Monday, August 28, 2017

Heading South

From Karumba we drove back towards Cloncurry, stopping overnight at a rest stop. In the morning I went to put in my contact lenses as usual but realised something wasn't right as I couldn't read out of my left eye, which is the reading contact. Once before I lost a contact in my eye, and it resurfaced the next day even after a doctor checked it , so after trying for a while to find it and making my eye quite sore we headed for Cloncurry and maybe an optometrist or a doctor to see if they could see it. 
On the way we stopped at a deserted old pub at Quamby that my friend Jonathon had told me about. He used to work in the area and go to that pub. I took some photos to send to him.

When we arrived at Cloncurry we found a medical centre and got sent to the hospital, which was a bit of a slow process although the people were lovely and it was nice and cool inside. The doctor that looked at me said I was the best person he’d ever dealt with while looking in my eye, but couldn't find any contact lens in there and said that you never know, it might be on the floor. Well, when we got back in the van, I looked on the floor of the bathroom, and there it was!! It must have just slipped off my finger as I went to put it in. I felt a bit sheepish, but glad that it was sorted none the less.
Consequently we had a bit of a late getaway to our next stop - Julia Creek. Everyone we talked to raved about the place and said we must go. They had a huge free camping area by a river not far from town. They had camp hosts, which Randall is not fond of, as it means he is organised. However, he was very polite and did as he was told. We found a nice spot in the much needed shade as it was about 35 degrees! We walked up to the township and had a beer at the pub. I love all the country pubs as  they have lots of atmosphere. 
There was lots of birdlife in the camp ground including these big tall birds.


We only stayed one night there before moving on. The next stop was going to be Richmond. It was about 100ks further on. The drive was fairly boring as the land was flat flat flat with dry grass and a few small shrubs although it was funny when we saw a camel just sitting by the side of the road!
When we got to Richmond we found the campsite was dusty with very little shade. We parked and walked into town. It had this interesting sculpture in the middle of town.


We checked out the swimming pool but it was shut. We found out at the info centre that is was closed for winter. It was 34 degrees!! We were so hot that we thought it would be better to be driving with the air-conditioning on, than be sitting in a dry dusty camp spot, so we kept going and drove on towards Winton, planning an overnight stop at a place called Corfield. Corfield was in the middle of nowhere and was a one house one pub town. We found out later from another group of travellers that the pub only opened on Friday night, which it was - Friday. So we thought we would head there later for a drink. A couple pulled up in a motor home and we got talking to them for ages, so by the time we cooked tea we didn’t feel like heading over for a drink, so we missed out.

Our next stop was only about 50 kilometre away - Winton, so it was nice to think we only had a short drive to get there the next day.


Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Normanton and Karumba

The road to Normanton was not bad, apart from a few single lane sections. We arrived at Normanton and got our free camp permit at the information centre and then went to check it out. We were quite disappointed as it was about 1.5kms from the centre of town and it was VERY dusty! 


We drove back to the township and went to look at the railway station. We saw that there was a ‘Billy Tea and Damper” excursion the next day. We saw a bloke who looked like he worked there and asked how we booked tickets. He wrote our name and phone number on his hand and said we were good. (Sure enough it was in the system when we arrived the next day.) 
There was a heritage listed Westpac building in the main street - quite lovely. 


There was also a replica of the largest crocodile caught in the area - we thought they used a bit of license there as it was incredibly big compared to the photo next to it.



We parked our van in the small amount of available shade at the camp area and walked to the town. We walked over the Norman River bridge looking for crocodiles, but none came to the surface. We did a bit of a pub crawl and then walked back to settle in for the evening.
We got up early the next morning to go on our train trip. It was quite fun and the commentary was good. I enjoyed the billy tea and scones and jam and cream too at a stop off called Clarina on the way back. The train slowed down at a marker for the height of the great flood in 1974. Randall, ever the sceptic couldn't believe it was true.







Some of the road trains are amazing here. This one pulled up in the main street at Normanton!


We left Normanton after two days and headed the last 70 kms to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria. We had checked on Wiki Camps for the best place to stay and we had picked two that seemed alright. As we got in early we had time to look around and discounted both of them and settled on one right next to the Karumba Lodge Hotel. It was as close to the water as you could get and there was no dust at all - we were on a concrete slab! We hooked up to power and enjoyed the air con, as it was certainly quite warm. We decided to stay three nights here and really enjoyed it. The pub was great. One night we ordered lamb shanks and no sooner had we sat down with a drink than they called out our number! It was very tasty.


It was very hot, and as swimming is not recommended in the gulf, unless you want to be eaten by crocodiles, we decided to walk to the swimming pool. It was lovely and refreshing, but they didn't  have any shaded areas to sit, which was a bit disappointing, so we had a swim and walked back to camp.
We did a 3.8 kilometre walk to Karumba Point one morning. Lucky we left early because it was quite hot by the time we got back.
We booked a Gulf Sunset and Croc Spotting Cruise, so we could get out on the water. It was a bit corny, run by a couple and one other young girl. It so reminded us of a cruise we did 7 years ago on the Victoria River in the Northern Territory. (http://debandrandall.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/heading-west.html)  Glenn drove the boat and Alison did the talking, although neither of us were confident of her knowledge. She threw a bit of meat to attract some birds, we saw a crocodile way in the distance! They even played a joke on a local by putting two cans of beer in his fish pot and giggled about what he would think when he found them. The snacks were dips and crackers and carrot and celery, a bowl of prawns that I didn’t accept, (most people know I hate seafood) and the sweets was one Timtam biscuit. We did get a couple of glasses of cask wine so that was ok I guess!! Oh, and as we got off they handed us a glow stick!!
The sunset was beautiful though, and I took it all in to remember, as I guess it will be a while before we get up there again.












Saturday, August 12, 2017

Camooweal towards Normanton

Camooweal was a quaint little town. We found a nice camp spot by a billabong near the town then walked to to the Post Office Pub for a drink. We ended up having lunch there and chatting to fellow travellers. 




The next morning we walked further on to the next camp spot to check out all the different rigs and set ups. It’s amazing how many different caravans, trailers and motor homes there are!
We  had a relaxing afternoon, so I spent time updating my blog. We packed up the next morning, with the next stop being Mt Isa. The road was good. We were amazed at how the landscape changed as we drove along. At times the ground looked like it was cement - all shiny and grey/pink in colour. It’s a wonder anything can grow through it. We saw lots of road kill which reminded us of Tassie!
Forty kilometres out of Mt Isa the topography changed to quite hilly. We arrived and headed to the info centre to find out what to do. We stopped in a caravan overflow park right next to the dried up Leichardt River.  
We visited the lookout both during the day and at night. There were great views of the city and the mine there.


At night the moon was full and looked really lovely against the lights. I set up a photo with a protesting Randall catching the moon in his hands. All a bit of fun!



At night we heard the mine humming and occasionally felt an explosion. 

I cooked a yummy roast dinner with gravy and veggies  in our Dreampot thermal cooker one night. I cooked it up in the middle of the day and it was ready by tea time. I’m always amazed at how it works!


After two days in Mt Isa we drove 50 kms down the road to Mary Kathleen - a ghost mining town. All the buildings have been removed, but the streets were still there and there were just slabs of concrete (originally driveways) dotted along. We could work out where the cinema was and the tiled floor of the toilets out the back. There was even a fountain that I found matched the original photos of the town. 



There were at least 30 other vans stopped there dotted around the town.


The blue dot above is where we put our van. The buildings in this view have since been removed. (Obviously an old satellite image.)
Before tea Randall went off walking and ended up talking to some one. He didn’t come back until well after dark and I had no idea which way he went, and he didn't take his phone with him. I felt quite frightened, and was very relieved when he arrived back!
The night sky was beautiful being away from a town - so many stars! I always look for the Southern Cross and the two pointers. 
Cows wandered through the old township and we could hear them mooing during the night.
In the morning we drove to the old uranium mine - the reason for the township. The road hadn't been serviced for over 30 years and it was a bit rough but we made it there fairly easily. It took a while to find the mine, but after a bit of walking around we found the road leading to it. There was water at the bottom, but we weren't tempted to walk down to it.



We drove out and decided to head to nearby Corella Dam, but it was obviously a favourite for the locals and was very crowded so we drove on to Cloncurry. After a stop for fuel we decided to start the track to Normanton, and stopped at a camp spot about 70kms up the road.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Heading East

In order to head East, you have to go South, about 600km. We left Darwin and our first stop was one we had stayed at before, at the junction to Edith Falls. The next morning we decided to stop there for another night. We went looking for other campsites that were indicated in Wiki Camps, but we couldn't see them on our way in the day before. We walked across 4 lanes of highway, with the speed limit being 130 kph - it was a bit hairy, especially on the bridge, with no footpath!! We found the campground - it was along an old bit of the Stuart Highway, and near the Edith River. It was a lovely area, and we chatted to some people that we'd met somewhere previously. They said they swam in the river - a bit deadly I reckon! We decided not to move - not enough internet service and I wanted to update my blog while I could. Randall wanted to do stuff too so we stayed another night. 



The sunset was beautiful there. It was another hot night and we were looking forward to being south where the evenings would be cooler.
Our next stop was a return to Daly Waters where we had stayed on the way up. This time we stayed at Stuart's Tree, just about 500 metres away from the pub. The tree has a "S" carved into it allegedly by John McDouall StuartRandall pulled out his bagpipes and had a good blow, much to the appreciation of fellow campers nearby. He even earns $6 for his trouble - his first busking money.


The next morning we turned East along the Carpentaria Highway towards Cape Crawford (which is nowhere near the coast!) This highway is single lane for most of the way and you have to move to one side if you see a car coming. There were a lot of roadworks as well, but it wasn't as bad as we were led to believe.
We pulled into a lovely campsite by a river called Little River. with beautiful reflections in the water and lots of birdlife around. 


We sat outside and watched as other caravans came in and set up. We had drinks with two other couples that evening which was enjoyable.
The next day we headed to Boroloola, not knowing what to expect. It was a funny little town, with not much there but a caravan park, 2 service stations, a few shops and a museum which was quite interesting. We couldn't get to the Gulf of Carpentaria as the road would have been too rough, which was a pity. We walked the street to get a feel of the place before we got in the car to head back to our previous camp, not before we drove to the top of the town and into the aboriginal settlement - it did say not to enter but Randall took no notice of course!!
On our way back we called into Canbirini Conservation Reserve, to have a cuppa, then we did a short walk to the billabong there which was very pretty.


We also walked up to a lookout.

                           

Back at Little River, one lot of our friends from the previous night were there again so we enjoyed another evening chatting to them. It was a lovely spot.
The next morning a we watched a car with a trailer pull in and unload trail bikes, and two cowboys hop on and drive off, and then a helicopter appeared overhead quite low, so putting two and two together they were mustering cattle.
We left to head south towards the Barkly Highway. Again, it was a one lane highway and the first 100 kms were quite rough, even though it was sealed. There were lots of cattle on the road and you had to keep your eye out for them. We often saw carcasses of cattle on the side of the road.



Some of the road users went like a bat out of hell even though we were coming towards them. To slow them down Randall stayed on the road until the last minute, then we'd move aside. The countryside changed all the time as we were driving along. Sometimes there was low shrub, sometimes flat grasslands, sometimes trees. We felt that it was the most isolated road we had ever travelled along as we hardly passed another car for 300 kms! Barkly Homestead was a welcome break - the single lane was slow going with floodways all the 
way along it.
There was lots of smoke around when we pulled into our camp spot for the evening. On talking to a couple later the next day they told us a truck had caught fire and set off fires all around. We did pass a mangled mess on the highway on our way to Camooweal, so that must have been it.