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© 2003 Brian F. Schreurs
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Barkly Homestead to Townsville

August 8, 2001

  3716 miles       refuel & depart Barkly Homestead
  3763 miles       killed bird
  3822 miles       out of gas; jerrican
  3860 miles       refuel in Camooweal
  3965 miles       refuel in Mt. Isa
  4112 miles       refuel in Juliet Creek
  4249 miles       out of gas; jerrican
  4252 miles       refuel in Hughenden
  4366 miles       investigate misfire, top off fuel
  4392 miles       refuel in Charters Towers
  4471 miles       arrive Townsville

Not even 50 miles into the day, Jason was flogging the XJ6 down the road at a cracking pace when one of the Korke birds didn't abandon its kill quite early enough. It realized its error at the last instant and aborted its circle, flapping madly to avoid us. All to no avail -- with a deafening crack! the bird flattens itself across the windshield of the Jaguar, right in front of the driver. If there hadn't been a windshield, the bird would have taken Jason's head off. Shane cackles madly at the thought, and at last confesses to being responsible for the bird guts we found ringing the headlight yesterday. This brings our total kills to five.

Back in Queensland, land of... er... brown grass.

By this point, these little stops are no longer a source of merriment.

Holy Joe Creek. A pleasant surprise on a particularly long day. No, you can't see the actual creek in the photo.

The echinda, a tribble's evil cousin.

A particularly aggressive brush fire, keeping us focused on the problem at hand.

In Camooweal, we are faced with the unpleasant task of scraping bird guts from along the top of the windshield trim.

The three of us are exhausted and running out of patience with each other's neuroses. Shane and I pass the time pretending to make plans for a joint venture; Jason hides in his book. Jason's jumper wire keeps us running after each gas stop, though all of us notice that our top speed has been slipping.

About halfway between Cloncurry and Julia Creek, I demand that the gang stop the car. They think I've lost my mind, and it occurs to me that they might just tear off without me, but fortunately Jason is too deep in his book to take the wheel and Shane is curious to see what's got me bounding down the highway. It's a creek: Holy Joe Creek. I make Shane take a picture of me alongside the sign. It's not too often you get a creek named after you.

Further down the path, it's Shane's turn to demand the car stops. He bolts down the highway, moving as fast as his back will allow. The object of his desire proves to be a prickly ball of animal. It's an echinda, an Australian hedgehog. Jason had nearly hit it. With as little living wildlife as we'd seen, Shane is all over himself to show it off. He picks it up gently, getting pricked repeatedly in the process, and discusses the ecology of this little creature. After a few minutes of this the echinda decides it is in no immediate danger and tries to make a run for it. Shane obligingly lets him go.

By Hughenden, the XJ6 really is not running too well. Out of ignition supplies, we have little alternative but to press on. The XJ6 seems not to like speeds higher than 65 mph so our progress is slowed considerably. To top it off, there's a brushfire along the road; not too big, but big enough that stalling in the wrong place is a dangerous proposition.

Conversation falls off. We all watch the kilometer markers roll by, wondering whether we'd be driving or walking to the next.

Past the fuel stop in Charters Towers, it becomes necessary to rev the engine at stops to keep it from stalling. Fortunately, there isn't much call to stop until we reach Townsville. Shane is driving -- a good thing, as he is the native -- and he whips the car through the city to his home in nearby Kelso.

Shane finds his home and coasts the XJ6 to the curb, allowing the engine to stall. He cranks the engine but it refuses to fire. The XJ6 brought us to the end, but it knows its journey is over.