My world walk blog Australia 58  

Comet's great 'Dig' 

Wednesday was day 586 of myworldwalk.com  Total kilometres to date: 20,845.

Website update copied from Facebook

 It was a hot, 34C day and I walked 36 uneventful kilometres and finished in a small village, population 100 called Comet. Due to my late start I finished after dark.

Inside the Comet River Hotel the kitchen was closed but Dani and Steve the owners kindly fixed me up a huge chicken salad dinner and gave me a room for the night, all on the house! Thank you so much for your huge genorisity. 

This morning I took up Steves offer of a rest day, so I'm just catching up with some chores and I had a stroll around the area. Named after the 'Comet River' which runs close to the township. The river itself was named after Prussian explorer Ludwig Leichhardt who observed a comet in the skies during his travels through Central Queensland in the late 1800's. He and his party were on their way from Morento Bay (near Brisbane) to the Northern Territory. 

There is a tree trunk that Leichhardt marked with 'Dig' during his exploration of the region in 1844. 'Dig' indicated to those who followed that he had buried food and journals in this spot.

The small rural town is a service centre for the local farming community who mostly farm beef, cotton and grains.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping it will be a good Friday when I walk to Emerald which is about a marathon away.

Snake bite

I'm having a great Good Friday out in the scrub with Theal and Steve. If you like Crocodile Dundee watch this video
I'm starting to wonder if I will ever get to Darwin! Today, I walked only 16 kms and my hosts, Steve and Dani who I stayed with for the last two nights in the Comet River Hotel came out and offered to commute me back to my route in the morning, so a third night with them!I will go to my grave believing that the best way to see the world is on foot. I have so many experiences that people miss as they drive by in an hour and totally miss out on. I see all the stuff that they miss, even the locals are sometimes oblivious to. I pick up on the detail they all miss. I'm connecting so much with the people of Queensland, my favourite Australian state. When I got back to their Comet River  Hotel I was planning to leave Karma, my cart in their truck but then I was saddened to hear that one of their friends dogs, a Border Collie was bitten by a Brown snakel. So, sad, I will update when I hear more.
They needed the truck, so, I had to unload Karna really quickly, never a dull moment.
People have so many interesting yarns, they tell me so much and I can only record so much!
Later, Steve mentioned that he wanted to take me out to meet his mate who operated a dozer, as he calls it. I worked in construction for so many years, that it didn't seem like a big deal to me. But then wow! What an experience. Viva Australia, viva Queensland

Snake bite update. It's good news. Steve tells me that they reckon that their friends dog had an encounter with a black-headed phyton. It seemed that when the dog was discovered that it was suffering more from constriction issues, as that's what phytons do, and their dog was froathing from its mouth while suffering more from shock and thankfully is on the mend.

Having a great time in Anakie. 22 kms today and 23 yesterday. I'm staying with an Aussie walker called Andrew Jeffery. Fully loaded with water and even a freezer which operates off solar power, his whole setup weighs 400 kilos. Thanks for great help mate! Things are getting pretty remote now. Next water 120 kms away in Alpha
It may be a few days before I post again.

Two and one! 21,000 kms have been walked!
After yesterdays long day I'm having a tough day in the Drummond hills.
So many great people stopping to offer snacks and water! Thank you everyone

Thanks a million to Karl, the owner of the Alpha Hotel Motel in Alpha

They kindly gave me a complimentary room and a delicious dinner last night. Karl  approached me and made the offer that he wanted to help me in whatever way he could. I was just about to go to the local park to set up my tent and cook my dinner.
Later, after a much needed shower and shave we chatted for ages as apparently he saw me on the road a few days ago. I was also touched that he went to the trouble of typing up this lovely encouraging letter. Please check it out.

Their future website will be:  www.alphahotelmotel.com

He came over from South Africa with his family as a two year old migrant. The family worked hard to establish many businesses, its not the first time that I have heard of migrant families making a success of their lives in the land of opportunity.
Karl's story is interesting as he is a qualified doctor having got his qualification after a five-year study in a China at the Shandong school of Medicine University. He has put his career on hold to help out with the family business.
I also had a nice chat with Maurice a bartender who has been working for the family for eighteen years.
Before I left town I had coffee with Nola, a volunteer who works at trying to encourage tired drivers to stop for free coffee. A wonderful woman and a vital community service.

After three days from Jerico I am on the outskirts of Baracaldine
Every town likes to be famous for something. Here it's the tree of knowledge! The flies seem to love tracking me on my tracking device. You too can follow my progress on www.myworldwalk.com
Next stop Longreach which will be three or four  days walk. Thanks to Graham Seabrook for arranging with the BP service station there to fix Karmas two buckled wheels
757 km to Mt Isa where I plan a long stop with the Irish community who have promised me a huge welcome 🇮🇪
I have a lot of talks lined up in the Irish Club, library, schools etc and some media commitments to keep my message: that early cancer screening saves lives message out there.   It's an old mining town that the Irish settled in a long, long time ago.
Darwin, my ultimate Aussie destination and a further 1,600 km from Mt Isa. Its the red pin at the top of the map.