Send an e-mail to Ron.
Back to Rons home page.
Start of the Gulf Development Road to Blackall.
I note our last part of our travels as relayed to the group ended at the eastern extremity of the Gulf Development
Road .. which runs east west from the Kennedy Highway near Mount Garnet to Normanton near the Gulf of Carpentaria.
After spending a night at that junction, we headed west, passing the road to the Undara Lava Tubes and on to Mount
Surprise. We had travelled this road previously, via car, so it was a matter of revisiting a number of places. There is an
interesting mineral collection at the caravan park office plus a large aviary behind the cafe with a good collection of
Australian parrots etc. Opposite is the Mount Surprise railway station with a small museum attached. We were surprised,
when leaving town to the west, to see a new toilet block including a motorhome dump point has been installed. Here again,
CMCA/Kea the dump point has been installed well above ground level making it very difficult for most vehicles with black
water holding tanks to use.
Continuing on westwards as far as the junction with the Einasleigh Road, we turned south along that road. I had
identified what appeared to be a nice camp spot from a map we had .. an airstrip shown alongside the Einasleigh River.
Travelling south we identified what appeared to be the track which should lead to the airstrip, but after travelling a
short distance along it, came to a closed gate with lots of cattle behind it. More and more cattle were appearing by
the minute, so it was a matter of turning around and retracing our steps. Turning our 47 foot long vehicle isn't easy at
times. This time the "difficult" factor was dodging the large number of ant hills which are prevelent in those parts. We
had noticed a large clearing back just south of the Einasleigh Road junction with the highway, so we checked that out and
decided to stay the night. We had the time, the inclination and the firewood to have a "cookout" that evening. Grilled lamb
chops, which went down very well!
The next day we travelled on to Georgetown, had a look around the town, mainly looking for water to refill out tanks.
We made enquiries at the, rather elaborate, information centre and were directed to a suitable source. However, it was in
corner of the car park and was impossible access for our vehicle. So we contented ourselves by filling up a number of water
containers which we carry.
Further west is Cumberland Chimney a short distance south of the highway. Upon visiting this old mine site again, we
were pleasantly surprised to see that, since our previous visit, the site has been developed into a nice picnic area with
some facilities. The area overlooks a pleasant water hole reasonably full with water lillies. Maybe we should have stayed
the night at that rather pleasant spot, but we continued on to a rest area at the Gilbert River. However, the river was dry
and, anyway, the rest area was out of view of the river!
The next day, we continued on to Croydon, where we found a couple of sources of water for our tanks. Passing the
caravan park we noticed a familar caravan belonging to Bob and Rae. They had been parked behind us at Ravenshoe for a number
of days. By the time we had parked along the road, Bob had noticed us and asked us in. We learnt that he now had a job
driving a water truck for $20 per hour. It meant camping out during the week and coming back to Croydon at the weekend. They
are ex yachties, so we each had a few stories to tell the other when we were at Ravenshoe.
We continued on to the Norman River where we intended to check out a commercial camping/fishing spot. After driving
in a short distance we came to a closed gate with a notice on it saying "closed". This meant reversing back out along the
narrow road and investigating other possible overnight spots. One was found close to a small, but pretty waterhole filled
with water lillies.
Next day it was on to Normanton where we noted the massive sized old Burns Philp (BP), which was empty on our last
visit, now had a third of it renovated and turned into a great looking extensive library .. particularly so for these parts,
I thought! A section of that third was also being converted into an info centre. A solid concrete walk in strong room is now
available for inspection at the rear of the main building. The strong room still contained a large old safe and lots of
wooden shelving. The latter is starting to fall apart. I could just picture the activity which must have gone one back in
the hey days when BP was trading in this town. I am sure the few on this mailing list who have lived in Pacific and thus are
well and truely aware of BP would be impressed to the see the size of the complex they had at Normanton .. one of their
earliest enterprises.
It was then on to Karumba, a fishing town at the mouth of the Norman River in the Gulf of Carpentaria. This town is
flooded with tourists, mainly interested in fishing, from about Easter till September. They had just about all gone when we
arrived and the caravan park where we stayed went from $23 per night high season down to $18 per night at the end of
September. A couple of you will have spoken to Lyn, VK4SWE, a radio ham on Sweers Island about 140 km west of Karumba. She
said I should hop on the mail plane on Thursday (mail day and apparently a spare seat is normally available) and come for a
quick visit. Sue wasn't in favour, plus it would have meant waiting around Karumba a number of days, so I didn't get to see
Sweers Island!
It is necessary to return via Normanton and we continued south from there towards Cloncurry. We stopped for the night
at a rest area about 110 km to the south and found a young couple travelling in a Ford van with wheel troubles. Apparently,
it started with a flat left hand rear tyre. In the process of trying to undo the wheel nuts, and not being aware they were
left left hand threaded, he had broken off three studs, had two turning in the wheel hub and thus now not possible to turn
the nut without the studs turning as well, and the nut on the remaining stud was now round and not hexagonal! They had to
come off, and what I initially suggested was to drill out the studs so the three nuts would fall off. On tackling the job I
came up with the idea of drilling away a side of each nut with a series of small holes, then splitting the nut with a cold
chisel. This "sort of" worked OK, but splitting/removing the nuts proved difficult because they have conical shaped ends
bedded into the wheel hub. The job was finished after dark and I envisaged being there most of the next day helping them get
three studs out of the other side, fitting them to the first side and so on .. as was his plan. The next morning, I was
amazed to find he had worked in the night (he had a good supply of tools), the job was finished and they were ready to
proceed the 370 odd km to Mt. Isa with only three studs out of six holding on each of the rear wheels.
We left an hour or so after them, and I was expecting, at any time, to see them stopped along the road. Fortunately,
I guess, this didn't prove to be the case. At least as far as Cloncurry, where we stayed a few nights at Wals Motorhome
Stop Over. We had stayed there before and renewed acquantances with Wal. He was having troubles with a freezer, so I offered
to take a look at it. I was a bit wary as he said "the man" had fixed it some time back, but it only went a couple of days!
After a bit of fiddling the unit started and was apparently starting to freeze OK. I spent some more time to be as certain
as possible that the starting relay was working, but only intermittently. We went to the local "man", who, to my surprise
came up with a replacement. This was fitted, and the freezer left running a few of days with my fingers crossed! The end
result was a few days free stay and having 240 volt power supplied. Power isn't normally available at Wals!
Cloncurry provided the first supermarket (Wollworths) that we had seen since Mareeba, some two months previously.
Arrangements had been made via ham radio to meet up with Ken, VK4YAY, at his daughters place in Julia Creek. Ken
and Sheila spend most weekends "in town", which must give them a nice break from being out in the bush some 60 km out.
Ken drives a grader cutting fire breaks on a couple of large properties. We arrived in Julia Creek Saturday morning,
swapped a number of stories and had a nice BBQ on the verandah that evening. A little bit of concreting Sunday morning, then
more stories until Ken and Sheila left that afternoon. It was suggested that we stay, and we tempted with 240 volt power
supplied, but we decided to head off a little later.
We camped that night near Boundary Creek, a spot we had identified in our "travel notes" when we had driven past on a
previous trip. Staying overnight at a camp spot provides a far better opportunity to experience it, than just driving past,
or even stopping a few minutes to write it up. From there we travelled (old territory for us) via Richmond to Hughenden.
There we turned off south west on a new road for us, towards Winton. The first 100 or more km of this road had numerous rough
sections, some single lane sections and lots of broken away shoulder sections. At the Winton Shire boundary the road improved
considerably and we stopped for the night at Corfield. The main, and only attraction at Corfield, is the Corfield Country
Club. This was closed, but opposite is a signed rest area where we stayed.
From there it it's about 85 km to Winton where, after verifying there was room to turn around, we parked behind the
North Gregory Hotel. Initially, we were the only ones there, but other caravans etc. appeared later. We were amazed in the
early morning to see a large red bus pull in and start to set up, what appeared to us, a mobile drapery store. Speaking with
them, they said they travel all over western Queensland seeling there wares. We felt sorry for them as dust was being blown
everywhere in the parking area. They put up hessian curtains to enclose their awning and sprayed water to try and keep the
dust down. Also, up till around 10-30 when we left, we did not observe any customers. Though we were away a half hour or so
doing a little shopping.
On the way to Longreach, we again stayed at a spot we had only made a quick note of in our "travel notes" on a
previous occasion. This Darr River spot is about 30km from Longreach and is, in many respects, a better camp spot than the
usual Thompson River spot about 4 km out of town. The extra 26 km provides closer access to the water, less dust and no
time limit on the length of stay.
In Longreach we have traditionally been able to park in front of the Commercial Hotel in the side street opposite
the Post Office. This spot is just on the edge of the shopping area, and this is our third visit where we have enjoyed a
nice lunch at the hotel. It is also close to the bottle shop for those interested!
We continued on to Ilfracombe and then headed south towards Isisford. This was new territory for us and we stayed
the night on the edge of the famous Barcoo River at Isisford. The famous river looked like mud and downstream from the weir
on the edge of town, a minute trickle of water was observed in the river bed. This is the (normal) dry season! An annual
fishing competition is held at Isisford .. it must be preceded by a "rain dance"!
It was then east, also new territory, to Blackall. On our previous visit about 18 months ago, a fellow traveller
had an introduction to the publican at the Barcoo Hotel. I tagged along and learnt that the publican had plans to allow
travellers to park at the rear of the hotel. So we checked it out and found the plan had been put into practise. It has been
set up with power and water similar to caravan parks, but with the addition of sewerage dumps also at each site. There is
green grass on which to park, the last green grass we parked on was back at Ravenshoe! We planned to stay a few days as we
were right in the centre of town, had pub meals on hand and so on.
Send an e-mail to Ron.
Back to Rons home page.