Day 12 Camooweal

Spent most of the morning washing the dust of the A’van and the car. Not so bad inside this time.

We visited the Drovers Camp and had an excellent guided tour from a former drover called Tom Green. He spoke from memory for about two hours on the history of the droving routes and his own experiences. He also told us that Camooweal meant windy place which was pretty accurate. The museum is maintained by volunteers so their wages bill is low. The content is excellent.

Tom Green - experienced drover

Non-stick, light weight...

We checked out the free camping area just outside Camooweal. There was a large number of caravans close to the highway turn off but very few further in. The council provide rubbish bins and nothing else. The toilets opposite the post office in Camooweal are clean and very basic and there is a public dump point.

Perfect free-camp site.

Drive west out of Camooweal and turn left between the two bridges over the Georgina river 900mtrs from the roadhouse. Drive past the stock pens on the right of the track for up to five kilometres from the highway to get away from the crowds.

Day 11 Adels Grove to Camooweal

It took us 6 hours to travel 140 km over the corrugated track. Others went faster and we saw some changing tyres. One driver had a puncture then later lost a wheel before realising she should go a bit slower. Adels Grove is enjoyable but it is definitely somewhere you have to want to go as the drive in is an endurance trial.

Just in the wrong place

 We found the fastest, deepest river crossing was blocked by two large logs. We would not have been able to drive over them and stopping in the middle of the flow would have carried some risk. Richard had to wade over slippery stone to move the logs before we could cross with the car and A’van. Some of the markers in mid-stream had been knocked over but fortunately the water was clear so we could make out the causeway.

Hero braving the crocs and the rapids.

We also came across four Waanyi stockmen moving a mob of cows and calves along the road by the Riversleigh Station homestead. They had no stock whips or dogs and were just moving quietly with the cattle, two leading and two bringing up the rear.

We chose the Camooweal Roadhouse campsite on the North side of Camooweal as it had the cleanest shower block plus we wanted to wash the dust off the car and A’van. The Roadhouse has a good menu and some basic food supplies. The german girl behind the counter told us there is a general food store which might open on Monday at 8am or maybe 9 am or perhaps 10 am. Who could tell? Although diesel is $2 / litre they do a good job of providing the basics in such a remote spot. They obviously think the Territorians are a bit behind the times.

Spending $2/ltr on diesel

Days 8 - 10 Boodjamulla (Lawn hill)

Boodjamulla, or Lawn hill, is every bit as spectacular as the photos we had seen. It is managed by Qld Parks and Wild Life in cooperation with the Waanyi people. Boodjamulla is the guardian spirit who provided the land and the food for the Waanyi people. The Waanyi are also majority owners of the Lawn Hill Pastoral Company.

The Waanyi believe that Boodjamulla will be offended and get angry if we pollute the waters in the area. Their teaching is to wash grease off their bodies with mud before bathing. They ask that campers do not bathe with sun screen as that is a body grease. Many of their beliefs and teachings appeared to provide guidance for sustainable husbandry of their land.

The walks along the gorge are easy and rewarding with spectacular views.

Overlooking Idarri Falls

Upper Gorge Walk

Having walked the tracks we hired a canoe to see the gorge from within.

It is spectacular with wonderful colours and reflections. We also saw a crocodile basking in the sun. 

No worries then!

Dell was less than happy at getting too close to this character – not wanting to become a Dellicacy. The ‘Freshies’ are apparently quite safe and a bit timid unlike the ‘Salties’. However there was no danger from the ‘Salties’ as the sharks got hungry and ate the ‘Salties’ earlier in the season.

Days 7 Mt Isa to Adels Grove

Early warning of pleasures in store

Getting real in the bush!

We took the Barkly Highway for 117km then headed North for 58 km on the Yelvertoft Road to the Gregory Downs – Camooweal Road. Then the road got bad! The corrugations were severe in places and we managed 30 to 40 kph. After 60 km we turned West on to the Riversleigh Road. The corrugations were wicked for 84 km with a couple of river crossings thrown in.

The caravan did quite well with the tyre pressure reduced to 22 psi. Lower pressures helps protect the main tread and reduces the jarring from the corrugations but it increases the risk of damage to the bulging side walls. We found a few places where dust made its way in but Dell fixed that with about 30 mins of cleaning. Worse, we found that the side panel hinge had started to break up on the rear offside corner of the A’van. Just hope it can last the return journey over the corrugations  and then the rest of the trip until we reach somewhere like Darwin to replace it.

Budgerigars at YelvertonRoad

The bird life on the way was fantastic. Along with the crows we saw wedge-tailed eagles, black breasted buzzards, whistling kites and black kites mostly eating the road kill on the main road. Just at the start of the Yelvertoft road we saw spectacular flocks of budgerigars. They were too fast to get a good photograph unfortunately.

Adels Grove, named after Albert de Lestang a French botanist, is wonderful. We stayed in The Grove which has unmarked sites, no generators allowed, and plenty of shade. The facilities were clean with plenty of hot water for the showers. They also have a workshop, can change tyres, offer fuel at $2/ltr. The Lawn Hill camp site, in contrast, is hot and in full sun so we were glad we booked into The Grove.

Day 1 /2 - Brisbane to Mt Isa

Mitchell – Augathella - Tambo - Blackall – Isisford .

This part of the trip was very much 'getting there' as we covered much of this area before.

We took the old Condamine Highway from Dalby through Kogan and Condamine then up the Roma to join the main Warrego Highway again to Mitchell. Enjoyed the drive. The roads were quiet although a bit lumpy in places.

Running repairs

Banks of the Maranoa River

Tambo is a lovely little town and lunch at Fanny Mae is to be recommended.

The road from Blackall to Isisford is not the same standard as the Landsborough Highway. A few cattle grids need to be crossed slowly to avoid putting the caravan into orbit.

Isisford main street has numerous plaques explaining the history. Campsite at Isisford is $3 per night but with one toilet only to cater for a large number of campers dispersed through the bush. Very quiet, very friendly and safe. There are three showers behind the shire offices – boy, girl and disabled. Very clean. Would come again to chill for a day or two.

Winton – Kynuna – Cloncurry – Mt Isa

The land between Winton and Kynuna looked dry and dead. Looked like most of the feed had gone and there were no animals. Very sad to see.

Winton has turned very ‘touristy’ and not as attractive as we remembered.

Dell's eyeing up her next reno

Kynuna is a spot on a bend in the road. Population used to be 400 in 1894 but is now about 40 with 2 caravan sites; The BlueHeeler Hotel and the Kynuna Roadhouse. We stayed at the Roadhouse which was a good little site. Looks like property is on the move though so things could be looking up. Dell is contemplating making an offer so she has her next reno project lined up.

Lake Moondarra by Mt Isa

The road from Cloncurry to Mt Isa is a lot more varied and interesting as the geology changes towards the Isa. Amazing to imagine the beginnings from the chance find in 1923 by passing prospector John Miles.

Mt Isa is our vittling stop before we head off to Adel’s Grove and Lawn Hill.

Getting ready

We enjoyed our first trip which we wrote about in our blog A Pomme camping in Queensland. That time we used a tent. this time we will travel in our A'van Cruiseliner5. At 1,200 kg the Prado hardly notices the load and more importantly the the fuel consumption does not increase much. Our aim for this trip is to visit Lawn Hill and the Northern  Territory. We also wanted to journey on roads we did not travel during our previous trip.

 Having used the van on a couple of trips we made some mods before we set off.

1. Added a DC to DC charger so we can recharge the van battery on the move or in camp sites. We can buy a lot of diesel for the price of a large solar panel or a small generator. The only mod to the Prado was to make a wooden block with an adjusting bolt to run the engine at 1,000 rpm whilst charging on site.
2. Fitted a StoneStomper to avoid more stone chips to the front of the A'van.
3. Fitted a tie down to hold the table in place whilst we are travelling. Used a recessed ring pull handle from a chandler ($7) and a tie down strap ($5). Means we do not have to keep stowing the table in the outside hatch each time we stop for lunch.
4. Added a digital volt meter ($18) and press button ($3) so we can check the deep cycle battery condition. On a test it ran the two LED lights continuously for 7 days before the voltage dropped to 11.9v. So capacity seems good for our needs.
5. Reversed the rear stays as Richard smashed one of the plastic plates driving over a rutted track to The Gorge, Copmanhurst.

We will reflect on how well the mods worked and on any other mods we make on the way or that we will design for the next trip.