The road north was quite good with a good deal of it two lanes. Many hundreds of klms were single lane though, and we got completely off the road when a road train was approaching. You come to realise the extent of the outback, when you see a sign to the house on a cattle station, along a dirt road for 230klm from the front gate. Also had to stop several times when cattle were crossing the road and they were unpredictable, turning at the last moment to dash back across from the way they had come from. There were a lot of them dead on the side or in the roadway. We averaged about 80kph though, and soon arrived at the Heartbreak Hotel at Cape Crawford.
It was a pretty oasis in the middle of nowhere and Mark filled up with fuel, at $1.90 per litre. I was on the second tank, so waited until we arrived here at Borroloola, where we found fuel to be $1.65. A good saving when you have 200 litres to fill up. The caravan park was about 1klm from the McArthur River boat ramps, so Mark and I drove down to have a look. Very basic, bush ramps with a large crocodile trap at each one. I guess the local crocs are causing some concern to fishermen launching their boats. It isn’t going to be easy for us to launch Marks boat, as we have to lift it off the camper trailer and onto the roof of his car to get it to the water. Can’t believe it is already the 8th June and we have been gone for 2 weeks. Mark and I went fishing at the boat ramp in the afternoon and didn’t see any crocodiles, but we did catch a few Queenfish on lures. We have decided to stay an extra two days, to relax a bit before tackling another long drive.
Yesterday, 9th, we drove down to the Caranbirini reserve to have a walk around the area. The small billabong attracted many species of birds, including ducks, grebes, honeyeaters, bustards and finches. The flies were in great numbers and really annoying. The ancient rock formations, left over from sedimentary deposits when Australia was largely covered by sea, were impressive. The area is of significance to the aboriginal culture and it is good that we are allowed to visit and see the beauty.
A bit different when compared to the sight of denuded countryside around the region, where zinc mining is in progress. We returned to base, and Mark and I went for our usual, non productive fish. We drove out to a place named Bing Bong, which is right on the Gulf coast, but access was all but closed off by the zinc mining loading facility they have built there. We had a good walk around the creek and flats though, not seeing any crocodiles or sign of them. Back to camp, fishless. The following morning we drove to the local boat ramp, only to find the section of sand had been taken over by 10 boatloads of fisherpersons, enjoying a day out. Their barbeque smelled delicious, even though we didn’t get an invite to share. They had travelled the 37klm upriver from King Ash Bay. I got a short video of the resident Ospreys and Hawks, harassing a much larger White Breasted Sea Eagle, which had flown over the area. The aerobatics were a treat to witness, with the eagle looping, talons extended, to protect itself. It swooped low over the water and grabbed a Queenfish, much to the annoyance of the smaller hawks. It had trouble lifting the fish and settled on a sand bank to enjoy a meal. Once the eagle was on the ground, the other birds lost interest. We dined on cod and Javelin fish (Grunter) fillets that night, courtesy of fellow caravanners. Delicious.
Thursday the 11th, saw us hook up and continue our travels north. We stopped at Heartbreak Hotel, Cape Crawford, for some morning tea. They offered waffles and ice cream for $7.50, but we discovered that they only had one left. Mark and Wendy shared that. Looked delicious. We ordered a milkshake but the girl didn’t know how much they cost. She returned from the kitchen to inform us they were also $7.50. We declined and had a carton of iced coffee. We drove on, along the single lane highway, getting stuck behind a truck for many klms until a two lane section appeared and we got past. I saw two big snakes on the edge of the road and they slithered off as we passed. Arriving at the intersection of the Stuart Hwy, we turned right and headed several klms up the road to the historic, Daly Waters Pub to stay for the night. Well, that didn’t happen. The van park was apparently filled at mid day and the overflow, dirt section was also full. Never seen so many caravans and mobile homes as on this 200klm stretch of the Stuart Hwy.
We turned back the way we had come and pulled in at the Highway Inn, where we got nice grassed spots for the night and 2 schooners of drink for free. We had booked in to the Daly Waters Pub for dinner, so went back up in plenty of time to get a table. Only just managed that, 3 hours early. The place was packed and a couple of singing acts really made the night. The first guy ran through some history of the place in between songs and it was a real treat to hear the history or the top end, during, prior to and after WW2. The second singer was also well aged but had a great voice and sang songs from the 60’s. Got back to the vans late and had a good nights sleep.
Headed off for Katherine this morning and got caught in a convoy of vans. Many were doing 70-80kph in a 130kph zone, so no wonder the locals whinge about the ‘grey nomads’ on the roads. Staying at the Big 4 caravan Park and it is very spacious and clean. A lovely spot. We have just returned from a helicopter tour of 8 gorges, with a landing on top of the escarpment. It was Beryl’s first heli flight and she enjoyed it a lot. It was just the two of us plus the pilot of course, and the chopper was a Robinson 44. Got some video and hopefully also some good photos. Tomorrow, 14th June, we have booked a dawn cruise for two gorges, so ct will be an early rise and then breakfast at the Nitmiluk Visitor Centre afterwards, for brekkie. We arrived at dawn to the raucous squawking of flying foxes coming in to roost for the day. They had a pretty pungent smell as well. There was a busload of old folk in the parking area, and sure enough, they were booked on the dawn cruise. They were all Italians, from Melbourne, but were pretty good. We saw one Johnson’s crocodile, but plenty of sign on the sandbanks from nesting crocodiles.
We had brekkie on the deck of the visitor centre restaurant and some big birds flew in to pick up scraps. They also roosted above the table and one of them dropped a bomb which exploded all over the cutlery. We moved tables, thankful that our food hadn’t arrived yet. After we had finished, we drove back to the caravan park and lazed around for a bit, before Mark and I headed into town to get his car washed. In the afternoon, we all went to the Thermal Pools for a swim. It was packed, but refreshing. I saw a small turtle swimming around the edges and some brilliant blue dragonflies. Chicken risotto for dinner tonight and then we walked to the Big Fig restaurant, which is located in the park, for dessert. Packing up in the morning and the plan then, is to continue north and visit the Daly River for a last ditch effort to catch some decent fish, and then on to Litchfield National Park and the Wangi Falls campground for a couple of days.