What a Day it Was!

Oh what a beautiful morning – Oh what a terrible day! Putting aside the sadness at leaving Dylisglen, Mrs OGO should have known it would be a terrible day when within the first hour she sliced her finger with one of Mr K’s kitchen knives when slicing meat, then burnt her arm on the kettle when putting the offensive knife away after safely cleaning it.

It seemed to take the OGO an age to pack the vehicle grumbling that there seemed to be more in the vehicle than when we arrived – well, yes – an extra five weeks supplies of food and grog for Nairana would constitute MORE rather than LESS one would deduct. But the grumbling got louder when Mrs OGO asked – why is there nothing in the trailer that we have acquired since our arrival? OGO’s reply was unprintable but in essence he had placed the jerry cans, full of fuel, inside the trailer because the f%%%#@#$ things did not fit in the outside brackets and he was reluctant to place anything else against them (for some male reason!). Mrs OGO just backed away and finished her cleaning.

Finally ready to go, an hour later than planned, there were jerry cans, the canoe, and a suitcase, tied down in the trailer. Our planned route was up the Eungella range to Hail creek and Elphinstone via Eungella Dam – the shortest route according to Miss GPS being a 5 hour drive – on a GOOD day.

Approaching the range, five minutes from Dylisglen, the OGO courteously allowed a car and small truck to pass as they were travelling faster than us – keep in mind we are in a 1984 fully loaded Pajero, towing a trailer and about to climb a very, very steep range and we knew it would be slow climbing to Eungella. Big mistake – the car pulled off the road about 200m later and the ‘fast’ truck suddenly lost all its oomph. No passing places so we just crawled along and our five hour drive had now become five and a half hours.

Eungella Dam - future place to camp

Arriving at Eungella Dam we stopped for a coffee break and enjoyed the beauty surrounding us.  This is one spot we could camp at sometime in the future.

Eungella-Nebo Road

Teabreak over we continued our journey along a very interesting dirt road. The views were magnificent and the scenery was constantly changing from lush forest to granite hills to open grass plains and hills, back to dry granite gullies. We saw wallabies, parrots, cattle, a white breasted sea eagle beside a waterhole, and a half dozen Australian Bustard birds – and not a single vehicle did we see until we approached the main Nebo-Collinsville road.

Mechanical dramas

Despite the delights of this little adventure there continued to be one worrying factor getting louder and louder – yep, the exhaust that the OGO had taped up the day before had parted company somewhere. So, in the heat of the day (it now being past midday) we park the vehicle under the only tree in sight, whilst the OGO has a second attempt at patching the problem.

After 30 minutes of unprintable mutterings Mrs OGO suggests it might be advantageous to make a short detour into Nebo to find a mechanic. Good idea – but for those not familiar with Nebo let me tell you this is a small town with accommodation and businesses geared to the mining industry, with one pub and one servo – and not a mechanic in sight.

Picture this – a 1984 Pajero towing trailer making enough noise outside to deafen anyone within sight, and almost as much noise inside the vehicle coming from the OGO after driving through the ‘business center’ of Nebo in 39 degree heat, passing the pub and the cop-shop, and finding nothing to help solve the issue.  Not a pleasant picture from this side.

Approaching the main highway again, Mrs OGO spots two men in high vis gear and makes a non-male suggestion – let’s ask them if they know where we can get it fixed. More unprintable mutterings from the OGO but he did stop and ask the question. Five minutes later we are seeking out “Mick” to fix the problem with the message – Tell him ‘Mick’ sent you and he has to fix it! Fair enough says the OGO with a very doubtful look. Following directions we discover Mick’s workshop and he and his apprentice were most obliging – patched up the problem and an hour later and only fifty bucks out of pocket we are once again on track for Nairana. But not before a stop at the local servo as Mrs OGO has pointed out a rather flat tyre on the trailer – oh and very little air in the spare apparently.

It is now 3pm – just 5 ½ hours since we left Dylisglen! Could the day get any longer or any worse? My word it could.

Back on the road the OGO discovers he’s ‘lost’ his tin of tobacco – now that’s a real tragedy for some and produced more mutterings. However, the Angel of Mercy, finds a new tin in the groceries and we continue in silence for the next hour on a reasonable dirt road – until we crossed from the Isaac Shire into the Bowen Shire. It’s now 4pm, still 37 degrees outside, hotter and dustier in the vehicle (no fancy air-con in this limo) and we hit a very rough patch of track. More troublesome noise emanates from the newly acquired trailer, and – you guessed it – more mutterings from the OGO. What now? Oh, just the tailgate, with number plate, has parted from the trailer – in the OGO’s words – the a%^&e-end of the trailer has parted company – just another little mishap to add to the day’s adventure.

Having travelled this road before we had expected a reasonable drive, however it would appear the Bowen shire council have not graded this road since our travels last year as it was so rough our speed was reduced to less than 30kph making it a long, tiring drive.

So at 6.30pm – just 9 hours after leaving Dylisglen – we arrived at Nairana. The NP Rangers were getting a little concerned at our non-arrival as our ETA had been no later than 3.30pm. Just as we arrived Mrs K telephoned the homestead to check on our arrival and delivered the final blow for the day – we had left the OGO’s iPad at Dylisglen. Mrs OGO decided to leave that little bit of info until the next day!

Dusk on arrival

An hour later, car unpacked, beds made, a replacement air-con unit in the bedroom (installed by the rangers and the OGO), and finally we have a chance to unwind with a cold beer and a catch up chat with the Ranger-in-Charge before taking a lovely cool shower under the stars.

We have arrived once again at our little part of paradise.