2/9 Homewood bound. We drive through the day, with only a stop at Eden for lunch and a new wiper blade. Get home about 5.30.

What a great trip. Saw some fantastic and diverse places. You don’t realize what a huge country we live in until you drive around it, and the vast distances between towns in the outback. We covered 16,000 kms in 15 weeks, and were extremely lucky that we had no problems with the car or van, particularly considering some of the spots we managed to get to. I strongly recommend that people consider visiting some of the more remote parts of Oz while they are fit enough to enjoy them fully, rather than wait to join the geriatric bus trip brigade. Lastly thanks to my beautiful wife for her company and her adventurism, that often took us to places I was sometimes reluctant to go, even if they were often unplanned and we were under prepared for. Who need food and water anyway.

26/8 Leaving Nicoles tomorrow so I decide to walk up Mt Coolum. Great 360 views and I even see one of Clive Palmers dinosaurs. We are a bit concerned about flood warnings for northern and central NSW, as we are heading in that direction tomorrow.

 278 Drive all day through teeming rain and spend the night at Port Macquarie. Caravan Park is just about under water and the site is flooded. Buckets rain overnight.

28/8 Off to Port Stephens/Nelson Bay to visit Roses niece.

 Roses sister Linda is also visiting. Weather still pretty miserable.  Nelson Bay is a very nice spot. It’s a massive 98,000 hectare marine park that is home to a large population of dolphins, penguins and turtles, amongst other critters. Have a nice lunch overlooking the marina, where are moored some pretty impressive boats. Spend the afternoon looking at Lindas photos of her Europe trip. Walk back to van park in the dark.

29/8 Rain again. Visit Murrays Brewery/Port Stephens Winery. Fairly typical craft beer you come across in little breweries. Enjoyed the Porter, and buy a couple of Stouts untasted. Not overly impressed with the wine.

30/8 Wild and winy night and we pack up in the rain and head further south. Decide to go to Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay just sth of Nowra.  Arrive latish and find a nice bush site. Good spot, hot showers and bbq’s. Lots of birds and thousands of croaking frogs.

31/8 Oh Oh crook throat again this morning. We go for a wonder which turns into about a 4 hour trek. Walk along the beautiful beach dodging the incoming tide. Incredibly clear water and white sand. Eventually we run out of sand and have to head into the scrub to get around rocky headlands and eventually make it to a jetty where we can walk the 4 kms back along the road.

Stuffed by the time we get back but decide to have a fish on the beach. No luck per usual but do see a couple of dolphins cruising along the beach. Starting to feel pretty ordinary and it looks like Rose has it to. We spend the night coughing and get no sleep.

1/9 Both feel awful and we decide to head off. Stop at Batemans Bay for the night as we don’t  feel up to driving any further. Get some supplies from the chemist and sleep for the afternoon. Weather forcast is looking rotten so we will probably head straight home from here, should get there Wednesday.

1/8 Got a bit of catching up to do.  Wrong about it being quiet, plenty of yahooing till the wee small hours last night, made for an interrupted sleep. We decide to take the snorkeling gear and check out Florence Bay. It’s such a rough and steep drive in, that hire cars aren't allowed on the road, which keeps the numbers of people down. We walk out onto a tree fringed bay with huge granite boulders each end and lovely calm water.

Magnetic Island has what is called fringe reef. Not as colourful as on the Barrier Reef but a wide variety of different types and shapes of coral. I spot an enormous turtle drifting across the reef and follow along. It doesn’t seem too perturbed by my presence and eventually disappears into the deeper water.  It must be pretty old as its shell is covered in weed which seems to be growing on it. We see lots of different fish, all shapes sizes and colours. A tour boat is moored to a buoy and the operator calls me over to show me a school of Bat fish they feed to attract for their clients. To see them side on they are like big, swimming, striped dinner plates. They are so used to people you can touch them under water. We have a wander around the Horseshoe Bay shops which haven’t changed since our last visit. Thai for tea at the Park restaurant.

2/8 Rose wakes up with a sore knee, not sure if it was from all the kicking while snorkeling. We head to Arthur Bay which is the bay next to yesterdays .  Beautiful spot and a beautiful day, with hardly a breath of wind.We have the entire Bay to ourselves for the moment.  I’m straight back into the water but Rose decides to take it a bit easy. More great underwater viewing, and we spend most of the day there. A few boats come into the bay, including a two masted boat straight out of “Adventures  in Paradise” for those TV trivia buffs.

Happy hour back at the Park bar, Pina Colada for Rose, beer for me.

3/8 A bit windy today so we check out the rest of the Island. Because of its shape and the number of bays, you can usually find a spot protected from the wind. The side closest to Townsville is a bit flatter and more mangrovey. Dickey knee and all, Rose can’t resist a walk so after lunch we head off to Balding Bay. Turns out to be a pretty tough trek, but worth it as we come onto another beautiful beach and have a well earned swim.

4/8 Fairly rough ferry ride back to Townsville. Weather forecast for the next week is pretty ordinary so we decide to head for Nicole's.  Strong headwind makes going fairly slow. Caravan Park on the  River.

5/8 Windy again. Drive for large part of the day. Stop for the night at Rockhampton. Nice caravan park, but we discover it is sandwiched between the main road and the railway line, so a bit noisy.

6/8 Another day of driving. Lots of roadworks with lengthy delay. Stop at Maryborough for the night.

7/8 We have a look around Maryborough. They have a weekly Thursday market in the main St. Quite a nice town. A large port on the river and lots of heritage buildings. Arrived at Nicole’s. Mark is away working on Curtis Island for 4 weeks so we will stay here and keep her company for about 3 weeks then head home.

8/8 - 18/8 I've been stooged. Nicole has got me painting the inside of the house.Weather forecast is for quite a bit of rainy weather so I'll be inside anyway. 

26/7 Head to Atherton for quick look,  and on to Mareeba where my cousin lives. We drop the van off as Allan is in Cairns till later in the day, and go for a look see around the area. Lunch at “Coffee World” which is a busy tourist spot. They have dozens of different types of coffee for sale, yummy chocolates and the usual souvenirs. We call in for a tasting at a the Golden Drop Mango winery. They had lots of different flavoured liqueurs to try, although most weren’t to our liking. Back to Allan’s where I find him tending his bees. We have a good catch-up, meet his daughter and family, go out to dinner then come back and drink lots of scotch. Allan’s right into local politics. He does a bit for Bob Katter, and stood for Hansen’s One Nation a few years ago, so it’s obvious where his political leanings are. Made for a lively discussion as the grog flowed, and he popped out for a joint. He offered to take me for a ride on his Harley ( he’s a member of the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club), but I declined. Maybe on the way back. We spend some time looking at some info Allan has on both sides of the family. Appears we are related to the first white girl born in Melbourne in 1840. I'll get copies made to follow up.We're persuaded to visit Cooktown seeing we’ve come this far, so we’ll head up in the morning.

27/7 260 km drive to Cooktown. Last time I drove this road 35 years ago, it was a very rough dirt road which just about shook our van to bits, now it’s bitumen all the way. Pleasant  to be driving through mountain ranges for a change, after all the flat of the centre. Some quite rugged peaks to be seen, and incredible rock/boulder formations at the Black Mountain NP. Cooktown is on the coast at the mouth of the Endeavour River and is surrounded by hills. Some parts look a bit like the Prom. Incredible 360 degree view from the top of the lighthouse hill.

I’d hate to try and ride a bike up the steep road. On the way down Rose takes me for a supposed short walk to a bay which turns out to be a steep billy goat track through rock strewn rainforest. The lovely beach at the bottom is some consolation, although no swimming of course -bloody crocs.

28/7 Drive out to a couple of waterfalls to the north of Cooktown.  Not a patch on what we have previously seen, but a nice drive nevertheless.

After lunch we visit the local info centre which has a terrific reptile display, including samples of all the venomous snakes that live in the region. It included a magnificent stuffed orange Tipan well over 2 metres, which is the most venomous snake in the world. We had a walk around the attached botanic gardens, then off for a visit to the James Cook Museum which is in a converted convent. Very interesting displays including the anchor and a cannon off the Endeavour.

Did a bit of general sightseeing around Cooktown, which not surprisingly has lots of plaques and monuments on Captain Cook. The CBD is a bit run down and most of the businesses are for sale (a common occurrence in towns up this way).Including a beautiful old bank building, which would make a great house with views across the river and ocean.
                                            

29/7 Head back to Mareeba. Stop for a better look at the Black Mountains which consists of spectacular volcanic hills of big dark boulders that look like they have been dumped there, and are completely different to the surrounding hills.

It's said that whole herds of cattle have disappeared amongst the boulders, and the mountains are the home of the mysterious Cooktown Lion.
Call into the historic Lions Den Hotel a few kms off the highway, just in time to see a passing circus truck with a monkey in the back, stuck on the side of the road. Needed a Roadtrain to pull it out. Looking through their little museum we notice that the original owners had the surname Ross, mums maiden name. I better do some digging to see if they were any relation. Not surprisingly the pubs for sale.

Stop at Lakeland Downs where the relations had a peanut farm and where Greg and I visited 35 years ago on our travels. Back at cousin Allan’s place for the night. Unfortunately he gets held up coming back from Cairns due to an accident, so only limited opportunity to get back into the interesting discussions of the other night.

30/7 Awake to see hot air balloons floating overhead.  Morning coffee/hot choc with a few of Allan’s RSL mates before we had off.  We decide to overnight at Murray Falls south of Tully. Stayed there a few years ago and loved it. Beautiful spot where the river runs over large smooth boulders. Had a quick swim in the cold water,

followed by port and chocolate around the fire.

31/7 Head further sth and  stop at Cardwell. Great view over to nearby Hinchenbrook Island. We decide at the last minute to go to Magnetic Island, as Orpeous Island at $2500 per person a night is booked out. Bugger. We can get the van onto a barge from Townsville  and camp on Maagnetic. We manage to book into Bungalow Bay park, the only van park on the island. Turns out to be a bit of a hostel/backpacker spot but doesn’t seem to rowdy. I spoke too soon,  a game of coconut bowls has just started, with much cheering.

16/7 I enjoyed the Guinness Tram so much I posted it twice. We had to leave Lawn Hill as no cancellations, although Rose got an early walk in and saw a bit of wildlife. Really is a terrific place. The contrast between the red of the sheer cliffs with the colour of the water possibly doesn't happen any else.

Back on the horror road. We pass a couple in an off road vehicle that has shaken loose a bolt on their camper. Luckily they have a spare and later on go past us at a rate of knots. Not far from the end of the gravel we stop at a waterhole to look at the waterbirds, pelicans, ducks and cormorants.

There is also a large herd of Brahman cattle that don’t appreciate our presence. When we get back to the van we notice that the rear window is open. The catches must have shaken loose somehow on the corrugations. Plenty of dust inside, fortunately most is caught behind the curtains. Pretty lucky that is all that happen considering the road. We stop and have a look at the free camp spot at Gregory Downs. First thing we notice is a large sign saying “no vans past this point”. Ignored by the 40 or so vans lining the riverbank. Very pretty stream but we decide to keep going back to Burke & Wills Roadhouse. We come across a dead White Bellied Sea Eagle hit by a car. Hopefully it’s not the one we were photographing a few days earlier. The amount of road kill is quite distressing to see, and it’s not uncommon to see 6 or more birds feeding on one carcass in the middle of the road. The eagles are particularly slow taking off, but if you slow down a bit when you approach they  manage to get off the ground and out of harms way. Unfortunately some people just keep barreling along at full speed with fatal consequences for these magnificent birds.  Set up camp at the roadhouse and have a beer in the bar. Talk to a couple who have sold up their house and bought a land cruiser and a 22 foot van.  I cough for almost the entire night and only get a couple of hours sleep. Obviously Rose and probably most of the park fared little better.

17/7 Off to Normanton this morning. Petty flat road, with the usual changing landscape. When we arrive Rose drags me off to the hospital to get my cough checked out. Given a thorough once over by a nurse (in Roses presence). Probably a virus but they give me some antibiotics just in case. According to their scales I’ve lost 5 kilos since we’ve been traveling. Thought I was looking a bit scrawny. In Normanton there is a life sized replica of a crocodile they claim was shot by a woman in 1957. It’s 8.63 mtrs long and is apparently in the Guinness Book of Records (it wouldn’t fit in the Guinness tram). When you see the size of it, it is almost impossible to believe that it could have really been that big.

The ones that killed the guy in Kakadu recently were 4.5. Normanton was developed as a large port for the mining industry, and is about 70 by river to the sea at Karumba. We decide to keep going to Karumba as we have to come back through Normanton again. The road to Karumba winds through wetlands and waterways which are home to a variety of birds and of course crocs. The town is a popular destination for fishermen, many of whom book into the caravan parks for a few months each year. We were lucky to get a site. Book in for Thur & Frid, but discover the park puts on a free fish bbq on Sat so we might have to stay an extra night.

18/7 Interesting place and caravan park. All the regulars know each other, and have regular activities. Groups of women sitting around playing cards, or blackgammon or bingo while the hubbies go off in their tinnies and fish. The town has a large facility for the Century mine which was near Lawn Hill. They pipe zinc slurry 300km from Lawn Hill to Karumba where they “dewater” it and ship it off. There is also a sizable commercial fishing fleet. Lots of delicious local prawns available. Mmmmm prawns.

19/7 Did a tour of the local barramundi hatchery which was very interesting. They have a number of holding tanks with large females (1.5 metres) in one, and smaller males in others. We were able to hand feed them small squid which they basically suck from your hand. The hatchery breed up fingerlings and release them into the Norman River and a number of dams around the state for recreational fishing.

20/7 I spent some time fishing off the river bank with a number of others hopefuls.  No luck per usual, and I only saw a couple of tiddlers caught. Fish BBQ for tea put on by the Park with the help of some of the regulars. Not only nice fish dinner, but entertainment. Does it get any better? Apparently the regular campers take it in turns to entertain the masses Sat nights. Watching some bootscooters dancing to “Give me a home amongst the gum trees”, we thought we had stumbled into the local nursing home. There followed an old guy singing and playing guitar who was quite OK, an even older guy telling yarns and poems who was pretty entertaining, followed by a slightly younger guy who wouldn’t have been out of place in the blooper audition section of Australia’s got talent. He though he had some but didn’t. I used my incessant coughing as an excuse to retire before the three piece group singing a medley of old favourites (I use the term loosely) got started. I'd heard them practising earlier in the day.

21/7 We head off this morning and Bertie our neighbor for the last few days gives us some fish to take with us. Stop of at Georgetown on the Savanna Way, and have a look at an extensive gemstone display in the info centre. Thousands of exhibits including decent sized gold nuggets. The Savanna way is an interesting drive with lots of single lane sections where you have to pull right over to pass oncoming traffic. Particularly hairy when a roadtrain is bearing down on you. We pull into a little place called Mt Surprise and decide to stop at “Planet Earth Adventures”, a daggy little park run by Russell. Pretty basic facilities but only $10 a night.

22/7 A bit of a wonder around Mt Surprise this morning. Didn’t take long. An old railway station and buildings with some interesting info on how the region was initially developed. It was all based around mining, and services to mining. One of the cafes had aviaries with a number of parrots out back. Quite a range of beautiful coloured birds, but a bit sad to see them caged up.  We headed 50 kms out to the Undara NP where we did couple of walks while waiting to do a tour of the Lava Tubes. The region is a “Volcanic Precinct” with about 160 dormant volcanoes spread over quite a small area. The lava tubes run for over a hundred Km from the source volcano, and only a small distance has been accessed. They are large tunnels formed by molten larva running underground slightly downhill. As the lava travelled along, the ground behind cooled and hardened forming tunnels.  They are quite interesting structures, but we wouldn’t rush to do it again.

They are situated in a National Park, which was given to the State Government by the pastoralists who owned the land. Apparently it was going to be compulsorily acquired if they didn’t. In return they have access to the lava tubes and the only way to see them is by guided tours run by them. On the way back we did a walk around a volcano crater rim with good views of a number of the other volcanoes in the distance. Rose thought Val Wood would have likened their shape to Sue’s perky breasts. When we got back to the park Russell conducted an info session on snakes, and had a black headed python called Clancy as a prop. Blackheaded pythons eat other snakes and are apparently immune to all snake venom. Russell used to have lots of snakes including venomous ones , and regularly did shows. He was informative and was very entertaining. Apparently we have 21 of the 25 most venomous snakes in the world, including the top 12. According to Russell, if you get bitten, apply a compression bandage and stay very still.

23/7 Up bright and early to go gem fossicking with Lester from Tagalong tours. Should have been called Lester’s 4 x 4 tour.  We were given very little info before hand and the tour was recommended by Russell's poster on the back of the dunny door. “I wouldn’t promote it if I didn’t think it was good value.” After that glowing tribute who could we resist. We followed Lester in the Subaru (only the two of us on the tour).  After a couple of kms of bitumen we hit the corrugations, 30 kms worth, then we got onto the really rough stuff. Creek crossing , deep ruts,  but we finally made it to Lester’s claim, about a hectare fenced off in the middle of nowhere. When we arrived Lester mumbled that we probably could have come in his 4x4. Bit late. The fossicking comprised of digging out gravel from an old underground creek bed with a pick, shoveling it into a large sieve, shaking out the soil and sifting through the remainders. It was pretty hard, dusty work, but good fun.

Rose got right into the sieve shaking. At one stage we were worried Lester might have a coronary. He survived and made beautiful damper (with milk) in a camp oven and billy tea, and we supped under a lean two he has built out there. We found an few small pieces of topaz, a couple large enough to cut, and quite a bit of smokey quartz including one quite large one he said was a very good piece. When we got back to town we called in at his house and looked at his collection, including a number of pieces that had been faceted(cut). It gave us an idea what our bits might look like if we had them done. He also had an amazing fruit and veg garden with mangos, paw paws, bananas, lychies and a range of citrus trees and lots of different veggies. Had a well earned shower when we got back to the van and popped down to the pub for a coldie. The pubs for sale, along with most of the other businesses in Mt Surprise. You could probably make an offer and get the lot. Yummy steak and onion burgers cooked by Russell for tea. Only $6.50 each.

24/7 On the road again towards Cairns. The country is changing from the flat dry plains to hillier rainforest area. We stop at Ravenshoe which is the highest town in QLD. Did a bit of shopping and ran into a few people we had seen recently. They advised that there was a “Christmas in July” festival in Mareeba for grey nomads, which is the direction we are heading (I have a cousin there who I haven’t seen for 35 years) and it will be hard to get a site. We decide to camp at Herberton which is a few kms off the highway. Extremely hilly little place which has as its main attraction a Historic Village.  Wow! What an amazing place. They have relocated and/or rebuilt 50 or so building housing collectables, machinery, small engines vehicles and antiques.

They have an old chemist shop, printers,  grocers, toy store, school, garage plus plenty more.

We wondered for a couple of hours and still didn’t see it all. It was fascinating looking at old books and toys, and even some of the old grocery items reminded me of the shop we had when I was young. Arnett’s biscuits in big tins, and cutters to slice up the cheese wheels. Will have to go back in the morning. Got on to my cousin Allan and will go to his place on Sat and prop the night.

25/7 Rain this morning and chilly. Can’t handle it. Drive into town and visit the Miners Museum, and leave Rose to download her photos. The area was big in Tin mining in the 1800’s and the museum details a quite extensive history. I was surprised at how heavy a bit of tin ore is. Back to the Village to finish off our tour, and particularly liked the old school room. Even though it was a slightly earlier era to when I was at school, there were definite similarities.

Had planned to check out the area this arvo buy it's turned out to be a good afternoon for reading back at the van while the drizzle continues.

8/7 Leave Katherine after some shopping. Bottleshops don’t open until 2pm, which is a pain for tourists. Backtracking down the Stuart Hwy. Stop for lunch at Rinner Springs as we did on the way up, and find ourselves back at Daly Waters pub for the night. Happy Hour again, same entertainment and the best bowl of chips, they were huge.

9/7 Walked around the local Heritage Trail before heading off. Regular signs with excerpts from Stuarts diary when he explored the region. They were constantly on the lookout for water, and both the men and horses did it very tough.  Stopped at 3 Ways roadhouse for the night. 

10/7  Long day on the road. A roaring headwind which makes driving tiring, and you could see the petrol gauge dropping.  Interesting how the countryside changes and it’s reflected in the changing colours of the termite mounds. One minute they are the orange of the outback, next thing they are a washed out grey.  Also amazing variation in size from little things the size of anice cream cone,  to things like the Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters (perhaps not quite that big). Free camping on the Georgina River at Camooweal, just inside the Queensland border. The river isn’t flowing, just big pools like billabongs. There are thousands of noisy corellas,

and a variety of water birds, including 4 Brolgas.

It’s quite cool and I’ve had to put a windbreaker on for the first time in ages, and I’ve started to get a crook throat. Rose just tipped the remainder of my stubbie down the sink. She thought it was empty. Must be time to trade her in. We’ve been tossing up which way to go to Lawn Hill NP, and been getting conflicting info on road conditions. Decided we will go via Mt Isa and Cloncurry. A lot further but mainly bitumen.

11/7 Froze overnight. It got down to -1 just up the road.  Apparently temps across the region were 10 degrees below average. Off to Mt Isa this morning, head wind again but not as bad as yesterday.  Quite a lot of road kill in this section and plenty of wedgetail eagles. Arrive at Mt Isa to see a large opencut mine right in the middle of town with a couple of huge chimneys.

Call in at the info centre and get a $7 all day breaky. Great value.  We decide to prop here for the night. Driving around town, a lot of the houses are pretty old and run down. Discovered  “The Irish Club” in an out of the way spot in town. Nice cold Guinness for medicinal purposes, and got to ride to Guinness tram.

12/7 Called into Cloncurry where they are holding the annual Stockmans Challenge. Wall to wall Stetson hats and cowboy boots.  Spent some time watching a horse riding event which was interesting but difficult to follow, as each rider looked pretty good.

Travelled on to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse where we decided to stay for the night. Typical of this type of establishment, staffed by backpackers, have a basic bar charging exorbitant prices and serve meals mainly for truckies. Drinks with two couples, one from Tasy and the other WA.  

13/7 On to Lawn Hill NP, which everyone has raved about, where we are booked into in 2 days time so intend to stay at Adele Grove tonight which is about 12 kms short of the NP. Lots more eagles on the road including what seemed to by a white bellied sea eagle, a long way from home. We followed it for a few kms with Rose looking for the magical photo.

Stopped at Gregory Downs, which we assumed was a reasonable sized place, for bread and maybe petrol, and road condition info. Pub (again staffed by backpackers again who knew nothing about the area). Got our bread but frozen. As we crossed the Gregory River we saw Caravan City along the banks. Free camping area, which someone had told us was their favourite place in Oz.  Not with all those vans packed in. We have about 70 kms of dirt road ahead and have had conflicting opinions of its condition. First 40km isn’t too bad as it is maintained by the nearby Mine. Once we get past the mine turnoff it became a teeth rattling, suspension destroying horror. COuldn’t maintain a constant speed as the conditions changed so much. Got to Adle Grove in one piece, and grabbed a shady spot amongst the dust. Lawn Hill Creek is an amazing emerald colour due to calcium carbonate in the water. Lovely swimming hole to cool off in.

Fish and chips for tea from the kiosk. Drinks with two retired school principles from Geelong way. He provided rum and whisky for my cold, which didn’t work as I coughed all night.

14/7 In to the NP this morning. I thought the last 15kms yesterday was bad. This road is a shocked. Down to walking pace in many spot. We’re here for 2 nights but have to change site after the first, as it’s so busy. Only 20 sites in total, 6 of which are tent only. We’re on the same river as yeaterday and looks even better as it travels between steep gorges. Walk 2 kms around “The Stack”,  which is a high escarpment surrounded by the river, with spectacular views. Later we walk to Indarri Falls which are magical. The falls are made of Tufa, which is some strange porous limestone formation.  Have to have a swim here. It’s like a little oasis amongst the spinifex and rock.

15/7 Hire a two man canoe this morning for a couple of hr trip up stream. We lift it out at Indarri Falls and drag it to the top gorge. Lovely morning for a paddle, although not a lot of wildlife. 

Nanna nap this arvo to catch up on lost sleep the last couple of nights, while Rose does another walk. Lovely float in the river on a couple of noodles we borrowed cooled us off nicely. Now Rose has gone off fossicking along a dry river bed. There are some very pretty rocks to be found, although unfortunately none appear valuable. I might have to go look for her soon as her sense of direction is abysmal and she’ll probably get lost. We’ve been trying to get another night here but it’s booked out, although there are empty sites that people have paid for but not turned up. We’ll see how we go and try again later.

8/7 Leave Katherine after some shopping. Bottleshops don’t open until 2pm, which is a pain for tourists. Backtracking down the Stuart Hwy. Stop for lunch at Rinner Springs as we did on the way up, and find ourselves back at Daly Waters pub for the night. Happy Hour again, same entertainment and the best bowl of chips, they were huge.

9/7 Walked around the local Heritage Trail before heading off. Regular signs with excerpts from Stuarts diary when he explored the region. They were constantly on the lookout for water, and both the men and horses did it very tough.  Stopped at 3 Ways roadhouse for the night. 

10/7  Long day on the road. A roaring headwind which makes driving tiring, and you could see the petrol gauge dropping.  Interesting how the countryside changes and it’s reflected in the changing colours of the termite mounds. One minute they are the orange of the outback, next thing they are a washed out grey.  Also amazing variation in size from little things the size of an ice cream cone,  to things like the Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters (perhaps not quite that big).

Some are also very well dressed.

Cross into Qld where a few rubber necks are getting their photos next to the state signs. We wouldn't stoop to such a tourist cliché.

Free camping on the Georgina River at Camooweal, just inside the Queensland border. The river isn’t flowing, just big pools like billabongs. There are thousands of noisy corellas, and a variety of water birds, including 4 Brolgas. It’s quite cool and I’ve had to put a windbreaker on for the first time in ages, and I’ve started to get a crook throat. Rose just tipped the remainder of my stubbie down the sink. She thought it was empty. Must be time to trade her in. We’ve been tossing up which way to go to Lawn Hill NP, and been getting conflicting info on road conditions. Decided we will go via Mt Isa and Cloncurry. A lot further but mainly bitumen.

11/7 Froze overnight. It got down to -1 just up the road.  Apparently temps across the region were 10 degrees below average. Off to Mt Isa this morning, head wind again but not as bad as yesterday.  Quite a lot of road kill in this section and plenty of wedgetail eagles. Arrive at Mt Isa to see a large opencut mine right in the middle of town with a couple of huge chimneys.

Call in at the info centre and get a $7 all day breaky. Great value.  We decide to prop here for the night. Driving around town, a lot of the houses are pretty old and run down. Discovered  The Irish Club in an out of the way spot in town. Nice cold Guinness for medicinal purposes. Hopped aboard the Guinness Tram which was set up in the club.

4/7 Decided to drop in to Edith Falls again. Didn’t walk today as Rose hurt her toe at Gunlom and we gave it a rest. Snorkeled again in the plunge pool at the base of the falls.

Didn’t see too much this time, only a couple of turtles and smallish fish.  Later Rose insisted on a Devonshire tea at the kiosk. Surprisingly good homemaid scones, and real cream.

5/7 This morning an 8.6 km return trek to Sweetwater pool which is at the top of Edith Falls.  Took lunch and stayed for a few hours. Another really nice waterhole at the base of cascading falls.

There were a number of hikers stopped there who had walked from Katherine – 6 day trek. One couple had a baby they had carried. Apparently the hubby is an adventure type who holds a record for some Antarctic venture. Six days carting dirty nappies is some adventure. Bit of a trudge back as we were pretty weary and it was quite hot. Rose spent ½ hour photographing a Red Winged Parrot.

He was spectacular, although his wings were actually orange. Bit of a panic as half way back down the hill Rose realized she’d left her backpack back at the parrot site. A mad scramble back to retrieve it.

6/7 Off to Katherine today staying at the Gorge NP. Nice pool, which was under construction when we were here 6 or so years ago.  Rose spent some time photographing a Rainbow Beeeater that was feeding in the pool area. Beautiful plumage.

I went down to the cruise/canoe area and came across a guy holding a file snake, which they found while canoeing.  It was quite strange to hold, felt very floppy, loose skinned and boney. These are apparently good tucker, and aborigines catch them by feeling around in the weeds in billabongs. Bugger that with crocs around. Later we walked up to the lookout to watch the sunset over the first gorge.

On the way back we were amazed to see thousands of flying foxes swarming over the river flying off to their feeding grounds. Lots were skimming over the water presumably getting a drink. Apparently freshwater crocs jump out of the water trying to grab them. Unfortunately we didn’t see any, maybe tomorrow night, if we go down again. It wasn’t very pleasant to watch as the bats piss while flying, and apart from getting sprinkled, the stink was awful.

7/7 Sitting eating toast outside the van this morning when I was swooped by a Kyte trying to pinch it. I had the toast up to my mouth and got a scratch on the side of my nose and a finger.Importantly I saved the toast. Rose spent time photographing all manner of things, particularly bats.

There are quite a lot of different birds around, and quite tame.

The campground cleared out this morning so we took the opportunity to laze around the pool while things were quiet. Life's tough.

27/6  Stayed another night and did it pretty easy. Plenty of time around the pool. Another Ranger talk about what they do to get things ready for tourists. Amazing how much work has to be done after the wet . Crocs to remove from popular areas, tracks to fix.

28/6 On to Cooinda. Booked for 2 nights. Pretty expensive. $36 for an unpowered site which is pretty steep.  Nice pool but not much else there. We went back out to Nourlange area and walked up to the lookout.

29/6 Rose did the sunrise cruise on Yellow Waters and really enjoyed it. Got some great photos

.  I went for  a wander around the park area and had a few casts in the billabong, but it’s hard not to get a bit spooked about crocs. Later on I went up to the bar and watched Collingwood beat Carlton.

30/6 I did the same Yellow River Cruise Rose did yesterday. Lots of birds but the highlight was a big croc chomping on a big barra.

When I got back we packed up and headed off further south. We want to go to Gunlom but are advised high clearance 4wd only. Had intended to leave van at the Ranger station and tent it. We decide to drive part way and stay at another bush camp. I stopped tolet some air out of our tyres and a Guy coming out says we should get all the way in with the van if we took it slowly so we decide to give it a go. Ok for the first 30 kms then real rough, but too narrow to turn around so we kept going and got through. Water fall and plunge pool similar to Edith and Wangi falls. The walk up to upper pools at the top of the falls is about half a km and quite steep in parts, but great swimming at the top.

We got back to camp to find 4 families with 20 kids right next to us.  Very loud into the night playing some clapping game which we couldn’t fathom, but which was very annoying.

1/7   We walked to billabong and Sth alligator river early hoping to see some birdlife. Not much to see. The area has been burnt out and was very dry. Lots of donkey poo but didn’t hear any braying during the night. We walked to upper pools again but went further on and found a great pool a bit away from the main area and the crowds. Fantastic spot.

Watched a kingfisher dive for fish which was pretty spectacular. Walked a couple of km further in along the stream. Sat around the fire after tea listening to the kids play their clapping game again.

2/7 Back up to the rockpool on top of the falls and stayed there most of the day. Thought we were in King Kong country with the rock formations.

We were rudely interrupted by a walking club from Melbourne which included a couple from Paynesville who stopped at OUR pool for lunch and a swim. They were a nice bunch. That night the ranger gave a talk on the local Jawoyn people who’s country this is.

3/7  Left Gunlom on the 4wd track. Slow going.  Seemed even rougher going out. The dryness combined with the amount of traffic over the last few days has made the surface rockier. Relieved to finally reach the bitumen.  Booked in at the Lazy Lizard at Pine Creek again. Drinks with a couple from Bermagui who are heading up Nth. Great pizza at the tavern for tea.