The story about our 28,000 km trip is quite a lengthy one and involves a lot more than an opal country experience and book hunting, we had definite goals as to where we wanted to go because of a life-long special interest in Australia’s national gemstone, the opal. Therefore, the route took us through many of the opal fields, particularly the extensive Queensland fields, which stretch more than 800 km from the New South Wales / Queensland border to Kynuma in North West Queensland. Its 200 km width takes in some of the country’s most inhospitable terrain. This area was indeed one of the roughest for our car. For instance, to get to Sheep Station Creek and Duck Creek, you must travel 40 km cross-country on station property with numerous creek crossings and bogs. On the morning we left the Yowah opal field, where we camped for 10 days before moving on to Duck Creek, we had the nicest sunrise during our whole trip.

This, however, was not a good foreboding in that type of country. And yes, we were struck for nearly a week in Duck Creek due to flooding. The local opal miner Mike Pasalic made our forced stay very comfortable. We shared all our food, and at night, while playing endless games of cards, we had the warmth of tiny old kerosene heater to keep us somewhat protected from the extreme weather conditions of cold and endless rain.

Nearly a week passed by without us being able to get out of our clothes. We slept out in a tin shed without windows or flooring. We happily accepted a kind offer from another mining couple from nearby Sheep Station Creek, Jack and Daphne Allard. The mining couple wanted to try for the mailbox about 20 km away, and at the same time get us out and on our way to Quilpie.

Conditions had eased to occasional light showers, which was the reason for a detour route that might get us to Quilpie. The 20 km to the mailbox on the mail route from Charleville would be the worst stretch. So we secure a towing rope, which we kept inside the “cockpit” through the front side window, just in case. We transferred some of our luggage on the front floor and we fastened our tent and equipment, which weighed a fair amount on top of the bonnet, to get as much weight as possible on the front wheels (the car has Front-wheel-drive).

After bidding farewell to Mike, and promising to come back, we followed Jack and Daphne in their 4-wheel-drive truck to the mailbox. No towing was necessary! Our Pulsar went through the still partially flooded creeks, and stretches of mire, just beautifully in first gear.

Quite a long detour via the old Charleville Road, which brought us to Quilpie, where, after setting up our tent in the caravan park, we enjoyed the best shower ever. All the days we were in Quilpie it was bitterly cold. In fact the first bit of warmth occurred in Longreach on the Tropic of Capricorn.

Another interesting week was spent in the remote town of Opalton, 112 km south-southwest of Winton, which has a population between 10 and 20. The route into Opalton is called “Hopeful Road”. There is no power or running water, no sewer system, no transport, no air pollution and no authority either. We spent one week there, meeting the local characters, some with a somewhat frightening appearance, like Tarzan, or Pat, who drives around in an open-air Army jeep complete with chief-of-staff flags and armed. The “law” there is unwritten one, enforced by the locals.

It is shotgun country, but if you respect these people, their freedom and environment, you have nothing to worry about. In fact, they are quite friendly and hospitable, and they would be the first to help out if you were in trouble. It is one of those few, rare, places on Earth where you are away from civilization, and there is total freedom out there. The few permanent locals of Opalton love it that way.

On the return trip to Winton, over the “Hopeful Road”, two miners, who had left early that morning to see the doctor in Winton, flagged us down. They were already on their way back home to Opalton. They opened a beautiful bottle of wine and we had a roadside party to bid us farewell. This is typical of Queensland hospitality.