DAY 85 FROM SOUTH TO NORTH - TOP END (NORTHERN TERRITORY) TRIP

18 July 2010

Mt ISA to WALKABOUT HOTEL, McKINLAY

Being Sunday not everything is open in Mt Isa. We started of the day by attending a most uplifting mass. Then at the Outback centre we spent quite a bit of time at the Riversleigh Fossil Display. It was a very informative display. Riversleigh is 250km north-west of Mt Isa near Lawn Hill. The fossils found here are amongst the most extensive in the world. The fossils span several periods and some are 15-25 million years old. The fossils are of mammals, birds, reptiles. They have been able to piece together the evolution of some of Australia’s animals over the last 30 million years as a result of these fossil finds. In the reception area to the exhibition there were some lovely quilts made by the Mt Isa Quilters depicting the animals of the past.

Mt Isa itself was not much. Very much a mining town with the mines close to the city. It had no feel of a town.

After lunch we headed out on the Barkly to Cloncurry.

It was a very scenic drive along this section of the road.

There were still sections with termite mounds.

We were shown to pull over to the side by a policeman. We pulled over and waited. Then we saw the semi come up over the rise carrying a huge mining vehicle on the trailer. It took up the full two lanes of the road.  We were glad we had not met it on a narrower section of the road.

Cloncurry was an old and tidy town with character. From Cloncurry we turned off to Matilda Highway. Here we hit the locusts. There were ‘clouds’ of locusts flying across the road. They appeared to be heading west.

We decided to camp in the so called caravan park at the back of the Walkabout Hotel.

This is the pub made famous by the film Crocodile Dundee. Apparently they moved the location of the pub since the filming to the main street. It looks like the pub from the film but has no atmosphere – very sterile. And have you ever heard of a pub closing at 8:30 pm. Well it sure did. I think he hoped to close it at 8:00pm but it took him some time to get everyone outside so he could close. We heard from some of the road crew that the other week he closed it half way through the State of origin match. That is like sacrilege. The guy behind the bar is from England and has no understanding of aussie psych.

The Walkabout Pub is in an old town called McKinlay. It feels like a ghost town a bit but there are people still living here.

DAYS 83-84 FROM SOUTH TO NORTH - TOP END (NORTHERN TERRITORY) TRIP

16-17 July 2010

BORROLOOLA to Mt ISA

In the morning we made a final decision regarding where to next. Last night hubby was proposing that go via Hells’ Gate to Lawn Hill then Mt Isa. I had a bad feeling regarding the proposed route. During the night he decided we couldn’t go the way he proposed as we only had one good spare wheel. To keep going along the Savannah Way, which is a 4WD track, you should have two spare wheels. The road crosses many creek and river crossings that are still running high and several require manoeuvring through boulders.

Our fourth focus area will not be completed. But there is always next time. We would do the Roper Bar section again if we came this way so now we do have a reason to come back to this neck of the woods.

We set out mid morning after some further adjustments to the wheels. We travelled along Carpentaria Highway to Cape Crawford. What a name for a place not by the sea!

The most significant feature along the way today - the cows. There were lots and lots of cows along the way regardless of the terrain. They were not confined to the fields. They tended to be on the road or by the road. It is surprising that there were no dead cows along the road.

We then turned onto Tableland Highway towards Barkly Homestead. Tableland Highway is a very narrow single lane road. It is quite dangerous in places as it winds and crests and you have no view of what is ahead and whether there is anyone else on the road. If you meet anyone else you need to move off the road so that both can pass each other. If a roadtrain comes along you just move off, stop and wait for it to pass. As we are in a big vehicle many cars moved aside for us.

We camped in a rest area with quite a few others at Brunette Downs Rest Stop. The windmill was quite a landmark.

The cockatoos obviously liked to sit and watch what was happening from above. At night it was hard to sleep as on every rotation the windmill made a sound like a squeaky swing.

In the morning it felt really cold as the temperature was down to 10.6C degrees. What a difference from Borroloola where 16C degrees was the coldest morning we had. On our first day out of Borroloola the day reached 28C degrees. Today it was 26. We think the temperature is now going to keep dropping everyday.

We saw thousands of birds this morning. As we drove along the road they kept flying off in large and small flocks from the road. This kept up for at least 50 kilometres possibly more.

Several kangaroos were seen in the morning. One was huge but I was not quick enough with the camera. Cattle were again seen along the way but not in the numbers that we saw yesterday but there were lots of young calves to be seen.

Today was the first time we drove with windows closed for most of the day, as the wind was too cool to keep them open. I’ve packed the singlet tops away and taken out some long sleeve tops.

Fences started to appear once we were on Barkly Highway.

I think we must be seeing the last of the termite mounds on this section of the road as we crossed into Queensland.

The most dominant feature of this component of the trip over the two days was the flatness of the land. It was flat, flat, flat as far as the eye could see. In places it was just grasslands. This was interspersed with some scrub and trees in places. I can’t say it was exciting going through here but I couldn’t say it was monotonous either.

Camooweal was a quaint little town along the way. Technically it s part of Mt Isa. The main street from Camooweal goes all the way into the centre of Mt Isa. As Camooweal is administered by Mt Isa Council, Mt Isa tries to boast that it is the biggest city in the world and the stretch of Barkly Highway one of the longest main streets. Closer to Mt Isa the land was not so flat. Small hills started to appear and break up the scenery.

We spent the night at Moondarra Caravan Park. It has many units here for those working in the mines and a cafeteria that they call a restaurant that is open for dinner and breakfast.

DAYS 76 - 82 FROM SOUTH TO NORTH - TOP END (NORTHERN TERRITORY) TRIP

9 – 15 July 2010

BORROLOOLA

Hubby is always very optimistic and his mate told him he will have the parts by Monday or Tuesday. I tend t be more realistic and my comment was but the post may only come here once or twice a week.

Anyway he headed off early in the morning in the Oka to get the radiator fixed whilst I stayed in the caravan park as we had set up our fly tent. I did the washing and some quilting. Luckily I had taken out something for lunch. As the day progressed I began to wander what else could be wrong. I could’ve walked over to have a look but Carol, the manager of the caravan park, advised me against it. The mechanic does not lke females in his yard. So I stayed here and waited. It was not till after 4.00pm that he came back. They only got the tank out by lunchtime. They tested it every which way and could not find the leak. The pepper has done such a good job. So some Stop Leak went in and the radiator was put back in. That was the good news.

We then went to the post office to let them know that we were expecting something to come through in an express envelope. She told us maybe this coming Thursday – today is Friday - or else the following Thursday. Mmmmmmm!!!

So here we are in Borroloola wandering how we will spend the rest of the time when we can’t drive the vehicle anywhere. Today was day one and at least hubby was busy helping with the radiator.

Day 2:

I quilted whilst hubby helped the manager’s husband assemble several quad BIKES.

Day 3:

I quilted whilst hubby read a book. I also redid my excel accommodation record worksheets and hubby helped with the formulas.

Day 4:

Visited the local Art Centre then came back to the caravan park. Hubby did some jobs around the Oka including adjustments to the fridge set up to stop it jumping around during rough roads. He did go for a walk to get a bulb for the torch and some butter. He came back without both – not available. There is a food delivery on Wednesday so we will wait for the butter till then. He went to another service station in the afternoon for the bulb. He got one but it is so old that he had to make adjustments for it to fit as the newer torches have a slightly different fitting for the bulb. He said they were covered in dust and he thinks they had forgotten that they had them. A cop dropped in with a quad bike that wasn’t working properly. As Hank was out Carol asked hubby to have a look at it. So he fixed the problem. Then more reading by hubby and I quilted.

Day 5:

More quilting and reading today. Oil was checked in the car and the solar panels were washed. The first mail delivery for the week came but no parts. It seems express post always comes by truck not plane here. So we will wait to see what Thursday will bring.

Day 6:

Hubby topped up the water in the car. He can’t even fathom the idea that the parts may not come tomorrow. He checked out the library – no internet at the moment as they have a virus in the system. We went shopping as the delivery was supposed to have come. Got some fresh fruit and vegetables but no butter. So I will have to resort to margarine. It is strange what you can and cannot buy here.

I finished my quilt Snowscape that I will enter for selection in the Australia Wide 2 exhibition by Ozquilt. I am happy with it. I am not sure of the rules re publishing a photo of a work being submitted for selection so I will post a photo of the quilt only when I can ascertain that I can do so. Now I can start on another quilt that I had prepared to work on on the trip.

Day 7:

The parts arrived. Hoorah!!! In mid afternoon the car was roadworthy once more. We drove out to Bing Bong to have a look. The mines have built a channel through the sea flats so that boars can come in to the mine her.

Tomorrow we should be on our way again. We have been without internet access for quite a while now so hopefully we can pick it up in Mt Isa when we get there.

DAY 75 FROM SOUTH TO NORTH - TOP END (NORTHERN TERRITORY) TRIP

8 July 2010

SAVANNAH WAY – NATHAN RIVER HIGHWAY

Butterfly Springs is a delightful place. Beautiful paperbark trees surround the waterhole.

Butterfies flutter around in droves.

We started the day in a relaxed frame of mind but it didn’t last long. Hubby noticed water on the ground. After investigation he found that the radiator was leaking but he couldn’t find from where. We made the decision to give Lorella Station a miss and go straight to Borroloola. With a careful eye on the temperature gauge we took off.

The Southern Lost City was not too far away and was on our way so we decided to stop there. The radiator was dripping but still no trace from where and the temperature gage was not showing any signs of trouble. We went on the 2.5 km walk through the Southern Lost City.

It was not quite a stroll through the lost city. I did not enjoy walking through the Spinifex.

In places it was a tight squeeze between rocks and in other places a bit of a goats track but overall it was okay. It doesn’t have the awesome impact of the Western Lost City as to see it you have to weave your way through the rock formations.

Often they really tower above you. This face was really interesting.

It is hard to get a panoramic view of them partly due to the foliage and because you are too close to them or the impact is lost because of the numerous rock formations.

Some of the formations were really interesting. I called one a Bowl

another a Vase

and a third a Tulip.

At the top there was a view to another distant lost city.

After the walk we had lunch here. Hubby conferred with a others here who showed an interest in the Oka re the radiator. A decision was made to put some black pepper into the radiator to plug up the leak. Guess what – it works.  It worked so well that the next day when they tested the radiator under pressure no evidence of the leak was there.

Anyway, we continued on making our way through creek crossings to the Carpentaria Highway.

As you approach each creek crossing they look so similar on the road – a patch of water. They don’t look like much but many were quite deep. As mentioned before in my blog, when you look at either side of the crossing you see the uniqueness of each creek or river.

Some differences may be very subtle but they are there. At other times they are very different.

On our way in to Borroloola, on the last section which was on a bitumen road I mentioned to hubby that the tyres didn’t sound right. He pulled over and checked for a flat tyre but they were all fine.

Finally we got to Borroloola. First stop was to find someone who could fix the radiator. Arrangements were made for the next morning. Then onto the town centre, if you could call it that, to post some postcards. Hubby came around to my side of the car to lock the doors after I got out but I soon saw his expression change to horror. I asked what was wrong but he told me I would see when I got out. The wheel studs had worn through and sitting loosely on the wheel. We had been very lucky. What was sort of funny was that all trip I had been going on about taking spare wheel studs on the next trip as we had heard on the HF radio of a number of instances of the studs going and arrangements being made to get them. Well here we were in the same boat. The radiator problem paled into insignificance at this point. Hubby tightened the studs as much as he could and we drove slowly to the caravan park not too far back down the road.

He was soon on the phone making arrangements to get some sent up if needed and to see whether he could redistribute the others in order to drive to Mt Isa if needed. Advice was that we needed 7 on each wheel so we had to get new studs before moving on.

So here we are in Borroloola and we will see what tomorrow will bring.