August 2021
Note: this post is over a week old. We have been stuck in Katherine due to the lockdown with crappy internet. So just pretend this was a week ago.
We have travelled some kilometres in the past 10 days (1,300 of them in the last 3 days). Mali has succeeded in completing all her schoolwork this last week in the car and has racked up about twenty ‘bush-wees’ on the side of the road. Most days she would rather do a bush-wee than use the toilet – I am happy with that. We have seen so many BOPs (birds of prey) – who would have thought I could have ‘twitched’ every day in the passenger seat of the car. We have seen some mammoth Wedge-tailed Eagles and loads of Black and Whistling Kites (and now I know the difference between the former two). Lunch stops in Western QLD are also eventful – Mali has been tooted numerous times by passing road trains and we have experienced some fantastic scenic lunch breaks.
After leaving Atherton on the Savannah Way (a road that stretches 3700km from Atherton to Broome in WA) we stopped at Woodleigh Station so we could enjoy the Innot Hot springs up the road. The hot mineral springs were simply shallow pools in Nettle Creek directly alongside the highway. It was quite relaxing having a soak but, at times, a surge of boiling hot water would sneak through the gravel and almost burn you so regular adjustments were required – sometimes via the aid of the resident shovel. Woodleigh Station was huge, with each site secluded along the riverbank. The Coopers came to visit us in the afternoon (as their site was about 1km away). The downside was that you had a long walk to the ablutions block – or a quick car ride (it depended on the urgency). Craig, Mali, and I had a skinny dip the next morning. The water was freezing, and I enjoyed my steaming cup of tea waiting on the bank and a little sunbake to warm up.
We set off for Undara Volcanic National Park next (50km west), where we had booked a site but not a tour. The tours take you through some of the world’s longest and best-preserved Lava Tube Cave system. About 190,000 years ago a volcano erupted, spewing molten lava over the surrounding landscape. The lava flowed rapidly down a dry riverbed. The top outer-layer cooled and formed a crust, while the molten lava below drained outwards, leaving behind a series of hollow tubes. Unfortunately, all the tours were booked so we missed out. We enjoyed their swimming pool and a drink at the huge bar overlooking the woodlands but did not enjoy shooing the blowflies out of the van – for some reason this place was plagued with blowies, and we decided to make salmon patties – big mistake. This motivated me to finally get out the magnetic flyscreen we had been carrying for months and spend hours stitching it to size whilst Craig drove the car (clearly, I do not have as much spare time as people think). One thing I have learnt about my husband is that he is not a big fan of bugs. He gets rather irritated when we have flies in the caravan and makes a point of telling us each time he has removed (or killed) one. Do not get me started on those tiny little bugs that happen to get in a congregate around any lights that are on. I am often the one who sits up reading under that light and have almost resorted to wearing my mosquito head net for fear of becoming an insectivore.
We left Undara at 6:30am for a 517km (~6.5 hour) trip west to Karumba – Gulf Country. This is a ‘long’ day for us having decided 3 hours was our maximum each day. We drove past the Savannah King in Normanton – a life size replica of a 8.63m crocodile shot by a Polish (female) hunter in 1957. It was utterly massive! Karumba was about 45 minutes NW of Normanton and we headed here for 2 nights. Karumba is a town on the southern part of the Gulf of Carpentaria which hosts amazing sunsets, great ‘Barra’ fishing and the only hatchery that breeds the southern strain of Barramundi. The interpretive display at the hatchery was fantastic. Mali even followed the life cycle of the Barramundi. Did you know all Barramundi that hatch develop into males? They become females after they have spawned a few times downstream. Karumba became popular in the 1950s as a great fishing spot and its economy revolves largely around fishing.
Next, we headed south on the Bourke Developmental Road (or The Matilda Way – the road stretching from Bourke in NSW to Karumba) to Burke & Wills Roadhouse where Mali enjoyed the tree swing and playing with the resident border collie Lotty. They would not be separated. Mali has grown to absolutely adore dogs and it looks as though we will be spending the rest of the trip figuring out which breed to get. Many of the roadhouse stays are simply a gravel site with access to toilets and showers and often meals if you wish to buy. I hoped there would be somewhere to walk in the morning (there is often a long driveway or a few bush tracks) but my option was simply the main road and given the dust and the massive road trains we had been seeing (4 cars long) I decided I would not walk in the morning.
Off to Cloncurry!! We spent 2 nights here at a basic caravan park with a pool. Now, at this point in our trip out west a swimming pool is the best facility a caravan park can offer (well aside from the ablutions block). Mali and Craig sauntered off for a swim and were back 5 minutes later. It was freezing!! Mali, of course, dived straight in (and straight back out). We visited the Royal Flying Doctor Museum. Cloncurry is where it all started in 1928 by John Flynn. The Museum had some great old artefacts like the first pedal radio and an old medicine chest kept by people living in remote areas. Everything in these chests was numbered and the radio doctor would advise people what to use given the situation over the radio. We were told by a local that the Curry Merry Muster (Rodeo) was on, so we put on our best country outfits and headed off for a night of rodeo. We saw men riding bucking horses, women riding horses on the barrel races and steer wrestling where a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops off the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground. This was quite a feat, but the men seemed to pull it off easily in 5 seconds flat. It was so sweet seeing the younger generation of country kids dressed up with giant brimmed hats, fancy collared shirts and jeans and boots.
We headed west again (only 70km) towards Mt Isa along the Overlanders Way (all these roads have special names) to stay at an abandoned mining settlement called Mary Kathleen. This was something quite interesting. In 1956 an architect-designed town was built (completed within a year) to provide a settlement for the workers at the Uranium mine. The town was 6km away and had a post office, cinema, sports ovals, pool, a school, banks, and a store. In 1982 it was closed down, when reserves were finally exhausted, and all buildings relocated. Now the site is open for travellers as a free campsite. You can camp next to the pool or on the tennis courts and there are still remnants of the town square and cement slabs to be seen. The old uranium mine pit is filled with water and known as ‘Little Blue Lake’ and is the most brilliant electric blue. Driving through the rugged Selwyn Range was wonderful. The country here is so dry but the sparse eucalyptus trees and spinifex grass growing in the ancient red soils scattered with rocky outcrops is so lovely to drive through.
Next, we drove to Mt Isa (60km west) and Mali and I visited the Riversleigh fossil centre (the Riversleigh fossil deposit if a few 100 km north of Mt Isa and is one of the most significant fossil deposits in the world and the richest known fossil mammal deposit in Australia – another one to add to the ‘second lap’ list). We decided to walk up to the lookout, so we parked the caravan (as we were told there was room at the lookout) and headed up. We saw a few numpties with large caravans ignore the signs and head up anyway. The view was quite bizarre with the large mine as the backdrop to the town. We kept moving west and spend the night at Camooweal – a selection of Billabongs that, apparently host a wealth of birds.
Unfortunately, my binoculars are useless, and the billabong was almost dried up, so it was not what we expected. However, I did see two Brolgas and, on an evening, when we thought we would not meet anyone or see any kids we spent hours talking to a lovely couple with 4 children. They all jumped up and down when they saw our van with the 3-bunk bed windows drive in and they came to investigate. It is a common thing for kids who have been on the road for some time to do the window peak thing. Most people are looking around for more children after Mali steps out and we get the question ‘just one?” I am still working on a funny answer (suggestions welcome).
Another 6am start and a HUGE day driving another 520km along the Overlanders Way (or the Barkly Highway) to Banka Banka Station in the Northern Territory (with a border crossing on the way). Ten kilometres in and we arrive at the border. Our Border crossing forms were complete, and we had not been in a hot spot for 4 weeks, but we still experienced some unnecessary anticipation. It took about 5 minutes, and the policemen were pleasant. We drove into the Northern Territory with an amazing pink sunrise behind us lighting up the incredible country either side of the road. Then we saw a flock of Budgerigars flitting about in front of us. It was a wonderful welcome to the Territory. A few kilometres down the road (after conversations with Mali about the next iconic native species to spot) I saw a Thorny Devil up ahead. It was doing the Thorny Devil rock back and forth with one front leg and one back leg up in the air and such wonderful bright browns and tan. I was thrilled. Literally seconds later the vehicle is over the creature, and I am certain I have run it over. My hand goes to my mouth and I am speechless. Craig and Mali are wondering what on earth I had seen and once I could speak Craig tells me he did not feel a bump. Thorny Devils are only around 20cm long. I do not think there would be a ‘bump’. I just hope he was far enough to edge of the road to have escaped my wheels. Welcome to the NT!!!
We stayed at two properties on the Stuart Highway - Banka Banka (a working cattle station) and Daly Waters Pub (a wonderful place full of memorabilia and historical relics from the area, a pool and live music). We have stayed in a lot of places like this and some of them have wonderful opportunities to interact with the animals and have a good yarn with other travellers. Banka Banka had its own little bar and a huge campfire and kids playground. Daly waters was full of historical relics from the days when the airfield was a centre for the London to Sydney air race of 1926, a refuelling stop for early Qantas flights and a World War II Airforce base – there are old planes, helicopters and vehicles and the pub is full of all sorts of memorabilia from passing travellers. It was a fun place to visit.
Next we head north to Mataranka, Katherine and then Darwin (but that’s another story).
Yorumlar