The trip continues...That's a Karumba sunset above 😍...more later in the post.
As this is a diary of my 12 month trip, I'm writing about my experiences, which include memorable episodes, whether good or bad. There's not a lot of information about the places I'm visiting, it's much more about the journey, but if they spark an interest I figure you'll visit "Google" to fulfil your appetite to find out more !!!
Enjoy the journey with me if you have time to read it all otherwise just skim through the photos.
Well, getting to Cobbold Gorge was quite an experience!!! Doris & Helen (from Palm Cove) met me at Mt Surprise and we travelled in tandem. The road to Georgetown had long stretches of single lane bitumen which meant when an oncoming car or large road train approached you pulled over or moved over to the dirt shoulders to let them pass. Once we hit Georgetown we headed south and I was very pleased to be travelling in tandem as the road, although sealed at the start, was for the majority, gravel and corrugated and the trip was slow. Google maps said it would take us 3.5 hours to do 85kms 😱 we thought it was a mistake!!! but they weren't far wrong...it took us nearly 3 hours.
Single sealed lane on the Gulf Developmental Road
An approaching road train on the Georgetown to Forsyth Road
Trying to dodge the corrugations as well as the cattle!!
Almost there and worth the effort.....
...an infinity pool overlooking a lake, a bar and restaurant awaited us...Noice!!!. I swam and although the water was cold it was refreshing, but Doris and Helen, now living in FNQ (and like all other FNQ dwellers) say it's too cold to swim at this time of year!!! It's only us Southerners that brave the cooler waters😉
I parked and set up my van in the caravan park while Doris and Helen booked into their cabin.
Doh!!! when I turned on the electricity to the van it tripped the safety switch...Got switched off and will stay off!! I'll get it looked at when I reach a larger town...
The whole idea of coming to Cobbold was to do the gorge tour, and it was fantastic. We were bussed to the gorge site about 10-15 minutes from the resort and then took a walk up to the top to get an overview.
This glass bottom bridge with a boardwalk is currently being constructed across the top of the gorge. It's a real pity as it spoils the view, but I can understand why. The walk is actually quite dangerous in places.
Our guide had an amazing wealth of knowledge about the flora and fauna and it was fascinating. This is one of the plants he showed us...and it's highly poisonous. The interesting fact is every seed is an identical in size, colour (black and red) and shape, regardless of the size of the plant .
We came across a little "freshwater" croc as we walked along the track...he was on the other side of the creek!!
We are told freshwater crocs are more frightened of us than we are of them and as soon as they hear an unfamiliar noise they move away. Different entirely to salt water crocs who will attack!!
We were then taken by boat up the gorge to the end. The gorge is so narrow that when it's time to return the tour guide pulls up the motor, swaps ends in the boat, drops another motor and we take off backwards. You can't turn the boat around.
We're now down on the water in the boat entering the gorge...with the bridge above
Stunning rock formations and colours
The minerals in the rock are what make the water such a vivid blue/green
Coming up to the really narrow section, we had to duck our heads around this corner!!
Up close and personal to the gorge wall.
I left Cobbold on August 1st with Doris and Helen following, feeling a little anxious knowing we had to drive back to Georgetown over some pretty rough roads. I think knowing what we were up for meant it didn't feel so bad on the way out. We also had a break stopping off at the historic town of Forsyth. My camping neighbours from Cobbold, who I had briefly met, arrived not long afterwards so by the time we had a coffee together I had arranged to meet them in Croydon where we had both planned to stay.
Morning tea at The Goldfields Hotel, Forsyth with Doris, Alain, Helen and Francoise.
Around lunch time we finally got to Georgetown where I would part company with Doris and Helen. Before leaving Georgetown we visited the Mining Rock museum, which has a HUGE collection of rocks from QLD and around the world with lots of history of mining in Australia. Well worth the visit.
Doris checking out her rock knowledge...and I'm not talking Rolling Stones rock🤣
Just one of the many...many display cabinets full of different rocks
Drill cores...I loved all the beautiful colours.
It was time to say farewell to Doris and Helen and head further west. I arrived at Croydon and met up with my new French friends, Alain and Francoise at the info centre, who incidentally have lived in Australia for 34 years and come from Mansfield. We obtained our camping pass from the info centre and parked our vans at the Council Rodeo grounds free park. A donation of $2.50 was the expected fee, but we payed $5 each. Cheap and cheerful, lots of room, hot showers and toilets😍 Dinner was even organised for us when we found out the town holds a fundraising dinner at the school each week on a Thursday night (and we happened to arrive late Thursday afternoon)...3 courses for $10 and $5 a glass wine. OMG it was a superb meal!!! We sat with a couple from New Zealand who are travelling for 4 months and had a great social night. 7am next morning this was the view from my van doorway 😍 Life is good...is it not??
Before I headed off to Karumba, Francoise and I spent a couple of hours exploring the Croydon historic town precinct. We sat through a very funny 10 minute court case audio show set in the early 1900's. It was hilarious...did you know that if you were caught swearing in this era your sentence was 2 months in jail, the same sentence as stealing!!!
The road from Georgetown through to Normanton was excellent and the main issues driving was watching out for the cattle that roamed on or beside the roads
I passed through Normanton and stopped for a break and to get petrol. The fuel app on my phone told me there were 3 fuel suppliers...one had no fuel sign up and the next one seemed to be closed. Starting to get worried I approached the 3rd one and sure enough someone was filling up...phew!! I waited in line, filled up and then went in to pay the fuel and this is what I saw... There was a lovely young girl behind the counter who gave me permission to take some photos.
The young girl behind the counter told me this was the mechanic's filing system before they got a computer...
I love the ingenuity, sure beats trying to find them on a notebook somewhere in amongst all this.
On my way back when I again purchased petrol here, there was a customer wanting some globes for his car. They were found amongst this conglomerate of mess immediately. Obviously there's a filing system not evident to an outsider...
Before leaving Normanton, I had to have a photo taken in the jaws of "Krys the Savannah King" Crocodile. It's an artists impression of the largest saltwater crocodile ever shot in the world by the crocodile hunter, Krystina Pawlowski, in 1957 downstream from Normanton....8.63 metres long and weighed over 2 tons 😱
Check out that cute little van with the bike on the back...home sweet home!!
From Normanton to Karumba the road and scenery was flat apart from the continuous floodways. It was very easy to see that through the wet season all this land could well be under water and impassable. I also started to see Brolga's everywhere. A beautiful bird, they were around dams and creeks, out on the dry plains and at times in large numbers.
Driving into Karumba I immediately recognised its affinity with fishing. Almost without exception every house had a boat parked in the driveway or out the front. From small dinghy's to huge boats. I parked my van at the Sunset Caravan Park in Karumba Point and loved the place immediately. I stayed three nights and saw three stunning sunsets each night. Alain and Francoise arrived a day later and the New Zealand people we had met at Croydon were also close by at the same park. It was like a family reunion!!!
As I've said a few times, it's never lonely when travelling, if you're prepared to say G'Day to people. Everyone is on holidays so it's rare to get a negative response and peoples stories are fascinating, delightful and often heartwarming. The weather was fantastic. I rode my bike into Karumba along the boardwalk, swam in the pool, ate prawns and beautiful fish for lunch and dinner and sat watching stunning sunsets. Aaahhh!!! it's a hard life, but someones got to do it 😎
On the bike ride between Karumba Point and Karumba about 4 kilometres away.
Here's a few sunsets over the three nights 😍
Caravan troubles...argh!!! I'm still having trouble with an earthing problem in the van hence I'm not plugging any 240volt directly into the caravan. This means if I need to access 240V to charge my computer or boil a jug etc., I'm running an extension lead in through the door. I can cope with my solar, 12volt and gas running everything I need for a while, but I need to get the caravan warranty service agent to authorise an electrician to check over the van. There's not much I can do until I get to a larger town such as Mt Isa.
I left Karumba on 5th August and headed back to Normanton and then south on the Burke Developmental Road. There's not much to see and do and the road was excellent so I decided to drive on and park my van at Burke and Wills Roadhouse.
Typical topography on the Burke Developmental Road including a great road surface
An incident worth mentioning...There's not much to see except for lots and lots of ant hills and eagles chomping away on road kill, often remaining until the very last minute before taking off. I've got in the habit of sounding my horn to get them moving as I had a very sad incidence of a wedge tailed eagle hitting my windscreen. He wouldn't budge and I couldn't swerve and when he did take off he flew straight at the windscreen. Luckily I had slowed down enough that I hope he was just winded. (my windscreen was unmarked, but he spread the full width when he hit!!!
I pulled up and drove back to see if he was OK. He was alive, but not looking good and I saw him blink. I have to admit I had a cry and as I write this now I am once again bought to tears. Whether he was just winded or had broken a breast bone, I won't know. I tried to call "wildlife rescue" but I had no reception 😫
I called this the "cemetery"...Ant hills like this are everywhere. They range in colour from a light sand, red clay, to dark soil like these. The light sandy ones often looked like a field of wallaby's from the distance.
The next morning I left my van parked at Burke and Wills Roadhouse and drove west on the Wills Developmental Road to Boodjamulla National Park (Lawn Hill NP) and Adel's Grove for what was planned to be a couple of nights. The road to Gregory Downs (145kms) was easy, but I was told the remaining 85kms into Boodjamulla NP would be slow...and dusty...and it was!!. Google maps estimated 3.5 hours for the last 85kms, It took me just over 3hrs. Driving on the shoulders of the road was the go...it was much less corrugated, just had to watch out for soft sand! I kept telling myself "This had better be worth it!!" It was🤩
Driving on the shoulder of the road into Boodjamulla NP
Only 13 kms to go to Adel's Grove and another 12 on further to Lawn Hill...
Entering Boodjamulla National Park...entrance over a grid, top right of the photo...getting closer
My thoughts on Adel's Grove/Lawn Hill...I'm in two minds about it. I was feeling quite tired and emotional (long slow dusty drive, hitting the eagle etc) by the time I reached Adel's Grove and my expectations were high. It gets talked up by everyone you speak too, but my initial impression left a lot to be desired. I don't mind paying for a good room, but for a price of $180 per night my accomodation was a glorified tent with a bed, an air con and a bar fridge...TOTAL!!! No sink, no kitchenette, no bathroom. The toilet was a long drop quite a distance away with no lighting. Showers were a bush shed not far away and were OK. I was told to bring all my food, but not told it had to be cooked in a camp kitchen quite a distance from the room and no lighting apart from a personal torch. I wasn't the only one who was disappointed. People in the cabin near me were saying the same. I cancelled the 2nd night and decided to only stay one night. I booked into a Gorge tour for early next morning and took off to do some of the walks before it got too late.
I have to say though, both Adel's Grove and Boodjamulla are beautiful, picturesque, stunning places. Yes it's worth the visit, but taking a tent and camping makes it affordable and you could spend a few days as there are lots of walks, kayaking and swimming. It's just preferable to have a 4WD, although my car handled the roads OK.
A little earlier in the post I mentioned heartwarming stories...While doing a late afternoon walk at Boodjamulla National Park (Lawn Hill) I met a couple of professional photographers. Charmaine was telling me she volunteers with a hospital in Brisbane taking photographs for couples whose children die at birth and want photos holding their baby. When she showed me her most recent photo, which was so beautiful, tears immediately sprang to my eyes. She told me it took her two years of being mentored before she could distance herself enough to take photos without being emotionally affected. What an beautiful thing to do and so courageous. I'm now following their journey and they have my blog details to follow my journey. If you're reading this Charmaine know that I'm enjoying your FB photos and posts😁
I'm going to post this and complete the Boodjamulla NP Lawn Hill gorge tour and journey in the next episode.
Until then...enjoy 😎