LAWN HILL TO BOULIA

At Lawn Hill Gorge we hired canoes and paddled up the gorge again, but only to the first level. They have changed the access to the second level; you now have to carry your canoe for about a hundred metres to get to the second level. The Gorge is still as beautiful as we remembered it. Adel’s Grove has had a big face-lift and is now a great spot to stop.

LAWN HILL GORGE

Tuesday was a lay day, so I, yes I, that is Ian cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast then I cooked Spaghetti Bolognaise in the Hillbilly Camp Oven AND THEN cooked a chicken casserole for Dinner that night under instructions from all sides. Went to bed totally exhausted after my big cook out.

Travelled to Kajabbi on Wednesday and stayed behind the pub for the night. We arrived there at lunchtime. After lunch we went for a drive to Lake Julius, it was a half hour drive it is situated on the Alexandria River. The dam design and construction won awards when it was built. We took some good photos of the area.

KAJABBI HOTEL

LAKE JULIUS

Kajabbi is off the Burke development road; it was a 41km dirt road on the way in and 26km’s on the way out. The population is 8 and the publican is only 29 (Tod). Tod’s father used to live in Taree and worked for Manning Valley Furnishings.

I watched the State of Origin at the pub amongst all the Queenslanders. The Publican shouted the 20 people in the Bar a free drink and had small frankfurts and sauce on the Bar; he also had chips and dip.

Thursday we headed for Cloncurry to do some shopping and to get all the messages on the phone. Found out that Murson crescent settled yesterday. After shopping we had lunch out at Chinaman’s Creek Dam before going to Fountain Springs roadside stop about 60 km’s from Cloncurry.

Friday arrived at Mt Isa at 9.00am and set up in the Copper City Caravan Park to do some much needed washing and cleaning. Sent Diane’s knitting creations to Hannah and Jett. Of course we had to do some shopping as well. We will stay here until Sunday morning. The Manager (Steve) looks like Billy Connelly.

During our stay at The Isa we visited Lake Moondarra and had a picnic lunch out there. The Dam is only 12km’s from town and is a great spot for skiing and fishing. They also have a canoe club and sailing club.

LAKE MOONDARRA
As we were touring around the edge of the dam we met Bob & Carmel Ford from Coffs Harbour who were fishing along the edge. Bob and Carmel were on their way to Gregory Downs, Lawn Hill and Karumba for three weeks.

We travelled around the town stopping at the Lookout over town and also past the new entertainment centre, where the Isa rodeo will be held this year. The Rodeo is the biggest social event in town.

Left The Isa on Sunday morning after fuelling up, heading towards Camooweal. Camooweal is only 12/13 km’s from the Northern Territory border where the time is set back half an hour.

We camped on the Banks of the Georgina River (which was empty three weeks ago) after the recent rain it is now a picture. Diane has taken heaps of photos of the birds along the river.

GEORGINA RIVER CAMPSITE

One day we decided to go for a drive out to the Caves National Park, which is 20km’s south of town. The caves are sinkholes in the ground and to access them you have to be an experienced cave climber. There are 80 known and 67 suspected sinkholes in the area. The Little Nowranie Cave and the Great Nowranie Cave are the two that we visited, taking photos of both of them. Water runs into these sink holes in the wet season and then through a maize of underground Caves to where ever.

GREAT NOWANIE CAVE

There is a campsite in the Park on the Banks of the Nowranie Creek, which would be a good spot to camp. The only problem camping there is the access road, which is very rough and I wouldn’t take my van in there.

Tuesday night we tried out the Hillbilly Camp Oven. We cooked a Roast Beef Dinner, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Carrots, Onion, Peas and a Topside Roast. Surprise surprise it was good if anything it was cooked a little too quickly or was to hot at the beginning.

We have had a nice relaxing time here; yesterday we drove out to the Territory Border and took photos. I now have a squealing fan belt or a bearing in the air conditioner going after we had a drive up along the river and crossed the River only to go another 500 metres and then had to turn around at a locked gate.

John and I went to the pub Wednesday afternoon to get some Beer and whilst we were quenching our thirst we saw a Motor home go past, which was for sale. On the way back to camp we spotted the Motor home parked on the side of the road so we stopped to have a look at it, as John was a bit interested in it. We invited the owners Adrian and Elizabeth to our camp. Had a good look over their Motor home and I think John is still a bit interested in it. They want $125,000 for it but it also includes a trailer and Daewoo car as well. John’s main problem would be where to keep it at home as it is 30 feet long (9 feet longer than his existing one).


JOHN’S NEW MOTORHOME
John decided to buy the Motor home and made arrangements to pick it up in October after Adrian had completed his current trip.

We stayed Thursday and then head back to Mount Isa on Friday. Arrived in Mt Isa and checked into the Argylla Caravan Park. After lunch I took my computer into Outback Communications for them to check it out. We also had a drive around the Isa, visiting the town lookout and the shops.

Saturday was shopping for a Porta Pot and Groceries in the morning and finding where Diane was to have her blood test on Monday. In the afternoon we went to the outback centre where they were having a Community Fair. They had Hot rods, Harley Motor Bikes, stalls, the Isa Outback Museum, Band, camper van and a few other attractions.

Sunday we decided to go for a drive to Mary Kathleen town site that only has the slabs of the existing buildings left after they closed the Mine. All the buildings were sold off and are now scattered all over the country, two of the buildings are at Gregory Downs. From the town you travel about six kilometres to the open cut mine site, you have to walk about 100 metres to see the lake that has formed in the bottom of the Mine. The colour of the water is turquoise and very pretty, certainly worth a visit. The water is contaminated so you can’t drink or swim in it. Mary Kathleen Mine was a Uranium Mine that closed in 1984.



MARY KATHLEEN MINE

After the mine we headed a few more km’s towards Cloncurry the turned off to the right to visit Fountain Springs which is about 24 km’s away. There were some very picturesque views along the way. We passed Ballara Station an abandoned railway station and some other Mine sites that are now closed.

The spring’s waterfall was dry but there was a waterhole at the bottom of the falls. We tried to follow the old railway line back to town but it was to rough so we decided to return the same way that we came. On the way to the Falls we stopped for lunch and took a few shots of birds during lunch.

FOUNTAIN SPRINGS WATERFALL

Monday was a trying day as everything we tried to do had problems, Diane’s blood test authority had not arrived, I chased around looking for a fitting at a Plumbers supplies and had to visit three before I got what I wanted.

Looked at new computers and picked up the old one that according to them is fine. Completed Groceries before heading to Boulia tomorrow.

We met Pam & Arthur Archer and went to the Irish Club for dinner. The club was nice and we had a good night. Pam & Arthur are in Mt Isa for 4 days before heading to Darwin.

Left the Isa for Boulia at 9.30am Tuesday morning. Had our first puncture on the way that damaged the inner guard of the van as well. Went straight to the Pub for a Beer before going out to the Racecourse to set up camp. It cost $30.00 per head and it didn’t matter how long you stayed. It also includes all the entertainment and races.

Finished setting up camp on Wednesday and looked around the racetrack facilities and checked out the camels. Also spent a couple of hours repairing the inner guard that was damaged by our puncture. One of the stalls printed signs so we ordered a sign for the back of our Caravan “IAN & DI UHF 40”, it only cost $20.00 and if I purchased the same letters at a hardware shop it would of cost about $40.00.

Thursday morning we went for a drive out to a waterhole 41km’s from town on the Donoghue highway. It is situated on “Wirrilyerna” station and is called “Parapituri” Waterhole on the Georgina River. Tried to catch a Yellow belly on soft plastics to no avail.

PARAPITURI WATERHOLE
In the afternoon we visited the Min Min Experience display. It takes 45 minutes to go through and is a great display and well worth seeing.

Visited the Stone House Museum on Friday morning. The Museum is a credit to the organisers. There was a lot of information and a great display of Fossils. A lot of old machinery, Hospital section also.
Friday night they had Barrel races and bull riding, then a Band played until midnight.

Saturday and Sunday they had the Camel races with the final on Sunday at 12.30pm. We found the races very interesting; the camel’s lips would flap up and down as they ran and they looked awkward.

BOULIA CAMEL RACES
Found out that one of my tyres on the caravan was scrubbing out on the inside so I had the tyre reversed on the rim to enable us to get back to Mt Isa.

Monday, after saying good-bye to John & Robyn we left at 8.50am for Mt Isa. Had a good trip and found Cat Dam, which is 18km’s from Dajarra on the left hand side as you are heading to the Isa.

I knew that the fuel was cheap in Mt Isa so we decided not to put any fuel in at Boulia, 40 km’s out we had both tanks on reserve and no Gas. We actually made it and could only put 128 litres into our tanks that hold 145 litres. We had travelled 785 km’s on full tanks including the Gas tank. We paid $1.11 after the Coles Discount for Gas.

After fuelling up we went to the tyre service to book in for Wednesday morning to get 4 new tyres on the van and a wheel alignment to see why the tyre is scrubbing out.

The mail that we are waiting for didn’t arrive on Tuesday so we extended our stay for another day. I changed our tyre appointment to Thursday and then went grocery shopping. We brought a Dust Buster vacuum cleaner, as the dust is getting bad in the van.

We also called out to see the Dometic Fridge dealer “BNS Refrigeration P/L” and decided to buy a bigger fridge for the van. The fridge is a two door one and is 175 litres, instead of the 80/90 litres of our existing one. Diane is having trouble putting everything that we need in the old fridge.

I went back to the Caravan Park and extended for another 5 days as the new fridge won’t arrive until Monday. While we are waiting for the fridge I will have to build a new cabinet to hold it as it stands1248 mm high and is slightly narrower. It will take me a few days to construct, as I don’t have all the tools I need and I also have to move Power points and put new vents in the outside wall.

We met a couple that have been to King Ash Bay, John and Marianne who had a good time up there. One day when they were out fishing they were the first people on the scene of a drowning. They were fishing in the river when they noticed a boat on the bank of the river and a lady on the shore waving her hands at them. When they went over to see what she wanted she told them that her husband had fallen overboard when he was trying to retrieve a prawn net and hadn’t come up.