Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park

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Monday 25 June - Wed 27 June

Leaving the beautiful environs of Gregory Downs and our camp on the Leichardt River, we headed West the 90 odd k’s to Adele’s Grove our home for the next 3 days. The initial part of the trip was a dust filled environment as we competed on the road with the three trailer road trains of the Century Zinc Mine, but thankfully we have made some inroads into reducing dust ingress into the trailer due to some more sealing of holes and cracks at Gregory Downs.

Adele’s Grove is a beautiful camp site just 11 kilometres from Lawn Hill National Park and is an oasis in the dry and dusty surrounds. The cool waters of Lawn Hill Creek meander through the park, producing refreshing swimming holes and the myriad of shady trees in the grove, make for a relaxing place to stop for a few days.

Due to the wonder of Facebook we became aware that Jen’s cousin Kirsten and her husband Richard and their 18mth old Boyd would be there holidaying at the same time, we caught up with them on Monday afternoon after we had settled into camp and planned to spend the next day together exploring Lawn Hill NP by foot and canoe.

The weather has been unusually cold for this region the last week and we had another early night, retreating to the warmth of our beds. The morning sprung fresh but the skies were clear and the cold soon retreated under the warmth of the sun, we had coffee together before heading off to Lawn Hill. What a magical place; the walks, the gorges, the waterfalls, the trees, the bird and animal life; all simply breathtaking. The highlight was undoubtedly the 2 1/2 hours canoeing on the creek upstream to Indarri Falls, where we had an invigorating swim and had our shoulders pummeled under the falls. We then lugged the canoes around the falls to the upper gorge section and paddled as far as the creek would allow us, to where it was fed by four springs. Along the way we marveled at the bird and fish life and most of all were enthralled by the freshwater crocodiles we saw, just spectacular! In fact we got really close to one, which hopefully you will see on the video uploaded here or go to our Youtube site to see it there?

All in all this was one of the most beautiful and interesting places to date that we have visited, made all the more special by sharing the experience with Richard, Kirsten and Boyd. It was really nice to talk at length with some other adults after such a long time with just ourselves. A chat over wine and nibbles was just perfect; so thanks Richard and Kirsten it was a delight to spend this couple of days with you!

Steve, Jen, Zan and Will

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