July 16^th 2017

Surprisingly it was quite cool during the night, but the day has warmed to about 26 deg which is very pleasant.

Our start for the day was not so pleasant. John checked our Satellite phone for messages only to find that Cynthia has had a nasty fall from her motor bike in the northern section of the Tanami Track. She was riding with the 'Trek the Track' team of riders. It is unfortunate that this had happened but her injuries are not really serious. She was transported by RFDS plane to Alice Springs Hospital last Friday. We have been able to speak to David a couple of times and I have also spoken to Cynthia who will take a few days to recover from concussion.

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We packed our rig at Gregory Station and headed for Lawn Hill. The road was really very rough even though sections of it had been bitumen at some stage.This bitumen has broken away and seriously deep pot holes have formed. Evidently the Century Mine which was operating in the area has closed and with it the monetary support for the road has ceased. The trees along the road were mainly Silver gums with some Candelabra wattle. The country is flat and rather dry with the Lawn Hill range in the distance. The trip was about 90 km. It is probably the worst road we have travelled on with dust and corrugations as well.

We did not plan to stay at Lawn Hill as we have been here 3 times before. However when we asked they were happy to fit us in along the Lawn Hill Creek area called the Grove. It is a thick shaded area with lots of space. It was warm enough for a swim in the river so we spent about an hour cooling off and chatting to new friends.

The Reception area Canteen offers a meal at night so we enjoyed pork roast  and sweets with many other visitors who also stayed for the entertainment. A lady played the flute throughout the meal. She then announced that she had several bush poems to recite to us. All of this was enjoyable. Strangely John sat next to a young woman whose parents are David  & Judy Elliott who were instrumental in developing the Australian Age of the Dinosaurs Museum at Winton. 

View of Lawn Hill Gorge