July 23rd 2017


The bitumen surface of the Barkly Highway allowed us to be on the Stuart Highway by lunch time...the first sign after we left the Roadhouse told us that the speed limit was 130...we are not accustomed to that in Victoria and we certainly cannot tow our caravan at that speed!!

The bush-land either side of the road was low with a few Bloodwood trees showing their high blooms. Grevilleas and acacias were also in bloom but we were unable to stop. The only one I could identify while travelling was the Holly Grevillea. We have been surprised over the weeks we have been travelling just how many burnt patches there are. I am unsure how these fires start. Often I think the bush benefits from being burnt with a low fire because some seeds need the heat to crack them open ready for the first rain

Red Bud Mallee Eucalypt in bloom

Again there were many quite large termite nests. Some had a point of difference because they had been dressed in discarded  clothing to make them look like people! One even had a 'roadworks' witch's hat on to give a look of distinction!

 Three Ways Roadhouse is 187 kms from the Barkly Roadhouse. There was phone connection at this busy place, so we sat for awhile in the shade and ate our lunch then made a couple of phone calls. While this was happening I noticed a Red Bud Mallee eucalypt in bloom...a very distinctive tree.

We have driven out to the Pebbles Tourist site

Grey Cassia with yellow blooms and green seedpods

this afternoon and set up camp for the evening. There is only a very short walk here so that is disappointing. However I did find a couple of attractive Cassia bushes in bloom. The weather is a comfortable temperature but very windy. Toward evening we have realised that many other people have had the idea to camp here with us..luckily we are in the corner of the small fenced area.

Good news today as I have been advised that my quilt, entered in Art Quilt Australia 2017 has been accepted. 50 quilts have been juried in, for display, out of 76 entries.

July 22nd 2017

View of Mitchell Grass on Barkly Tablelands...photo taken while travelling.

Today we completed the trip across the Barkly Tablelands driving over 300 km along a bitumen road of varying quality to reach Barkly Homestead Roadhouse about 2.00 pm . We crossed both the Barkly and Rankin Stock Routes along the way. The scenery varied from open bushlands to wide open plains of Mitchell Grass. Again the Silver Box tree was in evidence along with Bauhinia trees displaying large deep red seed pods. The cream grevillea which we have seen in the last few days were in bloom in a couple of spots and bloodwoods again but displaying large decaying flowers.

Bauhinia pods with our rig in the background

We were delighted to see 4 Bustards on the roadway so we could get a good view of them as they took flight. Wedge Tailed Eagles regularly feed on the roadside carrion. They always leave it until the last second to take flight away from the vehicle...they are large bold birds and amazing to watch with very wide wings.

We passed a team of operators doing seismic tests and laying out many kilometers of cable in readiness for the testing of minerals we presume.

We are staying in the camping ground attached to the Roadhouse. It appears to be a well organised establishment. It is situated on the Barkly Highway which is a very busy east-west route for travellers.

July 21st 2017 

Our day has been busy but rather uneventful apart from being woken by the sounds of the Blue Winged Kookaburra practising his laugh. We packed our rig then drove up the street to fill with fuel and restock our refrigeratror with enough food to get us to Alice Springs. There are 3 Supermarkets in Borroloola which have provided us with all our needs. We visited this town some years ago and it is remarkable how the  buildings, the general tidiness and the appearance of the locals has improved. They have every right to be proud of their township.

Rock formations at Caranbarini Reserve

We headed south along the Tablelands Highway to Caranbarini Conservation Reserve. We have visited this interesting area before but we still enjoyed our walk through the wonderful rock formations. Yellow rod blooms on unidentified wattles provided colour as did the bright orange flowers on the very high branches of the Darwin Woolly Butts (Eucalyptus Miniata).

The directions on the information board suggested that the Barrawulla Loop of 2 km would take 1-2 hours but we made our return in a little under one hour. After we enjoyed our lunch we walked along another track to the Caranbarini Waterhole which has a bird-hide overlooking the water which has large waterlilies growing in it. We quietly watched a number of 

Green Pygmy Geese. They are not very big birds but have interesting markings including lustrous green wings

Waterlillies at Caranbarini Waterhole

The Tableland Highway has continued south to Heartbreak Hotel at Cape Crawford where we did consider staying but eventually drove a good way south and parked on a roadside stopover on the edge of the Barkly Tableland. It is flat and dry with little shade but my washing is on the line and we will enjoy some Borroloola sausages for dinner.

I have neglected to mention that John has had two events with a tic… digging into his wrist firstly then into his upper leg. Nasty things, we were able to pull them both out/off with a pair of tweezers.

July 20th 2017

Cream Grevillea

A cool morning with a brisk breeze. We left our campsite about 9.00 am and little did we know what a rough road we had ahead of us. It took us nearly 3 hours to drive 160 kms. John was driving very carefully avoiding any big holes. There are many burnt out cars on the side of the road, one of which looked like a 'holiday rig'...such disaster.

The Robinson River country and bush is flat with open forest. It is Aboriginal Land which is also know as 'Mungoobada' . We crossed the waters of the Robinson River which were in a deep valley and of course there are warnings on all waterways to be aware of  Crocodiles.

Orange Grevillea

It was great to see several Grevilleas in bloom. Those close to the road were covered in red dust so I had to wait my chance for photography. They were all new to me but hopefully I will eventually find out their names ..at the moment cream , orange and red grevilleas.

Some areas were lush and tropical in appearance with many 'cabbage palms' growing. Termite nests are plentiful and quite large made from 'clay' coloured earth.

Red Grevillea

There were a few horses in the bush, one single healthy dingo and a Blue Winged Kookaburra. These  northern birds have much more blue on their wings than the Victorian Laughing Kookaburra. they cannot laugh like the ones we see and hear at home, they only sound as if they are practicing and never really laugh heartily.

The last River we drove through was the Foelsche, it was flowing quite swiftly and made a great photographic topic.




After arriving in Borroloola we decided to camp in the Caravan park which is pleasantly green with space between vans. John unlocked the Jayco and with a gasp....look what has happened. To our disappointment the Microwave oven had come off its mooring and was sitting on the floor. Amazingly there is little damage..a few scrapes on the floor. The glass plate from inside the oven was unharmed. We are most fortunate that there is so little damage. I do not use the Microwave as we rarely plug into Mains electricity and could very well use the space to better advantage.

We drove toward the coast from here about 60 km and saw the Fishing Camp at King Ash Bay where there were many camping rigs and boats. Obviously fishing in the Gulf is very popular.

Tonight we ate at the only local restaurant where each of us thoroughly enjoyed a huge plate of local  barramundi. Our day is complete!  Yes, I have been speaking to Cynthia who is still resting in Alice Springs. Her recovery is gradual.

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July 19^th 2017

Today has been interesting as we have travelled ‘The Great Savannah Way’ which is the closest road to the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The coastline is quite difficult to reach as Famous explorers ‘Burke and Wills’ found out. Mangroves grow in a wide band around the coast sheltering sand flies, mosquitoes, crocodiles and other evil creatures that would harm you if you step into the water. The water is so very aqua blue and inviting but it is not for us.

The road has been very rough and very dusty in some parts while other sections have been sealed with bitumen. There seemed to be a lot more vehicles today as well. Driving is quite a challenge dodging potholes, bull dust baths and corrugations. Apart from these comments we have enjoyed the scenery which has taken us through  the Calvert Hills which were very attractive with a new range of trees.

Jabiru

We have seen termites nests on many occasions before today but as we progressed they seemed to become bigger and much closer together. Silver Box trees are still with us as well as some coolabahs, the tall Darwin Woolly Butts, Grevilleas, one type with  bright orange flowers and a smaller bush with cream blooms. The dust settles on nearby bushes and actually spoils their brilliance but at last I found a clear pink Star Bush..there were many of these. We have seen waterlilies in several waterholes. Also a wonderful Jabiru wading in a road side water hole.

Star bush

I was not looking forward to visiting the settlement called Hell’s Gate as last time we called there it was dirty and inhabited by very unsavoury people who were fighting and using nasty language...pension day I think. What a surprise to day to find green lawns, freshly painted buildings and a neat camp ground. I was able to log onto Roaming WiFi for a small price and so my blog has been updated today. Tonight we are well away from Internet connection as we camp on a rise near the Mc Graggan Creek.

West of Hell’s Gate we came upon a lone cyclist..a young, tall and very thin French chap peddling his bike across the top of Australia…what a way to see our great country.

We came by an unexpected Copper mine where there was a notice advising people not to use the water. The creek was polluted with white and green crusts of copper waste.

We crossed the Calvert River through flowing water and rocks..only to find our first sign warning of crocodiles…we will be very aware!! There was a very attractive Oasis on the west side of the Calvert with a spring bubbling water down to the river..

Crossing the Calvert River

July 18^th  2017

We left Lawn Hill this mid morning after a phone chat with Cynthia . We are much relieved to hear her voice on a much stronger note. Later in the day we received a short message from her to say she had passed all the tests for concussion and was allowed to leave this afternoon.

We have had an interesting day driving north of Lawn Hill, through quite remote country, to join the Savannah Way at Doomadgee. Like every day we travel, the scenery is ‘ever changing’ . Firstly we drove through Lawn Hill Station past the stockyards and homestead, which was high on an escarpment. The range of rocky mountains in the distance were beautiful purple and red rock colours. Cattle were in mobs around every waterhole. Many horses were about as well. The station roads were quite good to travel on but dusty. There were very few other travellers coming our way today.

We crossed Lawn Hill Creek several times. Eventually we found a shady place to have our lunch. It was on a lagoon which was part of Elizabeth Creek. The bird life was interesting in that we saw two large Black-necked Storks which are very often known as Jabirus. There were Pelicans on the waterholes as well as Black cormorants and various other herons and ducks. Water birds are always fascinating to watch.

Kapoc trees

Apart from the many Silver Box trees there were some new trees today including, what I think are ‘Whip-stick Wattles’ which a slim willowy tree that sway in the breeze. Then we came upon several Kapok Trees. I immediately think of kapok  mattresses. The trees have quite large yellow blooms as well a fruit which look  like Feijoa fruit. When these oval green fruit are cut they have a soft cotton like filling covering the seeds. The white 'fluff' is just like the old fashioned Kapoc filling. 

Fruit and flower from the Kapoc tree

We purchased fuel at the Doomadgee Roadhouse at $1.73 per litre. Further west we have camped at Walford Creek Camp. It is a small clean area and at present we are the only campers here. The flies are very nasty, in fact it is really the first time that flies have bothered us during the time we have been away.

   

July 17^th  2017

 The weather is delightful..cool nights with warm to hot days. It certainly promotes R & R or laziness ..however you look at it.

Last night we decided on a walk today. John wanted to do the ‘Island Stack’ walk which was listed as ‘difficult’..this always makes me feel hesitant. The details said to allow 2 hours of walking time. The initial ascent was very steep and we had to come down these same rocky steps. The 1.6km walk around the ‘table top’ gave us impressive panoramic views of the surrounding country and the beautiful and colourful  gorge cut by Lawn Hill Creek.

Red rocks on top of 'Island Stacks'

The country on top was mostly red brown rocks but there had been a fire through during the last year or so.

Bench seats provided us with a resting place high above the many palms that grow along the creek. It also provided us with phone connection which is not available in the valley. We took the opportunity to ring Cynthia in the Alice Springs Hospital. She is still suffering from concussion but improving a little each day.

By the time we came down to the valley floor, had a walk through the NP camping area and returned to our vehicle we had been walking for  2.5 hours and felt quite hot.

June in front of a fig tree which has grown through a crevice in the rocks

Back here in Adel’s Grove our rig was shaded and a welcome spot for lunch. About 2.40pm we walked down to the swimming hole and enjoyed a cooling ‘dip’

The day was nearly gone by then, a little washing, a cool drink and some stitching. The time is easy to fill in but we must continue on our journey tomorrow as we gradually head toward Alice Springs.