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We have now been four weeks on the road on our BIG TRIP! So far all is going well, we have managed to find plenty of free camps along the way, some nice quiet spots and others packed out with other travellers. As it is peak season for travelling north and west, this is to be expected. We have availed ourselves of caravan parks a few times, mainly to catch up on washing etc and despite warnings from some people, we haven't had any trouble getting a booking so far.
After spending the first few days of our trip catching up with family at Muswellbrook and then Gloucester, we turned north and made our way inland, first night stop at Gunnedah then on through Bourke, another overnight at Eulo Pub, then next day checked out Yowah Opal fields. Not such a great spot so we pushed on to Quilpie and stayed for two nights. Nice little van park, had a bit of a look around then headed off again.
Camped at roadside near Birdsville turnoff - John wanted to go and visit Birdsville so we branched off and travelled the 240kms of dirt road to arrive about 3pm. Booked in at campground for the night, had dinner at the iconic Birdsville Pub and believe it or not....it rained! Made for some slippery driving but was all good the next day. After taking a drive out to the edge of the Simpson Desert to see 'Big Red' (the famous sandhill) we headed off.
Made our way to Bedourie where we intended to have lunch, only to be told that the road to Boulia was closed due to the rain. So, we booked in to the caravan park ($10 for powered site) and took advantage of the free thermal pool. Couldn't stay in it for very long, it was waaay too hot but saved us having to shower that night!!!
Weather up until then had been quite mild but nights were still very cool, also lots if wind which was OK if coming from behind while we were driving! After spending a night at another roadside camp at Dajarra (an aboriginal community) we proceeded on to Mt Isa. The scenery along the way had all been interesting, it was obvious that there had been some rain and the country looked to be doing well. Landscape ranged from sand and gibber plains with very few trees to savannah grasslands and scrub. There was always something interesting to look at.
We arrived at Mt Isa and were quite surprised at how much vegetation there was, after expecting it to be a quite desolate area. It's a very busy place and we had a good look around the area, even taking an underground mine tour which was fascinating. The mines dominate the area and have done so for a long time. There is still some farming happening on a large scale, mainly cattle and we encountered lots of road trains on the road moving stock.
From Mt Isa it was back on the road to Camooweal, last stop before we cross into NT. Found a nice bush camp beside a billabong near Camooweal Caves and spent a pleasant, quiet night. Not a lot to see between Camooweal and Tennant Creek, where we had a look around before finding our overnight stop (along with about 2 dozen others)!
Next stop was Daly Waters where we stayed at the pub and partook of the entertainment and pleasant evening meal. Quite an historic site, it was very much involved in WW2 and we checked out an old airfield which had seen quite a bit of action during that time.
After Daly Waters we stopped briefly at Matarananka before heading out to Bitter Springs for the night. As the name suggests, there are hot springs which are very popular with travellers. We donned our swimming gear and enjoyed a dip in the 34deg waters before spending a relaxing night of P&Q.
Next day we arrived at Katherine. We had booked in at Katherine Gorge National Park for 2 nights and had a wonderful time. We did a couple of the walks as well as a Gorge Cruise which was spectacular. Dinner by the pool one night and even had a swiml....very refreshing but we didn't stay in long!! The only drawback in our eyes was the over-abundance of bats (the flying kind) there are thousands of the things!
Next stop Kakadu....to be continued.
- comments
Joy Drady Yah! You finally got it up and running. Sounds like you are having a great time...lots of adventures to come. We miss you heaps. Love Luke, Joy, Ella and Kaden
Chris Yay I got the link to work . Looks good have fun