We headed off to the April 17th 1999 wedding in Cairns on the 15th March. The Frontera with the Goldstream Link camper in tow headed across town to the Hume, then Newel Highway and on up to Jerilderie where we then turned onto the Kidman Way.

First stop was at the Griffith Tourist Park. The next day was our first day of doing the touristy things around Griffith, including Scenic Hill, Hermits Cave, De Bortoli’s Winery (supplies), and Catania Fruit Salad farm. This farm is one of the oldest in the area, and it was really interesting to learn about irrigation farming. We were quite fascinated with the way they use the water and the extensive underground aggie pipe system throughout the farm. A couple of days later we were back on the road heading for Cobar. Just past Hillston there was a “20K detour” that would have done a 4WD Club trip credit. It had everything except hills, but the most annoying aspect was that for the first 10K you could see this beautiful new highway only 20m away. The detour headed through private property, it went east then north then joined onto some unsealed road heading westerly. Some sections of the detour including the side roads were badly cut up, probably by large transports. About 40K later you came out just near the Mount Hope Hotel where over a couple of well deserved coldies we learnt that there was only 2K of highway to be completed and that will be done next week. Funny how it’s always next week eh!

Cobar is an interesting town. The Outback Heritage Centre and Mt. Grenfell National Park with Aboriginal Cave paintings were well worth the visit. Mount Gundabooka National Park was not really open yet, probably in next week (something about the old farm lease didn’t expire until next week). The town has many splendid old buildings dating back until the 1880.

Bourke was the next destination and what an eye opener it is. The chap at the tourist information centre was fantastic, giving a full run down on the towns’ history, stories of the local Bushrangers (Cpt. Midnight) and poets (Henry Lawson). Their Back O Bourke Mud Map Tours booklet was excellent, and for a couple of days we followed many of the tours. There are many beautiful old buildings but it’s a pity to see them, and most of the shops in the main streets, all caged or shuttered up. We stayed in a new caravan park 8K’s north of town.

We continued up the Kidman Way through very flat farming country into Queensland where it becomes the Matilda Way and stopped at Cunnamula. That afternoon we had a taste of things to come. The sky clouded over and light rain began to fall. Welcome to sunny Queensland!!! There is not a great deal to see in Cunnamula but it was a nice stop over. We continued on but I still say Shirl had the map upside down and next thing you know we are heading West along the Adventure Way and are in Thargomindah. As there was nothing much there except the local Museum, which was closed (opening next week), we continued on to the Noccundra Hotel. A very old hotel in the middle of nowhere (Cameron Corner and Tibooburra to the south), owned by Kerry Packer who also owned the surrounding cattle station. Spent a very enjoyable evening with a couple who had just returned from a day trip to Tibooburra in their rented Ford Falcon. This car had to be seen to be believed as it was totally red, but if you scrapped away on the roof you could see that it should have been white.

The next morning we headed off to Innamincka. Interesting open countryside that we didn’t find at all boring, though a little odd seeing the oil rigs doing their bobbing thing in the middle of nowhere (eerie even). The road was a bit rough but not too bad, but the sideroads on sideroads was a little disconcerting. This was our first every exposure to outback isolation which was a little daunting.

We turned off and headed to the 14k’s or so to the Bourke and Wills Dig Tree. The road was wet, and in parts badly cut up compared to the country we had just travelled over. Arriving at Coopers Creek we found the Army having lunch. We later learnt when we stopped at the Bourke and Wills Bridge, from a roadworker who was filling up his water tanker, that they had just watered down the road and 15 minutes later the 30 Army vehicles had come through. They were not happy roadworkers. I guess to us Aussies, from very early on in our school days, there is something very special about this place. Wandering around for an hour and seeing the beauty of this place first hand only enhances this. Unfortunately the original blaze on the tree is somewhat covered over, but there are plenty of information boards explaining what went on at this spot all those years ago. We set off before the Army to complete the drive to Innamincka. Still in 2WD we hit the South Australian border with 30K’s to go, then with out warning, SAND.

Previous car tracks were going in all directions and I knew I had to keep moving forward but which way/which line? You couldn’t pick a line to take and if you attempted to veer across to what appeared to be firmer ground the sand would grab you, slowing you down to a virtual stop. At times you could feel the sand wanting to take the camper on a slightly different track. Then you would come out of the sand on to hard stony ground. A sigh of relief as the road ahead appeared OK, but the sunlight played tricks with your eyes, and you were back into the sand again. This continued for 15k’s, and Shirl resigned 50 times from the trip, something about this is not the direct way to Cairns, so I mention that she must have had the map upside down which did not improve the situation at all. Innamincka was not quite the town Shirl had been expecting. Pulling up outside the hotel and hopping out into 42 degree heat did not go down well either. A couple of coldies in the airconditioned bar settled the matter that an airconditioned room might be the way to go. A couple, Howard and Joan Scivenor, were admiring our rig. Their Jackaroo was totally covered in red mud. Yes they too had been through Cameron Corner and Tibooburra. It turns out they were former members of the Jackaroo 4WD Club and were now members of the Idlers 4WD Club. We said we would catch up with them later and headed off to the room just as the Army arrived and headed to the riverbank. The room was very basic but Shirl was not prepared for the Green frogs in the toilet bowl, or the Brown frog that protruded through the hole in the cistern button. The latter causing her concern that she may injure it if she pressed the button, the worry about the former still escapes me unless she was worried that she was going to be kissed by a frog. That evening/night was most enjoyable, spent in the company of a number of “Idlers”. They had come up though Cameron Corner after providing a few bush BBQ’s at different spots for the Variety Club Bash. They apparently missed a lunch that was to be provided for them due to the rain slowing their progress. They all said we were wise opting for the motel room instead of the riverbank as conditions down there were not good in the 42 degree heat and would be even more strained now the Army had arrived.

The next morning, too early, I slipped the Frontera into 4WD and headed off the way we came in, but this was directly into the sun. At times you could not pick the road at all, so after a couple of 15-minute stops we were on our way and back into the sand which the Army had chopped up quite well. Having a bit more control with 4WD, I felt we got through better this time. Shirl was not convinced it was 4WD but divine intervention as her catholic upbringing, that has somewhat been neglected since her teenage years, was revived. 180k’s later we were back to the black top and there was a quiet sigh of relief from the navigators seat.

We then headed for Eromanga (the Australian town that is “farthest from the sea”) and on to Quilpie. This is the Channel Country and we certainly saw it at its best. It was very green and lush; some areas appeared to be like rainforest, certainly a big contrast to what we had been through. The next day we moved to Charleville, back onto the Matilda Way 200K’s north of Cunnamula after our 1200K detour. At Charleville we stayed at Baileys Bar Caravan Park and when we were about to set up the van, first time it had been unhitched from the car since Cunnamula, we discovered that the Power Jockey wheel was missing from the swivel mount on the A frame? Had it fallen off after the Allen screw worked loose, or was it nicked somewhere along the line? No matter at this point. A few Besser brick blocks were located in the park and put to use. The couple of days in Charleville were mainly spent getting the red Bulldust off and out of, the car and camper and attempting to locate the “leaks” in both the car and the van. Fortunately we were able to purchase a new basic jockey wheel and attach it to the camper. Later that night we learnt a valuable lesson. Not long after going to bed there was this “flapping around” noise, we cannot describe it any other way. On turning on the light Shirl discovered that a green frog had decided to play in our sink. Now Shirl likes the green frogs, they are cute being such a pretty colour and having those big eyes. But who has to get out of bed and remove the green frog to the outside of the camper? Yes you guessed it, and then one has to put the plug in the sink so there are no more visitations via the sullage pipe.

We moved on up the Matilda Way through Blackall to Barcaldine. That’s said as Barcoldine for you southerners and this is where the first of our plans came unstuck. The original plan was to head north to the Porcupine National Park near Hughenden via Muttaburra, then through Charters Towers to Townsville. This would mean 200K’s over black soil from Muttaburra to Hughenden but we were advised that with all the recent rain, plus the current Low in the Gulf that this was not a good option. The Kennedy Development Road from Winton to Hughenden was not recommended, as there was still a large section of unsealed black soil. So there was nothing else for it but to head East, which would mean some doubling up later on the trip home. Trips should be done in loops one way in and another way out, right guys. Going over the same territory twice is just not on.

Shirl didn’t mind as this meant a few days at Sapphire on the gem fields. Now Shirl likes Sapphires, and after all I needed to atone for causing her stress with the Innamincka detour, and its Easter, plus you haven’t bought me that eternity ring etc. I mean what hope do we poor mere males have. We stayed at the Blue Gem Van Park, which is under new management, and they have put in a lot of work to get the park up to scratch. It was here that Shirl developed this long lasting habit of STOMPING to the amenities block of an evening. This was to ward of the many little green and brown frogs that were quite happy sitting around catching insects attracted by the lights of the block. Shirl found a Shop she liked called the Rubyvale Gem Gallery. The owners Peter and Eileen Brown were only too happy to resize the ring she chose, and deliver it on Good Friday. I mean you haven’t got a hope have you.

From Sapphire it was on to Charters Towers via Emerald and Clermont which is part of the “Great Inland Way” connecting Dubbo (NSW) to Cairns. Good road, easy driving though some interesting countryside. What an interesting town Charters Towers is with its most magnificant buildings. From there it was a short trip to Townsville to our relatives so we set off early to avoid the Easter Monday traffic. We had a great 10 days in mainly overcast warm to hot weather, but as could be expected the pre-wedding nerves started to set in over the last couple of days as some of the little things started to go not quite according to plan. You know the things like suits and dresses not quite fitting perfectly etc.

Three days before the wedding we set off up the No 1 Highway to Cairns. We arrived to light drizzle and set up camp preparing for rain, as the weather forecast was not kind. The concrete slabs of the Van Park were covered in this black slippery mould. If you stepped onto the grass in bare feet you lost your toes. During our stay in Cairns it rained every day for the week, except the day of the wedding. The wedding went very well, it was a great day, night, and early casino morning. Our stay in Cairns weather wise was a washout, so thankfully we had been here before and done all the tourist things. Some days the road down the centre of the park was more of a river than a road. Everything, bedding, towels, camper, started to feel damp. According to the weather on TV, Cape Tribulation had between 120 to 150mm every day and this was mid April, so this put paid to any thought of travel up there. We asked the RACQ about travel to Cooktown via the Inland route and after consulting their latest road reports they said no. We asked the Karunda Police and they said yes but take it carefully. The next day we headed off hoping to get to Cooktown but stopped in at the Mareeba Police as a final check. They said the road is open, a bit rough but dry, take your time and you will be right. So off we went to Cooktown via Lakelands.

About 15K’s from Lakelands you travel down this hill on a dirt road, the first on this part of the trip. It was rough, steep, very rutted. We latter learnt it is not maintained as they are building a new road on the other side of the hill. Past Lakelands there is about 80K’s of unmade road to Cooktown. Initially we were traveling along at a fair pace kicking up fair bit of dust. We rounded this bend, and then up a rise only to find it dropped very sharply down to a creek crossing containing water. We gently hit the brakes and slowed to a crawl just as we got to the edge of the clear water. I could tell it was shallow and no problem at the speed we were now traveling so slipped the car into first to get through then climb the hill on the other side. We no sooner started on the flat at the top of the hill than I saw this “Disco” rapidly approaching. He flew past when I pulled over a bit, called us up on the CB to thank us for slowing down and giving him warning of the water crossing. He must have spotted our brake lights as we hit the crest. He was then off, boy if he had have hit the top of the crest, then the water, at the same speed he was traveling after he past us he would have done some damage. We slowly bounced along and came across three 4WD’s helping this very active elderly lady who had a grinding noise under her “Cruiser” after crossing this 0.5m river. The guys finished removing the bash plate, which had nearly been completely doubled over, and proceeded to cross the river. Being last I had the advantage of watching them and followed their path without any problems. Approaching Cooktown you could see where the floodwaters had been. Debris was quite high in the trees on the riverbanks. Considerable damage to causeways and in one area, their three year old sealed road was completely washed away. Shirl rated the trip about 30 resignations.

Arriving in Cooktown we learnt that they had 200 –250mm of rain two days before. They were saying that this had been the biggest wet in 22 years; some of the write ups in the local papers claiming living memory (?). We set up camp and I was feeling quite pleased with the overall effort when in rolled this 1950’s Victorian registered Morris Minor with three adults, plus luggage, that we had past a couple of hours earlier at the Palmer River Roadhouse. Who needs 4WD if you take your time and have a bit of ground clearance. I had imagined Cooktown to be a bigger place but we enjoyed it despite the continual overcast conditions. Touring around you could still see the water seeping down the hills and any attempt to walk through the Botanic gardens you would have needed fishermen’s waders. We were there the Anzac weekend, so we invited these 5 guys from Geelong over to watch the football on TV. The guys were rapped one claiming it was better than at the Geelong Social Club, and the fact that Carlton was thrashed by Geelong even made it better. These guys had come up “early” this year in the hope of catching a Barra north of Wepia, but had been stranded because of the rain and looked like being stuck for at least another couple of weeks. They supplied us with a couple of very nice meals of fresh fish. Talking to the locals any thought of leaving Cooktown by the sea road was just out of the question because of all the rain. The newspaper also confirmed what the Caravan Park owner had told us, that there is a plan to have the inland route to Cairns completely sealed by the year 2005 at a cost of $70 million. Boy will that place take off then.

From Cooktown we then doubled back, as my planned loop back to Cairns was out the window, on the inland road and headed for Mareeba. We stayed at the Riverside Caravan Park. A great spot, the manager was tops, couldn’t do enough for you. You get a great view of the Baron River that was really flowing fast, but best of all Mareeba was very dry and very sunny. It appears that Mareeba is the dry spot of the tablelands.

After stocking up with supplies it was westward to Chillagoe. The road was for the most part good with one section of rough unsealed road that resulted in a small chip in the windscreen thanks to a truck flying in the opposite direction. Chillagoe is an incredible place. Huge 20 tonne blocks of marble just lying around, a number of limestone caves (some self guided), and the ruins of the old copper smelter. We took the Royal Arch cave tour for which they give you miners lamps to use, as the cave is not lit. Really a quite different “Limestone cave” where you walk in and out of the darkness, a great tour. Whilst we were there it was a long weekend in Queensland (1st Monday in May) and the amount of traffic that went through was unbelievable. They were all headed for the Mitchell River about 100ks north, on a road that we thought was not opened yet after the wet. They were all 4WDs driven by young guys and were all equipped with tinnies and dog cages. We easily filled in three days in Chillagoe, having a great stopover at the roadhouse caravan park where the evening meals were cheap, good, and extremely generous. It must be mentioned that the sausages from the Chillagoe Butcher are the best we have ever had, anywhere.

We then headed South across country toward the “Gulf Development Road” and Undara Lava Lodge. The reverse of this trip is in the “Explore Australia by Four Wheel Drive” book and marked as EASY. The guys at Chillagoe had a bit of a laugh at this, and strongly advised us not to take the Mount Surprise fork, but head for Mount Garnet. The unsealed road overall was good, parts being recently graded particularly over the Tate River. Here, on either side of the long causeway, the sand was piled car door height with another mound behind this that was roof height. We eventually came to the Highway just north of Forty-Mile Scrub NP, turned right and headed for Undara Volcanic NP and the Lodge.

This is an incredible set up. Its not in the national park but your would be forgiven for thinking that it is. They have used restored railway carriages as Motel units, Reception centre, and Bar/Dinning area and nestled them into the bush on the old road so minimising the damage to the bush. The surrounding bush is just full of native birds and animals. They also have “prefab tents”, a large camping area, unpowered caravan sites, and a beautiful saltwater pool (but very very cold). The resort is well run with tours and night activities. If anything it’s a little too commercial, you pay resort rates for meals and drinks, however they have to get their money back I guess. The day rate for the unpowered van site was very reasonable ($5 p/p) and the site and amenities block was first class. This was to be our first test away from 240volts. There is a range of tours of the Lava tubes from 2 hours, half day to full day. I took the halfday, which was fantastic but involved a lot of clambering over rocks etc. For the not so fit the 2-hour would be the best choice as that has boardwalks. The tubes are formed as the molten lava flows along the course of a riverbed. The outside of the Lava cools and the molten inner continues to flow. The result is these gigantic tunnels or tubes. There are also a number of bushwalking tracks starting from the Lodge. We survived the three days without power comfortably, relying on the second battery and the solar panel to top it up.

It was here at Undara that I learnt a valuable lesson. We carry two 20L jerrycans of fuel at the back of the Goldlink camper, secured with a bike chain-lock. Attempting to get fuel for the Coleman duel fuel light, I found I couldn’t get the key in the lock. The keyhole of the lock had half filled with bulldust, which I was eventually able to flush out with WD40. Note for Ron: Always cover padlock keyholes with tape.

We eventually headed off to start a modified version of the “Undara Tourist Loop”. It was westward along the tarred narrow “Gulf Development Road” to Georgetown. Georgetown, for those who are interested, is quite a small place but have a bakery that would do any of the capital cities proud. You would not believe the variety of cream cakes, particularly here in the middle of Queensland. Turning south to Forsayth the unsealed 40k road was not that good, one couple that we met bounced their TV off the rack in their large onroad Roadstar caravan!!! The road South from Forsayth to Cobbold Gorge was incredible. Overall the unsealed 40k road surface is good but it is like a rollercoaster. You drive up a crest only to find that it virtually goes straight down, nearly vertically, to a creek bed that has been compacted with cement. We hit one of these that had the cement just laid. Cement dust just flew everywhere and the roadworkers at the top of the exit hill just glared at us as if to say how dare you stuff up our work.

Arriving at Cobbold Gorge camping area you get the impression of a bush camp. Two buildings covered with split timber, one the reception/bar, the other obviously the amenities, a relative flat treed area with a few fire pits. Both buildings certainly belie what’s inside, hand towels and soap in the modern amenities, and quite a nice Bar with cow hide covered stools. The sight of the managers lighting a fire under the hot water Donkey does not instil confidence when you’re come across this contraption for the first time, but it works very well indeed. Again there are no powered sites but if you hear the generator operating you knew you could use the laundry. We took the cruise up the gorge. The 3K drive to the gorge in a Land Cruiser Unimog 15 seater bus was a 4WD trip that would do the club proud. A rutted 2-wheel track that went over hills, down dales. We stopped to view the surrounding magnificent escarpment of their cattle station, then drove across a large dry sandy river bed (Robertson) to this water hole that’s been known for 100 years. It was only about 5 years ago when one of Simon’s mates brought along a tinnie that the extent and beauty of this gorge was revealed. Simon now uses a solar powered tinnie to quietly glide you through this most spectacular spring fed gorge. The boat barley fits between the walls of the gorge that soar vertically 30m above you. It’s quite magical and really impossible to describe the beauty of the gorge and its surrounds. We had a great three days. The service provided by Simon and Gaye Terry throughout was excellent. So if you are this way whatever you do don’t miss Cobbold Gorge.

As the camping ground at Aggate Creek further south of Cobbold Gorge was closed we headed back to Forsayth then east to Einasleigh. The road is mostly unsealed but used by the cattle roadtrains heading to Charters Towers so it is very good. One 10K stretch along a mountain ridge is sealed, but there is no shoulder so you cannot pull off to take photos of the most magnificent scenery. Einasleigh is a very small country town that appears to be dying. The pubs been shut since Christmas, the General Store was closed (on a Friday?), and the houses appear to have seen better days. There is a large river flowing through a small gorge, and the Savannahlander tourist train passes and stops to allow passengers to view the gorge. Turning of the main road and heading along this unsealed north road from Einasleigh to Mount Surprise is an absolute treat. It somewhat follows the Savannahlander train line through some very rich/lush land, then into some poor Savannah country, then back into rich land and so on. There are a number of gullies with dry, sandy rough, creek beds at the bottom, although one was rocky and wet. There was one very large sandy riverbed that was quite wide, but there was a well-worn track snaking across the riverbed. Without local knowledge you wouldn’t have picked the route across if you were the first to attempt it after a flood. It just snaked around in all directions. After 42K we were back on “Gulf Development Road”, headed west for a couple of K’s, then turned north for 10 k to the Tallaroo Hot Springs.

Tallaroo is a working cattle station that has a natural thermal spring. The soft mineral water comes out of the main spring at about 80 degrees. Other springs are about 60 and 40 degrees. The latter spring is channelled into a beautiful pool, set in the bush, where it is a constant 35 degrees. Limited bush camping is available in the paddock near the pool. The kiosk, with a nice fernery as its centrepiece has toilets, and hot showers fed by the springs. We totally “blobbed out” for 3 days, which certainly helped ease Shirl’s back after the last 200K of unmade roads we had just travelled. It was superb relaxing in the pool watching the birds in the surrounding bush by day, and at night you felt you could reach out and touch the stars. Our hostess, Ann, certainly made you feel welcome and her boiled fruitcake and scones for morning and afternoon tea, only made it more difficult to leave.

Whilst here a group of 3 caravans arrived and set up camp not far from us for the night. That night they had their lights on. Were they using 240volts? Naturally I inquired to find that one van was supplying power to all three from a little, light, Honda EX350 generator that you could not hear. The next morning we were awoken very early. Not by the sound of the generator, but the woman vacuuming her van before they left! Unbelievable!

We eventually continued west along “Gulf Development Road” which in the main although narrow is quite good, allowing speeds of 100+ kph, to Croydon. Croydon is a small outback town that you can walk around in half an hour. It is very progressive and certainly trying to attract the tourist. They are in the process of restoring a lot of their old turn of the century buildings eg. Courthouse, Police Station, Jail, Town hall, plus a number of new homes are being built. They have just stocked their recently completed Dam with Barra and Silver Perch fingerlings. The Caravan Park was in the process of putting cable to all the sites so Austar PAY-TV will be available. In contrast the General Store was something from another time and had to be seen to be believed. Shelves were packed with everything you could imagine, and it seemed to be in such disarray. In the automotive section the boxes of oil filters were faded and covered in thick dust. We spoke to someone down the track that purchased an oil filter for his very old bus/motorhome and paid only a fraction of the price that he paid for one in Cairns. Apparently the old stock retains the original price.

We continued westward to Normanton. A tour of the town doesn’t take long, the original Burns & Phillip building, the Gulflander Railway Station, and of course the Purple Pub. We drove 30K down the Burketown road to the site of Burke and Wills Camp 119. This was their last camp before their dash to the Gulf. The unsealed road was not flash, so I hate to think what the other 200K to Burketown were like. We were unable to get any good information in town about the road to Burketown, other than the cattle trucks use the road and its being graded at present for the coming tourist season. Also queries about the road south from Burketown to Gregory Downs met with either little to no response (maybe a slight shake of the head could be detected). This convinced Shirl that the planned Burketown route we were to use in a week’s time to Lawn Hill was immediately scrapped. This was not a planned loop so that was OK. At the Normanton Caravan Park there was a sign in the amenities block that caused Shirl some concern for the rest of our stay in Queensland.

Please turn off the lights.
Light attracts Insects.
Insects attract Frogs.
Frogs attract Snakes.
No Lights, No Snakes

The next day we set off for the famous Barry & Lorranines Tourist Park at Karumba Point. You hear so much about Karumba and this park that you just have to be there and experience it. Anywhere near the tourist season you must book well in advance to get into this park. For that matter if you cannot book in here, you probably should book at any of the other parks in the area as they take the overflow of those that didn’t book ahead. At Barry & Lorranines a powered site is $14.00 per night, but on Wednesday and Saturday nights there is a free fish BBQ and entertainment. There are craft afternoons for the women left behind by the fishermen and organised walks, nearly every day. Barry & Lorraine have their friends in the park that run scenic flights and charter fishing trips, also stores (souvenir and craft) in the park plus there is a general store and bakery (great Vanilla Slices) right next to the park. The atmosphere, friendliness, is unbelievable and you can see why people make the annual therapeutic pilgrimage to this the Grey Nomad capital of Australia. Most people knew one another from previous years. Sightseeing around Karumba is pretty limited; however, the sunset from the Tavern on the beach is not to be missed. The sea seems to catch on fire. There is a lot of activity in Karumba itself due to the huge construction work associated with the Pasmico Century Mine at Lawn Hill. The mine will cover some 300 hectares, with a depth of 340m and yield 105Mt (12.1% zinc, 1.69% lead, 46g/t silver). This will be concentrated at Lawn Hill, mixed 50/50 with water, pumped 300K to Karumba, rotary dried then barged out to sea to an ore carrier for export.

As Burketown was off the list we headed south down the Matilda Way to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse. The narrow road was good, except for a few patches still under repair from the wet. Turning west towards Gregory Downs along a great sealed road that you could easily travel at 100+ kph. At Gregory Downs the road to Burketown had signs across saying “washouts for the next 120K” which is the distance to Burketown. Also there were these water tankers continually heading up this road. Probably just as well for Shirl’s sanity, that we gave the Burketown route a miss. Gregory Downs has a General Store, a Pub, and a great river at which to bush camp; there are no amenities. The fast flowing river (where they have a big canoe race each year), bush, Pandamus, and plenty of bird life make it a truly fabulous spot. There were a number of others camped here and I got talking to one in particular, an ex truckie, who had just driven up from Camooweal. He took over 5 hours to cover 220k’s in his Cruiser due to two flat tyres caused by sharp rocks and his tyres looked pretty good. This tended to throw a bit of doubt about our planned loop route from Lawn Hill to Mount Isa via the Riversleigh Fossil fields, in a week’s time. Thoughout the day there was a continual stream of water tankers filling up about 500m down the river, and then heading off up the Burketown road. The next morning we were awoken at 6:00am by the tankers filling up with their first load of the day. This gave us a chance to explore the river. The early morning bird life around the river was just incredible and if it weren’t for the tankers we would have missed it.

The road to Lawn Hill is unsealed with the first 50K being very good, even the two detours around where the road and bridges were washed out were good. Although on this section a truck managed to throw up a stone to give us another small chip in the windscreen. The next 30K past the Century mine turn off was in general not bad, and the last 10K from Adels Grove was magnificent. They obviously have spent a lot of money on this section recently. At Adels Grove all petrol sells for $1.00 per litre and is dispensed from a drum. Thankfully I had the jerrycans from which I could top up just in case we had to backtrack to the Burke & Wills Roadhouse. A walk around the remains of the Frenchman’s exotic garden is unbelievable, as it is an oasis in the middle of the sparse bush. All that’s left are the trees, which completely cover a large area with cool shade. One can only imagine what the full garden was like when he was alive and tending the garden.

On arriving at Lawn Hill we spent the afternoon familiarising ourselves with the park and their rules. The list goes on and one can only imagine what thoughtless morons got up to in the past. A couple of the “rules” were, no collecting of firewood in the park (which most people ignored); campers must light the hot water donkey (when it worked and if the firewood had not been pinched); and only 100 campers in the park at any one time. It was very noticeable that as soon as a tent site was vacated the rangers immediately put the sprinklers on the empty site for a couple of days.

The camp area is good, bit thin on bush, and you cannot see the water from your camp. Pandamus and bush cover the edge of the 10m banks that lead to the water. In fact you have to walk down quite a number of steps to get to the waters edge, but the swim in the cool water, and the scenery from the water, is well worth it. The next morning I headed off on the walk to the Cascades through this magnificent rainforest like area. From here I took the very steep climb up the Island Stack and took in the fantastic views of the gorge and surrounding dry/sparse countryside. It is from here that you appreciate just how different this spot is to the surrounds. The late afternoon walk to the Indarri Waterfall via the Duwadarrie Waterhole Lookout was even steeper and not recommended for those who suffer from vertigo. Here the gorge walls go straight down, and the path, which was not very well defined, is quite close to the edge. There is plenty of warning signs to this effect thoughout the walk. The effort is not wasted, as the views are spectacular. On reaching the falls there is a platform and ladders so you can go for a swim, which on the warm day was well and truly welcome. A number of other walks, particularly the upper gorge, were closed as they were still under repair after the wet. Thank god, as I was exhausted.

Now Shirl who is not a water person, except for the hot spa and thermal springs, found herself at 8:00am trussed up in a lifejacket and bundled into a canoe. You know who paddled up the gorge, as Shirl was concentrating on making finger indentations in each side of the canoe (worse than those in the Frontera dashboard after a club 4WD trip). The magnificent sight of the falls and their surrounds did not calm Shirl when the realisation that to see the upper gorge we had to use the portage. However, after clambering up the portage, negotiating the narrow waterway through the Pandamus and getting into the upper gorge, she began to relax and let go of the canoe sides and enjoy the spectacle. Then again, maybe it was just to have a couple of calming cigarettes. I felt that Shirl would not be interested in attempting the slide down the portage in the canoe on the return journey. We gave that a miss and quietly paddled back down to the starting point via the aboriginal cave paintings on the other bank, where when setting foot back on dry land at the canoe hire dock, Shirl nearly did her impression of the Pope when he arrives at airports. This is truly a magnificent place and the only way to see it is by canoe.

Inquires of the Park Rangers and of other campers, about the road to Camooweal via the Riversleigh Fossil Fields indicated that this was not the way to go at this time, and we should backtrack to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse then use the Matilda Way to Cloncurry. Another planned loop out the window. As we had covered all we could at Lawn Hill, and the hot water Donkey was still out of action, we moved a day early back to the Gregory Downs River. This removed the slow 100k part of the now much longer trip to Mount Isa. The water tankers were still doing their thing, but it was quite an enjoyable day by the river. The next day after the water tanker wake up call again it was back to the Burke & Wills Roadhouse. After a coffee break, and a refuel (just as well I used a jerrycan of fuel at Lawn Hill, as I would have been 3 litres short) it was down the Matilda Way to Cloncurry.

Travelling from Cloncurry to Mount Isa was quite a surprise. The scenery is spectacular particularly in the late afternoon. The colour of the hills continually change and is only spoilt by the power lines. This area was totally different to what I had imagined. We spent a very enjoyable week with relatives who gave us the grand tour of the Isa. We also managed to give both the car and the camper a long overdue clean. Shirl was having a great time, a large shopping centre for a change. Then we were lucky enough to get a cancellation for the underground tour. Everyone told Shirl that she would enjoy. Well the very fast descent to 1200m in the lift didn’t start things to well when we were supposed to stop at 900m. Problems closing the lift door for the ascent to 900m didn’t help either. The 3 hour 4WD trip in the dark between 900 and 1200m underground was not what Shirl had expected. Its like a city down there connected by tunnels that have steep inclines, “water crossings”, and rocks on the tracks, plus the drivers reverse just as fast as they drive forward. A great experience only spoilt by the snap fire drill as we were waiting for the lift to take us back to the surface. This drill forced us to spend the next hour and a half in the crib (lunch) room and a bit of panic amongst others on the tour who had other commitments back on the surface. The tour of the Riversleigh Fossil Centre at the information centre was less of a trauma, and we suggest that it should not be missed. We sadly said our farewells to our relatives after a great week and headed east.

The road from Cloncurry to is excellent, straight (GPS and Road markings differing by only 1K/100K), and flat. Extremely boring countryside as it is all cleared cattle country which is quite yellow with hardly a tree in sight. The Hughenden information centre houses a dinosaur centre. Centre stage is the replica of the Muttaburrasaurs skeleton. They supply a Mud Map for the trip out to the Porcupine National Park. The 66K trip on a good unsealed road takes you through a variety of countryside and some spectacular scenery as you approach the park. The park’s gorge is quite wide, and dominated by the Pyramid Rock formation. It’s a long relatively easy walk down to the bottom, twisting around the hillside. There were many rock pools, and odd rock formations, but the colours of the Pyramid Rock wall draw you to the end of the gorge. It is not fair to compare gorges, as each is different and should be considered in the context of their location. However I wish I had seen this gorge as planned at the start of the trip as both Lawn Hill and Cobbold Gorge, probably because of the larger water aspect of the other gorges, had a bigger impact on me.

From here it was onto Winton via the Kennedy Development Road. Initially a very good sealed road, and then 20K of an unsealed detour around road works sealing this section, then a 50k section of excellent sealed road, then a 20K of cut up unsealed stuff. No doubt this was the black soil section that we were warned about two months earlier. I am certainly glad we didn’t attempt it when it was wet as it was rough enough in the dry. Winton is a small town but we felt it had a certain charm. The Waltzing Matilda Centre is quite a good set up, and the bush tucker from their cafe is excellent. We spent half a day wandering around the exhibits. The number of caravans heading in the opposite direction highlighted the two-hour drive to Longreach. It is now near the end of May and it seems every New South Welshman and Victorian is heading north towards the sun or, by the number of tinnies, Karumba Point. In the van parks you can forget about sleeping in of a morning. Even before the sun rises they, mainly the grey nomads, are packing up, dropping everything made of metal on the concrete annex slab, then firing and firing up their motors to start the lemming like rush to the next van park even if it is only 200K’s away.

Longreach's Stockman’s Hall of Fame is something to see. A definite must see exhibition, and what a building. You can easily spend two days wandering around and taking in all the information. The sunset Billabong cruise is also worthwhile for both the scenery and the bush stew. We stayed at the Gunnadoo Caravan Park where twice a week an evening roast is available, followed by a very good Bush poet. After a couple of days we continued eastward to Barcaldine, and then over the ground we had covered two moths before to Sapphire. It was great to travel this last stretch again, as there was hills (Great Dividing Range) and trees.

Now Shirl likes Sapphires, or have I said that before. Out came the list. I needed to atone for causing her stress with THAT Cooktown drive, THAT Georgetown to Forsayth drive, THE WORRY of snakes if people don’t turn the lights off in the Loo’s, THAT canoe trip, THAT underground tour, and on it went. I mean I thought of number pluses, but I mean what hope do we poor mere males have.

We no sooner pulled into Blue Gem Van Park, put up the van then it was off to Shirl’s favourite shop, the Rubyvale Gem Gallery where Peter and Eileen Brown were more than happy to attend to her needs again. They were so pleased with our visit that they invited us to join their tour of the Gem fields the next day. This is a good 4WD trip through the fossicking, hand mining and machine mining areas. It’s a real eye opener to see how people live. The tour also goes to a Basalt outcrop where after a short steep rocky climb you get a great view of the surrounding countryside. You also go down Peter’s underground mine to see how it’s done. The tour is really a must as it gives you a real appreciation of the area and Sapphire mining. We should have done this tour the first time we were here 2.5 years ago. Thank god, from the bank balance point of view, we shouldn’t be travelling this way for a number of years.

On the road again heading for Carnarvon Gorge via Emerald, Springsure, and Rolleston. The drive is great, particularly the spectacular mountain scenery as you approach Springsure. The road is quite good, excellent in parts. It is part of “The Great Inland Way” connecting Dubbo and Cairns. 60K’s from Rolleston you turn west and head for the gorge. The last half of the trip, about 25K’s, is unsealed with some sections being a little chopped up and corrugated. The camp area in the Gorge is great, although the whole area is virtually in permanent shade, which is not going to fire the solar panel up. The park is going through a number of changes/upgrades. The new toilets being the start, coin operated hot showers to replace the existing cold showers are next. They have dramatically reduced the number of campers allowed at any one time, from 700+ to less than 300, but are having difficulty controlling the number of day visitors, which at the peak can be in excess of 2000 people. The walks are great. The main walk up to the Big Bend Camp with all the major side gorges is about 25K return. Some of these side gorges, eg the Amphitheatre, Wards Canyon, are so spectacular that they take your breath away. The other walk up to Boolimba Bluff to view the gorge actually takes your breath away. Its about 3.2K rising some 200m and has about 1000 steps, including ladders. Most of the 200m climb is in one short very steep section. It was the first of June and as the sun slipped behind the escarpment at about 4:00pm the air suddenly became very cold. This was the start of the weather pattern from here on, warmish days and cold nights. On our last night the heavens opened up with a terrific thunderstorm that lasted most of the night. In the morning we were able to pack up just before it began to drizzle. I slipped the Frontera into 4WD high and set off through the drizzle. The road was quite slushy in parts, causing a bit of slip and slide, particularly in one long section. You could see the tracks of the two Patrols pulling large dual axle caravans that set off half an hour before us. They were all over the place and at one point one of them must have had a big scare as the tracks went right to the very edge of the road where there was a small drop. We were waved pass by a VW like combi motorhome crawling along through this slush but once back on the sealed part of the road it wasn’t long before he went flying past. I think Shirl was quite glad to get back to the Highway and to the coffee at Injune. Whilst here we learnt that the Park Ranges had closed the road to conventional vehicles and all vehicles with caravans.

We continued down the Highway to Roma, picked up supplies, then headed west to Mitchell. Mitchell is another of those country towns that are actively pursuing the tourist. There are two main attractions. They offer two free nights at the Council Caravan Park. If you are earlier enough this is with a new modern ensuite (we were just early enough) and you don’t have to stay any longer than the two days. The other is that they have built a large modern pool, which they fill with hot 38-degree artesian water. They advertise this as “The Great Artesian Spar” which is set in beautiful surrounds between the swimming pool and the old Town Hall that has nearly had its renovations completed. This hall seems to be the centre of the development and amongst other things contains a modern cafe and Internet room. There are also a lot of other developments in various stages of planning/completion as evident by the posters around town. There were plenty of signs advertising computer courses at the Internet room of the Town Hall, and it was quite noticeable that the town was very computer literate, as every business we went into was operating with computers. Would you believe Mitchell is another of those country towns that didn’t get State of Origin telecast live and State of Origin Two and it was on that night (NSW won).

Hitting the road again we headed due East along the Warrego Highway to Toowoomba. Yes, unfortunately, we were heading back to East Coast civilisation and sadly ultimately home. After an overnight stay we headed to friends who live opposite Hope Island, north of the Gold Coast. It was quite a challenge to find our way through all the roadworks associated with the upgrading of the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. However we made it and had an extremely enjoyable stay that included a yacht circumnavigation of Hope Island, a tour of all the resorts in the area. What a contrast to the last few months. I had a canoe paddle along the river that their property fronts. Shirl could not be tempted!!!!

It was now time to head south, basically down the Pacific Highway but taking a number of detours to the coast. The amount of road works that’s being done is unbelievable. First stop was for coffee at Byron Bay. Shirl could not believe the scenery. Dreadlocks, ear rings, nose rings, hippie like cloths, etc. her head wasn’t still for a minute. I don’t think she saw any of the ocean or the beach. We pushed on eventually, and stopped at Coffs Harbour. We did the tourist thing for a couple of days, which of course included the Big Banana. From here we continued to take our time travelling down the coast and stopped at a great spot called Hallidays Point just north of Forster. Again it was the touristy thing for a couple of days then in was on to Shirl’s sisters place in Sydney.

In Sydney the girls caught up on all the gossip of the last 2 years. We did venture out to the Blue Mountains. It was not a good day as the fog/mist did not lift and at times you could barley make out the Three Sisters. However in this sort of weather the forest takes on a whole new look which, like many people I prefer, but it’s not good for looking at the views.

From Sydney we continued down the coast with an extended lunch stop at Kiama before continuing on to Batemans Bay. After a couple of days of sight seeing the surrounding area it was time to move on. That morning was the first and only time we had to pack up in the rain. A lengthy coffee stop was at Merimbula and the next two-day camp was at Mallacoota. Mallacoota is a pretty deserted place at this time of year despite the fact that it was June school holidays. Only the bottom section of the Caravan Park, near the wharf was open. However it is a beautiful place at any time of the year and the weather was quite pleasant, though cool. Moving on we decided not to travel all the way home and stoped over for a few of days at Lake Tyers, touring around the Lakes Entrance and Metung areas. Eventually all good things come to an end and we arrived home on the 30th June.

Everything with the trip went well, and with the exceptions of Cape Tribulation Burketown, Riversleigh Fossil fields, and Camooweal we basically managed everything we had planned plus a few extras.

The little Frontera was magnificent never giving a hint of a problem. It had a minor service (an overdue 6 monthly) at Doncaster Holden (55,000 k’s on the clock) before we left. We travelled 14,472 Km and averaged 14.6 L/100K (compared to about 12L/100k around Melbourne). Total fuel bill was $1560, plus whist in Mt Isa I felt I should put in 500mL of oil as it was about half way between the high and low marks on the oil stick. On return it had its long overdue (by 10,000 K’s) 60,000 service at which nothing out of the normal was detected.