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.