Banka Banka Station and Daly Waters

Two pretty short, easy days saw us move from Barkly Homestead to Banka Banka (via Tennant Creek to do a spot of shopping and fill up with fuel). We've stayed at Banka Banka before and enjoyed the grass and communal fire pit.

After a very pleasant afternoon and evening with our neighbours we left and headed north, stopping in at Newcastle Waters (bought by Kerry Packer a while ago)  It used to be a small town back in the day but now is a ghost town. 

It still has a tiny school for the local indigenous kids and children of farm workers. 

We continued on to the iconic Daly Waters where we had a relaxing afternoon reading,  swimming, talking and a happy hour drink. 

Barkly Homestead

Another short drive to here.

Ths is big sky country... flat plains allowing you to see for miles. At one stage we could see a bend in the road ahead and it was more than six kilometres away. 

We drove from Camooweal to Barkly Homestead, a remote roadhouse halfway between Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory and Camooweal in Queensland. It is the first and only stop for over 460km between towns so not many people drive straight through without at least stopping to refuel. 

Really nice unpowered camp spots 

We stayed here for State of Origin night, end ended up staying another day as well, relaxing,  reading etc. 

While the homestead caters mainly for travellers,  it is the service centre for all local cattle stations, mining organisations, trucking, road repair crews (who have been VERY busy after the very long wet season... the potholes on the highway are big and plentiful) and aviation... this service station sells diesel, unleaded and aviation gas!!

Nice grass, a pub with entertainment and meals. Free wifi to upload photos to storage and download a series or two, good phone reception.

We ate at the restaurant on night one; I had the salmon. Locally caught of course 😄 

Looking at how the campground has emptied out, very few people stay more than one night.

It's a booming business - cabins and motel rooms are booked out for weeks, powered sites get fully booked (we are unpowered - $10 adds up and we simply don't need it.)

Moving on tomorrow 

Camooweal Billabong

A short drive this morning so we arrived at this free camp with plenty of time to enjoy the peace, the quiet, the birds, the shade. 

A picture (video) really does say a thousand words.

Beautiful daytime temperatures, chilly overnight,  about 5 degrees at 7am

Brolgas

Egret

Mt Isa

We were always goin to stay at Cloncurry for the night,  but many folks stayed because of a truck roll-over on the way to Mt Isa that shut the road for hours.

It was right at the turn off to Mary Kathleen.

We had previously booked the car in for a log book service at Mt Isa so always planned to be here on the Monday for that.

Mt Isa is as sexy a town as you'd expect of an outback mining town. We've been here before with the kids so skipped the mine tour etc. And did very little over the weekend. A bit of washing,  washed the van, baked some muffins and did a $300+ food shop for the next few weeks. 

Well leave for Camooweal tomorrow (Tuesday), just before the NT border, and aim to be in Barkley Homestead for origin night Wednesday.

Hopefully will have more atmosphere than Atherton where we were for game 1

 

Cloncurry to Mt Isa

Initially,  months or even years ago,  we had thought we would call in at Lawn Hill, however we've been watching updates and knew this wasn't possible. 

So we left Gregory and headed south, calling in at the iconic Burke and Wills Roadhouse - we made our own coffee at our own coffee van haha.

We were going to stay the night up the road at the Quamby pub but decided to come through to Cloncurry. Or The Curry as the locals call it. 

On seeing the free camp below the road close to town, we thought initially we should have stayed at Quamby, but it was quieter and better and more convenient than expected.

 

We've been seeing road trains this past week or 10 days, but just the cab and three trailers, not the four we've seen previously.

We went for a walk around town (3500) people) for an hour in the afternoon - that was enough... its hot - 30 degrees. 

Next morning we went to the visitors centre where we topped up the water tanks and then went through the John Flynn visitor centre. Flynn of the outback, who started the Flying Doctor Service here in Cloncurry, was quite a guy and it's a heck of a story. Great visit - and even better with a Seniors' Card haha!

From there we drove out to Corella Dam, just 30 or so kilometres down the road. We were stopped by Road Transport on the way - this is the main road to Mt Isa and 99% of the traffic is on the road headed that way, but a significant truck accident on that road had blocked the road for the next 24 hours. Once we explained we were only going to Corella Dam we were allowed through.

This was a great place to stop, a free camp, well off the road near the water. There were probably about 50 or 60 people staying in an area about the size of a large suburb.

We were fortunate to park next to a lovely older fella. We share his fire for the night, and he gave me a turn on his e-bike (we are definitely buying one when we return to Balmain to live!)

Corella Dam, we later found out, was created to provide water to the township of Mary Kathleen, 30 kilometres down the road.

It was a uranium mine and once was a thriving community about 40km east of Mt Isa, where families lived, babies were born and children went to school.

All that's left today are the slabs of old car garages or car ports, streets with curb and guttering. The old mine site is 6km down the road.

On to Mt Isa for the night

Gregory

We're currently camped beside the Gregory River at Gregory, until recently known as Gregory Downs. It's a small town (population 35) rather than a cattle station so the new name makes sense. 

We came here for a day and decided ro stay a couple of nights... the car's booked in for a service in Mt Isa on Monday in 6 days so we have a few days up our sleeve. 

Such a simple pleasure, floating down a river on a gorgeous sunny day. 

That's all there really is to do here. 

Read, relax, swim and cook.

Leaving for Quamby tomorrow. We'll, we're leaving here tomorrow... Quamby looks like a good stop.

Leichhardt Falls

3 hours west of Normanton and along a lot of dirt is Leichhardt Falls. It's weird... we really are in the middle of nowhere,  free camping at the top of the falls with maybe 20 others, and we have Telstra reception to post this... go figure.

We came via Burke and Wills' 2nd last camp on the way to the Gulf, camp 119. It's where they temporarily left King and made the final (unsuccessful) push to the Gulf. On returning to the camp they started to make their way back down south but... we know how that story ends. 

Really interesting to walk and stand among the trees they blazed.

We then went on to Leichhardt Falls where we stayed the night on the rocks above the falls. 

Beautiful. 

?? Really??

Crocs in the creek below. 

Just gorgeous. 

On to Gregory Downs this morning. 

Tha Savannah Way - Part 1

The Savannah Way runs from Cairns to Broome.

This little update is part one, from Atherton to Normanton/Kurumba Point.

We left Atherton, headed west.

After morning tea and a wander around Ravenshoe, the top of the Tablelands and the coldest part of them, we headed to near Georgetown to spend the night at the historic Cumberland Chimney free camp.

What a great spot, beside a dam (built for the gold operations in the 1800s). Lots of bird life and great neighbours.

Sharing the campsite with locals

Dinner time cooking

Fabulous lilies and bird life at the dam

The next two nights were spent at Cobbold Gorge, South of Forsath. Spectacular Gorge in the middle of nowhere, rediscovered in the 60s by the owners of this enormous cattle station.

Glass bridge to walk across.

Only freshies out here

Nice pool!

A drink by the pool

From there we continued west through Croydon and on to Normanton for the night.

My grandfather was the post master at Normanton in the early 1900s and enlisted from there in 1914.

We found his name on a couple of the honour boards in the town.

Clarance Hogan (misspelt on all the boards)

Normanton is an interesting place with great history but not that beautiful, so the next day we drove 45 minutes to the Gulf to Kurumba Point where we stayed for two nights. 

Paid for a spot in a park here beside the water. No free camping around Karumba Point

Braving the water. Even though there were fishermen standing around launching and retrieving boats, this had me worried at the boat ramp... #crocs    

Just the one high and low tide each day in the gulf. And even then, only a metre in it.

Brolgas

Sunday night chips and a sunnset drink at the pub

Such a changing landscape. Between Normanton and Kurumba there's saltpans, sand, savannah grassland and forest all within 45 kilometres.

The gulf, and specifically Kurumba, is the Barramundi capital of the world apparently.

We did the discovery centre tour before leaving for Leichhardt Falls this morning (Monday 17/6)