We cut short our trip home as Riki has to go to the vet tomorrow for a sore gum and teeth cleaning. The rain headed towards Carnarvon shown in the picture waited until we had packed up and left. We were in luck again on our last night at Dalby with the rain holding off until I had the awning set up to keep big dog dry. There was fog on the range as we approached Toowoomba, but our drive home was otherwise uneventful. We did some unpacking and washing, but there is plenty still to do, particularly cleaning the Jeep and the Bushtracker. Bathing the dogs was a must before they were allowed in the house. There are no planned caravanning trips till September, after we return from our overseas jaunt starting 8 August when blogging will resume. Till then, farewell to our regular readers.

Our last sunrise at Carnarvon was fantastic. The rainbow stretched across the sky to the west. The rain held off long enough for us to pack up. We were off the air at Carnarvon, but Telstra now has a limited mobile service in the area. There are half a dozen cattle grids along the road to Carnarvon and these triggered number one dog's anxiety all over again. The combination of medication and rescue remedy didn't stop her shaking and panting. After the last cattle grid I pulled into an abandoned gravel pit to give her a walk around. There were more prickles than gravel! At least she was more settled after the break, with only one thorn to be removed. It rained all day so we kept driving towards home. We secured the last available site at a Dalby caravan park. Fortunately there is a pub next door where we have come for dinner. There are so many people here it will be a long wait for food! Extensive roadworks are continuing through Dalby and we saw about 200 roadworkers on the job

This is an example of the great scenery on the Inland Highway between Emerald and Carnarvon Gorge. This photo of Mount Zamia was simply taken from the roadside rest area (which importantly had clean toilets and a picnic table). It is a couple of kms north of Springsure in the Minerva Hills National Park.

We drove through Springsure and stopped for a break at Rolleston. At the park volunteer locals were raising money by selling good coffee from a mobile van. We also topped up our fuel as there is none at Carnarvon Gorge. The next place we will be able to refuel will be Injune on our way to Roma.   We are staying at the pet friendly Sandstone Park which just outside the Carnarvon Gorge National Park. There is no power or water but there are some portaloos, rubbish bins, fire pits (BYO firewood) and a dump point. The park is on a large area up on a ridge affording 360 degree views of the sandstone cliffs. We hope to see some of the special sunrises or sunsets that this place is known for. We have no phone or internet connection, nor TV reception.

Coco was off his food and lethargic after his dew claw injury. I put him in a crate after his dinner last night and discovered he is back to his old self - this was a perfectly good dog bed! Max despises her liquid trazadone medication for her anxiety, and getting it down her was starting to be worse than her symptoms. I took on the challenge and bought some little frankfurts - I have to cut off the ends, remove a section of meat, squirt in some of the despicable chicken-flavoured medicine and plug it up. Voila! Toss her a couple of bits without any yukky flavour, then and she happily wolfs down the contaminated pieces. As for the cats, Miki managed to get herself shut in a cupboard in the caravan for several hours; fortunately no harm done. Riki is exercising her top cat status by sitting on my neck while I am sleeping to make sure she is "higher" than Miki. 

Today we drove 476kms from Charters Towers to Emerald. We are staying at the same caravan park we stayed at on our way north, but this time in an unpowered site so we can stay hooked up. The road surface was variable with some vey bouncy sections. There is just one roadhouse between Charters Towers and Clermont, which is the only town on the drive, 100kms north of Emerald. Anita went to use the toilet at the Belyando Crossing Roadhouse and investigate the food and drink options, but she resented the $2  fee, refundable with any purchase from the shop. Fortunately we travel with our own facilities! This would be a terrible part of the country to get sick or have a breakdown - there is literally no other facility along that stretch of road. We refuelled at the BP in Clermont where this tree has been laden with boots and shoes. Why? Who knows, who cares!

With a rich history of gold mining it's not surprising there are some magnificent buildings in Charters Towers. This one was formerly the Bank of New South Wales. We drove up Towers Hill and noted the new footpath and gardens leading to the lookout. We were here a few years ago passing through from west to east - this time from north to south. I returned to Towers Hill towards dusk on my electric scooter as this new footpath is the only good stretch in town. There are no bike paths and the few streets within the city square mile that have paths also have sign prohibiting scooters, bikes, skateboads and roller skates. It must be seriously challenging getting around here in a wheelchair or pushing a pram.  Going up the hill there were two very steep sections where the battery powered motor just couldn't make it. Going down these sections was hairy even with brakes fully on! I needed the lights on for the rough ride back to the caravan park. The wheels are small and hard so are un

This is Max chomping on the pot of cat grass we bought for the cats. They get to graze on it when they are travelling in the car. Our caravan park does have prickle-free grass, but it is cut so short there is nothing for critters to munch on.  We had a quiet day exploring the country clothing store in town and having lunch. We are staying here for two more nights.

On leaving Innot Hot Springs we followed National Highway 1 west through Mount Garnet, then in a south westerly direction. After about 50kms the national highway heads in a west towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. That is a trip for another time. Instead we turned onto the Kennedy Developmental Road which continued in a south westerly direction. At the Oasis Roadhouse we topped up our fuel and bought coffee and lunch. The vehicle behind the Bushtracker had broken down and the owner was coming to terms with the difficulties associated with limited communications, the distance to the nearest mechanic, and the potential cost to get him back on the road. He was lucky to get to the roadhouse and not find himself stranded by the side of the road with very little passing traffic. In total we travelled 450kms today on mostly very good roads to reach Charters Towers. There are some narrow bridges and hills where heavy vehicles are required to announce their presence on CB channel 40. We only passe

We had nice meals at the Innot Hot Springs pub. The resident cat named Lucky planted herself on this customer's lap uninvited. Lucky spent time trying to get someone to feed her, with no success. We took our dogs but left them outside. The pub "decorated" with old hats, old pieces of machinery, paintings and newspaper articles about the hot springs.

This is a photo of Nettle Creek at Innot Hot Springs south east of Cairns. The creek water is cold except where the artesian water comes to the surface, shown by the steam. The water is very hot and putting a hand or foot in the wrong part of the creek could result in scalding. People dig holes in the sand to mix the hot and cold water to achieve a reasonable temperature. We opted to stay at the caravan park for $40  per night, giving access to 6 inground pools of various temperatures. It's not flash but repair and maintenance costs will be high in these remote areas. Day trippers are charged $10  per day so effectively our pwered site is only costing $20  for the night.

Tonight we had to take Coco to the emergency vet clinic in Cairns as he ripped his front dew claw. He was in pain so it had to be removed with pain relief and antibiotics. This is the third time he has done this over the years we have had him. Our travels through cental and north Queensland have been via vet clinics - Charleville, Emerald, Mackay and now Cairns. Fortunately the anti anxiety medication we give Max has been working.

After picking up a couple of items from local caravan and camping shops, we drove up to the town of Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland. The Kennedy Highway is naturally very winding with a speed limit of 60kph for long stretches, but it has been upgraded and was a good road. We had lunch at the Heritage Centre with hundreds of pieces of old machinery and household items such washing machines and coppers. The Mareeba Coffee Works had an interesting array of coffees, chocolates and nick nacks.

Here we are at Tha Fish at The Pier in Cairns. This area has developed significantly since we were last here about 5 years ago. We arrived in Cairns yesterday afternoon and settled into the NRMA Cairns Holiday Park which is within walking distance to the foreshore. There is a combination of travellers and backpackers at the park. The only "holiday" feature at the park is a pool, fortunately no jumping pillow, playground or other facilities for kids.

We had morning tea at the Tumbetin Lodge Tea Rooms in the Palmetum, which is the botanic gardens featuring one of the largest and most diverse collection of palms in the world. The tea rooms are in an old timber building which was relocated to the palmetum. Anita was managing our finances rather than enjoying the gardens!

We are parked at the Riverside Convention Centre caravan park. It belongs to the Seventh  Day Adventist church but the only obvious link to the church are signs prohibiting the consumption of alcohol. There is plenty of space and the prickles are not too bad. We went for a walk along the banks of the Ross River, leaving the dogs in their crates beside our Bushtracker (not something we can do at regular caravan parks).