Katherine Gorge

Leaving Tenant Creek we headed north up the Stuart Highway. Stopped at all places of interest to us. Banksa Banksa station was a pleasant camp spot. Renner Springs a character place with a lagoon. Attack Creek a good free camping spot where Stuart turned back on his first trip north. Newcastle Waters a real interesting ghost town. Youngmi said there is nothing here but there were old houses, shop and pub from the droving days. All now empty as the cattle go by Road Train instead on being walked across the country. Dunmarra nothing special but the pie, chips and gravy was irrestistable. Daly Waters had a great pub but the camping area was packed dusty and hot so we carried on. Arrived at Larrimah and the pink panther pub and campground before dark

At first site it looked good but this was deceptive. The toilets were horrible, the beer $7 per pot, road trains real noisy, camp kitchen no good. The place appeared to have declined for years. There was a little zoo at the back with lots of birds and a salt water croc. Kangaroos on the campground were a bonus.
Left as soon as possible the next morning for Mataranka.


Campground had seen better days and no camp kitchen but the location was amazing next to the hot springs. Spent the afternoon and then after dark in the thermal pool. Watched the band who were excellent. Four guys rocking.

Next morning back to the pool. Old people and people in electric wheel chairs were making the most of the 32 deg water.Packed up again and drove on to Bitter Springs. Here you can float in the warm water for about 800m but lots of flood debris so not so attractive. Giant termite mound in Mataranka.
20kms before Katherine stopped at Cutta Cutta caves. Red hot and dry limestone country. Cave got hotter and hotter to the end of the tourist bit.

Drove into Katherine early Saturday afternoon to find a biggish town with supermarkets.Red hot. Meet Mark in visitor centre who tells us to get our shopping soon as it is a long weekend and everything will close until Tuesday. Having stocked up we checked two campgrounds near town then drove to Katherine Gorge.Packed but a good campground with a big pool.
Noisy hot night.Chatted to Polly and Thomas. Thomas is a fit looking 71 year old from Warragul and Polly a polish lady who was married to Tom's dad.
Southern walking trails are good. Walk to first gorge look pout through rocky dry palm covered land. Beautiful view of the river. Climb down a rocky path to the gorge crossing. Cruise boats and canoes there. Look at rock art and swimming holes. Great. Climb back up to the lookout and chat to Ishvan a hungarian backpacker we met at Mataranka and a French mother and son who have travelled the world. Walked back via the lookout which was a long way but brought us back to the river.
Swim at the pool then camp kitchen dinner chatting with social work students who are enjoying a placement in Katherine and a few people from Darwin.

Mt Isa and Tenant Creek

Mt Isa is an interesting place for a couple of days. The mine tour is in a mine dug just for tourists. Lookout has good views over the town. Fawlty Towers on the TV in the camp kitchen.
The Irish Club is big smart and has the cheapest bottle shop for ages. Youngmi buys two bottles of Yellow Tail.Fill up with cheap petrol and drive to Cammoweal about 130kms away. Fuel is 40c a litre more at 2.12 for 95 unleaded. Red hot again. The old store is locked up but highlights included a huge mine vehicle being moved by road and a couple in their 70s driving around Oz in a Hyundai accent and camping.

About 20kms down the road and we reach the Territory. Magnificent empty land.

Another 240kms to the Barkly Homestead roadhouse. Great place with good camping. The other extreme from the Burke and Wills dump.
Next day and another 200kms and we are in Tenant Creek. Outback caravan park is good. The majority of people in town seem to be aboriginal which is a big change for us. Good visitor centre with more gold mining relics. At night Jimmy Hooper puts on a bush tucker and poetry session by a fire on the campground. Dave tries the road kill kangaroo tail but Youngmi is not keen
About 10pm Dave asks 4 people chatting loudly outside there van if they can be quieter. "Quieter! We are on holiday if you want quiet camp in a church" Next day they complain that Dave has upset them and say he is lucky he didnt get hit. Youngmi will see blood on the campground yet.

Walk 6kms on a bike walking track to Lake Mary Ann. Great. Youngmi finds the plant Jimmy showed us to treat stings and bush avocados, plums and tomatoes

Back in town we visit the red rooster for a complete change and drive to the golf course with black sand greens.Back in town Dave tries to buy some booze but the tight restrictions, purchasing through metal bars and the price put him off. Jimmy Hooper makes excellent damper that night

Next day we visit the Overland Telegraph station and Newcastle Waters ghost town. No chance of fuel from the old servo

Croydon, Normanton and Mt Isa

Left Cairns again and drove south to Josephine Falls near Innisfail. Start the ascent of Mt Bartle Frere the highest mountain in Queensland. Very hard going through rainforest from 100m to 500m and the half way campground. Only 3kms to hear but that is enough. The last 4kms to 1600m looks very challenging. One for another day. Josephine Falls is impressive. Drive on to Milaa Milaa then to Mt Hipposomething crater. A deep hole in the rainforest floor where volcanic gas erupted. Great.
Ravenshoe is cold and quiet so on we go to Innot Hot Springs. Brilliant. 6 hot pools one of which is 45degs.
A camper says there was frost on the previous night so we wrap up well for bed.



The original springs were holes in the sand of the river bed and a few people are lying in these next morning.

Next day to the Undara lava tubes. Superb campground in the middle of nowhere with lots of railway carriages to sit in .Good bush walks. Watch the sunrise from a lookout.
The lava tube trip is $55 and booked up for that day so we missed it.

Packed up again and drove to Georgetown. Red hot but a nice shady picnic area for lunch. Drive on again to Croydon. Parts of the road are only single track bitumen which is challenging when a big caravan comes the other way. Jackpot with Croydon. Lovely campground, people and town.

Adrian has made a banjo and taught Youngmi to play. Next day is Adrians 83rd birthday and he and Peggy 85 have driven from Tassie in their campervan.

A little green frog came to the kitchen to see Youngmi. 15m pool on the campground and nice kitchen. Croydon is a gold town from 1880s but all the sites have been developed to make this an intersting historic town. Each afternoon it is so hot. Fish and chips at the pub for $10 is a winner and a visit to the oldest continuosly operated store in Australia is good. Probably unchanged since 1920. The shop were Dave bought an akubra in 1990 ( he still has this in Melbourne)

The weekly Gulflander train was in town so we were able to go for the sunset ride to Golden Gate.
Next day packed up then had a stroll around the historic district with Sandra. She is from Mornington and driving around OZ in a Jazz and sleeping in a tiny tent. At 70 this is very impressive.
About 120kms to Normanton which is a bit rough but has a good visitor centre. Asked at the campground if we could have a look before booking in "have a look?" Strange response so we drove on to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Four caravan parks all packed with fishing people from the south. Not much to do if you don't fish.

Happily there was free wine tasting at the pub on the Karumba sea front. First night of their food festival. Jackpot. A lady from Manchester keeps Daves glass filled. Meet a gut from Rochdale who has lived in Karumba for 23 years and has an aboriginal wife. Both are great company.
Back at the campground and the characters are out. The guy next to us is playing his guitar. Dave has a go and retunes a string. If I wasn't so drunk I would punch you he says. Afterwards Youngmi laughs and says she expected blood on the campground.
Another guy coughs all night but is still alive the next morning and having a fag. We head south again. Free coffee at Normanton visitor centre

After another 200kms of hot dry driving with lots of road works we arrived at the Burke and Wills roadhouse. It is a real dump. Toilets are not clean and liable to snakes. Meat pies have run out and there are signs saying non paying visitirs are not welcome. We find a bit of shade across the road and make a sandwich.

Another 200kms to Cloncurry and our first supermarket for a week. Campground has a good kitchen and an english backpackers helps himself to a suasage from our fry pan. He thought it was his mate's and is very apologetic.. Move on again the next day to Mt Isa. Stunning drive through desert mountains

Atherton Tablelands

After a hectic morning in the camp kitchen partly due to some of the vans having been robbed in the night we head south to Gordonvale. Then about 15 kms of winding uphill road to the tableland. Seems very high at the top of the hills looking back to the coast.
Rolling green field with patches of magnificent rain forest. Visit the Cathedral Fig Tree. Huge magnificent and looking like a cathedral. Sad to think lots of this forest has been cleared for farming.

Lake Barrine is a beautiful volcanic lake with rain forest walks and a lovely Devonshire Tea. Yungabuura is a nice little town with platypus viewing on the creek. The lady in the info centre is from Blackpool and recommends the Lake Eacham caravan park. Great place on edge of the rain forest. There is a big shed for the camp kitchen with a log fire. Perfect for evening chats.
Dave walks through the rainforest for 1 km to the lake then 3kms around the lake through more forest with two fig trees. Lots of backpackers swimming in the lake as the sunsets. There is a python in a hole

As Dave looks for the path home it goes dark. Even with a torch it is very dark and with lots of jungle sounds Dave can't find the path back. Luckily there is a road that leads back.
Early morning lots of noise from the campsite turkeys and chooks.

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Next day visit Malanda Falls. Great visitor centre and chat to a lady from South Africa who shows a stuffed tree kangaroo. These guys only live on the tableland and in PNG and are difficult to spot as they live high in the rainforest and swing around using their tales.

Atherton is a biggish place and Dave tries a lady hairdresser. Never a good idea. She says Max cut my hair too short and it only needs a 2 minute trim. She did start my pony tail so fingers crossed that will grow.
Walk up Mt Baldy which turns out to be steeply uphill for 50minutes. Surprisingly hard work and very dry although only a few kms from rain forest. Great view including Mt Bartle Frere
Back to the campground and another night of chatting by the fire. Tom, a belgian guy is great company. Very cold that night and everything soaked with rain forest condensation in the morning. While I am having my coffee and toast a very distressed lady comes in and says a malaysian airline has been shot down over Ukraine with 295 people killed. No good
Go back to sunny Cairns.
Walk to the lagoon have a swim at last which is great. African ladies being photographed on the beach.

Pelicans are in their usual place on a small patch of grass on the beach

 Walking back we pass a circus with a few lions outside. The keeper is being friendly with the ladies. He doesn't do this with the male lions.

Pizza hut $5 pizza and white wine for dinner at the campsite. Chat to a dutch couple who have got jobs in restaurants in Palm Cove. They have travelled for 2 months from Sydney and said it was hard to get work. They showed us wikicamps App which has campgrounds all over Australia including all in the guide Camps 7.

Dave's birthday in Cairns

Wake up to hear rain hammering down.A cassowary stubby holder is a great present. Breakfast with Michael, Briggitta, Lisa and Tim a family from Melbourne. The kids know a bit of korean.
Walk to the botanical gardens which are a real delight.

Rain forest walk up a hill and through swamps. Beautiful, exotic gardens with lots of colours and spikes on trees. Devonshire tea in a jungle setting.Lots of sunshine as we walk to town stopping at a very popular fish shop for more fish and chips. Pours as we walk along sea front. Pass on the lagoon swim, visit the faded casino and back to campground for another chat and a wine.

Parma dinner at the RSL on the sea front so filling. Walk to the marina and find lots more busy bars and restaurants. Massage at the night market which Youngmi says is backpackers massaging backpackers.
Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes, much appreciated.