6500 km journey to longreach, the gulf & birdsville races

[RB]

Last of Day 7
1/ Jabiru seen during cruise 2/ main st Normanton 3/ Fishing is serious business around here 4/ Photo on pub wall showing a previous flood in Normanton- hard to imagine in current conditions

 

[JessicaTam]

Great photos. Thanks for sharing, RB.

 

[JohnM]

Just caught up with this; great stuff!

 

[RB]

Day 8 Normanton to Lawn Hill Gorge
Our first dirt road with a variety of grasslands, termite mounds and water holes as we crossed the Little Bynoe, Bynoe and Flinders Rivers in quick succession. Morning tea was near the Leichhardt Falls and we also crossed the Albert River near Burketown. Lunch was opposite the Gregory Downs Hotel. As we arrived at Adels Grove I noted an old tennis court roller was being towed behind a 4 WD to smooth out the nearby landing strip. We scored a very new cabin here but the walls were paper thin. The campsite had a couple of good swimming holes, a bar and a snack bar that sold fish and chips amongst other things.

Photos below 1/ pretty devestating to see stock struggle like this 2/ a few one way causeways 3/ near Leichhardt Falls 4/ times can change 5/ ended up seeing this a bit-stopping and reversing to get rid of the dust from the rims

 

[RB]

A few more photos from Day 8.
1/some more local art 2/ nice cold beer 3/ after the welcome party 4/ had a great sausage roll here 5/ the airport roller near Adels Grove

 

[RB]

Day 9 Lawn Hill
A day to look around the gorge area. Choices of boat trip, canoes, walking and swimming. We opted for the Wild Dog Dreaming and Indarri Falls walks followed by a refreshing swim at the Indarri waterfall.
After lunch it was free time around the camp and a break from bus travel!

Photos below are all Lawn Hill gorge

 

[RB]

More photos from Day 9

1/ Gorge area 2/,3/ & 4/ Back at Adels Grove

 

[RB]

Day 10- Lawn Hill to Mt Isa
A day that marked our 1[SUP]st[/SUP] flat tyre on the trailer and also a minor fan belt problem with the bus. Our main activity was the Riversleigh fossil site. Apparently an area around 100 sq km within the catchment of the Gregory River that has well preserved fossils that are up to 25 million years old-also great district views
Again we were late in to town so had dinner and drinks at the camp at Mt Isa Caravan Park and had a fairly early night.

Photos below are from Riversleigh visit

 

[RB]

More from Day 10
1/ District view Riversleigh 2/ Morning tea spot 3/ Just down the road in Mt Isa

 

[RB]

Day 11 Mt Isa to Boulia
We walked into to town and had a bit of a look around before the bus left for Boulia. This (Diamantina Rd) was a narrow road where the road rule is “give way/pullover for any vehicle bigger than you”. The single lane bitumen surface is good and the edges are well maintained. Lunch was at Dajarra, another tidy town. We were in the half of our group that did the Min Min Encounter show that afternoon-an entertaining 45 min theatrical show.
The caravan park is a short walk from town and backs onto the almost dry Burke River. This was our 1[SUP]st[/SUP] night in a tent and the grass sites and good facilities meant it was not too challenging. Also in the camp were 3 old (but restored) Ansett/Pioneer busses of 1950-60-apparently only 140 made. They had come from a truck show at Alice Springs and we also encountered them later at Birdsville and Nyngan.

Photos below
1/ & 2/ seen overhead within minutes of each other as we walked downtown 3/ Mt Isa mines 4/ Dajarra Pub-lovely lady runs it 5/ Give way when smaller

 

[RB]

More day 11 below
1/ part of landscape of the day 2/ typical Aussie distances 3/ Dajarra Museum 4/ Ansett/Pioneer 5/ Tents-only a couple of minutes to erect or take down

 

[Major]

Great photos.

Went to the Birdsville Races a few years ago. One of those Australian experiences not to be missed

 

[RB]

Great photos.

Went to the Birdsville Races a few years ago. One of those Australian experiences not to be missed

Great experience but I think it will be a one-off for me-long way to get there and a lot of other places to see. A lady from the bus company was there for the 8th time this year & said it was the largest crowd she had seen so it will keep on keeping on.

 

[RB]

Day 12 Boulia to Birdsville
We had a look around pretty Boulia while the others did the Min Min show-airport, water tower, couple of shops etc. Saw the driest golf course I have ever seen as we left. During the drive we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and the Simpson Desert. Lunch was a Bedourie. Birdsville was already humming when we arrived on the Thursday afternoon.

The caravan park was busy and the lining up to use the toilets and showers was not a highlight of the trip - this year was the first for the new management of the park & people who had visited before commented that there were less portable toilets this time. The area designated for bus group camping seemed to attract a high percentage of loud speaking people who had limited vocabulary and no regard for others but we were determined to enjoy ourselves.

Photos below
1/ the walk from Boulia camp back into town 2/ Boulia airport 3/ saw this sign at many of the isolated airports 4/ Boulia terminal

 

[RB]

More photos from Day 12

You need a bit of a plan before you set off


Not much traffic in main street of Boulia


Boulia Golf Club-artificial grass laid down for tees


Impressive old mud brick building in Bedourie-simply named Mud Hut in some publications and originally had a thatched roof and dates from the 1880's

 

[JohnM]

Nice town, Boulia - nothing much there but the streets are wide.

 

[RB]

Last of Day 12 photos
1/ This is actually an overflow across the raod from the main park

2/ Our first look at the iconic pub

3/ Surprised how easy it was to get a beer-cans only



4/ Equally famous boxing across the road from the pub

 

[JohnM]

Sitting in Salento, Colombia, reading this great TR - a very cool combination .

 

[RB]

Days 13 & 14 Birdsville
A morning visit by bus out to see and climb Little/Big Red sand dune- we were among a crowd on the dusty road and it was interesting to see some of the failed attempts of the 4wd enthusiasts. We visited the bakery, watched the Calcutta for the Fri races, visited the souvenir shops, tourist info centre and the pub. The boxing tent was in full swing at night and the pub had concerts on the Thurs & Sat nights. Sat was Cup day & we caught the shuttle coaches out & back amongst the masses- a great day out and better facilities than I expected. Telstra apparently had several temp towers set up but our internet dongle just spun wheels & provided no access.
Perhaps the busiest business was the helicopter doing a shuttle to the races- $120 per person return in a full flight. Towards the end when only loading at one end and unloading at the other he was doing a run every 5 minutes!
An adjoining bus group in the camp left at 11pm after the races-heading for Mitchell as a stop on the way back to the Gold Coast-not my idea of fun.
It was estimated that there were over 8,000 visitors camping so it is an amazing operation to keep everyone fed and watered and the facilities as clean as they were.

Photos below 1/ Sunrise at the camp 2/ & 3/ fun at the dunes 4/ a more peaceful section of the caravan park 5/ camping at the airport

 

[RB]

More Birdsville photos