July 1^st 2017

Buds on a Bloodwood tree

We left our dusty camp at Opalton and headed north to Bladensburg NP. The gravel road was quite good so we arrived and were able to settle into a camp late in the morning. The National Park was registered in 1994. Previously it was Bladensburg Station one of the original grazing properties established in the Winton area late in the 1800s. The Old Homestead has now been developed as an Information Centre. The out-houses are well kept and all painted white and are open for inspection.

We have explored the park this afternoon. The scenery varies from major Woodlands to wide white/brown salt pans with little vegetation. Scrammy Gorge, Scrammy Lookout, Scrammy Rockhole were all on Scrammy Creek. This creek flows via Mistake Creek and Western River into the Diamantina River. The rockhole was actually a series of water-filled holes which appeared to be quite deep. We noted 2 kangaroos drinking from the second hole..they really had their eye on us. Scrammy Jack lived in a rough hut near the first hole. He was a boundary rider around the year 1900. Sadly he was found drowned in the rock hole. A small memorial grave is nearby.

Leaves from the Bauhinia tree

The view from the Lookout was surprising as I had not realised we were actually up on a ‘Jump-up’ which gave a wonderful view over the country. I found it quite inspirational for embroidery or drawing..we will see. You could see the lines of trees and grasses following the creek beds denoting the general contours of the country.

The Bloodwood  trees in this park are also heavily in bud..I do hope we see a tree which has burst into bloom. The buds are big, are in large quantities and they are very close together. We are still seeing Bauhinia trees which have unusual leaves which grow together and look like butterfly wings.

View from Scrammy Lookout