April already!

April Already.

My weeks continue to race by, although I seem to have slowed down, my days are fully booked and there's always work for tomorrow. This last week I travelled to Julia Creek and Richmond.

and I thought I'd add a map but technology has me defeated today. I made a great map using Google Maps but it won't let me copy it!

So here is someone else's map that shows the shire boundaries. Mt isa to Richmond is about 600km and around the halfway to Townsville point. The blue bit at the top is the gulf and the line on the left is the Northern territory border.

This weekend is the Julia Creek "Dirt and Dust" Festival, they expected around 3,000 visitors and with the usual population around 600 people on a day when the station people are in town this is a huge difference.

http://www.dirtndust.com/index.htm

Even at the beginning of the week, there were cars parked in the mainstreet and no bread or milk available, I think the locals were stocking up. On Friday as I came back from Richmond I stopped in at the hospital at Julia Creek to see a client and as I headed out of town about 20 kms out I saw a police car coming towards me, I wasn't at all worried I was sitting on around 110, then darn - he flashed his lights and pulled me over. I always sit on 110 ok, maybe 115km, between Cloncurry and Richmond the roads are straight and the view is endless. it's a 6hr drive and I'm heading home. I admitted to 110, which is the speed limit for most of the way - but darn I was in a 100km zone and doing 112. So annoyed - it feels such a waste of $100. I'm sure they were revenue raising with the crowds expected in Julia Creek, as they were from the Cloncurry traffic section and a long way from home. Usually I hardly see another vehicle let alone a police car.

But I did see some beautiful eagles, a whole mob of emus with the little ones trying hard to keep up and the grasses have red seed heads so as far as the eye can see is this mass of deep oche grasslands.

The size of these eagles is amazing - I used this photo to show the size they are. I had an encounter with two on a dirt road going out to a station. the road is one lane width, and there was a road kill the eagles thought belonged to them and they weren't going to give it up despite my need to pass. I revved the engine, having had to come to a stop, tooted and all they deigned was to regally look along the bonnet at me and continue with their dinner. It was me who gave up and took to the scrub to get round them.