Pete-n-Pam.com

Introduction and Index

Welcome to the web site of Pam and Peter Ranson, a diary in words and pictures of our travels
around the beautiful and diverse continent of Australia. We created this site so that, if our friends
and relatives get sufficiently bored, they can read it and keep track of us. Pam keeps a separate
journal called Pam's Perspective.

Australia is a land of contrasts as the pictures above illustrate. Centre the picture on your screen using the scroll bar on the right, then move your mouse pointer on and off the side of the picture to see Coober Pedy, a hot, arid opal mining town in the northern desert area of South Australia, and Bright, a tourist oriented town at the foot of the Australian Alps in Victoria.

Finding your way around this web site:
This web site is in three parts:
1. The Main Section with narrative and pictures of our round-Australia tour.
2. Pam's Perspective where Pam gives her views in the form of a diary. Most days seem to end with Happy Hour.
3. Additional Items for text and pictures where we get sidetracked a little.

When one of the index tables (below) is displayed on your screen, move your mouse pointer to the left column and select the page you require. When the 'arrow' changes to a 'pointing finger' then click the mouse's left button. The page you have selected will appear on your screen.

When you are ready to move on, scroll down to the bottom of that page and you'll find 'navigation links' there; you'll find them at the bottom of every page (except this one). They usually allow you to turn back to the previous page, turn over to the following page, or return to this Index Page. Hint: On later pages the words Adventure Before Dementia at the top double as navigation links. Adventure = Back one page. Dementia = Forward one page. Before = Return to Index page.

Also, the small pictures at the top of this page are links. Click on Peter's face to go to the current Main page, or on Pam's face to move directly to her current page.

Clicking on 'Maps', the first item in the Main Index, an image of Australia divided into states will open. Click on the state of your choice. That will open a state map with red lines indicating the places where we've stayed. At the other end of the red lines there will be one or more numbers. These are page numbers applicable to the place. Clicking on the page number will take you to that page. The numbers are in chronological order starting when we set off in 2004. Where the numbers are consecutive it means we stayed for a time, where they are not it means we left and returned.

You are now on the Index Page. There is a link back to this page at the bottom of every other page.

Index colour coding . . .

Blue: Pages of text and pictures of the places we visit.	If you have read previous pages . . . Go straight to the current page
Purple: Pam's account of our travels in diary form.	If you have read previous pages . . . Go straight to the current page
Green: Items not fully consistent with our travels.

storey

. . . and the three Indexes

Click to Navigate	Approx. Date	Main Index - and a brief description of each page's content.
Maps The History A Test Run Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 148 Page 149 Page 150 Page 151 Page 152 Page 153 Page 154 Page 155 Page 156 Page 157 Page 158 Page 159 Page 160 Page 161 Page 162 Page 163 Page 164	Dec 2004 Jan 2005 Jan 2005 Feb 2005 Mar 2005 Apr 2005 May 2005 May 2005 Jun 2005 Jul 2005 Aug 2005 Sep 2005 Sep 2005 Sep 2005 Sep 2005 Oct 2005 Nov 2005 Nov 2005 Nov 2005 Dec 2005 Jan 2006 Feb 2006 Mar 2006 May 2006 May 2006 Jun 2006 Jul 2006 Jul 2006 Aug 2006 Sep 2006 Oct 2006 Oct 2006 Oct 2006 Nov 2006 Dec 2006 Jan 2007 Jan 2007 Feb 2007 Feb 2007 Mar 2007 Mar 2007 Mar 2007 Mar 2007 Apr 2007 Apr 2007 Apr 2007 May 2007 May 2007 May 2007 Jun 2007 Jul 2007 Sep 2007 Oct 2007 Oct 2007 Nov 2007 Nov 2007 Nov 2007 Dec 2007 Dec 2007 Jan 2008 Feb 2008 Feb 2008 Feb 2008 Feb 2008 Feb 2008 Mar 2008 Apr 2008 May 2008 May 2008 May 2008 May 2008 May 2008 May 2008 Jun 2008 Jun 2008 Jun 2008 Jun 2008 Jul 2008 Jul 2008 Aug 2008 Sep 2008 Sep 2008 Sep 2008 Oct 2008 Oct 2008 Nov 2008 Nov 2008 Nov 2008 Nov 2008 Dec 2008 Dec 2008 Jan 2009 Jan 2009 Mar 2009 Apr 2009 Aug 2009 Nov 2009 Nov 2009 Dec 2009 Dec 2009 Feb 2010 Feb 2010 Feb 2010 Mar 2010 Mar 2010 Apr 2010 Apr 2010 Apr 2010 May 2010 Jun 2010 Jun 2010 Jun 2010 Jun 2010 Jun 2010 Jul 2010 Jul 2010 Aug 2010 Aug 2010 Aug 2010 Aug 2010 Aug 2010 Sep 2010 Sep 2010 Sep 2010 Oct 2010 Oct 2010 Oct 2010 Nov 2010 Nov 2010 Nov 2010 Dec 2010 Dec 2010 Dec 2010 Jan 2011 Feb 2011 Feb 2011 Mar 2011 Mar 2011 Mar 2011 Apr 2011 Apr 2011 May 2011 May 2011 May 2011 May 2011 Jun 2011 Jun 2011 Jun 2011 Jul 2011 Aug 2011 Aug 2011 Sep 2011 Sep 2011 Oct 2011 Nov 2011 Nov 2011 Dec 2011 Dec 2011 Dec 2011 Jan 2012 Feb 2012 Feb 2012 Mar 2012 Apr 2012	Maps of each state showing each place we've stayed. (We've visited very many more.) How a holiday at Kalbarri led to us becoming Grey Nomads. A last trial run before heading around Australia. A 2,000 km journey from Perth across the Nullarbor Plain to Ceduna in South Australia. We explore the beautiful Eyre Peninsula - and leave just days before a devastating fire. Port Augusta, the Yorke Peninsula, the “Body Bank”, the wine valleys and . . . Stockport. Adelaide, the villages of Adelaide Hills, Victor Harbor, Kangaroo Island and Goolwa. Robe, Mount Gambier, Tailem Bend, Murray Bridge and Mount Barker to Adelaide - again. The Riverland, the Pichi Richi Railway and then north to Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon. Alice Springs. North to Tennant Creek and Katherine. Kakadu National Park and on to Darwin. Backtracking south and visiting some fabulous places we missed going north. Queensland: Mount Isa, Charters Towers and the road to Cairns. Cairns. More Cairns. Even more Cairns. Yet still more Cairns. Aboard MV Trinity Bay to the Torres Strait and back. Townsville, then on to Emerald. Longreach, the Qantas Museum, the Stockman's Hall of Fame and Winton. Charleville, Roma, St. George and Toowoomba. Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Story Bridge then on to the Tamworth Country Music Festival. More of Tamworth then on to Sydney. The Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. A little more of Sydney then north towards Brisbane, stopping frequently along the way. Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay then back to Queensland. Hervey Bay and Fraser Island. Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Woodgate and 1770. A week in Gladstone then . . . full speed back to Cairns. Our second visit to Cairns. The only way to spend the winter. More on a very wet 'dry' in Cairns. A trip north to beautiful Cooktown. More fun in and around Cairns. We leave Cairns and skydive at Mission Beach. Back to Townsville and on south to explore Airlie Beach. South to Marian where we see a Platypus! Then on to Hillsborough. Emu Park, the Tropic of Capricorn, trains, crocodiles and more. Still more from around Emu Park and "Rocky". On the move again - staging south to Tamworth. Our second Country Music Festival. Port Macquarie and a big plan change. More Port Macquarie then on to the Blue Mountains. More of the Blue Mountains. We leave Katoomba for Kiama. Kiama then Batemans Bay and on to the Snowy Mountains. More of the Snowy Mountains. The National Capital, Canberra. More on Canberra. A little more of Canberra, then on to Orange and Mudgee. To Dubbo then on to Lightning Ridge. More on Lightning Ridge then on to Mitchell. Blackall, a lovely country town, then on to Longreach. Longreach, Julia Creek, then a broken spring on the way to Normanton. Georgetown, Mount Surprise, Cairns again and Cooktown. Heading south via Cairns and Cardwell to Midge Point. On south through Sarina, Emu Park and Biloela. More of Biloela then on to Chinchilla, Stanthorpe and Casino. Grafton. Armidale. Nelson Bay then south to Sydney. Singleton and adjacent area. More of Singleton and then back to Tamworth. In and around Tamworth. Gilgandra, Cobar and Broken Hill. More from Broken Hill. Mildura. Renmark. Mainly pictures from the Murray River. Adelaide then north to Alice Springs. North again to Katherine. Kununurra More Kununurra. Even more Kununurra. Yet more Kununurra still. Will we ever leave? Still more Kununurra. Turkey Creek, the Bungle Bungles, Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing . . . Derby and the Horizontal Falls. More of the Horizontal Falls then Broome. We extend our stay in Broome. More Broome. Port Hedland then inland to Newman. Tom Price and Karijini National Park. Onslow, atomic explosions and a short lived post office. Exmouth. More Exmouth. Still Exmouth. Will we see a whale close up? And more. We see a pink seagull, a Qantas A330 drops in, then we move on to Coral Bay. Coral Bay then on to Carnarvon. A little more of Carnarvon then on to Shark Bay to close the loop! Denham, Shark Bay. We've done it! Right around Australia. Geraldton. More of Geraldton. A month in Perth. Back across the continent. We start 2009 in Tamworth. The second half of the Tamworth Festival. Pictures from in and around Tamworth. More pictures from in and around Tamworth. Even more pictures from in and around Tamworth. This 'n that plus a shot at the Tamworth Council. A very interesting evening. Our departure date from Tamworth is becoming rubbery. And yet another Christmas. Life after Tamworth - Wagga Wagga. Still in Wagga Wagga. Albury-Wodonga and further into Victoria. The Victorian Alpine Region. More beautiful places in the Alps. Even more beautiful places in the Alps. Autumn colours around Bright. Bright Festival. Still no snow. The Fabulous Buffalo Chalet. A Page of Pictures taken Around, From, and Of Mount Buffalo. The Valley of the Shadow of Death. More from the Alpine region. Will it EVER snow? It's snowing at last! Off to Lake Eyre. Lake Eyre from the land and air. Back south to Adelaide, mount Gambier and Portland, Victoria. More from Portland then east along the Great Ocean Road. Port Campbell and more of the Great Ocean Road. The Twelvish Apostles. Pictures of the Shipwreck Coast. East along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay. Some incredibly beautiful places near Apollo Bay. Torquay and environs. We leave the coast and head north to Mildura for the country Music Festival. Still in Mildura as the Country Music Festival winds up. More of Mildura then back to Bendigo. An Impression of Melbourne in Pictures. Phillip Island, here we come. Hopefully. We head further east. Sale, capital of Gippsland. Bairnsdale and environs. Christmas in and around Bairnsdale. Back to the Snowy Mountains. Over the mountain and back to Porepunkah. Porepunkah and Bright - an area we love. West again to Warragul then Geelong. On to Ballarat. More of Ballarat. Begonias and the Eureka Stockade. On to hear country music in Horsham and meet an angel. Castlemaine and Shepparton. Shepparton then back to 'Punkah. The Bright Autumn Festival and a day in Harrietville. More fun at the Festival. 'Punkah and Bright after the Festival. Forbes, N.S.W. and on to Tamworth. Two weeks in Tamworth and on to Glen Innes, Stanthorpe and Brisbane. Pam's girlfriends drop in for some retail therapy. More of Brisbane. The Sunshine Coast - Maroochydore. Tin Can Bay. Pam's birthday and much more. Fun in Bell Park. More fun in Bell Park. Still more fun in Bell Park. The road to Temora. Temora and the NSW Gliding Championships Temora then Tamworth via Bathurst and Sydney. Bathurst and a look at Sofala. Tamworth. Struggling with a website upgrade. Narromine and on to Cowra. Cowra then Young. Temora to Albury. Back to Bright.

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Pam's Perspective

July 2004
Dec 2004
Jan 2005
Feb 2005
Mar 2005
Apr 2005
May 2005
Jun 2005
Jul 2005
Aug 2005
Sep 2005
Oct 2005
Nov 2005
Dec 2005
Jan 2006
Feb 2006
Mar 2006
Apr 2006
May 2006
Jun 2006
Jul 2006
Aug 2006
Sep 2006
Oct 2006
Nov 2006
Dec 2006
Jan 2007
Feb 2007
Mar 2007
Apr 2007
May 2007
Jun 2007
Jul 2007
Aug 2007
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Nov 2007
Dec 2007
Jan 2008
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Jun 2008
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July 2010
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Jan 2011
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Mar 2011
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June 2011
July 2011
Aug 2011
Sept 2011
Oct 2011
Nov 2011
Dec 2011
Jan 2012
Feb 2012
Mar 2012
Apr 2012
May 2012

   Our “shakedown” trip to Shark Bay prior to starting the Big One.
   After unavoidable delays we finally set off across the continent.
   The Eyre Peninsula, the Yorke Peninsula, the Clare and the Barossa Valley wine regions.
   Adelaide and Victor Harbor.
   More Victor Harbor and south to Mount Gambier.
   Adelaide, the Riverland, Port Augusta, the Pichi Richi Railway, Woomera and Coober Pedy
   North to Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon and The Alice.
   North to Tennant Creek, Katherine, Kakadu and Darwin.
   In and around Darwin, then across to Queensland.
   Mount Isa, Charters Towers and Cairns.
   More Cairns.
   And yet more Cairns.
   Townsville, Emerald, Longreach, Charleville, Roma and St. George.
   From St. George to Toowoomba then Christmas at Jimboomba.
   Jimboomba to Lake Keepit via Glen Innes and the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
   Tamworth during and after the Festival then on to Sydney.
   Goodbye Sydney, hello Toowoon Bay and on to Newcastle, Taree and Ballina.
   From Ballina back to Queensland and good old Ross and Jan Taylor's place at Jimboomba.
   On north to Mooloolaba, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island and Woodgate Beach.
   A town called 1770, north to Gladstone then a fast run to Cairns.
   In and around Cairns.
   North on a safari to the last frontier - Cooktown.
   Our last month in Cairns. Perhaps.
   We move south from Cairns and skydive over Mission Beach.
   Cape Hillsborough, Emu Park and lots more.
   We decide to stay in Emu Park for Christmas.
   More of Emu Park then back on the road.
   From Tamworth to Port Macquarie then Katoomba.
   More on Katoomba then on to Kiama, Batemans Bay and the fabulous Snowy Mountains.
   Canberra, Orange, Mudgee, Dubbo and on to Lightning Ridge.
   We leave Lightning Ridge for Mitchell and on to Blackall and Longreach.
   We finally leave Longreach for Julia Creek and the Gulf.
   A rodeo in Georgetown, lava tubes in Mount Surprise, then Cairns.
   North to Cooktown then south via Cairns.
   Cairns south to Cardwell, Midge Point, Sarina and Emu Park.
   More Emu Park and then on to Biloela, Chinchilla, Stanthorpe, Casino, and Grafton.
   More Armidale, Port Stephens and then Narrabeen, Sydney.
   A bit more of Sydney then we escape back to the bush.
   Tamworth for our third Country Music Festival.
   Back on the road. Gilgandra, Cobar, Broken Hill, Mildura and Renmark.
   Still in Renmark then on to Adelaide and up to Alice Springs.
   We leave Alice Springs for Katherine and then Kununurra in the West.
   Well settled in Kununurra then moved on via the Bungle Bungles to Fitzroy Crossing.
   Derby and on to Broome.
   Two more weeks in Broome then Port Hedland, Newman and Tom Price.
   Onslow and then . . . more Onslow.
   Exmouth.
   More Exmouth then on to Coral Bay and Carnarvon.
   Shark Bay, Kalbarri and back to Perth.
   Back in Perth - but for how long?
   Starting the new year in Tamworth - for the fourth time.
   The Festival behind us, we get jobs in Tamworth.
   The tide has turned, the bank balance is no longer intent on suicide.
   Drama! Did Pete Mate have a stroke? Tests will reveal all.
   The temperature drops as winter approaches.
   Winter in Tamworth.
   And more winter in Tamworth.
   Guess what? Even more of Tamworth.
   See above.
   See above. We're itching to move on.
   Spring has well and truly sprung.
   Christmas approaches - already.
   A whole new year ahead
   Onwards towards Victoria - at last.
   The Alpine Region of Victoria
   More of The Alpine Region of Victoria
   The Bright Gala Day to start another month in Porepunkah
   Winter is here . . . and at last the snow!
   A once in a lifetime opportunity to see Lake Eyre with water in it.
   We tour the Great Ocean Road.
   The end of "the road" - Torquay then on to Mildura.
   The end of the Mildura Country Festival.
   Phillip Island, Toora, Sale and on to Bairnsdale.
   Our sixth anniversary on the road and Christmas in Bairnsdale.
   A couple more weeks in Bairnsdale then over the mountains.
   Back in Porepunkah. Like coming home. Then on to Geelong via Warragul.
   Geelong, Ballarat and then Horsham for more country music.
   Unexpectedly back to Mildura then Castlemain and Shepparton.
   The Autumn Festival in Porepunkah then on to Tamworth via Temorah and Forbes.
   Two weeks in Tamworth then on to Brisbane.
   Three more weeks in Brisbane, then on to Maroochydore.
   A few more days in Maroochydore then north to Tin Can Bay and Emu Park.
   Much jollity in Emu Park.
   More jollity in Emu Park.
   We leave Emu Park and head south to Temora.
   Goodbye Temora, Bathurst for a few days, Sydney for a few more then Christmas in Tamworth.
   A lovely Christmas in Tamworth then the old man makes seventy. Yet another C.M. Festival.
   On from Tamworth to Narromine, Cowra then Young.
   Rain, rain and more . . . rain.
   Easter in Albury, fun with Greg 'n Bev then on to Porepunkah.
   The Autumn Festival in Porepunkah and a surprise.

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Additional Items - peripheral stories and pictures

Andamooka
Lasseter's Reef
Never Say Die
Daly Waters
Kakadu
Flowers
Cool Waters
Mardi Gras
Cyclone Larry
HARS Aircraft
Keep the Flag
Snowy River
Air Show
Gardens
M.V. Krait
Wild Flowers
Kings Park
Caravan Sealing
Farewell Party
Fire!
Warbirds Display

   Pictures from a remarkable opal mining town, a cross between a quarry and a scrap metal yard.
   Does it exist? Will it ever be found? The story of Harry Lasseter.
   The story of Kurt Johannsen's DeHavilland Moth and an incredible escape from the desert.
   Pictures from the totally crazy Daly Waters pub.
   Pictures from Kakadu National Park.
   Some blooms in Cairns Botanical Gardens.
   Some of the features and pictures of one of the best caravan parks in which we've stayed.
   Sydney's 2006 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
   A first-hand account of how a Category 5 cyclone affected the fauna and flora.
   Some pictures from the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society.
   A poem in support of retaining the Union Jack on the Australian flag.
   The Man From Snowy River by Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson. An Aussie classic.
   Some pictures from a great air show put on by the little town of Mudgee.
   A few pictures from the fabulous Hunter Valley Gardens.
   The story of a little Japanese fishing boat and her crew of brave commandoes in WWII.
   Pictures of Wild Flowers along the road verge between Kalbarri and the North West Coastal Highway.
   Pictures of, and from, Kings Park, Perth. Also some of Perth from across the Swan River.
   Keeping The Rain Out Of Your Caravan.
   A Farewell Cocktail Party in Tamworth.
   72 homes destroyed by fire but ours just escaped.
   A superb air display at Temora.