Day 8

Day 8

We managed to get a good early start to the day today, and having made the k's we wanted we were well on track to reach Cairns on schedule. The road was taking us further North, and then we would turn off and head west to Cairns. With many kilometers left to travel, we spent a good chunk of the day burning through the distance. Thankfully, there wasn't a whole heap to see the countryside merging into one continuous blur. When we stopped for lunch, we discovered a foul smell permeating the car. A small cool box which had had cheese in until it festered and been thrown away was holding onto the small and on closer inspection, there was juice rolling round at the bottom of the box. Taking the opportunity to clean it out at a picnic stop the smell joined the stench of something else, blending together and turning our stomachs. Lunch was understandably a quick event after this, both Doug and I sitting off the ground to avoid being bitten by the ant army prowling under the picnic table. Still we were pushing on and wished the next couple who turned up as we were leaving better luck.

The highlight of the days driving was a fantastic thunderstorm which occurred right above us. With winds strong enough to buffet the car side to side on the road, and lightning striking within mere meters of us we felt like we were taking part in another episode of Storm Hunters, for the second time during the trip. As the storm was left behind us, the horizon lightened from a dark grey to a muddy orange. After a driver change and fuel stop, we discovered why. Driving along with the remnants of a bush fire still blazing on either side of the road, the carnage seemed wide spread, for kilometers we could just seen burnt out trees, or little piles of black ash with smoke whisping up off them.

As the day drew to a close, we'd covered a fantastic distance, over 800km. Approaching Mt Isa, the sun was setting and daylight was in short supply. We spotted a sign as we came into Mt Isa, advertising Caravan Parks with swimming pools and we were sold. Id would be so much easier to stop rest and relax in a swimming pool this evening. We stopped and set up camp, after enjoying ht e pool we cooked dinner in the shared camp kitchen, chatting to the other travellers around us. By night, we were both tired, and more than ready for an early night.