Heading West

We set off from Mission Beach knowing that we have seen some amazing parts of Australia so far and the thought of what is to come is full of anticipation. As we leave the Queensland coast and head back through the Atherton Tablelands we are reminded of just how beautiful this part of the country is. The turnoff to the Savannah Way marks the start of a trek that should take us all the way to Broome.

Our first night out is spent at Mt Surprise. Nothing more to be said. The next day we headed off to Normanton. Normanton is at the eastern end of the Gulf of Carpentaria and is a simple but attractive place. As luck would have it we arrived at the start of the Normanton Rodeo. Friday night has a parade through the town and everything comes alive. We quickly made a decision to camp at Leichardt Lagoon. This is a low cost camp with no sites set out. We just camped where it took our fancy, right beside the lagoon – but more about that later.

We went back into town to be with the locals and experience the atmosphere. A walk down the main street clearly identified the Purple Pub as the place to be for the parade but probably not for the rest of the evening. It looked a bit rough and when Tia asked the barmaid why she had bandages on both hands she said it just came with the job! We think she is the bouncer as well as the barmaid. Anyway, the parade was a blast! Everyone was in pink – to raise money for breast cancer. First came a whole bunch of people on horseback then agricultural and road maintenance machinery. The local police had their car draped in pink. The CWA and local businesses were represented. The whole thing was commentated by a local MC who could have been the Mayor for all we knew – he seemed to know everyone. We decided to have dinner in town but NOT at the Purple Pub.

Back to Leichardt Lagoon for the evening. (Chris, take note of this site for when you decide to roam this way) It was a very peaceful place with hundreds of waterbirds in the permanent lagoon. The lack of structure in the park makes it all the more attractive. Simple showers that are open to the environment adds to the experience.

Next morning we decided to have a look at the Rodeo and spent a couple of hours watching stockmen and stockwomen rounding up cows. Great horsemanship and Tia was in her element. After buying a stockwhip we left Normanton to its festivities. Next stop Lawn Hill NP.

Lawn Hill is a remnant rainforest trapped in a gorge and surrounded by a dry savannah plain. It is quite remarkable to find palms and ferns after hundreds of kilometres of dry dusty country. The place has a great deal of natural beauty. We took a couple of shortish walks; saw some aboriginal rock art and marvelled at the view – see pic’s of the view, not the rock art as this was prohibited and rightly so. Riversleigh is also located in the same area and is described as one of the most important fossil fields in the world. They have discovered fossils of distant relatives of croc’s, turtles and ducks plus many other mammals. The fossils are unremarkable in themselves but the mere presence of them leaves one to wonder about what the place looked like when they wandered the earth. What we did see however was a huge live snake on the road as we were leaving (see pics). Tia lost her head and her fear to get the best photo. I was staying put in the car and recommending very strongly that she beat a retreat to the car as I did not fancy having to administer first aid for a snake bite!

Our original plan was to leave Lawn Hill and head south to pick up the bitumen all the way to Darwin. The map shows an alternative route across the top and this was irresistible. The report of the road conditions was not promising however and there was a real possibility of travelling 200 – 300kms and then having to turn back along an alternative route adding about another 400kms to the trip. Late rain in NT is playing havoc with the roads. Never shrinking from a challenge we decided to give it a go!

The road/track/quagmire from Lawn Hill to Doomadgee tested us at every turn. Either the road disappeared into a dried up muddy track that was rutted so deeply that we had to place our tyres on the top of the ruts and carefully negotiate the path or there were water crossings that kept getting deeper. One particular crossing nearly stopped us but as luck would have it as I was wading across the stream to test the depth and river bed a local station manager turned up and gave me the thumbs up to get across. This done he also gave us much needed directions to ensure we stayed on the Doomadgee track.

We reached Doomadgee and headed for Hells Gate. We had been told that the Culvert River was probably impassable but the people at Hells Gate would be able to give us better information. The information turned out to be less than clear. It appeared that some vehicles were making it while others had become stuck in the middle of the river and had to be towed out. We met four young men at Hells Gate and agreed to meet them at Culvert River to assess the practicability of making the crossing together. On the way we also met a couple of on-coming cars and again we had variable reports. Some said “stick to the downstream side and you will be okay” while others said “watch out for the big rocks in the middle of the river – one guy is still stuck there”.

The trepidation and fear were building and when we arrived at Culvert River we had good reason to be fearful. The guy who had been stuck had now had his car towed out and shouted instruction to us about the best crossing – does one believe someone who unsuccessfully attempted the crossing? The four young guys we met in Hells Gate finally turned up and together we walked the crossing. We found the big rocks and moved them out of harm’s way. The boys decided to take their two vehicles and boat trailer through. We watched them and they succeeded. They then offered to take our trailer through and let us cross with just the car. I accepted this offer and set out across the dreaded river with my heart racing at full belt.

To our delight the Jeep handled the crossing brilliantly. I had it in low range and we crawled across the rocks comfortably. In fact everyone commented that the Jeep managed the crossing better than the Land Cruiser and Hilux. This was no reflection on the driver but a great accolade for the car. We camped in the bush just near the crossing that night and experienced one of those magic peaceful nights you can only have in a remote place.

The rest of the trip to Booraloola was reasonably easy and it is amazing how after doing a difficult crossing like this one lifts your confidence. We did crossings the next day that just 24hrs earlier would have daunted us.

In two days of driving we had only covered about 500kms. We needed bitumen if we were going to make it to Darwin in any reasonable time. We decided to stay in accommodation at Daly Waters so we could get an early start the next day without having to pack up the trailer etc.

About lunchtime on Tues we needed a break and saw a turnoff to Edith Falls. This seemed like a good place to rest and it was. In fact it was so good we decided to spend two nights there. The Edith River tumbles down a series of escarpments producing delightful waterfalls. The water is at a great temperature and is clean and fresh. Taking a number of very pleasant walks we swam in the lower plunge pool, the upper pool and Sweetwater pool. This again was one of those unplanned stops that turned out to be a highlight.

The rest of the drive to Darwin was plain sailing and we arrived just as the super V8 motorcade hit the town – but that story will have to wait for the next blog.

Until then,

Love to all

Alan and Tia.