This post takes us along the Savannah Way through quite an isolated part of the north as indicated on this map.

Boodjamulla NP (formerly known as Lawn Hill) is home to a fabulous gorge system and just 10 kms away from Adels Grove, an almost equally beautiful camping location on the Gregory River. Good hiking, great swimming and just beautiful tropical landscapes – one of our favorite stops in 2017, so a 3 night stop this time as well. Unfortunately the office/reception building at Adels Grove burnt down two weeks before our visit. The fire was front page news around Australia. We really wanted to stay at the NP but they have limited sites and you need to book from 2 weeks to 1 month in advance, which of course we can’t do, due to our ‘flexibilty’ approach. Adels Grove were open to self-contained campers and they seemed grateful that people continued to visit. In fact the staff were nice and helpful and managing well without all their admin, records etc which burnt.

 

The trip out from Adels Grove took us through a number of cattle stations, some river crossing and eventually took us to Hells Gate Roadhouse where we had lunch.

The next morning we thought we were in for a long day of solitary driving, but what a day we had! As we left our free camp we ended up having a two hour chat with our neighbors by the creek, so didn’t hit the road til 11:30. Just crossed the border and within an hour of leaving we came upon a guy bogged on the side of the road.

Dick got out the Maxx tracks, put them under the back tyres and did some digging, and Duncan was able to drive out. He is planning to drive around Australia but did not seem well prepared for the conditions, so we wish him well. After that episode we went a bit further and then met another Explorer Motorhome like ours, so we stopped to have a chat with Ted (#203). A bit later we met Duncan again on the road so told him where we were stopping for lunch and he joined us there. Then as we continued on our way we drove past a group of seven aboriginal women and children by the side of the road. They waved us over so we stopped. They had a flat tyre and were worried about their jack, so Dick had a look. They actually had it under control and were quite strong and capable and managed to get it changed. So after all those incidents we finally got to our destination, Seven Emus Station, where we had a long chat with the aboriginal owner, Frank Shadforth. We then drove 5 kms through his property to our campsite (the same one we had two years ago) and got settled in just before dark. For doing a four hour drive in the middle of nowhere, we met a lot of people on a long, hot (34C) day.

After a fair bit of negotiation we had arranged to do a bush tucker tour with Frank.  We weren’t really sure what   to expect when he arrived at our camp in the morning.  For almost two hours he walked us around the camp pointing out specific plants and telling us how they used to be used; including paperbark, lemongrass, tea tree and pandanus which he is currently harvesting or planning to harvest.  There was some talk of  a bush tucker venture with a woman in Darwin.  However his main message to us was that the land is dying for two reasons: 1- European bees are wiping out the native bees who pollinate all the plants and 2- aboriginal people no longer harvest the bush food and care for the land as they used to do. He has been featured on ABC Landline in 2017 & 2018 and produced a documentary with the NT Environment Centre in March.  All this can be found on his facebook page ‘seven ems station’.

Frank’s father was the first aboriginal to buy his own station.  It is 4300 square kilometers and goes all the way to the Gulf of Carpentaria and includes 55 kms of coastline there, between the Robinson and the Calvert Rivers.  We decided to drive through the property to the Gulf and 34 kms (1.5 hours) later we were almost at the gulf.  Seven Emus was badly hit by a cyclone in March and we could see lots of fallen trees as we drove the rough tracks.

After we left Seven Emus we got back on the Savannah Way, stocked up in Borooloola, and had lunch at the Heartbreak Hotel roadhouse/campground at Cape Crawford.  Decided to stay the night in a free camp for a change, and that put us closer to our next destination, Bitter Springs.

 

Our plan was to explore new places on the coast by staying more than one night at each stop, and checking if we could find a place that we really wanted to stay at for an extended period of time.

First stop was Tin Can Bay where we had three nights and two days of rain in a caravan park (CP). Aside from washing and some food shopping we had total rest days. It seemed like a nice place but we missed the 7:30am dolphin feeding and the nice walk around the town. Missing the sand driving after Bribie Island (NOT), we got another beach campsite at Kinkuna Beach in Burrum Coast NP. It was a 14 km drive on a sandy, 4WD track. Very beautiful beach, and no worries about disturbing anyone with our ukulele practice. Even saw my first sunrise of the trip and managed a 7 km walk along the beach. Two relaxing nights there before heading to Bundaberg for shopping and then staying in a CP at Tannum Sands near Gladstone. Good for a shower and evening entertainment/sausage sizzle.

Driving into the beach camp at Kinkuna beach

Another beautiful beach campsite at sunset

My first sunrise of the trip, from my bedroom window at that campsite

Having heard that 1770/Agnes Waters were nice places, we got into the campground at 1770 – chockers [translates as ‘full’] with families as it was school holidays, but we were again on a beach; just with hundreds of others! The beach and coastal walks were good so we stayed three nights. 1770 is named after the fact that it was where Lieutenant Cook made his second stop in Australia on 24 May 1770. It is also one of only four places on the east coast of Australia where you can watch the sun rise and set over the ocean. Had three nights there and caught two sunsets….and did our 10,000 + steps on both days there. It was called the Discovery Coast and when we were there we discovered that our batteries for power in the Lestervan, were starting to fail.

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Memorial to Lieutenant Cook and his landing in 1770.They estimated this was the exact spot where he landed.

 

Our next stop was Battery World in Gladstone, where we got new batteries for the van. Gladstone was one of the friendliest towns we have visited, and in our few hours there we met lots of nice helpful people; saw beautiful scenic views alongside an industial port and knew we were in a working town as every second person was wearing hi-vis gear. It was a good place for Dick to buy new work boots.

Had two nights in a free camp on Lake Awoonga with nice views of the water and lots of birds and ducks. It was raining so that was as good a place as any to have another rest day. Sticking to our mantra of flexibility, we headed for a national park but continuing rain meant we ended up with a bunch of grey nomads in Fardooley’s, a social bush camp near Rockhampton. Happy hour started at 4:30pm and went til after 7pm. – best hosts ever but how they can put that on every day is beyond me. She even brought out special gluten free nibbles for Dick and I.

Eventually we got to the campground in Blackdown Tableland NP, by following a very narrow, windy, steep road, and had another rest day as it was still raining. Did manage to do three walks (11kms) during our time there when the rain stopped, so enjoyed nice views and getting some exercise.

A long day of driving past some notable places such as Emerald (good for groceries) and Blackwater – the coal capital of Australia (probably not a good idea to do any ‘Stop Adani’ protesting!), got us to Alpha overnight. Our focus destination was Lara Wetlands so we could enjoy the artesian pool before heading to Longreach to meet Allan and Barbara. On the way we made a quick stop in Barcaldine, the birthplace of the Labor Party and the location of the Shearers Strike in 1891.

Stunning dark clouds over the wetlands but fortunately they passed us by.

We had four days with Barbara and Allan in Longreach and Winton, so got to introduce them to “our world of living in caravan parks” aka ‘slumming it’ as far as the rest of their trip was concerned. In addition to the key destinations we added in some local flavor at both caravan parks. We started with The Stockman’s Hall of Fame, which warranted two visits and also took in the Qantas Founders Museum. Finished one Longreach day with dinner and a cowboy singer show in the caravan park restaurant and the other with a picnic by a lagoon.

We had a great evening and talked in the van til late, but managed the drive home in the dark without incident (ie didn’t hit a kangaroo).

On the way to Winton, Dick and I stopped at ‘The Age of Dinosaurs Museum’. This natural museum was the vision of David Elliott who discovered a fossilized bone while mustering sheep on his property in 1999. The bone was the femur of a sauropod, one of the larger dinosaurs who roamed the area 95 million years ago. David spearheaded setting up a not-for-profit organisation to preserve the discoveries and develop a major tourist attraction and in 2005 he discovered another dinosaur site in the area. The current museum is impressive with three tours that showcase: The Collection Room (lots of bones and animations), The Fossil Laboratory (where volunteers are working on the discovered bones) and The Dinosaur Canyon (where life-size models illustrate what the dinosaurs of the area looked like in situ). They have big plans for future developments that will incorporate comprehensive education programs, teacher development courses and scientific research programs. It is also Australia’s first International Dark-Sky Sanctuary as its the perfect spot to stargaze.

Bones inside the collection room

Bones inside the Laboratory Room

Admiring the view, through my color-coordinated fly net

My really big regret from that visit was my hesitation and not speaking up – I thought I saw Quentin Bryce coming out of a gallery as we were going in. Brief eye contact as she noticed me looking at her. Am so sorry I didn’t speak to her as we had met previously as I would have loved to speak with her again. I think she is one of the most impressive women in our country. Later I read that she is a Patron of the Museum, so it was her! A big missed opportunity! [For the non-Australians, Quentin Bryce was Govenor-General of Australia and Govenor of Queensland previously.]

Unbeknownst to us, we rolled into Winton for the Gemfest weekend, so the town was full and lots of opals were on display in stalls along the main street. We had an interesting chat with some opal miners and traders. Previously we had enjoyed Winton for its quirkiness and its entertainment. This time we also wanted to see the Waltzing Matilda Centre. It tells the story of Banjo Patterson’s song – Waltzing Matilda, as well as the history of their outback region including their dinosaurs, their movie-making and their gem & opal history. The original centre had burned down in 2015 and this new one was recently opened. Its well done and certainly worth visiting. Our highlight in Winton is seeing our favorite bush poet, Greg North, and we wanted to introduce Allan and Barbara to his words and humor. We stayed in the caravan park where he performs nightly so we caught both his shows there. All enjoyed the entertainment; so much so that we almost missed getting dinner one night. The second night we decided we were tired of eating in the same hotel so we did a relaxed dinner for the four of us in the van. Then we said ‘goodbye’ to Allan and Barbara as they were heading east and we were heading north. It was fun travelling together; visiting outback towns, impressive museums and enjoying local entertainment.