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We arrived Cloncurry late in the day on Saturday the 02 Sept where, due to the hard slog up from Winton, we intended to stay 2 nights. Council had allowed us the use of the PCYC hall in which to stay and we didn’t waste any time parking the scooters, unloading the truck and setting up our bed sites.

The PCYC hall was just over the road from the Leichhardt Hotel and as we were all looking forward to an early night, over the road for dinner it was.

Next morning was free, there was an event planned for the afternoon, so the troops went touristing. Not far out of town, just off the road to Mt Isa, the Chinaman Creek has been dammed to form a lake which, apart from supplying water for the town, is ideal for swimming, fishing, water skiing, kayaking, paddle boarding and more! The dam was built in 1994 to take advantage of water flowing from Chinaman Creek and the Cloncurry River

The council has built extensive facilities at the water’s edge.

Click the pic below to see the drone tour of the lake.

Later that day we had arranged with Council to hold a barbecue in one of the town’s parks and to invite people from Cloncurry to come and enjoy a wonderful lunch, to meet the silly old buggers who had ridden 110cc scooters all the way from Brisbane and to toss a dollar of two into Johnno’s bucket.

Ernest Henry Mine had agreed to provide the wonderful lunch, which they did and MMG mine had agreed to provide prizes to the person(s) who would be voted best dressed as the townspeople had been invited to come dressed to represent the Royal Flying Doctor.

Ernest Henry sent in several staff from the mine who set up a great steak barbecue which looked and smelled to die for. They went to an awful lot of trouble, sourced and prepared food, set it out ready to go – but no-one came! 

We enjoyed it and really appreciated it but we felt sorry for Ernest Henry, they were doing their bit for Legacy but unfortunately in vain.

Another group that turned up to do their bit for Legacy was 51 Battalion Delta Company led by Major Graham Rorie and WOFF Rick Leeman. These Army Reserve people came all the way from Mt Isa to do their bit for Legacy, a 120km trip each way, but like those from the mine, they too were disappointed at the very low roll up. The local Cloncurry SES also send along a couple of members, along with some gear they normally use with the intention of showing it to the public. They too were disappointed.

We had spoken with staff from the local IGA store earlier in the day, asked if they were coming to the barbecue that afternoon and they expressed surprise saying they hadn’t heard anything about it. We hoped that wan’t an omen – unfortunately it was.

A couple of local kids, like kids everywhere, were fascinated by the machinery brought across from Mt Isa.

At the end of the day, after everything had been packed up and cleaned, everyone got together for a photo, the Army left for their 120km drive back to Mt Isa and we headed back to the PCYC.

Neil Snudden got the drone back into the air to have one last look at Cloncurry. Click the pic below to see it.

That night, as we had a school visit in Julia Creek next day, it was pack the bags with the goodies and get them ready. We’d done this a few times now and had a system and with all hands on deck it didn’t take long.

JB was dragging the chain a bit, Sue Trimmer soon had him back on the straight and narrow.

Next morning it was up early, SSSSS, breakfast, pull the beds apart, load the truck, then back on the scooters and head east. Our next overnight was Richmond, 285km east along the Flinders Hwy. We’d gone as far west as we intended this trip, now it was all east. As Julia Creek was about 140km east, on the Flinders Hwy, we anticipated reaching the school about 11.00am.

We headed off along the long and lonely road.

As usual, the kids were marvellous. Happy, appreciative, fun loving – with attitudes like that, all these kids can surely look forward to a bright future, makes you feel good just meeting them. We are indeed a lucky country.

Here Arthur Reeves shares his ride with a lovely young lady while below Bob Anderson (left) and Chris Dietzel share theirs.

After the kids had started, revved, tooted and switched off the scooters, the school invited us to a wonderful morning tea. We didn’t need to be invited twice.

After we’d morning tead, all the kids were assembled at one end of the shelter and we brought out the “show bags” and gave one to each of the kids, though boss teacher forbade them opening the bags until they were back in the class room. Discipline in the ADF is nothing compared to here, although bursting at the seams and still with a smile on their faces and even though having a peek inside, not one opened their bag.

Then to our surprise, all the kids stood and sang for us – it was lovely.

Reluctantly we had to leave as it was another 150km to Richmond. We refuelled the scooters then headed off, expecting to get to Richmond about 4.00pm. On arrival we picked up the keys to the Council Hall from the Council Chambers, backed the truck up to the back door, unloaded, found a space, made up our beds then had a nana nap.

We needed our rest as Council had arranged an evening for us at the Kronosaurus Korner.

Kronosaurus Korner is Australia's premier marine fossil museum. It showcases nearly 1,150 unique fossil specimens from digs close to Richmond, including the 100-115 million year old remains of extinct marine reptiles, fishes, ammonites and squids that once dominated Australia's ancient inland sea. While fossils of extinct marine reptiles were found in the area during the 1860s, the catalyst for developing the museum occurred in 1989 with the discovery of the spectacular 'Richmond Pliosaur' on a property called Marathon Station near Richmond. The 'Richmond Pliosaur' was recognised by palaeontologists for representing one of the best preserved Cretaceous marine reptile fossils in the world.

Three months after the excavation of the 'Richmond Pliosaur', the skeleton of Australia's most complete dinosaur, Kunbarrasaurus Ieversi, was also found on Marathon Station. This discovery cemented Richmond as one of Australia's most prolific fossil localities and spurred an unprecedented amount of fossicking in the region. Over 150 local residents and high-profile palaeontologists held a meeting in Richmond to discuss the development of a museum to prepare, conserve and showcase the growing number of newly found fossils. The proposed museum would also serve as a research hub for visiting palaeontologists and a tourist attraction for the region.

With approval from Richmond Shire Council, the Strand Theatre was selected as the site for the Richmond Marine Fossil Museum. The building had originally been used as a movie theatre but had subsequently been converted into a storage area for animal feed. The museum opened in 1995 following major renovation work to the building. It was initially operated by a dedicated group of locals and a volunteer organisation called Friends of the Museum.

The museum was subsequently renamed Kronosaurus Korner Information Centre during a redevelopment phase known as 'Stage 1'. Funding for 'Stage 1' included $200,000 from the State Government and $300,000 from Richmond Shire Council. Kronosaurus Korner Information Centre was named after the iconic 11 metre long marine reptile Kronosaurus Queenslandicus of which a full-size replica was installed outside the museum. Expansions to the museum also included a new visitor information desk, gift shop and cafe.

Ros Curran taking it easy in the jaws of the Kronosaurus Queenslandicus

Richmond Shire Council took over full management of Kronosaurus Korner Information Centre in 1999 and shortened the name of the museum to Kronosaurus Korner. It is operated as an incorporated body with a board of directors consisting of the local mayor, councillors and one town member.

This new management system coincided with the expansion of several new galleries during a redevelopment phase known as 'Stage 2'. This included the opening of the Cannington Gallery in 2010 (funded by BHP Billiton) and the Rob Levers Gallery in 2012, named after one of the founders of the museum.,

We arrived to be greeted by Deputy Mayor June Kuhl who led us into the museum where a wonderful buffet-style dinner had been arranged for us. This lovely young lady was there to help, walking around amongst us, offering us food and telling everyone that her “grandma” made it all. If that’s correct, thank you grandma, you excelled and a big thank you to your lovely young grand-daughter who did an excellent job.

After we had had cleared the table, in record time, we were ushered into the theatre to watch a movie on the history of the area, then given carte blanche and allowed to look over the magnificent museum.

If you're ever out that way you would be well advised to put aside a few hours and have a look through the museum

Deputy Mayor June Kuhl presented Johnno, our Chancellor of the Exchequer, with a wonderful cheque for $970.00. Council had conducted a number of raffles and raised that sum from the community. We thank them very much!

June suggested before we leave in the morning that we ride a few km out of town and have a look over the ‘dig” site where a lot of the fossils had been found. After being intrigued by what we saw in the museum, we just had to, so it was an early pack up and we headed a few km north to the well signed dig site, parked the vehicles and the bikies went exploring.

The dig area is a bit of a moon-scape, it's an open dig, anyone can have a go and you can see it's been "looked" over quite carefully.

After we’d spent an hour or so at the “digs” it was time to head further east to our next overnighter – Hughenden. After Hughenden we would be back on familiar territory as we’d spent a night there last year.  We thought this would be an easy run, only 115km across to Hughenden so there was no rush to leave the “digs” but when we got back into Richmond we were met with a “Road Closed” sign.

Unfortunately, there had been a major accident and the road was closed. We waited a while then they opened the road with a diversion around the accident. We set off.

When we got to the accident site, we were diverted onto a rough track which ran along beside the railway line, this went for about a km or so and eventually we got back onto the highway.

We arrived Hughenden late in the afternoon and once again the generous Council had allowed us use of the Showground Pavilion. No need to go exploring here, this was all familiar, we knew where everything was, the showers, the kitchen, where to park everything, we settled in and cracked open the esky.  The Powers by this time had long gone but there was plenty of Great Northern for the die-hards and coke for the goffer scoffers. Johnno had approached the publican in each hotel in every town in which we’d stopped, told him/her who we were, what we were doing and miraculously our beer supplies would be replenished.

I don’t think we had to buy a carton the whole time we were away – thanks to Johnno.

That night, which was a Tuesday (which meant there wasn’t a lot happening in Hughenden), the wonderful Jenny Murdoch, the Hughenden RSL boss lady, had arranged for the publican at the Great Western Hotel to open his kitchen and provide us with a meal.

We boarded our bus, driven by our chief pilot Patti Bradford and headed back into town. The hotel had set up a private dining area at the back of the hotel, the meal was great, the beer was cold, what more can you ask for?

Dinner at the Great Western, Hughenden.

And even though it was a quiet night, it didn’t stop Johnno parading the bucket and picking up several dollars along the way.

Next morning Neil had the drone up having a look over Hughenden. You can see it below.

From here down to Townsville it was familiar ground though last year we didn’t have a look through the Flinders Discovery Centre, this time we did. Council once again obliged and we were given free access and the visit was certainly worthwhile. The display had recently had an upgrade and an expansion and if you’re ever in the area it’s definitely worth a look.

After the Discovery Centre a few went to have a look through the FJ Holden Cafe.

This is an amazing café, apart from good food, it contains all things FJ Holden, relics, stories, photos and if you’re a Holden fan you have to go and have a look. Once Mark Lucas, who owns a 1948 series Holden, found out about it we couldn’t get him out.

Before we left Hughenden we decided to give Jillian O’Toole a thrill and buy her a pie. We’d been told that Holden’s Bakery made the best pies in town (they were right) so we pulled up, right-dressed the bikes and bought her one. They looked so good we all decided to have one.

Having morning smokoed and with 250km to go, with a school stop in the middle, we set off for our next overnighter, Charters Towers.

Continued next page.