally a pretty arid landscape. It provides an amazing habitat for a prolific number and types of waterbirds, and its shores are littered with dead trees (so not really suitable for launching the inflatable boat!).
After Lake Nuga Nuga, I stayed at Carnarvon Gorge in the National Park of the same name and attempt some of the well-known walks. Having been diagnosed with severe osteo-arthritis in my L knee in 2022 (...about 6 months before my retirement!) and advised by the surgeon that I would need my knee replaced (...but to put it off for as long as I could bear it!), I was not sure how much of the trail I would be able to cover. With the aid of a pair of aluminium walking poles (which made a remarkable difference), however, and a mostly reasonable track (only 8 or so stream crossings) I was able to achieve @13km of walks (but was incredibly stiff the next day!). The three principal 'trails' I tackled were the 'Art Gallery'', working my way back to the 'Amphitheatre' and 'Moss Garden'.
I continued southward, reaching Toowoomba in early August, and spent most of the month checking out a number of Free Camps (and some Pub Camps!) in a 50km radius, before ringing Explorer in desperation. Before I could ask for an update, however, I received the long-awaited good news that I was booked in to have the GVM upgrade done over 4 days from 26-30 August.....at last!
It was such a relief to finally get the work done, albeit at a significant cost, but it did mean I was now able to legally tackle my Big Lap fully laden with fuel, water and provisions without being overweight! I returned to Brisbane and Explorer Motorhomes to have a few warranty issues resolved and also to replace my cracked windscreen.
I left Brisbane about 15 days ago, heading to Geraldton, WA, via the Plenty Highway from Boulia, QLD to Alice Springs (NT), then the Great Central Way from Alice Springs across to Geraldton) - not sure of the total distance, but @5500km...a bloody long way, particularly as a significant portion will be on dirt roads!
I am already in outback W. QLD and truly hope from here on in to update via my 'snailspace' website more regularly than my sporadic efforts via email newsletters to date. I also hope to be able to expand on the website's picture galleries (including some video clips and a live run-through of snailspace) once I have learnt a bit more about editing in Wix and editing video in general!
Spot youse later!
James ‘Jimmo’ Routledge
email: jmsrtldg@gmail.com (or jmsrtldg@icloud.com)
mobile: +61 400 068257
Awesome to see you on the road properly!! Nothing like a couple of minor setbacks to start things off with. Travel safe and look out for this fella!!
Yay - Snailspace sorted - now for the adventure to really begin! Goodluck with the first 5,500km!!