Harold to Marlborough

  Marlborough, Australia
Friday, June 21, 1985

We left fairly early from our camp without even drying the tents. Fairly soon after we hit the road, Sally and I spotted different kangaroos close together. Both had companions - so we saw four all together. After that, we saw quite a few hiding in the bushes - and many stumps with leaf ears. We also saw a lot of dead ones littering the highway.

We stopped at Miriamvale for gas and tea and a post office. They had a really nice tea towel in the tea shop with an Aussie dog, but it also said, "Greetings from Miriamvale" or something like that on it. Our next stop was Rockhampton, which is actually a rather charming town. It likes right on the Tropic of Capricorn, and so we stopped to pose by that monument.

Our next stop was the saddlery, where we found some marvelous hats and also a lot of USA-made goods. Very Western. From there, we went to a gem store. Sally bought some beautiful opals. As a gift or something, we were given small little uncut sapphires. Finally, we found the local K-mart, which we wanted for batteries and silicone spray. This K-mart turned out to be an entire shopping plaza. We visited the sheep shop, bookstore, lunch shops, grocery, K-mart, and ice cream store. We had to wander about to find each other, but after we did, we hit again to the road.

We had to stop once for Dick to buy a beer. The man who sold it to him said that he was technically not allowed to do it, but, if anyone asked, to say that he had traded a warm beer for a cold one. We drove then found a side road which went deep without much fence. When we found a place that looked like it had been used previously, we pulled off and made camp. We had a nice fire and a lot to drink (actually, Mum and Dick did; Sally had little and I had none at all). I read a little but fairly promptly went to sleep.

Tropic of Capricorn Spire

Postcard to Paul: Queensland is a beautiful place! The land can be amazingly flat, but with tall, abrupt volcanic mounds. And the coast line is magnificent - some of the largest, most beautiful beaches. Winter is definitely the time to be here, however, as commercial establishments simply line the highway (suggesting it could be very crowded): Big Pineapple, Big Cow Macadamia Factory, Thrill Hill, etc etc. We just crossed the Tropic Capricorn and are feeling quite pleased with ourselves. We've been driving two days and have almost reached our destination. Sound like Texas? The saddlery shop carries almost all USA Western equipment.