Category: Travel

Well we’ve arrived at Karumba after spending a night in the company (real or imagined) of the Norman River crocodiles at a free camp on the banks of the river at Normanton. You have to camp at least 50 metres from the river’s edge for safety’s sake. Only a short trip from there to Karumba Point to stay at Sunset Caravan Park in the hope that we can get our fridge and freezer back to normal after several days of uncomfortably hot weather and only 12 volt power supplied by the vehicle and the solar panels. We loaded the freezer with ice to try and get it back to normal temperature but its a slow process.

 

Lobbed into Mount Isa to top up on supplies (the usual suspects – meat and grog) before going to have a look at the Underground hospital. Very interesting Museum associated with it, displaying all the instruments of torture used by surgeons (I’m glad we have general anaesthetic so we don’t see these things).

From there we headed to Cloncurry before turning North on the Burke development road. We pulled into a free camp at the Terry Smith Lookout Rest Area. Jenny and I then spent half an hour cryovacing the meat we just bought with the cryovac machine we just bought. We’ll beat the hot weather blues of our freezer by fair means or foul (it uses to much power when we are off grid meaning that we have to turn it off overnight. In warm weather it thaws.)

We refuelled at Barkly Homestead before heading on to Queensland. We went out to the Camoweal National Park where we had lunch and a look at the Camoweal Caves. These caves were formed when the roof of a cavern collapsed leaving a large opening. Sadly public access is not allowed because of the unstable nature of the rocks. Very interesting.

We left there and headed on to our camp 54 kilometres outside Mount Isa. Quite a contrast to last night, with the drone of the grey nomads/gonads generator. Still we managed to still do our star watching, with the promise of a meteor shower to come (as promised by Star Walk 2)

After repairing a blown tyre (caused by a rock catching between the rear dual wheels) we departed Borroloola for points south east. We travelled to Alroy Downs on the Tablelands Highway and camped out in our preferred location – a gravel pit. It was a great night in the middle of nowhere, watching the stars until the near full moon broke over the horizon. We listened to Golden Oldies in the moonlight. Life can be sweet.

Back on the road at a leisurely pace arriving in Borroloola around lunchtime. We set up camp at the MacArthur River Caravan Park and Bob rang his contact at the local constabulary to see how fishing looked. Unfortunately there are strong winds in the gulf at the moment and the weather doesn’t look like it will clear until Thursday at the earliest. Dylan suggested that they may be able to do a fishing trip in his boat along the river Tuesday so everything was a bit up in the air. It was decided that we may as well head over to the other side of the Gulf and go to Karumba, so we will have a few days here relaxing in the sun before leaving on Thursday to head toward Karumba. Meanwhile Bob and Jenny can fish from the riverbank while watching out for crocodiles.

Spent the day travelling toward Borroloola, stopping at October Creek Rest Area at around three and setting up camp. Before to long , grey nomads started drifting in and quite quickly the small camping area was full. We spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the balmy weather and identifying the different bird species as they came into camp to drink from a water bowl we provided (while we drank from the wine glasses we also provided)

We continued our journey out to the Stuart Highway then headed south to Katherine where Bob made enquiries about a replacement starter motor to no avail. We then headed down to Mataranka before turning off to go into the Roper Bar. We drove right out to within 40 kms of the Bar when the bitumen came to a halt and the corrugations began. Initially it wasn’t to bad but as we moved further in we realised that the corrugations were getting worse (we were going in late in the season) and that the track we intended to take to Borroloola was worse than this and was 360 odd kilometres long. It was decided that the Turtle and the Redback would turn round and head to Borroloola via the bitumen. We headed back to another bush camp at Mount Price Rest area.

We left the mosquitoes behind to head into Jabiru then onto Nourlangie Rock to view more rock art, including the most photographed piece of Aboriginal Rosa Art in the world. Again, well laid out tracks and extensive viewing sites made for interesting viewing and a feeling of awe when you realise that humans had stood here painting these walls thousands of years ago.

After our contemplations we headed back out along the Kakadu Highway and made camp at Harriet Creek Rest Area.

We left Darwin in good time and headed down to Kakadu. We decided that we would head straight to Ubirr. We walked into the rock art and clambered over the trails to view the extensive galleries there.

Bob and Deb returned to Merl Campground to set up camp while Jenny and I waited until sunset to catch the setting sun’s rays on the escarpments. We left just before sunset to beat the fifty or so people there down the track back to the carpark. We got back into the campsite just in time to cook dinner before the mosquitoes attacked en masse. I can honestly say that I have never seen such a density of mosquitoes before and their attacks were so ferocious that we were forced inside to escape them despite wearing Bushman’s Red insect repellant and having mosquito candles burning. Unfortunately they had gained access to the motorhome so I was consumed during the night.

We went into Darwin after a bit of a restock at the local IGA. We visited the Royal Flying Doctor Service’s Museum at Stoke Hill Wharf. They have an extensive visual display on the bombing of Darwin (including a spectacular Virtual Reality show) as well as films on the establishment of the RFDS and on an American Naval Officer’s view of the events in Darwin Harbour on the day of the first bombing raid. We stayed at the wharf until it was time for our Dinner Cruise on the harbour. Great night during which we discovered that the two older ladies seated next to us had relations in Leongatha and that one of the lady’s daughter-in-law was Bob’s first girlfriend! Talk about a small world!