Tuesday 9th August - 14,010 Km O'Shanessy River Crossing

Tuesday 9^th August – 14,010 O'Shannessy River Crossing
Michael found us – or rather we heard a vehicle in the distance and Richard got on the radio. Sure enough it was him and he had sailed right passed our sign. It had been a good evening, this time it was Rachael's turn to 'have a few'. I must admit her 'fews' are a lot fewer than mine :-)
On the road again heading for Normanton. Not much of an interesting drive, so we gobbled up the mileage and arrived early afternoon. A quick nosey around the Tourist Information centre, check in at my least favourite of places (caravan park) and we were off to check out the local supermarket. Quite dismal – how do people survive in places like this? Oh well, I'd better not grumble too much – although we still couldn't buy any cask wine -I will be drinking my chauffeur's beer at this rate – how long can I eke out a litre of wine? Chauffeur had noticed a “Tight arse Tuesday” sign at one of the local pubs - $15 meals! Decided we would splash out, heh heh. Caught up on all the domestic stuff (yes washing still gets done on holiday, maybe not quite so frequently) it certainly didn't take long to put the shopping away. Donned best shorts and shirts and set off to find the Albion Hotel (with census form under arm). Rachael certainly outdoes me, dressing up with high heels and make up. The first pub we passed (called The Purple Pub) would have done well in our Xmas light competition) it was done up like a bordello! Were very impressed with Tight Arse Tuesday. Very characterful building – all wood – complete with cute puppy, (Alby). Fortunately before Malcolm ordered we caught sight of the meals coming out of the kitchen, absolutely huge, so we decided to share. A seafood platter and 2 'pots' of XXXX Bitter (roughly half a pint) cost $20. Malcolm nearly came running back to the table shouting “start the car, start the car' (Ikea advert). A few more pots were ordered (yes they were $2.50) enjoyed our large seafood platter and we mulled over some of the slightly ambiguous census questions. A good time was had. Michael's chicken parmigiana was so large he went off to the kitchen to ask for a doggy bag (not for Alby, but for his own lunch tomorrow) and he came back with a large strip of Alfoil. Country Pubs for you, gotta love it, good old down to earth basics. Someone in a nearby tent, snored all night – another black spot against Caravan Parks (Cps). At least I bush camps we know who it is who is snoring.