If you want to know anything ask a Policeman

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DAY 266


The noise of the generator started to awaken my hearing, along with the squawking of the lovely birds outside. It was 7.00 bed was nice and cosy, neither of us wanted to get up, but the day was beckoning.

The kettle was soon on and tea was made, the bed was made and the tent was emptied apart from the toaster for our breakfast, in preparation for packing away.

We were doing quite well again at packing, by 8.30 we were almost done, however our next door neighbour started to chat, we find out that he has been on the road for about 9 years with his wife, although home is on the Sunshine Coast.

We find out that his wife originally came from Verwood, which is not too far away from where we live in England. We chat for a while, time ticking on, but we ask him if he knows anything about the road from Borroloola to Burketown via Wollogorang. He tells us that he does not know himself, but he spoke to guy last night that drove along that road said that it took him 8 hours to do 200 kilometres, now this is in complete contrast to what we were told yesterday that someone took 8 hours to do 600 kilometres. So who knows? What we know is that there is 600 kilometres between here and Burketown and only 110 kilometres of Bitumen to Borroloola.

A couple of days ago in Daly Waters 2 guys said the river crossings were 4ft high, but we are being told that the river crossings are nowhere near that deep, we tend to believe that as it is well into the dry season.

We spoke for a while, we wished each other well on our journeys and then carried on packing. Peter and Pat came over and said goodbye, they are going to drive up to Bing Bong to see what is up there. The guy behind us then speaks to us; we find out that he has a sister living in Chandlers Ford, less than a mile from our house.

It has now gone 9.00 so we finalise our packing, hook up the trailer and hit the road. I have my camera ready for any eventuality of seeing Wedge Tailed Eagles and blow me, no more than a couple of kilometres down the road we see our Eagle, I got a picture just before he took flight, but again he is too distant, he was quick off his prey so obviously did not have a full tummy, we waited a while but he did not return. We watched the Kites circling above.

On we drove, but again we had not gone far when Andy shouts that he has seen a snake basking on the bitumen, fortunately on the other side of the carriageway so Andy passes it rather than runs it over, we swing the rig round to go see, slowly we creep up on it, its head is raised and looking around it, it soon turns and heads into the calvert, we watch but it puts a spurt on and disappears into the bush. We are not certain what it is, but it sure does not look like a python, the body is a pale yellowish colour with a silvery grey head.

We drive on to Borroloola, I finish the blog for yesterday as we drive, but as soon as we arrive in Borroloola I put the laptop away to concentrate on the area. Borroloola is a small aboriginal town, it has a couple of fuel stations and a general store. We were going to find Tourist Information, yes it was signposted, however we see a sign for the Police Station and both agree that the best people to ask about road conditions on the dirt track would be the police.

We drive through the gate, this place is like Fort Knox, with bars on the windows and doors, the door is bolted and there is a little intercom for you to press the button and speak into. Andy dutifully presses the button and soon we are speaking to a what we assume to be an officer of the law. We ask our question and the response is, that the road is gravel, it is in good condition, rough in places, no fuel until Doomadgee (some 400k’s), the river crossings are mainly shallow, the deepest is about 800mm. There is a lot of traffic coming through so if you have any problems you will be fine, just drive to the condition of the road.

We are happy now, we have the information that we want, we feel it is good advice, so we move on down the road, just to top up the fuel tank, again, this time the Diesel is $1.55, we were told that this morning but it was too late for us as we filled the tank up yesterday at $2.55.

Andy drives round to the General Store, I pop in to pick up some fresh provisions, such as bread, milk etc. while Andy eats his ice-lolly and uploads the last two days of blog. We have good Internet reception here, so full advantage of access is taken. We do not know when our next Internet access will be, it could be Burketown but that depends on if we go there before Lawn Hill.

I find two people in the shop very helpful, but at the checkout the lady did not even crack a smile, she did not even say hello and could barely tell me how much I owed.

After lunch we pop into Borroloola Museum, we have been told that this place used to be a really lawless town, we don’t really know when, but the Museum is housed in the old police station, a corrugated building which has been preserved, the outbuildings look like the old cells. There is a huge amount of written information inside, it would take a while to read it all, but we look around see what we want to and then head off to find the dirt.

We intend on driving only to Robinson River Camp, Camps 5 reference 123, page 363, Northern Territory. It is only 105 kilometres down the track, however until we hit the road we are uncertain how long it will actually take us.

We see a fair amount of traffic coming towards us so we know that this road is quite busy. After about half an hour drive, we could see a caravan stopped on the track, making sure the doors were locked (paranoid!) we crept up and could see an older gentleman sat on the shady side reading a book, closer still we realised there was no vehicle attached to this caravan. We stopped to ask if he was ok, it transpires that the wheel was rubbing on the body of the caravan, we think the body may have come loose, so his partner had driven back into town for some mechanical assistance/rescue. We check that he has enough water etc. He says he is fine, he has enough food for a week or so.

Another 30 minutes later we spy a huge billabong on the right hand side, it is covered in Lilly pads, we contemplate staying for the night, but think it is a little too early to stop so we decide to move on again. There are no crocodile warning signs, however I suspect that this billabong will be no different to the rivers around here, extreme caution would need to be taken while camping on these banks. When I say extreme caution, I mean don’t go in the water!!

We drive over a couple of river crossings they are quite shallow, but long and as they are down deep dips there is quite a pull up the other side when exiting the water. Driving further we spy a Dingo on the roadside he looks quite mangy but he soon disappears into the bush when he sees us coming.

We reach Robinson River at about 3.00 and see some other people looking for a camp spot; they are investigating the dry part of the riverbed. There is a crocodile warning sign here, but I don’t fancy camping in the riverbed even though it is the dry season. We chat to them about possible campsites, we tell them of the one that we passed on the way in; they are quite interested in that one so decide on an extra half hours journey, which shortens their journey into Borroloola tomorrow.

We cross over the river to investigate the other side, however cross back again as we think the best spot is on the top of the hill before driving down to the rivers edge. Back up at the top we turn down the track and find a suitable spot, we can see where others have camped because of the remains of camp fires. This will do us nicely for the night. We are the only people here at the moment.

We pitch, we have a cup of tea, try to play a round of cards, but it is too windy and they keep blowing off the table. So we read for a while, I do some Brain Training in the meantime we see many others drive past, over the river and up the other side, not long after we see two cars stop on the river bed and pitch camp.

Soon it is time to cook dinner so Andy knocks up a mean curry, while we are cooking it is getting dark, but we hear another vehicle hurtling down the hill on the other side of the river, he crosses then stops, then drives on then stops again, continues to drive up the hill and then spies our camp, he drives past us down the track and stops further down to set up. It is dark by now and we then see a Road Train coming down the track, we are amazed to see a Road Train, but then this road does service some stations so perhaps we should not be so surprised by this. We see him braking as he drives down the hill to the water crossing we follow his progress by watching the tractor and trailer lights in the darkness, and watch as he climbs the hill on the other side and disappears into the darkness.

Before dinner is served I find a spider in the tent, oh no, this needs dealing with and as Andy is cooking he shirks this responsibility so it is left to me, I grab some kitchen roll and a cup I capture the spider by putting the cup over it, bash the side of the tent, the spider drops into the cup, I put the kitchen roll over the top and then throw the lot outside! Later I pick up the kitchen roll to put in the bin and the cup goes in the washing bowl. Job done.

Dinner is eaten, with leftovers to go for another day, the washing up is done and we are comfy inside our trailer typing the blog, oh yes did I forget to mention that I am actually drinking a bottle of Lager (it is a light Carlton Dry Fusion, so it is not what you would call heavy stuff!). What! I hear you cry, yes I know, Andy is calling me a geezer bird and is now threatening to send me to finishing school for Ladettes to Ladies. Oops this trip has really changed me! It goes down well after a good curry and quite refreshing in this heat.

We are both tired, the map needs a quick review for tomorrows onward journey, we will have another game of cards and then retire.

Oh before we retire, I must tell you that it is pitch black outside apart from the moonlight from the half moon and the stars are truly amazing, this is outback Australia at its finest.

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Photos

A Snake
This is a tree snake, non venemous, althouth we were a fair distance in the truck and with a zoom lens.

Signs To
Seven Emu Down !

Billabong
This place is beautiful, on the Wollogorang Road, Highway 1. Wonder if any crocs are in there?