I am so glad I made the decision to leave the girls at Macrossan Park and come here to Fletcher Creek. Once again it was a free camp. It was a huge area and there were heaps of campers taking advantage of it. There were 3 separate areas to camp – two on the south of the creek and one on the north. The northern one had toilets and cold showers. I chose one of the southern ones that gave me a view of the creek.

My original plan was to stay in a caravan park before I headed here so that my lantern, computer etc was powered up for a few days, but the fees were over $30 so I chose not to do that. I was in two minds about how long I would stay at Fletcher Creek so I didn’t put up my awning and settle in, thinking I might only stay one night. The next morning I went for a long walk around the area tossing up whether to stay or go when Richard drove in. He’s great company, so the decision was made – I’m going to stay.

Richard found a spot next to me so we both set up camp for a few days stay. I love it when my awning is up, my ensuite tent is up, my loo is out of the van in the ensuite, and I have a shady spot to sit and read my book.

At Fletcher Creek I got out my solar shower for the first time and heated up some water by leaving the black plastic bag in the sun. I didn’t use it as a shower but desperately wanted to wash my hair, so when the water was hot I poured it into a bucket, soaped up then rinsed off and felt fantastic with clean hair.

Richard’s dog Sheila was by this time used to me and kept visiting if she hadn’t seen me for a while. She also knew I was a soft touch for ‘treats’!

Eventually my lantern ran out of battery and I was low on drinking water so it was time to strike camp and head off, leaving Richard behind to enjoy a few more days at Fletcher Creek. I definitely needed to charge everything up and wash a load of clothes so out came my Camp 6 book to work out where to go next. I decided on Pentland, only a few kilometres west of Charters Towers. Being a small town I was sure the camping fees would be more reasonable.

Now I am really travelling alone as everyone I had been sharing my travels with was heading east to Townsville while I was going west to Mt Isa.