Time is the Enemy.
Chapter 15
The day started just like so many days on this bucket list trip, Robert woke in a strange bed, in a strange room, it was yet another Motel Room. Just for a fraction of a second, he would wonder where he was, before realising that, ‘he was on a bucket list adventure’. For a few seconds after that, he would think to himself, ‘what the hell am I doing?’
The next thing that would hit Robert, would be, that during the night, his old friend, ‘Pain’, had crawled into bed with him, as everything would hurt as soon as he moved. The whole, ‘getting out of bed, and getting dressed’, thing, had his old friend, ‘Pain’, yelling in his ear, pointing out just how much everything was going to hurt. Slowly as Robert moved about, some bits of him would wake up quicker than other bits, so after a short while, with all his bits fully woken up, Robert’s old friend, ‘Pain’, would make himself scarce. Some days, his old friend, ‘Pain’, needed some encouragement to, ‘go away’, and that would take the form, of two Panadol.
Eventually Robert got himself moving, checked out of the Motel, found a service station, filled the big old Ford with petrol, and pointed it in the direction of Mckinlay. Travelling south, on the Bruce High Way, which followed the coast, through green tropical country side, as it wound its way toward Ingram. Robert pulled up at a, ‘Rest Area’, just short of Ingram, to stretch his legs, and to take a break from driving.
After a break of around half an hour, Robert climbed back into the big old Ford, and navigated his way through Ingram, before continuing to head south towards Townsville. Traffic on the Bruce High Way was not so much heavy, but constant, there was always traffic either in front or behind Robert, but for the most part, it was moving at, or around the speed limit.
It was just on lunch time, as Robert arrived on the outskirts of Townsville, and just after passing the sixty kilometres per hour signs, Robert pulled into a Roadhouse. He filled the big old Ford with petrol, and then parked it in the Roadhouse parking area, before buying some lunch. As he sat in the Roadhouse, eating his lunch, watching the world go by, Robert saw a two door Falcon pull in, it was a yellow XA, GT.
The owner filled his car with petrol, payed for it, and then parked it next to Robert’s big old Ford. He got out of his car, and then walked around Robert’s big old Ford, just admiring it, he then walked into the Roadhouse.
Having finished his lunch, Robert walked out of the Roadhouse, and over to his big old Ford, he opened the boot and got his camera out, he then took a few pictures of the two poor old Falcons parked next to each other. The owner of the second Falcon came out of the Roadhouse, and walked up to Robert.
“Gooda, mate, is this yours?” asked the owner of the other Falcon.
“Yes, that’s me,” replied Robert.
“You don’t see them much these days, especially ones that are being used, most are like mine, they live in a shed, and only occasionally come out,” said the owner of the other Falcon.
“This one gets used, I must of done, seven or eight thousand kilometres in it over the last few months,” replied Robert.
The owner of the other Falcon, looked horrified, like Robert was committing some heinous crime, before saying, “really.”
“Yes, it’s been bogged, it’s been on dirt roads, it’s working for a living,” replied Robert.
“Has it given any trouble?” asked the owner of the other Falcon.
“It has, the diff had to be rebuilt, and the clutch was replaced a few days ago,” replied Robert, who then added, “but all in all it’s been pretty good.”
“How far do you have to go?” asked the owner of the other Falcon.
“May be another two thousand kilometres,” replied Robert.
“Good luck with that,” said the owner of the second Falcon, who then added, “I might just get a picture of the two of them.”
The Owner of the second Falcon took a few pictures of the two cars with his phone, before saying, “see yer, mate,” as he walked back into the Roadhouse.
Robert climbed into the poor old Falcon, backed out off the parking place, and drove out of the Roadhouse, he then pointed the big old Ford in the direction of Charters Towers. A few kilometres out of Townsville, the road turned inland, away from the coast, the country side started to change, from tropical jungle to open grass land.
“This looks like cattle country, to me,” said Robert, to himself, as he drove along the road. He was in his own little world, just listening to his music, and keeping his mind free of negative thought, as the kilometres slowly ticked by.
Robert turned on the video cameras, and talked to the cameras, just did his daily report, covering the events of the day, as well as how the trip was going. He talked about the country side, he talked about his old friend, ‘Pain’, and he talked about getting old. He tried to not repeat himself in these daily reports, but it was inevitable that he, end up say the same things, just repeating himself. His old friend, ‘Pain’, and getting old were two subjects on his mind, so he couldn’t help but talk about them.
It was just after three in the afternoon, as Robert pulled into Charters Towers. It looked like an old town, like it had been there forever, the houses looked old in design, everything just said, ‘old’. Robert found a garage, and filled the big old Ford with petrol, before looking for a Motel for the night. The main road, to some extent, by passed the town, so Robert had to turn off the Highway, and go into the town itself, in order to find a Motel.
The Motel, like the town, was old, it didn’t look old from the street, the entrance and reception were all brick and new looking. But once he had booked in, and parked outside the room, it became obvious that this was an old Motel. Built from fibro, with a corrugated iron roof, it had, ‘old’, written all over it, but it was comfortable enough, and not the worst Motel he had stayed at during this trip.
As with his usual routine, on arriving at a Motel he, ‘unpacking the car, removing cameras, and charging them, as well as down loading video, from the cameras to his lap top computer’, all done and dusted, Robert lay on the bed. He turned the TV on, but he did not pay much attention to it, he just tried to unwind from the road.
Before long, it was time to go out, and buy something for dinner, Robert did not feel like going to yet another Pub, so he purchased some chicken and chips, from a well known, ‘Fast Food’, chain, and took it back to the Motel room. After eating his meal, he said to himself, “why did I do that, I should of forced myself to find a Pub, I think the packaging would off tasted better than that,” as he throw the left over’s, into the bin.
Rain greeted Robert the next morning, not heavy rain, just constant rain, enough rain to require the windscreen wipers, but only on slow speed. Driving out of town, on the Flinders Highway, Robert accelerated to the speed limit of one hundred and ten kilometres per hour, he turned the sound system up loud, and settled in for a day of highway driving.
Nineteen seventy’s cars are not known for having great demister systems, and the big old Ford is no exception, so driving in the rain brings with it some problems. The back window fogged up, so Robert could not see anything through the rear window, and the front windscreen, constantly needed wiping with paper towel, to keep it clear.
By the time Robert pulled over, at Pentland, for a break, the rain had stopped, but Robert didn’t stop for long, just long enough to walk around the car a few times, and eat a few biscuits. The road from Pentland to Hughenden, was very much the same as the road from, Charters Towers to Pentland, highway driving, on or around, the speed limit. It felt a lot longer to get to Hughenden, than it actually did, the time pasted slowly for Robert, as the kilometres tick by, one by one.
Robert eventually arrived in Hughenden, just before lunch time, he filled the car with petrol, at a garage on the outskirts of town, he then stopped at a, ‘Takeaway’, food shop in the main street to buy some lunch. As he drove out of town, Robert pulled up at a rest area, he sat on the front mud guard of the big old Ford and ate a meat pie. He sat there for a while, just watching the world go by, before getting back on the road towards Richmond.
More of the same, for Robert, as he drove from Hughenden to Richmond, same landscape, same road stretching out in front of him, same rumble from the big V8, the afternoon felt very much like the morning. Robert tried to spice things up by singing along to the music, but it did not work, he tried talking to himself, but he did not have anything to say, nothing that had any merit anyway. In the end, all he could do was drive along, and let the kilometres slowly tick away.
Arriving in Richmond in the later part of the afternoon, Robert quickly found a Motel, and settled in, he lay on the bed for a while as he was exhausted from the days driving. Not that he had travelled all that far in the day, it had more to do with the sameness of the day’s trip.
Mckinlay was one of the filming locations for the movie, Crocodile Dundee, and Robert’s next bucket list location. The trip from Richmond to Mckinlay was not that far, partly on the Highway, and partly on a dirt road, through barren landscape. Robert followed the highway out of Richmond for around a hundred kilometres, before turning left onto Mckinlay Gilliate Road. A few kilometres later, much to Robert’s surprise, he crossed a railway crossing, he guessed it was the railway line to Mt Isa. Robert parked the big old Ford, grabbed his camera, and took a picture of the poor old Falcon.
The road become a dirt road, a few hundred metres after crossing the railway line, it was a narrow road, cutting its way through the outback desert. The nature off the road, meant Robert had to keep the speed down to around sixty kilometres per hour.
A few kilometres further down the road, Robert found the road partially blocked, with a caravan, parked on the road. Robert slowed down, and then slowly edged by, with the big old Ford half on the road, and half in the ditch. Once he got alongside the caravan, he could see that it was being towed by a four wheel drive, which had its bonnet up. Robert pulled up in front of the four wheel drive, and got out of the car, he then walked back towards the four wheel drive.
An older couple, Grey Nomads by the look of them, where standing in front of the four wheel drive. The male Grey Nomad, looked to be in his seventy’s, grey hair, a bit over weight, and he looked like he had never been out of the city in his life. The woman, who Robert took to be his wife, looked like she was around fifty, had long brown hair, she was thin, and short.
“Do you guys need a hand,” asked Robert.
“Do you know anything about engines,” replied the male Grey Nomad, who then added, “it want go.”
“No, not really, not a new truck like this, if it was old I might be off use,” said Robert, he paused for a moment, then added, “what happened, did it just stop?”
“No, we stopped for to change a flat tyre, and once we did that, it would not restart,” replied the male Grey Nomad.
“That’s odd,” said Robert, who paused for a moment, and then added, “my name is Robert.
“I’m Brad, and this is Janet,” replied Brad.
Robert smiled, a broad smile, before saying, “are you serious?”
“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” asked Brad, who looked a bit confused.
“You know, Brad and Janet, The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” said Robert.
“Sorry, I have never heard of it,” replied Brad.
“OK, when you get back to civilisation, search you tube for, ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” said Robert, who paused for a moment before continuing, “what does it do when you try to start it?”
“Nothing, it doesn’t turn over, nothing,” replied Brad.
Robert walked around to the driver’s door, and looked into the four wheel drive, he was about to move back to the front of the vehicle, when he noticed that there was an esky on the passenger seat. Walking around to the passenger side of the four wheel drive, Robert removed the esky from the passenger seat and said, give that a go.”
“What is that going to do?” asked Brad.
“Just give it a go,” said Robert
So Brad made his way from the front of the four wheel drive to the driver’s side, he reached in, and turned the key, the vehicle turned over, and started.
“What did you do?” asked Brad.
“This is a new vehicle, it is full of, ‘Nanny devises’, the car thought there was someone sitting in the passenger seat, who was not wearing their seat belt, so it wouldn’t go,” said Robert.
“You put that on the seat, didn’t you?” said Brad.
“How was I suppose to know, that would make it not go,” said Janet.
Robert started walking towards the big old Ford, as he didn’t want to be part of a, ‘domestic’. Once he got to the poor old Falcon, Robert grabbed his camera and took a picture of the big old Ford, with the four wheel drive and caravan in the back ground. Robert climbed into the big old Ford, and while he was putting his seat belt on, Brad and Janet, drove past, it looked like they were involved in a full on domestic, as they passed him. They were half on the road and half off it, as they headed off down the road, Robert followed, he was now stuck in there dust trail, with no chance to get by.
After about ten kilometres, the dirt road, become a bitumen road, and then Brad and Janet pulled over, they got out of their four wheel drive, and were walking back to their caravan, hand in hand, as Robert drove by. He waved, and they waved back.
“They must have one of those, hot and cold relationships,” Robert said to himself.
He didn’t see another vehicle for the next forty kilometres, just desert, a few scrubby bushes, and a thin strip of bitumen stretching out in front of him. It was just before two in the afternoon as he pulled into Mckinlay, and well past Robert’s lunch time.
Mckinlay doubled as, ‘Walkabout Creek’, in the movie, ‘Crocodile Dundee’, or at least the Pub did. There is not much to Mckinlay, only a few houses, and off course the Pub, which at first sight, did not look much like the Pub in Crocodile Dundee.
Robert said, to himself, as he pulled up outside the Mckinlay Pub, “The magic of movie making, that or its all changed since the movie was made.”
‘Walkabout Creek Pub’, was written in large letters across the front of the Pub, which didn’t look like your typical outback Pub, it was a single story building, with a veranda along the front. It was clad in corrugated iron, and located along the front of the veranda, were a number of picnic tables.
Crocodile Dundee was the biggest film in Australian history, it made lots of money, it made Paul Hagan an international star, and it spurned an equally good sequel. Robert could not remember where he first saw Crocodile Dundee, but he thought it was on TV, as he was not a movie goer. Crocodile Dundee fell into the category of being a feel good film, what Robert called a, ‘nice’, movie, it was in the same league as, ‘The Castle’, ‘The Dish’, and ‘Crackerjack’, all, ‘nice,’ movies, and there is nothing wrong with, ‘nice’.
With the big old Ford parked, Robert grabbed his camera and walked into the Pub, the bar area looked very much as it did in the movie, or as Robert remembered it from the movie. The bar was, may be, half full of travellers, Grey Nomads for the most part, all sitting around eating lunch. Robert walked over to the bar, ordered a lunch of chicken and chips, the bar man gave him a number, he then walked over to an empty table and sat down.
As Robert sat in the bar of the Walk About Creek Hotel, he could imagine, Paul Hogan walking in with a stuffed crocodile, it just had that sort of atmosphere. The Bar Man putting Robert’s lunch on the table broke his little day dream, and returned him to the real world.
“Thanks,” said Robert.
“No problem,” replied the Bar Man.
With lunch, done and dusted, Robert went over to the bar and stood next to a full size cardboard cut out of Crocodile Dundee or Paul Hogan depending on how you look at it. He asked someone standing at the bar to take his picture of him with his arm are the card board cut out.
Robert booked a camp site, the Bar Man gave him a camp site number and a bit of a mud map of where the site was. He then went outside and drove the big old Ford around the back of the Hotel, and after a bit of driving around, he found the camp site. Robert parked the poor old Falcon, pitched his tent, and generally got himself organised, before sitting on his fold out chair, in the shad, and he just relaxed.
Sitting there, Robert had time to think, he found himself thinking about his trip, the fact that the trip was coming to an end, he still had a fare distance to travel, but only two more filming locations, to tick of his list. The next filming location on Robert’s list was for the TV miniseries, ‘Field of Fire’, which was filmed in Ulmarra, in NSW, which is near Grafton.
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