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We left Katherine behind and we soon discovered we had also left behind the very hot weather. We stayed at Banka Banka, some 500kms down the Stuart Highway. It is an aboriginal community and the caravan park is run by a lovely couple who act as caretakers. Each night they open up a kiosk and have a campfire that anyone who stays is welcome to sit by. Those who can sing, play an instrument or entertain are encouraged to do so. We had an older couple who played a guitar and sang and another fellow who could also sing and play guitar.
Today we have travelled along the Barkley Highway and are staying the night at Camooweal,
which is in Queensland, about 10 klms over the NT border. As Camooweal has a population of 200 people it looks as though it might be an early night. It is known as an outer suburb of Mt Isa (which is 180 klms away) but we won't be checking out the bright lights of the city tonight.
After a chilly night we set off for Lawn Hill leaving the bright lights of Camooweal behind. We had about 140 klms of tar road followed by 90 klms of dirt, which included a couple of river crossings and some chopped up muddy parts from the rain that they had a week ago. As it has done on all the rest of the dirt the Ultimate handled it with ease (thank goodness).
We had organized to meet John (Sas,a very dear and old friend of ours) for lunch at the Lawn Hill Gorge camping ground and spend 3 days relaxing before starting the trip home. We arrived a little late then spent the afternoon and evening catching up.
The next morning we went for a walk up to a lookout overlooking the Gorge and it was spectacular. A real oasis in outback Australia. Then we sat down and relaxed before checking out the canoe hiring and decided to do that the next morning. After a good meal and a few medicinal drinks we retired to bed.
This morning we arose to another lovely sunny day but unfortunately a cold southerly wind had sprung up overnight so our plans of canoeing early were delayed until the sun brought a little more warmth into the Gorge. After an early lunch we set off to hire a 3 man canoe but the guy pushing us out into the water pushed us straight over a fairly large log sticking up on the water's edge and this went through the bottom of the canoe. Our only alternative was two 2 man canoes. John took one and Steve and I took the other and after a hesitant start we paddled up and down the Gorge with no problems. It is magnificent and somewhere we really want to come back to.
After our paddle Sas went back to his camper for a rest and Steve and I went for a walk along the banks of the Gorge.
This has certainly been an enjoyable stay and one of the highlights of our trip so far.
Tomorrow we are all setting of for Cloncurry for a night then Sas will leave us for a few days and go and visit some friends in Charleville and we will stop at Winton for a night and then on to Longreach for a couple of days.
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