Longingly leaving behind Lightning Ridge, we again promise to return to the relatively close NSW town. Ahead of us is a series of long driving days across some of the more remote roads in the world, we barely see other cars that day as we cross a silent border to rendezvous with our traveling companions, code named Big Macs. 

Lock it Down

Then news reaches us of Sydney going into a 14 day back-dated lock-down from June 21. Despite Sarah and I being vaccinated, we are nervous about what to do and grateful for our self contained traveling isolation vehicle. Consulting the various state sources it seems we are ok to remain isolated while traveling from booking to booking until 14 days since leaving Sydney are up and we can attend more populous gatherings.

The Long Winding Road

This is our longest driving day so far starting at 9am and not looking to arrive till 5, the van seems to prefer 95KM/h on any kind of uneven surface which means most of our chosen roadway, Pearl and Miles are awesome, finding things to do, helping with setup and occasionally diving into the “busy box” for when as Miles says you are “Bored in the house, bored in the house, bored.” The landscape changes are now meditative, the roads quite rural and narrow, making for an enjoyable yet tiring drive, I’m glad when its time tow swap over drivers and equally refreshed and ready to go after time in the passenger side, thanks to my co-pilot in life and the trip.

Reaching Long

Last evening was very chilly outside the doona and we had all our woolies on underneath. Despite the cold morning we both manage to get our workouts in as we know our bodies won’t enjoy the otherwise idle muscle strain of a days driving. The road from Mitchell to Longreach is relatively consistent and improved in quality from yesterday we have joined a convoy of caravans heading to Longreach which is a distribution point for many routes, North Queensland, Mount Isa and the intrepid and rough Plenty Highway to Uluru.

Longreach seems a great town with a top bakery and plenty of outfitter stores for the well heeled person of the land or those looking to get the look. Old cars also seem a bit of a town hobby and a horse drawn stage-coach of Cobb & Co era thunders around pulling eager grey haired tourists and children.

Caravans of Courage

The caravan park is not so much a destination as a staging point, well appointed vans and rugged 4WD vehicles look prepped for anything the journey can throw at them. As we relax in the van, hoots and hollers from the town can be heard. Unfortunately for our local hosts after many years of dominance the latest QLD team understrength recently, copped another pounding giving those back in NSW in lockdown something to finally cheer for.