It’s been a year since our last map trick so I thought it was time to crack it out again and show you all where we’ve been!!

On leaving Tobermorey we had no plan other than to be in Toowoomba before Christmas and get there via a series of beach hideaways. No plan is the best plan! We left on the 10th of December which gave us 14 or 15 nights to travel to Toowoomba. Like always we are taking the long. We shot straight across to Hughenden for night one. We were too tired to continue so we stayed the night. Nice caravan park near the community pool. Free entry for campers. It was great to be back on the road and in the camper again. The second night we were aiming for Port Douglas but got caught up in the luscious green of the Atherton Tablelands. After spending so many months on the edge of the red, vast and dry desert it was unbelievably hard to take in all the greenery of the Tablelands. Millaa Milla Falls were beautiful as were the lesser known surrounding falls. We opted for a free camp that night down the range on Henrietta Creek.  It is a national park area. $5.45 per person. We class that as free. It’s cheap as chips almost the same as buying a coffee in some places.

Tobermorey was the hardest place to leave even harder than right back at the start when we left our home. Tobermorey was and always will be a massive part of our lives. From the Tablelands we will make our way across to Port Douglas via the Rex Highway.

Another chapter is coming to an end. We are moving on. Our itinerant lifestyle has come out of hiding and we are packing our bags, boxes, ute and trailer. This time it’s hard to remember how everything all fits together. It’s so hard because we have been in one spot for eight months, EIGHT WHOLE MONTHS! We only came to stay for three but Tobermorey grabbed hold of us and wouldn’t let us go……. until now. Tobermorey will always hold a special place in our hearts. Our time here has reinforced that the best way to experience something is to live it. And live it we did.

Shaun and I have forged friendships that will last a lifetime. We have created memories that will stay with us throughout our life. We’ve grown together and within ourselves. Pushed boundaries and stepped out of comfort zones. We have tested limits and seen the world from a completely different place. Only those whom we have spent the last 8 months will understand. Out here in this remote location and many others like it you become absorbed by your own little world. You can go days and even weeks without thinking about the “real world”. And yes quite clearly there is a real world out there with big issues. But when your here it’s all about the little things.

We can walk (drive) away from this knowing that we can do anything we set our minds to. You couldn’t pay for the experiences we have encountered over the past eight months and we are so lucky to have been paid to work out here. We wouldn’t change anything about it.

So yes it is exciting to move on with our travels. But on the flip side when we do drive away amongst all the excitement there will be saddness as this chapter of our journey will be closed. Our friends will be so much further away and the place we have called home will become only a memory.

On a positive note – there will be plenty more chapters to follow.

Ps. For fellow travellers if you are heading towards Central Australia next season make sure you put the Plenty Highway on your to-do list and stop in at Tobermorey! It sure is an oasis in the desert!

The Govie

A Pommy girl from Essex, UK. A city slicker come country girl from Brisbane, AUS. An unlikely friendship forged in the middle of nowhere. These friendships sometimes come quickly and fade even faster. But some, a mere few last the distance. For our sake I hope this friendships a keeper!

Our Unlikely Friendship

It wasn’t all beer and skittles that is for sure. It was tough. It was extremely tough to start with and as time went on I adapted. In the end I was enjoying it and at the end of the day what an experience.

We were down there for around three weeks. No contact with the outside world. Showering with dam water heated in a donkey by heat of the fire. Cooking over an open camp fire in camp ovens. Days were filled with hard work and nights with a few relaxing beverages around the fire.

Now to be honest the cook (me) doesn’t get let out of the kitchen very much. Chained to the sink and all that jazz. Time in a the stock-camp changed all that. I got a get-out-of-jail-free card. Up early to cook breakfast and to bed late after cooking tea. But it was all worth it to be let out with the boys and work in the yards with the cattle and head out mustering.

I learnt a hell of a lot. Not just about cattle but also about myself! One really important thing I learnt is that I love living out here.

Tobermorey is just as remote. However the constant flow of tourists brings reality a whole lot closer to our doorstep. We will again be removing ourselves from reality when we head south down in the desert at the bottom end of Tobermorey. The mustering crew will be basing themselves here for a couple of weeks or more to finish up the 2012 season. It is hard to believe the season is coming to an end. Time really has flown by. So much has changed

in so little time. This is the story of life. Who would have thought a few months ago we would be where we are now. A hell of a lot closer to finding home.

Living On Tarlton Time

Currently we are at Tartlon Downs and have been for several weeks. I came across the map below while searching Google. We really are only slightly off centre. Off centre from the centre of Australia.

Seeing the above map makes you realise how far from the rest of the population you are. To be honest the remoteness and the isolation isn’t an issue at all. We are loving the lifestyle. Even the fleeting town visits show us we aren’t missing out on too much. If we run out of something. You make do. There is no loss. The major concerns of distance is health and family. The Royal Flying Doctors Service and a few Aboriginal Clinics provide a safety net when it comes to health. As for Family (and friends) well thanks to technology (satellite phone and internet) we have it covered.

On the topic of location I thought I would share the following map of Tobermorey’s location as well.

Closer to civilisation in one direction further away in the other. Tobermorey is about 24 hours drive from Brisbane and Tartlon is another 2 hours further. So with this being said when we head back for a visit we will be more than happy to fly.

This social media concept has resulted in easy communication with friends and family while living remote. What you might not know is it also connects perspective employees with employers while providing a safety net of answers. This can be used to find out about anything and everything related (and even unrelated) to life on a station.

The Facebook group  Ringers From The Top End is a forum/discussion style page which provides all kinds of answers to all kind of questions. Despite it’s title the Facebook group is open to all people who are currently, previously or interested in working on a cattle station. It is in fact how Shaun and I found our position out here on the Plenty Highway. All we had to do was write a post with what we could offer and within an hour or so we had several job offers. It is that simple. The lifestyle out here is second to none and I truly believe everyone should experience it at some stage of their life.

If you are keen to get out and experience life on a station or want to connect with other people in the same field as you. Join the Ringers From The Top End page and make yourself  known. Living remote doesn’t mean you have to be disconnected from reality.

Although it is nice sometimes.