Truckies stranded in Cloncurry have been helped out with some genuine North West kindness.
Severe floodwaters cutting North West roads saw a congregation of truck drivers in Cloncurry heading east with nowhere to go.
But last week a group of locals took it upon themselves to supply a home cooked meal and friendly conversation to help lift their spirits.
Jennifer Hetherington was one of the many community members who rolled up her sleeves to assist.
“These poor truckies hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in about a week, so we wanted to offer exactly that and give them a sense of home,” Ms Hetherington said.
“Sadly a lot of the truckies were heading home to Townsville to face the aftermath of the flooding over there so some of them were quite emotional not knowing what they were going home to.”
Locals had to improvise, making do with the limited supplied they had in town.
“Grocery stores didn’t have much because of limited supplies from the floods, and only had what was being flown in,” Ms Hetherington said.
“The first night we did it, it was just truckies but then we did a drive around town and invited stranded back packers and international travellers.
“We went up to the trucking yards and cooked up a storm and sat and had a chat to them. Cloncurry hasn’t got the title of Queensland’s Friendliest Town for nothing.
“The maximum number of people we had was 20 but usually it was between 12-15 people.”
Generous cooks included Sandra Hobbs Voll, Peta McIntyre, Tanya Gould, Lisa and Tim from Commins Contracting, Cloncurry Showgirl Mikaela Tapp, Hamish Griffin, Jennifer Hetherington, Jennifer Crimeen, Cloncurry Lions Club and Woolworths Cloncurry.
The Landsborough Highway reopened on Sunday February 10, with majority of the trucks leaving Cloncurry.
Those travelling to Townsville travelled south to Winton and then north-east to Hughenden where they are waiting for an engineering assessment to be conducted on the Burdekin Bridge between Charters Towers and Townsville.
The Flinders Highway remains closed.
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Samantha Campbell
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
