Date: June 5th 2009

Westprint Friday Five June 05, 2009 

Included this week are:

·        Camping, Queensland Stock Routes

·        Trip Notes: Diamantina NP to Mataranka

 

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Friday Five 05.06.09 

Books are allocated on a first-come first serve basis. To reserve your copy of any of the following books please email info@westprint.com.au with the title you are interested in. All emails will be answered during the following week, either with details of how to pay, or a ‘sorry, the item has already sold’ email. Where possible, postage on multiple items will be recalculated to offer you the best price.  

1. The Rats of Tobruk. Video. The powerful story of three soldiers brought together by the fortunes of war. Set against the backdrop of the North African city of Tobruk, it was produced to lift the morale of a war weary nation. Made in 1944 the director, legendary Charles Chauvel, went to great lengths to create a sense of realism and authenticity. Black & White. 92 mins. $35.00 including post. One copy only.

2. An Australian Heritage of Verse. Audio Tape. Two tape set. Compiled by Jim Haynes. Includes Clancy of the Overflow, Nine Miles from Gundagai, Drovers’ Lament and Bell Birds and others. One only $25.00 including post.

3. Australian Vertebrates. The CSIRO list of Australian Vertebrates. Gives listings on conservation status, distribution, species' status for all known Australian amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. An indispensable reference guide for anyone working with and publishing on Australia's vertebrate fauna. Two copies only. $60.00 including post. 

4. There Were Three Ships. In November 1864, three ships sailed from Melbourne bound for a land of promise. They carried 120 men, women and children and thousands of head of livestock. Their destination: an isolated bay in the unexplored territory of far north-western Australia. But Utopia became a hell. The story of the Camden Harbour Expedition. Normally $39.00 including post, one copy slightly marked on back cover $30.00 including post. 

5. Platypus. Ann Moyal. Hard cover. The extraordinary story of how a curious creature baffled the world. The Platypus has been described as an animal made up of the spare parts left over when the world was created. This secretive, elusive and beguiling creature continues to captivate our curiosity.  Two copies only $35.00 including post.

Postage Rates. These items will usually not be found on our website. Orders will be supplied on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis. Westprint normal postage rates are now $8.50 for one book, $11.00 for two books, $13.00 for 3 or more books. Free post applies to orders of more than $150.00. Postage rates apply to Australia only. Airmail postage rates apply to overseas orders. 

An important message.

Please note that the opinions and articles included in the Friday Five are not necessarily those of the Westprint mob. Nor do we endorse products (other than our own) listed in contributed articles.

Friday Forum

Jo’s forum comments in green. 

Camping in Queensland 

Your readers may be interested in a recent enquiry that I made to Queensland's Environment and Resource Management in response to the notation on their website http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/land/stockroutes/ that "All stock routes are public roads but not all roads are stock routes" prompted me to officially enquire whether camping is permissible on Stock Routes, of which there are 72,000 Km!

This was the reply.

First, the public are allowed to camp on reserves (some reserves make up part of the stock route network) which are assigned for the purpose of camping. To find out whether a reserve allows camping you will need to speak to the Council responsible for the area you are looking to camp in.

Second, the stock route declaration over a road does not in itself give a person the right or permission to camp on a road. Local Governments (local roads) and Main Roads (State controlled roads) are the bodies that actually control the use of roads. Whether camping is allowed on roads, including roads that are also stock routes, is therefore a matter for the Local Government or Main Roads to advise on. Each Local Government will have slightly different local laws with respect to camping on roads and to the use of stock routes.

So if you are looking to camp on roads, including roads that are stock routes, you will need to contact the Council's in the areas you are looking at camping and ask them about any restrictions they may have on a particular road/stock route. They will also be able to tell you if it is a local road or if you need to call Main Roads because it is a main road.

John  

Well that clears it up! If you are camping, please remember not to camp next to stock watering points.

Information Wanted – Gary Junction

·        Am planning a 7 week trip from our home in Broome over to Maleny (Qld) and back in late July/August and planning to travel east via Marble Bar and the Gary Junction track, and return via the Gunbarrel Highway (not the old bit). Vehicle is out well set up 4.2 litre Nissan Patrol (235 litre tanks) and TVan. Would appreciate any up-to date info re track conditions and diesel availability (also is it correct we do not need permits for any these areas/ tracks). Also please can anyone advise (for either route) re Lasseter highway via Mt Ebenezer and Giles to pick up either Gary Junction or the Gunbarrel. Any recent advice would be much appreciated. Collyn

Information Wanted - Tanami

·        We are taking an off road camper van across the Tanami at the end of June and wondered whether anyone can give us a recent report on the road conditions and any good camping spots over the WA border. Darren & Kaye

Information Wanted – Granite Peak

·       A group of 4 WA vehicles are hoping to do Rudall River NP / Centre section of CSR and then the Carnarvon Ranges.  Just about everything is planned and in place except we cannot contact Granite Peak Station (off CSR and near enough to Wiluna) to find out if fuel - both diesel and unleaded/avgas is available.   That is the most important point.  If anyone has a current email (ours keep getting returned) or a telephone number that answers (answering machine just doesn't reply) it would be most appreciated. Maureen.

Trip Notes – Diamantina NP to Mataranka

·        We are in Mataranka. We came up thru Bourke to Quilpie (a nice friendly caravan park) and then to Diamantina NP via Windorah. Diamantina NP has not been upgraded in the 10 years since our last visit. The road from the south to the park is good dirt but dusty. There are 2 camping areas, Hunters Gorge which is not very nice and Gumhole which is the preference. There is only one pit toilet at each site. The Scenic drive is closed and there does not seem to be any ranger in attendance. The road out to Boulia is a bit rough in parts. North of Mr Isa, Yelvertoft Road linking to the Gregory Downs road is being tarred from the Bourketown Junction (they started about 22nd May and doing 4 kms a day. The road after the Junction gradually deteriorates and is worst after the Riversleigh T/O. There are some heavy trucks using the road so keep a good watch out and choose a place to get off early. We camped at the Gregory River. They were mustering at Lawn Hill and there are a lot of cattle trains (3 trailers on the move). The track into Kingfisher has 3 creek crossings on the track we took - the first was okay, the second had a deep spot in the middle (put water over the bonnet of the Cruiser) and the third has a muddy exit - apparently there is another crossing on the old track to the east. Otherwise the track is okay although there were 11 gates to open and the Elizabeth River is about knee deep - one caravan which went through and had vents at floor level got water over the floor. The exit is very sandy. Mustering is about to begin at Bowthorn so watch out for cattle trucks as they are working near the camp ground.

The track out is okay but dusty. The Savannah Way west of Domadgee is partly tarred and has being graded and is being worked on in parts. It is good except for some rough sections - beware as the warning triangles are usually right on the danger leaving little time to brake and lift off before the rough part. There are 2 steep dips just over the NT border but basically the road is good to Borroloola. The short cut to the Savannah Way bypassing Cape Crawford is a bit rough but has been graded. The Savannah way had been graded as far as the Bauhinia Station as at 27 May. After that the road has not been touched since last year and is a bush track - very rough with lots of creek crossings up to about Butterfly Springs. National Parks are not yet cleaning the toilets at the rest spots. The road improves from Rankin Springs and is quite good from the Cox River to the Towns although there are some corrugations and most corners are corrugated and sandy on the inside so slow down early. After the Towns River the Road again deteriorates but improves around St Vidgeon ruins. The road is good but corrugated and dusty but deteriorates just before Roper Bar. There are signs saying road work but this has not commenced. The Roper Highway into Roper Bar was being graded yesterday. Phil

Recovery points

·        We had an email submitted a few weeks ago about a teenage spectator being killed when part of a bull bar broke and came away during a winch recovery. The full story hasn’t been included because we have been unable to verify some of the details, however we would like to remind all 4WDers to be aware of, and only use proper recovery points for snatching, wiching and towing, and to ensure that people watching are a safe distance from the snatch point. 

Camper Trailer for sale

One of the Westprint mob has a camper for sale. 

2003 PIONEER BUSHMAN CAMPER TRAILER $19,990. A regretful sale due to illness.

Please phone COLIN PANTER on 03 9744 5461 (Melb) or mobile on 0434400174 for any further information.

Friday Funnies 

·        The big bad wolf said “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down”. The little pig said “p** off or I’ll sneeze on you”.  

·        Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise', I wash out my mouth with chocolate.  

·        After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, American scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion, that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.  
Not to be outdone by the Americans, in the weeks that followed, a Chinese archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story in the China Daily read: 'Chinese archaeologists, finding traces of 200 year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the Americans'. 
One week later, Gujarat Samachar, a local newspaper in India, reported the following:
After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Nadiad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, Ramjibhai, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Ramjibhai has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, India had already gone wireless.

 

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Cheers for now,

Jo

 

 

 

 

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