May 17th: Long Drive / Rich Reward

Day 44 (Day 19 in Australia)

Today was just a very, very long drive from Winton back to Roma: nearly 900km (550 miles), so not a lot to be said.

Or is there….?

We were up before dawn and on the road at 6:45am. Outside our roadhouse a huge flock of galahs were making a racket and squabbling over the best bit of telegraph wire to sit on.

These birds are a type of cockatoo but the word is also synonymous in Australia with ‘fool’ or ‘dandy’, etc.

The sunrise looks just like the sunset but, trust me, we’re facing the opposite direction! Julie took this shot at 6:54am.

Halfway between Blackall and Morven we saw a couple of cranes just a few yards from the road. (Probably the same pair we passed on the way up). No chance of a photo at 110kph (70mph ish) so I looked online and half-hinched one. I discovered they were sarus cranes.

Photoshoplifted from Tinterweb

On these long journeys it goes without saying that you need to check your fuel level. We filled the tank this morning at 8:30am. 60 litres approximately. We filled it again at 2:30pm! Six hours!! During Covid a tankful lasted 6 months. 

We’ve still not seen any red kangaroos other than those lazy ones sleeping at the roadside. Plenty of emus plus the 2 cranes. We saw this country cop car at the first filling station but at the second one 2 uniformed cops (with guns) got into an unmarked grey Kia Stinger so watch your speed if you are travelling these highways!

We arrived in Roma at about 4:30pm after almost 10 hours in the car, including 2 fuel and 1 coffee stops. 890km (550 miles), 2/3rds driven by Phil and the rest by Carolyn with two very well-behaved back-seat drivers.

Good hotel. I decided to skip a shower at the previous establishment (you’ll just have to imagine why) so an urgent one on arrival here was most welcome.

We had asked the hotel receptionist for recommendations as to where to eat. Without hesitation he pointed us to a particular pub about a 15 minute walk away. We walked in about 6:15pm and it was fairly busy, which is a good sign. It had the slight feel of a north of England working men’s club. 

It was good. Excellent food and drink. We had not planned to stay long but then they came round selling tickets for the meat raffle. (Didn’t I say it was like a working men’s club?). 

We felt obliged to support the local community (it was for their Rotary Club running road safety campaigns for local youngsters - a big issue in the Aussie countryside) so Phil and I bought AU$10 worth of tickets each but that meant staying for the draw. Luckily for us it was only a few minutes away  

There were 3 prizes. We didn’t win.

Then it turned out there was a second draw and they came around selling more tickets. They had obviously spotted us as “out-of-town patsies”. Phil & I (slightly begrudgingly) bought another AU$5 worth of tickets.

There were 3 more prizes. We didn’t win.

And guess what? There was a 3rd drawer!

This one was free and for anyone who had bought food & drink at the bar. We explained that we’d had table service. The ticket seller said as we’d bought tickets for the two previous raffles he would give us some anyway. He gave us 12 tickets!

The prize was in cash and had been rolling over for weeks without a winner. 

We won!

But hold your horses. The winner (us) had precisely 2 minutes to identify themselves and pick one card from a full pack at random. Phil went up as we deemed him to be ‘lucky’.

51 losing cards and 1 winner - the Jack of clubs. Phil turned over a card and handed it to the guy with the microphone. He took longer to reveal what it was than announcing the winner of Masterchef.

“Phil… it’s a black card” (long dramatic pause)

“Phil… it’s a picture card” (very long dramatic pause)

“Phil… it’s a jack!” (Even longer dramatic pause)

“Phil… … … it’s the jack of clubs! You have just won AU$1600 in cash!!”*

We went crazy! So did the all the regulars in the pub, though slightly less so.

Seconds later they were counting out the money at our table. We quickly agreed between us to put AU$400 behind the bar for the locals, which was well-received by the organisers.

This was followed by photos, an interview for the local paper and a long chat with the ticket seller/microphone guy about his sporting achievements. When he was describing his fight in the final of a major martial arts competition he came out with the spectacular phrase  “I knocked the snot out of him”!!

 Seriously though, all lovely people.

See? I told you nothing much happened.

* there was an alternative prize of AU$2,600 as a bar tab but, as I said, we were not staying long.