Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Intrepid Adventurers Go Bush - Lawn Hill and Beyond

Hello dear Blogsters,

After several days in the middle of nowhere (which is a very nice place to be), we are back in civilisation (well at Winton anyway) and I can now do a little catch-up on our adventures.

On Sunday, John, Danni, Sam, Lachlan and I farewelled Mum and Dad and headed back up the Camoweal Road. Mum and Dad decided to have a few (romantic) days together without the mob and explore Mt Isa and Cloncurry.

We adventurers drove towards Camoweal for about 100 km and then turned off towards Lawn Hill. The road soon turned to a dirt road - but it wasn't too bad - a few corrugations and a lot of dust but no shocking holes. After a couple of hours we stopped off at the Riversleigh Station turnoff and topped up the fuel tank with the gerry can.
We continued on and enjoyed a couple of easy and scenic creek and river crossings. We stopped at the first and the younguns were just asking if there were any crocodiles here when Lachlan found something that quickly answered the question.
After carefully exploring the river, we continued on through the Riversleigh Station to the Riversleigh D site - a site famous for its wonderful fossils. We climbed out of the car and headed up to have a look (stopping off at the "flinstones" type toilet on the way). We saw some interesting fossils in the rocks, including this femur bone from a huge dinosaur bird. The view from the top of the rocks was pretty good too!
We continued on until we arrived at Adele Grove at about 4 in the afternoon. We pulled up and booked into the campground. What a little oasis this was! We were camped in a green, shady grove, beside a beautiful lily-filled river. We had a wonderful dinner and soon settled in for a good sleep.

The next morning we drove the 10 km out to Lawn Hill Gorge. Our first activity for the day was to hire some canoes and paddle up the gorge. This peaceful place was just magnificent and we really enjoyed our paddle. At the end of the gorge we found some lovely little waterfalls and we explored these before turning and heading back.

After handing back the canoes, we had some lunch and then decided to hike to the falls for a swim. Sam, Danni and I took a wrong turn and, whilst John and Lachlan enjoyed the "flat" hike, we ended up climbing the steep track to the top of the cliffs. It was just as well the view was worthwhile as it was a hot and hard climb.

We eventually found our way to the falls and joined Lachlan for a swim. It was great fun swimming under the falls and relaxing in the spa bath like pool at the base of the falls. We felt quite refreshed when we headed back to the car.

Sam cooked a wonderful (if slightly crispy) canneloni in the camp oven for our dinner. I took the opportunity for a walk along the river - very picturesque and peaceful indeed!

After dinner, Lachlan and Danni offered to do the dishes. Uncle John says he was a witness to how the "war" began and, according to him, Danni found a bit of mashed potato in the bottom of the pot and decided it would look very becoming smeared across Lachlan's face. Lachlan then decided that Danni would look equally loved with some dishwater on her head. From there the battle roared on. I am not certain exactly what happened, but I do believe that forensic examination of the participants heads would reveal traces of honey, dishwashing liquid and dirt. Not sure that there was a winner - other than John, Sam and I - we were greatly entertained by the whole debacle (Kerry I will show you the video footage when I get home... but doesn't Danni look just delightful!).

The next morning we cleaned up, packed up and headed off for Gregory Downs. The drive was about 100 km - on dirt roads again. We met up with a couple of road trains on the way - very wise to just pull right off the road and wait as they invariably covered us in red dust which took several minutes to clear.

We pulled into Gregory Downs and were lucky enough to get an amazing camp site right beside the water. The Gregory River was flowing clear and fast and the greenery formed a wonderful oasis in an otherwise dry and dusty landscape. Our swags were next to the river and John's van backed up to a pandanus bush.

We enjoyed a restful couple of nights and a day at Gregory Downs. I got into the campfire cooking (stew, meatballs and rice in crushed tomato and some light, fluffy scones). The younguns lazed around, did some homework and swam in the river. It was altogether a very pleasant couple of days.

We moved on from Gregory Downs and drove on to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse. This iconic roadhouse is located miles from anyway on the road to Normanton. We stopped off for a quick loo break and fuel fill and then drove on towards Julia Creek. I was thrilled to see my first brolgas on this road - and a little further on we saw not just a couple, but a huge flock. What majestic birds these are!

We drove on through Julia Creek and turned at Kynuna onto the Winton Road. As it was getting late, we pulled up for a roadside camp on the plains. The late afternoon light was golden and the views magnificent. We enjoyed a really beautiful sunset and watched as the plains changed colour. It was a very cool night - more than made up for by the show of a meteor shower which has just begun and will continue for the next month. We had a good night's sleep and then drove on to Winton, where we were reunited with Mum and Dad.

Hello to Bethanie and Ella - it sounds like you are having a ball! Hi to Sheree - I hope your leg is feeling better and you are getting some rest.

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