13/6/15
We left Engadine a little later than planned, about 6.40am, but there was no hurry. Travelled along the M7 out of Liverpool and then onto the M4 (Great Western Highway for us oldies) over the Blue Mountains and down the very steep Mt Victoria. We had just passed through Lithgow, when Mark and Wendy telephoned to say that they were passing through Leura, so we turned around and met them at Lithgow for breakfast at the Golden Arches family restaurant. Filled the fuel tanks at Orange and then stopped at the usual park in Wellington for lunch.

Our first night came up quickly and we pulled into a rest area 60klms north of Coonamble, had dinner and settled in for an early rest. There were mobs of kangaroos to keep us company and the occasional truck travelling along the highway. Beryl woke about 2am feeling nauseous (wasn’t my cooking as we all had the same) but seemed ok. We got up around 6am and the temp was a balmy 3 degrees. Had a quick breakfast and packed up ready for day two. We only got about 30klms up the road and Beryl told me she felt like she was going to be sick, so I pulled off the road and she slumped in her seat unconscious. I was very worried and ran around to try and get her out of the seat belt and responsive. She came to about 30 seconds later and threw up. A decision was made to take her to Walgett Hospital to be checked out. She didn’t have strength to walk, so was wheeled in. The Dr attended to her around mid day and she had received an injection and tablets, so felt a lot better. Five hours later, we headed off again, a happier troop, to Lightning Ridge caravan park for the night.

Day 3 saw us heading off again and we crossed into Queensland, at Hebel, where we stopped for coffee and bought some meat pies to have for dinner later that night. Our next stop was St George, where we had lunch in a nice park on the Balonne River. Another fuel fill and we took off to Mitchell, along a narrow sealed highway. This was a very pretty drive with lots of wildlife and green bush. At one stage, I had to stop for cattle on the road, as drovers were pushing along the roadsides for the abundant feed there. It was neat to see the cowboys with their powerful horses and leather gear. You know what I mean – old style cowboys. The dogs let us pass and we drove on to a freecamp just outside of Mitchell, at the Neil Turner Weir, on the Maranoa River where we stayed the night.

There were a number of other caravans doing the same thing, and we met a couple who worked for Care Outreach, a Christian organisation helping those in need. Day 4 saw us head off around 9.30am to continue the journey north, towards Barcaldine. There was a ‘new’ campsite listed in the Camps 8 book, which looked interesting. The cost was $20 per night but they had showers and toilets, so we drove in the 13klms of dirt road, to have a look. It was a lovely place and we had a spectacular sunset with loads of birdlife in the wetlands. It was located on Lara Station, just south of Barcaldine. We met Jo, the owner, and she told us they had been open just 1 year. Her husband was killed in a helicopter accident on the day of opening, 1 year previously, so he didn’t get to see the opening. We had a good nights sleep and prepared for day 5 on the road.

We left Lara Station this morning with very dusty cars and vans and headed north again. Coming into Barcaldine, we got wheeled in for a random breath test. I told the constable I knew the procedure and he spotted my Police I.D. and waved me on. Mark got tested. The road seemed to be continuously climbing and the stretch between there and Longreach was a boneyard of kangaroo carcasses. There were many hundreds of dead roos on and beside the road, with the accompanying thousands of hawks and kites gorging themselves. I have never seen so many road kills, often with four of five dead kangaroos within metres of each other at times. We stopped in Longreach and had coffee and vanilla slices at the bakery, as well as filling the cars again. Reaching Winton around lunchtime, we ate at a park near the local swimming pool, where Beryl got bitten on ankles and feet by sandflies. As usual, she had an allergic reaction to the bites and they are swollen and dark red. The countryside from here northwards, was totally barren and featureless, well and truly in the grip of the drought. We saw emus and very scrawny cattle along the route but nowhere to pull over for the night. Not a tree in sight. We finally reached a roadhouse at Kyuna, where we stopped in their “caravan park” for the night. There were three very tame brolgas in the park and one came over and swiped Wendy’s freshly prepared toast off her plate. I stood up to shoo it away but it stood up to its almost 6ft height and hissed at me. With a sharp beak almost a foot long, I sat back down and invited him for breakfast. Off to Cloncurry today.

We hit Cloncurry in time for morning tea and found a nice coffee shop/café which was modern, clean and knew how to make good beverages. I heard a couple of old ladies ask the waitress what Chai Tea was, though. Filled up at the Caltex, for 4c per litre off, but soon found that my 90 litre tank, which was not empty yet, took 92 litres of petrol. I asked the attendant when the pumps had last been calibrated as I paid for at least 15 litres of fuel above what I received. No joy, no apology, no comment aside from, “I will let the boss know”. We drove on to our planned stop at Bourke and Wills roadhouse, but the facilities looked no different to those we had seen at roadside rest areas with toilets, so we drove on to one about 90klms north. I noticed my car seemed a bit low in the back, so checked my airbags. One was zero psi and the other was 22psi. I got the pump out and inflated them again. Heard air hissing out and found that one air bag is damaged. Headed off to Karumba about 8.30am. The road turned into single lane, sealed, and we had to pull off several times to allow oncoming road trains the bitumen section. We also came across a caravan stranded in the middle of the road, with a broken axle. The poor owner had just about removed it from the van as we pulled up. Hot and dirty work. Lucky it was a dual axle van, so he could limp back to Karumba for repairs. We arrived at the Sunset Park and got the vans set up in their allocated spots. I had booked adjoining sites a few months ago, so that is good to have us both together, as the park is pretty full at this time of year. Good to have power, water and facilities for the next few days before we head off to Lawn Hill on Tuesday. We had just set up and having a cuppa, when a couple of ladies came around selling raffle tickets for the cancer council. Beryl bought three, for six dollars, and thought no more of it. Half an hour later the ladies were back and Beryl had won first prize of $100. She gave them $50 back for the charity, but we were all laughing about the win. First time for everything.

2/6/15 we left Karumba about 9.30am on our way to Lawn Hill. It was quite windy so we battled into a crosswind, which increased out fuel consumption considerably. To make matters worse, my engine warning light came on and that means ‘take vehicle to dealer’ for attention. Well, we are a long, long way from any dealers or mechanics, so a call to my Sydney mechanic set my mind at rest slightly as he informed me that the most likely cause was an oxygen sensor causing the onboard computer to register the fault. So, that is a split airbag on the rear suspension and now a sensor glitch. We arrived at the Bourke and Wills roadhouse about 1.15pm and filled up the cars and had some lunch. I only got 250klms out of one tank of fuel, compared to 400klms around Sydney. The road to Gregory was in terrific condition for 90% of the way and good for the rest. We had thought to camp on the Gregory River overnight, but it was wall to wall caravans along the banks on both sides, so we continued on to Adels Grove. The first 30klms was bitumen and really quite good, but that ended as soon as we passed the entry to the zinc mine. The mine only maintained their section and it was fairly rough going from there on. A bit of harsh shaking across the corrugations saw a few things on the floor of the van and fridge items tumbling out when we stopped. It was hot and dusty when we set up camp and the Grove is also crowded. We booked for 3 nights rather than the planned 5 we had thought to do initially. I had prepared pizza dough before leaving Karumba, so we all sat down to home made pizzas that night, cooked in the baby Weber Q. First use and they worked out to be excellent and tasty. Off to bed at 10pm for a well earned sleep. The morning proved to be quite cool at around 10 degrees.

The plan for Thursday was to get up early and leave for Lawn Hill gorge around 7.30am. It was about 9 degrees again so it took a while to get out of bed. Right on track, we left here around 8.15am and drove the 12klms on the dirt to arrive in the relatively early cool to begin our hike. We did the loop walk plus a bit, for about 4.5klm. Stopped at Duwadarri lookout, which provided views of the river and gorge. Continued on to Indarri lookout and then down the gorge to Inari Falls where Mark, Wendy and I had a swim. Mark and I sat behind the waterfall and emerged through it. The force of the water was quite amazing. It certainly could hold someone under, pinning them to the bottom if they weren’t prepared for it.

Lots of Archer fish, Sooty Grunter and other species there. We continued on and saw Crimson Finches, lizards and other birdlife. It became quite hot when we finally got back to the carpark and back to Adels Grove. Having dinner there tonight for a treat, before we think about heading off in a couple of days, to Camooweal and then, Borroloola.