Hells Gates

 24/6/2021 Adels Grove to Hells Gates

Packed up slowly today and made our way to Hells Gates road house.

We took the Savanah Way Alternate Route. The road was great, a few gates to open and cattle to get past. We had set the Google maps and it has been very accurate so far however.......................

We did a lovely river crossing and the map told us we had gone the wrong way, so we did a u turn and headed down a not so accessible track but forever hopefull we kept going. After knocking down vegetation for about 3kms we decided that maybe Google had got it wrong so headed back to the river crossing and it was still lovely the second time round. We were back on track. We stopped in a Doomadgee for supplies (make sure you go into town and go to the super market not the road house). The super market has just about got everything accept fresh bread but you can get a frozen loaf. We are now travelling on highway 1 the national Hwy. Easy run into Hells Gate Road House. The kids immediately found some calves and were invited to give them their bottles. Unfortunately the weld from big Shane didn't last but there is fix it shop at Hells Gates so we will keep you posted on that. We had dinner at the road house a beautiful curry (yum yum) wrote our message on the travelers wall and then we were treated to some fire twirling by one of the workers here Tim. Hells Gate is great place to stop we highly recommend it, it is also the last place for fuel in QLD before you cross the border into NT which is where we are off to tomorrow.

 

Adels Grove

 

20/6/2021 Wow Wow WoW

Long bumpy drive in, over hot country with red rocks and spinifex. The trees on this country prove Mother Nature’s resilience. There are lots of termite mounds made of red dirt that look like people standing in the paddock some have even been dressed in t-shirts and shorts some in a Christmas theme.  My favourite a hard hat and singlet (gotta love a sense of humour). . We saw our first dingo. We crossed the Gregory and O'Shannassy rivers. Huge paper bark Gums and a lush tropical understory, beautiful!

Got to Adels Grove camping ground. The grove is amazing, super shady and big sites. The Grove is one stop shop. There is fuel (most of the time) reception is OK at the kitchen. There is a fix it shop, big shout out to Big Shane for welding our broken shocker plate. You can hire a canoe or take a boat cruise down the billabong. We did both

       

                                           

                                                    

                                                                            Big Shane

There is a spectacular water hole at the camp ground for swimming there are a few fresh water crocs but they tend to leave you alone. NO NOT PROVOKE THEM.

The real feature of this area is Lawn Hill National Park. The water is amazing.  

                                   

We did the lookout walk and Indarri Falls walk. When you get to the falls its strip off and dive in but not before you mud up! The indigenous dreamtime story tells that you must not enter the water before you cover yourself with mud otherwise  you could anger the rainbow serpent who made the water flow , so when in Rome!!!. We spent the whole day swimming and eating here.  There are Archer fish in the water and they spat water in our  eyes! We observed the snapping turtles and also the diamond headed turtle. The bird life is amazing to many to name. The second day we hired canoes for the afternoon and paddled the upper and lower gorge, so peaceful. Maya paddled for me as canoeing just does not seem to be my forte. Adam and Nash in the other canoe. We did a walk to Wild dog dreaming it is a significant cultural place for the local people here with art gallery dating back 1000’s of years. The bridge was out so we had to take a swim over to the walking trail (love that) Nash spotted our first croc about  2 meters long.

We have discovered that we have the NBN travelling with us. NBN stands for Nash Bird Nerd. He has become quite the bird spotter and picking up on all the details that distinguish one species from the other. Go Nash. 

Todays feature creature is 'Stanley" the Jackie Lizard.

                                    

Winton to Mt Isa

 

19/ 6/2021 Winton to Mt Isa

We hit the Rd again a short day today we stopped at a free camp Clem Walton just out of Mt Isa. Great spot, lots of caravans and people set up for holidays. A big lake to camp by. No facilities at all except for rubbish removal. Fires are permitted, and there is a little bit of reception for phone calls. Adam proved his worth again. The van was on a bit of an angle so we tried chocking it up but still a bit wonky, ever the problem solver Ad gets out the shovel and digs a hole for the tyre to sit in and in true Adam fashion we got out the level…….. You guessed it perfect! Love that man xo. Kids explored on bikes for the afternoon and morning plenty of camps further in if you prefer a quieter space. Up in the morning for a quick shop at Mt Isa it’s a big town with lots of everything so good spot to stock up. Mining is the name of the game up there and the mine is right slap bang in the middle of town. We are excited by our next destination a place called Adel’s Grove which is just outside Lawn hill NP.   

Todays feature creature is Travis the Budgie 

                                     

Blackall to Winton a glimpse at the past

 17th to 18/6/2021 Blackall to Winton. A glimpse at the past 

We Left Blackall and headed for Winton going through Longreach. We decide to stop and take a look at the QANTAS museum there. If you weren’t aware this is where QANTAS started all those years ago. When you reach town there is a huge shed and under it you can see a Boeing 747 Jumbo with the iconic Flying Kangaroo on the tail. We were going to do the tour but it was very expensive so we opted to look around the museum instead.

On to Winton Dinosaur Capital of the outback. We booked the Matilda Tourist Park for 2 nights as we needed to do washing etc. This park offers a show each night with a bush poet who the kids enjoyed. If you didn’t want to stay at a Caravan park there is a free camp just out of Winton on the road to the stampede called Mistake Creek. Flat sites but no facilities you have to be self-sufficient.

We booked a tour of the Dinosaur stampede (family ticket is cheaper). It is 110kms out of Winton the road is Ok some dirt some sealed. (Beware if it rains you will get stuck). When you arrive there is an impressive building and information boards at the site. The dinosaur stampede is the only known site in the world with evidence of a stampede. There are approx 3500 footprints in the stone with different species of Dinosaurs. It is said to be over 95,000,000 years old (hence the title a glimpse at the past).

   

So this site is pretty outback in the middle of nowhere thousands of Kms from home and you will never guess sitting in the same tour, on the same day, at the same time was Lara a girl I work with and we went to school together and we didn’t know each other were going to be there. OMG

We spent the rest of the day exploring Bladensburg National Park in the park is the site of the Shearers Strike and it is said that this was the beginning of the Labour party. There is an impressive Shearing shed and an Old Homestead that you can go in and look around. It has the same door handle as my Great Grandmothers house. The drive out to Scrammy Gorge and lookout is 4WD only and is well worth it. A beautiful oasis in the middle of some hard country. The locals called it the jump up as it is where the Earth was covered in ironstone millions of years ago and has prevented the land from being washed away causing the jump up. When you go there you will know what I mean.

A quick look at Skull hole and then back to town for a Parma and a beer at the Tattersalls Hotel.

Todays feature creature Bob the  BOP ( Bird Of Prey

 

Blackall the town full of Art

 Black 16 to 17th June 2021

Long drive to Blackall today. We got caught in an outback storm. Hail, lighting, wind and driving rain. The country is so flat out here you could see for miles and could see that we would be out of it eventually.

It was just an overnight stop here. We stayed at the Council run camping area which is a whooping $10.00 There are showers and toilets available its a bit of walk but ok. The town is known for a famous sheep shearer Jackie Howe who sheared 321 sheep in a day with the old hand shears. His record has never been beaten! It is also known for the famous Blackstump. An Aussie surveying point that mentions if you are beyond it there's nothing else. We met a drummer there who played us a beat on the Black stump. The town is full of sculpture. Worth a stop. 

We saw some Brolgas today no photos sorry 

Feature creature is Ella the Eagle in her nest made from recycled junk found along the river 

Charlotte Plains

 Charlotte Plains 13/6/21 to 16/6/21

Crossed the border and headed to our Station stay at Charlotte Plains. Our first bit of off roading. The drive in was no drama however the week before the Rd was closed due to wet conditions. This part of the world is called 'Channel Country' due to how the water is irrigated up from the artesian basin via bores and into channels for stock. When it rains out here it turns to slop very quickly. 

Met Station owner Robyn and headed to bore camp. Easy going camping our instructions were camp anywhere and enjoy. There are 22 bath tubs around the campsite that are fed water from the bore which comes to the surface at 42 degrees C! Fires are a must and there is plenty of fire wood that can be collected on the Station. We booked 2 nights and quickly decided to stay 3! We did a Station tour with Robyn and she filled us in on the history and some of the bush characters that have lived and worked on Charlotte Plains. There was a new calve (whos name was Reggie) at the homestead that had lost his Mum and we got to give him his bottle. Some other campers found a new born lamb and named him Oreo (so cute) 

Kids spent heaps of time in the water. There were canoes to paddle on and fish in the channel.

My favourite night (this is one for the Mums) was filling up the baths under the milky way and all of us hopping in together.  Lying with your babes under an outback sky in a hot artesian bath watching for shooting stars doesn't get any better💜💜💜

Our feature Creatures today are 'Oreo' the lamb and 'Reggie' the calf also

 'Mal' the Mallee Ring Neck