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Date: Mon, June 25 1998 Hello, I'm in the library in Bowen on a fine & sunny, but very windy day. The wind is quite icy in fact, especially in the early mornings. Queensland (& for that matter the whole of eastern Australia) is in the grip of a very unseasonal cold snap. But it's much worse down south. Brisbane has been having minimum temperatures of only 3 degs C.(Hello Skat Cat -- how are you surviving the freezing mornings?) while further west, e.g. Darling Downs they've had frosts & even sleet. And down in Gippsland in Victoria (which I rode through about 15 months ago) they've had severe floods! And this on the end of a long drought. Some are even saying "Come back El Nino, all is forgiven!". Always was a land of extremes. Not nearly as bad here though. The wind is a nuisance and the mornings are Cool, but 14 degs min this morning -- not too bad. They did say though that if it hadn't been for the cloud would have gone down to 8 degs. Oh, while I think of it: A cheerio to Roland in Holland -- glad to hear from you. And last time I forgot to include Shirley in Tuson, and Grenville in Sydney. And a cheerio too to a few people I haven't heard from for a while. Would love to heard from you and know at least that my Newsletters are reaching you:- Michelle in Carnarvon, WA Bowen is not all that far from Proserpine -- normally would have been a 3 day ride, but I'm sorry to say that I was broke -- i.e. I ran out of money (but had plenty of food) before the end of my pay fortnight. Hasn't happened me for a long time. Was mainly because I got through quite a lot of money in Mackay, one way and another. Especially at that Globe Coffee place. They very very friendly there, but sure wanted their pound of flesh. That really irked me, when their system was so SLOW, and because Netscape is so cumbersome, which made everything take longer. The result was I had to "mark time" for a few days. In the end it worked out OK and I finally landed in Bowen on the day before payday. I was lucky too: That night at Seaforth was a "freebie" because the man who collected the money didn't catch up with. And in Proserpine (only $5 per night anyway) they let me have a 3rd night for free. Then, the following night I was able camp at a BP Service Station, half way from Proserpine to Bowen. Actually, it was not yet a Service Station -- it was literally being built up from the fround-- all around me as I camped -- not even grass, had to put my tent up on the dirt. But there was a shower (rudimentary, but hot) and above all, it was FREE!And then finally, I camped in a Rest Area for 3 nigthts. Out of time, Will return. Don. |