My laptop has totally crapped itself. I am unable to upload any pictures. I wil try to sort it out when we get to Darwin in 3 days. Watch this space.
Sunday, 30 July 2017
Saturday, 29 July 2017
Days 11 - 18 To Katherine
Quite a lot of catching up to do as we have been very remote for the last week with no access to phone or internet. So quite a few boring pics.
Days 11 12 13
Three days off line. I am now sitting outside the caravan at King Ash Bay on the Gulf
of Carpentaria at 8.30pm Very balmy & warm. I will not be able to upload for at least
another 3 or 4 days as we have no communications, but I thought I’d better store some
info because I tend to forget a LOT.
Departred Mt Isa & left the hills behind once more, exchanging them for the endless
flat country that makes up so much of Australia. Another big day of driving saw us
once again at Barkly Homestead, NT, almost exactly 1 year since our last stop here.
Barkly is a great oasis in the endless plains & the bar & cooked meals are very
welcome. Next morning saw us change direction due North & push around 500K to
an overnight stay in a gravel pit about 40K south of Boroloola. We shared the gravel
pit with another couple heading south. The 380K leg between Barkly & Cape
Crawford had deteriorated terribly since our last trip through. Huge bumps & holes
went on for hundreds of Ks & we all enjoyaed a cold ale in the gravel pit after 7 or 8
hours of fairly trying driving.
This morning saw us complete the last short leg to King Ash Bay in only about 2
hours, as the last 21K of gravel into camp was some of the worst corrigation we have
come across. The access road is in really bad shape. As anyone who has ever been
here would know, we arrived with everything covered in a thick layer of red dust.
But the compensation is that King Ash is as great as ever & we are staying in a
powered site & can therefore run our air conditioner. It is amazing to think that only 3
days ago we were having cool days & overnight temperature of 1 degree & now we
are baking in 35 degree temperatures. No complaints though as we knew that before
we came & we expect similar for at least the next month of our journey.
I will continue this blah blah blah tomorrow goodnight........
Days 14 15 16
A couple more days at King Ash, with a couple of outings to Mule Creek & Batton
point. Did some fishing but they all got away, a really big monster fish, true turkey.
A great night out at the fishing club, good food & entertainment, with a zantac for
desert.
Then another long drive on better roads, but still a little ordinary, over to Daly Waters
where we enjoyed quite a few drinks, a mega barbeque at the pub & some terrific
entertainers.
Well they seemed terrific to me, but I did have a couple of drinks. Off to Mataranka
hot springs tomorrow, finally a fairly short drive of 161K. We should be there by
lunch time even with a sleep in. It is getting HOT, HOT, HOT, here. The heater will
be in mothballs for at least the next month or so & we are still heading North for the
next week, until we run out of Australia. I don’t think we want to swim over to
Indonesia.
Days 17 & 18
A fairly short days drive saw us in Mataranka hot springs, where we spent several hours in the hot, clear waters of the natural springs. The park put on another great night of entertainment & I managed a quick swim in the morning before our departure for Katherine, which was only an hour & a bit up the road. Booked into one of the caravan parks only to find we were about 50 metres From Warwick & Julie who are living & working up here.
( Thats Jasons parents) After a social drink & an hour or 2 with W & J a short walk to the Katherine hot springs for another swim, its damn hot here in the afternoon.
Tomorrow we are taking a boat ride up the Katherine Gorge.
Yvonne getting some lunch ready in Camoweal, just short of the Queensland border.
( Finally )
A metal horseman in Camoweal. I think he is looking around for some metal cattle as slow as he is.
Camoweal pub. You would be right in assuming there is nothing much to see in Camoweal.
After 2000k we finally made it out of Queensland.
Barkly Homestead camp, a long way from anywhere, but they put on a good meal.
A morning walk, with all the other travellers pulled up at the homestead.
This is where caravans come to die...
A siesmic survey machine pulled up at a rest area along the Barkly to Borroloola road. I reckon that puts this spot at least 500k from the nearest town.
Some thirsty finches at the same rest area.
This is the sum total of civilisation for hundreds of ks'.
The next lot of pics are from Yvonnes camera, covering the same stretch as the pics above.
The last of the hills leaving the Mt Isa area.
Lots of these signs. " BEWARE" cows eating cars. We never saw a single car get eaten.
Leaving Barkly. The road turned to shit shortly after this & stayed that way for hundreds of Ks'.
Heaps of cattle on unfenced roads.
After only 6 hrs of driving it stopped being flat & finally got some scenery near Cape Crawford.
Its amazing how good a crappy rock looks, after driving all day on shit road looking at flat country.
King Ash Bay camp.
On the banks of the Mcarthur river, which is heavily infested with salt water crocs, so NO swimming here.
Some old dude tourist with a death wish.
A hawks nest with chicks at the camp site.
Pano at Mule Creek, looking out into the Gulf Of Carpentaria.
As above, only you can't see how hot it is.
Yvonne tries for a Barra at Mule Creek. No luck.
Yours truly at Mule Creek. This picture has a secret hiding in full view.
The crap road into King Ash. Look closely.
Pano at Batton point, at the convergence of Batton creek & Mcarthur river.
Morning tea at Cape Crawford after leaving King Ash. Don't be fooled by the name Cape Crawford is nowhere near the ocean, its way inland.
More of these cheeky grey fiends, they are everywhere we go.
The road out to Mule creek. Pretty good by local standards.
One of the many bushfires burning near Borroloola.
Looking out over the Mcarthur river.
I reckon this is a friend of the Bostons', camped at King Ash.
Batton point.
Having another try at the elusive Barra. Keeping a watchful eye for any movement in the grass.
Somewhere between Cape Crawford & Daly Waters.
A free camp in the middle of nowhere. Yvonne & I camped here on a previous trip, a bit of a story, but not here.
The King Ash road was a little unkind to our vans.
The front of the Daly Waters pub.
Entertainment at Daly Waters pub. He was really good.
Baldy & co at Daly Waters pub.
Getting in the mood.
The clear hot waters at Mataranka.
Mataranka pools.
Yvonne & Jo staying wet.
Thats us.
The pools are deeps within this native palm forrest.
Mataranka entertainment.
Camp Mataranka.
A couple of pea hens near our van.
Inside the house used in the movie 'We of the Never Never'
Outside the same house.
The whip cracking show by the world champion whip cracker at Mataranka.
Days 11 12 13
Three days off line. I am now sitting outside the caravan at King Ash Bay on the Gulf
of Carpentaria at 8.30pm Very balmy & warm. I will not be able to upload for at least
another 3 or 4 days as we have no communications, but I thought I’d better store some
info because I tend to forget a LOT.
Departred Mt Isa & left the hills behind once more, exchanging them for the endless
flat country that makes up so much of Australia. Another big day of driving saw us
once again at Barkly Homestead, NT, almost exactly 1 year since our last stop here.
Barkly is a great oasis in the endless plains & the bar & cooked meals are very
welcome. Next morning saw us change direction due North & push around 500K to
an overnight stay in a gravel pit about 40K south of Boroloola. We shared the gravel
pit with another couple heading south. The 380K leg between Barkly & Cape
Crawford had deteriorated terribly since our last trip through. Huge bumps & holes
went on for hundreds of Ks & we all enjoyaed a cold ale in the gravel pit after 7 or 8
hours of fairly trying driving.
This morning saw us complete the last short leg to King Ash Bay in only about 2
hours, as the last 21K of gravel into camp was some of the worst corrigation we have
come across. The access road is in really bad shape. As anyone who has ever been
here would know, we arrived with everything covered in a thick layer of red dust.
But the compensation is that King Ash is as great as ever & we are staying in a
powered site & can therefore run our air conditioner. It is amazing to think that only 3
days ago we were having cool days & overnight temperature of 1 degree & now we
are baking in 35 degree temperatures. No complaints though as we knew that before
we came & we expect similar for at least the next month of our journey.
I will continue this blah blah blah tomorrow goodnight........
Days 14 15 16
A couple more days at King Ash, with a couple of outings to Mule Creek & Batton
point. Did some fishing but they all got away, a really big monster fish, true turkey.
A great night out at the fishing club, good food & entertainment, with a zantac for
desert.
Then another long drive on better roads, but still a little ordinary, over to Daly Waters
where we enjoyed quite a few drinks, a mega barbeque at the pub & some terrific
entertainers.
Well they seemed terrific to me, but I did have a couple of drinks. Off to Mataranka
hot springs tomorrow, finally a fairly short drive of 161K. We should be there by
lunch time even with a sleep in. It is getting HOT, HOT, HOT, here. The heater will
be in mothballs for at least the next month or so & we are still heading North for the
next week, until we run out of Australia. I don’t think we want to swim over to
Indonesia.
Days 17 & 18
A fairly short days drive saw us in Mataranka hot springs, where we spent several hours in the hot, clear waters of the natural springs. The park put on another great night of entertainment & I managed a quick swim in the morning before our departure for Katherine, which was only an hour & a bit up the road. Booked into one of the caravan parks only to find we were about 50 metres From Warwick & Julie who are living & working up here.
( Thats Jasons parents) After a social drink & an hour or 2 with W & J a short walk to the Katherine hot springs for another swim, its damn hot here in the afternoon.
Tomorrow we are taking a boat ride up the Katherine Gorge.
( Finally )
The last of the hills leaving the Mt Isa area.
Getting in the mood.
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