I don’t think I’ve ever moved so fast, in between my legs was a giant snake:)……….., not just any snake a black and white striped snake. You know the type that with one bite it will kill you instantly and probably also turn you to stone. “What a cute snake” said my daughter not really realising the severity of the situation……. Well OK, in reality it was a small non venomous black and white banded snake, but it could have been a cold blooded killer. It was as scared of me as I was of it. While it went one way, I went the other with crashing chairs and spilt red wine.
This trip started at Easter when my kids and I waved fair well to my wife and headed out to Lake Tinaroo in the Cairns hinterland for a couple of days. Then we were to meeting up with Dave and Dave and their respective families to start the real adventure into the great unknown along tranquil slumbering path called the “Savannah Way” .
It was school holidays so we left early, just after a category one cyclone had dropped tonnes of water along the tropical coast of Queensland. So to say the ground was wet was an understatement. We were to meet up with the two Daves, not to be confused with my long term dive buddy from the Gold Coast also called Dave who you might have met in other stories.
This is what a category one cyclone looks like. The day before shipping out, almost literally.
Our trip was to take us from Bowen in North Queensland across the lower Gulf and down to Lawn Hill, (part of what’s called the Savannah Way) before cutting across to the main highway through the famous Riverslea Fossil fields, then across the raging Gregory River and ending slightly south of Camooweal which is on the NT border. Then a comfortable sealed highway drive for 180 kilometres down to Mount Isa.
If we survived snakes, crocodiles and mosquitoes we would take the straight road of about 1000 kilometres back to Bowen. I had brought a Kayak to paddle the Lawn Hill gorge, it was 13 feet four inches long, it weighs 35 kg and could take three people, and in a pinch I’m sure it could land a small helicopter and a couple of jump jets. I call it my air craft carrier, especially when I’m loading and unloading it on to the roof of my trusty Hyundai Terracan or camper trailer.
We met the Daves and respective families at the Bed Rock Village Camping Ground at Mount Surprise. This friendly and welcoming park included a big fire pit for community get togethers, and a mini golf course. Its located about twenty kilometres from the turn off to the Undara Lava Tubes and about 320 kilometres South West of Cairns. At about this time my fridge packed it in and I was left with the default freezing only. At least I could keep the wine chilled and the frozen food frozen, until such time as the wine became frozen along with the milk, cheese and beer?
The convoy meets at the Bedrock Caravan Park Mt Surprise.
The trip out to Mount Surprise saw a dramatic change is not only climate but topography. At Lake Tinaroo the area was lush and green vegetation and surrounded in low cloud, the air was moist and cool, but the further West you go it quickly changes to wooded areas typical of the dry tropics landscape and the air became decidedly dryer. Further West and towards George Town and Croydon you see another dramatic change in landscape from the wooded areas to Sarvannah grass. By the time you get to Croydon you are well and truely in the “Bush”.
I have always enjoy getting past the Great Dividing Range, there’s something honest about this area, I’m not sure if its the lack of advertising on the side of the road, or the people who seem less pretentious and more friendly.
Croydon to Normanton
The road from Mount Surprise to Normanton takes you through a slice of Queensland’s colonial past. Many of the towns such as Croydon either exist to support the cattle industry or the mining industry. Many towns start with “MT”. The unsuspecting tourist would assume this means Mount, but it really indicates that it was gazette as a Mining Town.
A relic of the mining past. A stamping Battery at Croydon
We pulled up at the Normanton Caravan Park which is stunning and incredibly well maintained. It has an awesome swimming pool and all the amenities you need. The tent camping areas are flat and tree lined.
In the afternoon we made our way to what is arguably the most iconic pub in the Gulf, The Purple Pub. The Purple Pub has featured over decades in reputable journals such as Pix People, wth topless bar maids and sprawling dusty Acubra wearing ringer that would give Clancy from the Overflow a run for his money. It is without a doubt one of the truely outback watering holes of the wild north west.
The Purple Pub and Main street of Normanton at sunset.
While I wouldn’t argue with that reputation, on the night we were there, there was a little less wild west and more sedate cucumber sandwich type atmosphere. Although there was one drunken Aboriginal person who was happy to tell us his story if we just brought him a beer. He was a jovial character so we listened for a while.
What do you drink at the Purple Pub, lemon lime and bitters (to go with your cucumber sandwiches….)? No ……. Great Northern Larger of course, so we all settled in for a couple of “Pots” and watched the spectacular crimson sunset along the main street with the purple lights of the pub in the foreground.
We could just see the shadow of another of the recognisable land marks in Normanton, the fibreglass replica of a giant crocodile called Krys the Savannah King. This giant lizard was reportedly shot on the Norman River just out of town in 1957. Some people have commented that the croc couldn’t be that big, but I’ve seen old black and white images taken just after it was shot and in my mind the real one looked much bigger. As the replica was an estimate of the size I would say this crocodile was no less than an actual dinosaur.
A replica built of the biggest croc ever caught in this area. A modern day dinosaur.
When I lived in Mount Isa I would come up to Normanton on business, one of the aboriginal elders I knew back then would tell stories of crocodiles as big as Krys still living along the Norman River, (that’s before we had a few beers) so it must be true. As crocs live over a hundred years I have no doubt there are some giant ones still out there.
This is the original photo taken of Krys. If anyone knows the photographer can you please put detail in the comments section.
This plaque tells the story of the demise of King Krys.
Normanton to Burketown
It rained slightly that night and the remnants of the recent cyclone closed the dirt road from Normanton to Burketown. While not impassible, these roads can get damaged during the wet so they try and preserve them as much as possible. The alternative route is to drop down about four hours to the Burke and Wills Road House and then take the sealed road West to the Gregory Hotel. Fortunately, the road was opened the next morning and we were able to use it.
Diving along the flat dirt road to Burketown.
Now satelite navigation is a wonderful thing, providing you have the latest maps. As my sat nav was fairly new (four years old) I didn’t bother upgrading for this trip, lets face it outback roads haven’t changed since Burke and Wills first surveyed them back in the early 1800’s, so why bother. Much to the eventual amusement of my traveling companions. IT Dave, not to be confused with the other Dave had all the IT enabled satellite systems available to NASA. He would constantly give navigation up dates over the UHF, turn right to Burketown in 235 kilometres, Dave (the other Dave) would say “Turn off to Burketown in 230 kilometres”. When I looked at my sat nav I called out “Turn left to Burketown in 50 metres”.
I would hear “Gaz you really need to up grade your sat nav” and chuckles from Dave and family and for all other travellers who were on channel 40 to hear. Silence would ensue once I pointed out that I was actually tracking the original Burke and Wills trail and how valuable that would be once their new fangled technology failed. My kids just rolled their eyes. About this time we arrived at the Leichadrt River.
Some of the creek crossings along the road had more water than normal and at time this made for a challenging bit of four wheel driving. However, generally there were no real problems that required more than careful and targeted throttle work. Like when I put the power on at the wrong time and covered the car in mud.
Keep the power up at the next creek crossing they said:(
This causeway made a spectacular change to the straight red dirt road.
About half way along you come to the Leichhardt Falls, we had lunch there before crossing the river and heading onto Burketown. The falls must have been a god send to Burke and Wills who had been traveling across some of the harshest country on earth.
The falls didn’t have as much water as we thought, but still spectacular.
From the falls its only about another hour and a half of fairly flat dirt until you get to the boundary of Burketown and a welcomed relief from all that travelling and heat.
Welcome to Burketown, Barramundi capital of Australia
We stayed at the Burketown Caravan Park for the night with the intention of getting up early and heading to the Gregory Hotel and then onto Adels Grove where we intended to base ourselves for three days and explore Lawn Hill Gorge. The caravan park was quite small and where we could camp was quite close to a small intersection. Because it had rained quite hard over the past three days the ground was wet which made camping uncomfortable.
A clean and tidy caravan park, full of Barramundi fishermen.
Burketown is known for its Barramundi fishing and as a gate way to the Aboriginal community of Doomadgee and then later to Hells Gate. Hells Gate gets its name from it being the last fort outpost before no man’s land. Today it’s the last fuel stop before the Daley River and part of the “Pleasant Savannah Way”.
We were not planning on going that way so focused our efforts to pack and get on the road. As we were packing up we saw two police offices tuning their onboard radars with a tuning fork so we made a mental note to watch our speed from then on.
Burketown to the Gregory Hotel
The road to the Gregory Hotel was to our surprise tar sealed, although it had large undulations it felt quite surreal as it was more like a dive down a country lane that a remote outback track. We arrive at the Gregory around 10 am so we went in and explored the old hotel. This is without doubt one of the quintessential Aussie pubs.
Gregory Hotel is one of Australia’s quintessential outback pubs
Once we had all assembled we went in for the obligatory beer and soft drink for the kids. Concious of the police cruising up and down the road, we kept it to one drink.
A meeting place for outback explorers, Gregory Downs Hotel
Gregory Downs Hotel to Adel’s Grove
After a drink at the iconic pub we made our way down what was a well maintained gravel road. About half and hour down there road we came across the entrance to the Century Zinc mine, after that the road went down hill, not necessarily in gradient but in terms of condition. From flat to corrugations in seconds. The rest of the trip was rough but it gave us a fair warning of what was to come.
When we arrived at Adels Grove we were overwhelmed by the absolute stunning tropical environment. Adels Grove is a combination of hotel, caravan park and shop. It is situated on the Gregory River where a natural weir exists as a result of the build up of calcium barriers.
The river is fresh water with a high concentration of calcium carbonate. This gives the water a bright azure blue look. Someone once told me that this river was spring fed from Papua New Guinea, but I’m not sure about that. But it is definitely an oasis in the outback.
Adels Grove is a private company that has three camping options. These include an upper camp ground for the bigger rigs and generators, a semi covered camp site in the “Grove” and clamping in pre erected tents near the restaurant and bar.
Kids tubing down the river past the restaurant at Adels Grove
The Grove is a tropical haven right on the river is a great place in the hotter months as it is shaded and close to the swimming holes.
Swimming in the fresh water crocodile infested Gregory River – Adels Grove
Lawn Hill
Just down the road is the Lawn Hill National Park, there are camp sites at the National Park but the facilities at Adels Grove make camping much more fun. Lawn Hill National Park covers the area of Lawn Hill Gorge. Like Adels Grove the river is fresh azure blue water with tropical flora.
The entry to the Lawn Hill National Park
We had travelled with our kayaks for this very reason, having the opportunity to paddle through the gorge is a unique experience. I was told that the gorge is about 120 metres deep, I didn’t have a depth sounder but it looked very deep.
This is where we launch our Kayaks
I finally got the kids in the Kayak, life jackets on and oars ready for the paddle. It’s not until you are in the middle of the river heading to the gorge that you realise how small you actually are and how ancient this place is.
From the boat launching site its about two kilometres of paddling to the gorge proper
The blue green water and the pending narrow channel through the high red walls of rock with Pandana Palms growing from small ledges up the side of the walls leaves an indelible impression on you and it makes you realise just how short human’s time on earth really has been.
Approaching the gorge walls is an disconcerting feeling, you realise how small you are.
The sides of the gorge were high and steep but trees and shrubs succeeded in finding homes
Once through the other side of the gorge you are presented with the end of the first natural weir of the National Park. In front of you is a natural lime stone wall. Over the years calcium carbonate deposits have built up on the rocks creating a series of white limestone water falls. The river rises about 2.5 metres, but flows through a series of gaps. Looking more like flowing champagne than water the view is impressive. We moor our kayaks at the purpose built jetty and swim over to the nearest water fall and relax into it. Like a big raging spa pool, if only I had brought a couple of bottles of champagne:(
One of the four waterfalls to meet us when we exited the gorge.
These waterfalls are incredibly impressive and well worth the three week trip to get there.
After a swim and a lazy afternoon not sipping champagne in a giant spa pool:( we head back to the car park and to Adels Grove.
A gentle swim across the river to the champagne pools
After a couple of days of complete relaxation we drag ourselves away to continue our journey. The road from Adel’s Grove down past the Riverslea Fossil field is to say the least a hard road, but to say the most it is a bloody awful piece of “C#*P. It is dusty, corrugated and changes from hard tire tearing shale to rock and back to sand. It was 180 kilometres of the worse road surface I had encountered since driving to Mount Elizabeth station off the Gibb River Road (another story).
This whole area is dotted with ancient fossils of mega fauna and has contributed significant to our understanding of this area.
This sign explains the significance of the site for the understanding or the mega fauna and fossilised mammals found at the site.
However, in saying this I would do it again, there are some interesting parts that are well worth the adventure, for example, you have to cross the Gregory River twice during the trip, both across concrete causeways.
When we crossed they were both running at about 300 mm. I usually won’t cross a causeway if its fast running over 200 mm especially if like there was here about 1.5 metre drop off. But on this occasion I had no choice. Even though it was not up to the sills on the Terracan, I was towing a trailer and that can add more danger to the crossing. Dave and Dave both crossed with no problems in front of me, but then they’re diving heavy four wheel drives, and I was in a very light Hyundai Terracan. I have to admit that Dave was also towing a giant Kedron 4*4 dual axil caravan.
I will alway use low range four wheel drive when crossing a river, I want all my wheels locked in, I also drop the vehicle out of automatic and put it into the first gear. I would rather over rev the engine slightly than find myself going to fast and out of control. I don’t know if this is good driving practice, but I do find I have more control and there is no chance the engine will suck water in through the exhaust (which in a diesel will blow the engine).
I was the last to cross, which is good because the other tell you what to expect and where to take the best line. On the first occasion it was a straight crossing from one side to the other.
Due to the spring fed nature of the Gregory River the causeway is always under water, moss grows on the concrete making it more slippery than normal causeways.
As I entered the water I could hear the it rushing past the tires and lapping the side of the vehicle, I kept the revs up and accelerated, about halfway through I felt the trailer start to slide, but not enough to impact the Terracan which just kept pulling and before we knew it we were on the other side and I was able to breath again.
The second crossing was slightly deeper but not flowing as fast, it had a small bend in it where I couldn’t see the exit directly from the entry, but luckily because this one was not running water and the side of the causeway didn’t have a large drop it felt much safer.
Crossing the moss covered causeway on the Riversleigh Road
We stopped briefly at the Riverslea Fossil Grounds to take photos, but didn’t spend long enough to really explore the place. This is a unique part of the world and if you are out here take the time to walk around the fossils. Back on the dirt track and after what seemed like days, really only about three hours we finally hit the highway 30 kilometres South of Camooweal and headed down a very wide sealed road to Mount Isa.
Mount Isa to Bowen
Mount Isa was my home for for three years, I was a faculty manager for the local TAFE college, my son Liam was actually born in Mount Isa hospital. I can genuinely say that it was an awesome experience, sure the Copper Smelter does on occasions pump out deadly Sulphur Trioxide gas which will kill, and yes there is lead in the soil and dust (of which there is a lot) and there is that unusual sulphur smell that lingers over the town.
Put you’re mind to rest, in the early days the mine had Sulphur Trioxide warning systems that would shut the plant down if it detected a leak, now days Sulphur Trioxide gas escapes have been seriously mitigated by the development of the Sulphuric Acid plant, so it’s only when that fails that every living thing in town will be killed, so you see, perfectly safe.
Of course it’s bloody hot in summer (three weeks of over 48 degrees centigrade one year I was there), but it does also get really cold in winters so I guess that’s an upside for the town.
But regardless of all of that, there is a quintessential Australian character to the city, like the last frontier of what it means to be Australian. Because you’re isolated you tend to rely on friends for social support and you band together in a ways that are often rarely achieved in more urban city areas.
Then there’s the rural factor of massive cattle producers that intermingles with miners and aboriginal’s from numerous communities and all sorts of other talented professions from different parts of the world, all adding to the rich multicultural atmosphere of the town.
This sign shows the direction to different parts of the world. It represents the many nationalities that have come and gone from the Isa.
There’s a big sign on the main highway that states “You’re not a true Aussie until you have been to the Isa”. I couldn’t agree more. There are many interesting places to visit in and around Mount Isa, in town there’s a great tourist attraction called “Outback at the Isa” it has some great park land and an underground mining experience.
Monument to the mining community. Outback @ The Isa, Mount Isa
Much of what represents uniqueness of the Australian culture has its foundations in and around the Mount Isa region, whether its development of the short wave radio to bridge the “Tyranny of Distance” or just to listen to the Melbourne Cup live for once, the birth of QANTAS or the first flights of what was to become the Royal Flying Doctor service, when they picked up and flew an injured miner from the Mount Isa Mine to the Cloncurry Hospital. If you want to keep going South once you get to Cloncurry and just down the road (about 300 kilometres) is the very billabong where, that other well known swaggie jumped into to evade the police. There is a lot to appreciate when you get to Mount Isa, not just the Buff’s or the Irish Club and the flies.
A view over Mount Isa City from the lookout. The copper smelter on the left and the led smelter to the right.
Mount Isa is the traditional lands of the Kalkadoon People and there are many examples of their culture and art work. If you are travelling around Mount Isa take a trip out to Lake Moondarra and while driving out there visit the “Cascades”, you can’t really appreciate this area unless its raining as the water literally cascades over the rocks and forms a fast flowing river, which is spectacular. At the top of the cascades is an excellent example of aboriginal rock carving.
Another great spot to observe some desert art is a small water hole called “Painted Rock”. You will need to drive in with a four wheel drive or take a couple of hours walking in.
This aboriginal rock art is unique to the area. But remember these areas are important to the aboriginal community.
There is some truely unique aboriginal art work around the small billabong. Unfortunately, some idiots think it funny to add their own art to the rock face and spoil the essence of the scene, but this is well worth the trip in. I took the Daves and family in and they were incredibly impressed with it, even the track in was challenging and enjoyable.
The road out of Mount Isa is a long straight highway, and while I would love to talk about all the unique and remarkable places along the way, I might have to leave the for another time and another story.
The road out of Mount Isa to Cloncurry is the last hilly section for the next 1000 kilometres.
Unfortunately, my four wheel drive problem still persisted and I was forced to drive that last 1000 kilometres in four wheel drive mode, which mean 80 kilometres per hour. Sill I had the Daves and their families running trivia pursuit across the two way, with my kids jumping at every opportunity to answer the questions, right or wrong.
We eventually pulled up after about 6.5 hours at Hughenden, where we camped at the camp ground before taking a leisurely four hours to wonder home. Even though we did a lot of driving the area was fantastic, the company great and it was an experience none of us will ever forget. If you’re out this way, do the drive. You won’t be sorry.
Safe travels, Digital Swaggie:)
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