Getting the Family to Ruddy Doomadgee!!

[jonesfam]

You may recall that some time ago I asked my Boss to extend my accommodation in Doomadgee so I could move my family (SWMBO + 5 kids) over there instead of driving back & forth to Ravenshoe every few weeks.
Well, this all got approved & the extension has been pretty much completed since early December, but it has rained on my parade!

I managed to get to Ravenshoe in early December but had to get back to work ASAP so just bought 2 of the kids back to Doomadgee. Then it rained so I/we were stuck there until late January.
Finally got back to Ravenshoe in late January thinking a couple of weeks to pack & load the trailer & we would be on the road.

Then a Cyclone comes in & mucks about, all the rivers go bonkers, & the roads are closed for weeks.

It, at last, looks like things are calming down & we now plan to leave Wednesday! The house is pretty much cleaned & so on, the trailer is 3/4 packed & it looks like it may all happen.

Because of the Normanton to Burketown road being totally stuffed we will have to drive to Normanton then down to Burke & Wills, across to Gregory & then to Doomadgee. 12 hours min! SWMBO has decided she is not driving for 12 hours (she is like that) so she is going to camp at
Bang Bang Jump Up with 2 of the kids overnight, I will drive through to Doomadgee with 3 kids, cats, dogs & trailer, get up the next day & drive back to meet her along the Gregory B&W road. This is so I can guide her over the Gregory & Nicholson Rivers (she has a petrol Delica) & it will perk her up I hope.

That's how it all looks at the moment. It's raining in Ravenshoe which makes packing & cleaning a pain but fingers are crossed we will get there before my assistant Manager gets totally ****ed off 7 quits on me.

Jonesfam

[BMKal]

Great country to be travelling in at this time of the year. [biggrin]

I remember a trip many years ago hauling an O&K shovel (in bits on 100 tonne floats) from Shay Gap in WA to Century, via Cloncurry, B&W, Gregory & almost into Lawn Hill. I would definitely not like to have become stuck on those black soil plains between Gregory and Lawn Hill. [bighmmm]

[JDNSW]

Haven't worked in that area for over fifty years - but isn't this the sort of weather you'd expect at this time of year?

[Bearman]

Sounds like you are having a bit of fun Jonesfarm!!!
Back when I used to live in that country all the roads were dirt and a dingo would only have to have a leak on the road and you would be stuck there until it dried out enough to get moving again. I remember camping on the road for a couple of days between Augustus Downs and Floraville once after a small shower. I would imagine the main hazards would be creek/river crossings these days now that most of the roads are tarred. At least going via Bang Bang, Burke and Wills and Gregory you should only have a few big crossings like the Leichhardt, Gregory and Nicholson to negotiate. Are the low level crossings still there or have they built bridges over them.
Hopefully you can get there without any hassles - that low near Darwin is developing but looks like it is heading west so hopefully won't affect your plans - Good luck and keep us posted.[bigsmile1]

[jonesfam]

Haven't worked in that area for over fifty years - but isn't this the sort of weather you'd expect at this time of year?


YES [tonguewink]

But, since they made it bitumen all the way & we haven't had a decent Wet for years you, these days, expect the roads to be open more than there closed.

Also, just very unfortunate timing as to when the extension to the house was finished & the boss putting a bit of pressure on me to get the family out there.
Jonesfam

[jonesfam]

Yep, put tar down but don't bother raising the causeways or bridges.

In the 90's it once took me 18 hours & almost a tank of fuel to drive the 165k from Gregory to Doomadgee because of that bloody Black Soil!

JONESFAM

[BMKal]

Yep, put tar down but don't bother raising the causeways or bridges.

In the 90's it once took me 18 hours & almost a tank of fuel to drive the 165k from Gregory to Doomadgee because of that bloody Black Soil!

JONESFAM

Shows how long it has been since I was up that way. I didn't even realize that the road west of Gregory was bitumen ...................... it wasn't when I went through there. [wink11]

We had to wait at Gregory until a main roads inspector from Brisbane or somewhere arrived and "supervised" us crossing the bridge with the loaded floats. It wasn't rated to anywhere near the weights that we were carrying, but we could not unload. Previous heavy loads had been forced to unload (dozers / diggers / dump trucks etc) - the floats went across the bridge empty while the machines drove through the water at the adjacent low level crossing.

[JDNSW]

When I was in that area I seem to remember there was no bitumen north of the Mt Isa railway and west of the Bruce Highway. And the road to Mt Isa didn't have much bitumen on it either! And very few bridges. Even on the Bruce Highway, many of the bridges were single lane, and a lot of the highway only had one lane sealed - had to go over in the gravel to pass oncoming traffic. A lot of Queensland country roads were like that if they were sealed at all.

John

[Ranga]

What do you do for a crust in Doomadgee?

[The ho har's]

What do you do for a crust in Doomadgee?

jonesfam work at a roadhouse for memory;) could be wrong of course...

Mrs hh:angel:

[jonesfam]

What do you do for a crust in Doomadgee?

Yes. I am the Manager of the Doomadgee Roadhouse, been doing that for the past 2.5 years.

I have lived in Doomadgee (with a couple of year or 2 brakes) since 1993, I used to run "The Big Store" but got feed up with dealing with their bureaucratic crap. Paperwork became more important than the customers.

Love the place, people & country.

Jonesfam

[jonesfam]

Whoo - Hooo!
Finally the family & I are in Doomadgee.
Left Ravenshoe at 8:00am Wednesday & arrived Doomadgee 9:45pm Wednesday.
SWMBO did well to do that drive in a day. She was originally going to camp overnight but decided she felt fine so kept driving.
Non of the Rivers were a problem, the Nicholson was the deepest at only .4, & I only managed to cream 1 "Hoppity Thump" the whole trip.

We were well knackered yesterday & have been unpacking all today.

Jonesfam

[Bearman]

Well done mate. Yes you both did well to get through in the 1 day. Did u have to go via Burke and Wills / Gregory or direct Normanton to Burketown. SWMBO deserves a treat for that - but where do you treat the missus in Doomadgee?????
At the roadhouse.....haha
Just an aside - the biggest cane toad I have ever seen was at Burke and Wills roadhouse. We were coming back to the Isa from a fishing trip to Karumba around 1980 and stopped off at B & W for a burger and it was about 8 pm when we arrived there. I spotted this thing sitting under a seat outside the roadhouse and thought it was a rabbit. When I got closer I could see it was a huge cane toad feasting on insects that got bbqued on the big light outside. I thought about kicking it but decided not to as I reckon it would have broken my foot - was huge, about 20cm tall!!!!!

[rar110]

Well done. Someone to share the fun with.

[jonesfam]

Well done mate. Yes you both did well to get through in the 1 day. Did u have to go via Burke and Wills / Gregory or direct Normanton to Burketown. SWMBO deserves a treat for that - but where do you treat the missus in Doomadgee?????
At the roadhouse.....haha
Just an aside - the biggest cane toad I have ever seen was at Burke and Wills roadhouse. We were coming back to the Isa from a fishing trip to Karumba around 1980 and stopped off at B & W for a burger and it was about 8 pm when we arrived there. I spotted this thing sitting under a seat outside the roadhouse and thought it was a rabbit. When I got closer I could see it was a huge cane toad feasting on insects that got bbqued on the big light outside. I thought about kicking it but decided not to as I reckon it would have broken my foot - was huge, about 20cm tall!!!!!

Had to drive Normanton, B&W, Gregory.
1 of the causeways on the Normanton to Burketown road has had it's approaches washed away, like 5m deep & 10m long holes!
That road will be out for a while.
Jonesfam