The Gulf

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After catching up with friends in Tweed Heads and Brisbane we returned to Cairns and resumed our trip, making our way across to the Gulf Country around Normanton and Burketown. Driving across the vast plains was beautiful and we had another great bush camp on the banks of the Little Bynoe river before heading down to Lawn Hill Gorge. Lawn Hill is a lovely oasis in the plains and we spent the day there walking and canoeing around the gorge. We saw severl large freshwater crocodolies, one of which seemed pretty keen on biting Christine after we tried to paddle our canoe into its hiding spot in the gorge.

On our second night at Lawn Hill our old mate and constant companions rain and wind caught up with us dumping about 40 unseasonable mm of rain on the gorge and surrounding areas. It didn’t seem too wet when we got up and made pour way back to he savannah way via a shortcut that turned out to be farm tracks over black soil plains. Anyone who has been on a black soil plain after rain can imagine what 60km of driving was like that morning, it took more than 3 hours to do less than 100km and our truck was no longer clean with mud even covering the tent on the roof. Once again however the Hilux out did itself handling it all with ease ensuring we didn’t have to do any digging or winching. Later that day we finally left Queensland behind and crossed into the NT between Hells Gate Roadhouse and Wollogorang Station finding another beautiful bush camp beside the Wearyan River after a very tiring day.

Next morning we got up and drove 50km into Borooloola to resupply, except the truck hadn’t arrived and the fresh food was mostly off or best left on the shelf. Borooloola had not been described to us as a fantastic place and more than lived up to its reputation being perhaps the biggest shit hole we have been to so far. You know a place is bad when the towns main shop sells T-shirts saying “Happiness is Borooloola in my rear vision mirror” (really wish I had bought one). So without much food but some ice and milk we drove on into Limmen National Park via the Nathan River Rd which is rocky and heavily corrugated. We visited a “lost city” of sandstone formations and had lunch above it overlooking a valley before setting up camp at Butterfly Springs, which is a waterfall and pool in the middle of very dry country fed by groundwater from the hills. Unfortunately it was too cold for a swim, but a beautiful place to spend the night.

The next day we drove the rest of the way through Limmen NP and up to Roper Bar where we had planned to spend 2 nights and try to catch some Barra. However as the day wore on it got colder and wetter (making Barra catching highly unlikely) and we threw in the towel and headed for Mataranka Hot Springs. The radio proclaimed it as one of the coldest days in the history of the NT and we got a room as camping in 11 degrees C was not the reason we came on this trip. The next day didn’t look much better so we headed north post haste to Katherine to resupply and get in touch with the world again through mobile reception. In Katherine we stayed for 2 nights in a caravan park that closely resembled a nursing home (you could hear a pin drop at 8:30pm) but had a good time talking to people, emailing and planning our trip to Darwin.

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Photos

Burke and Wills Memorial
This was at the site of their northernmost camp before heading south to their deaths. It is about 30km west of Normanton and marks they made in trees are still evident

Comments

[Bella]

Orange Beard
Hi J and C - Photos, travels look amazing. Jack has a orange beard again, is that the dust or DNA?! Hope you guys are having a ball. Wishful thinking to have my thesis ready for everyone to read through weeks before its due, I still feel a million miles away, totally over it. As usual final gust of wind is always the strongest, clearest. Email me when you folks get to Darwin, and take care. Bella x (PS) Ive posted comments a couple of times on your blog but they never eventually appear, did I get blocked by a sensor?! :-)