Mount Isa - Mataranka - Katherine - Darwin

Mt Isa to Threeways – Sunday 31 July 2011

Up and on the road by 7:15am, we had 637km to drive to get anywhere, and I mean anywhere as there is nothing in between or even when we arrived there was nothing there.

The first step was to Camooweal, arriving about 10am, a town with a population of 500, and 188km from Isa.  This was our first fuel stop for the day, we set off again, and about 25km out we came across a van on the side of the road with one wheel missing, the wheel went travelling down the road.  A wheel bearing gave up and it all went bad, no damage and they had the parts coming from Camooweal, so we headed off.  Soon crossing the QLD / NT border and gaining 30 minutes.

Camooweal Road sign

NT border sign

Just to prove we crossed the border in a clean car

Our next stop for fuel was Barkly Homestead, don’t be fooled it is just a rough fuel station nothing else, a fill up at $1.88 a litre, lunch then on the road for the final leg to Threeways.  We had covered 400km by lunchtime so all was good.

We arrived at Threeways about 4ish, and yep refuelled again, cheaper here $1.81, the difference here is you have to hand over your drivers licence before the bowser is activated.  Threeways is a roadhouse at the junction of the Stuart and Barkly Highways, there is caravan accommodation here and also roadtrains come through all night.  So if you are looking for a nice out of the way holiday destination, go elsewhere.

Road Train passing us

Our outfit looks minature against a road train

Threeways to Mataranka – Monday 1 August 2011

We picked up the trophy again today for being first on the road, leaving abut 7:30am, with only 540+km to go up the road.  If you are travelling in this region there is a private campground 70km north of Threeways called Banka Banka, a far better spot to stay, it even has some green grass.  We kicked ourselves for not going the little bit extra yesterday. 

We fuelled up at Elliott an aboriginal town of about 100, nothing else there then set off for final 340km to Mataranka.

and another road train passing us - they cruise at an easy 100kph

We stayed at the Mataranka Cabins and Caravan Park, a private property with only a short walk to Bitter Springs thermal pools.  Just what the doctor ordered after, what was for us, 2 big days of driving, travelling just over 1100km and 182litres of fuel.

Here we are at Mataranka

The thermal pools were just great, a constant 32deg with crystal clear waters, we spent some time in there just soaking up the beautiful waters.

Bitter Springs - just so natural

Marlene at Bitter Springs

Ken in the pools

Mataranka – Tuesday 2 August 2011

Easy day today, a bit of washing and then hit the thermal pools for the afternoon.  We went for a drive over to the Barramundi feeding, Marlene was chosen to feed the fish then off to Mataranka Thermal pools.  These are pools are very commercial and busy, it is just like going to the local pool.  so back to Bitter Springs they were much nicer.

Check out the Barramundi

Mataranka Thermal pools

Mataranka to Katherine – Wednesday 3 August 2011

Another easy day today with only 120km, we were very slow and we were on the road by 10am, arriving in Katherine by 12:30. On the way we stopped off at the Daly Waters Pub, one of the oldest pubs in the NT and they say the first international airport!!.

Ken outside of the Daly Waters pub

A nice clean car at the Daly Waters pub

We called into the Katherine Information Centre, where it was Caravan Pitt Street, there was easy 50 vans in the carpark and in the general area of the information centre and fuel station.  Katherine is the stop off spot for vans travelling north, south and from the west, very busy.

We stayed at the Shady Lane Tourist Park, a nice place with a little bit of grass and cement slabs, pure luxury.  Went for a drive down to the Gorge then across to Springvale Homestead for a look.  Saw 2 fresh water crocs sunning themselves on the backs of the Katherine River.  We finished the day off with a swim in the thermal pools then home for dinner.

Croc on the banks of Katherine River

Katherine to Darwin – Thursday 4 August 2011

For all those tracking us we are a couple of days in front, but that is fine as we now have time to see a bit of Darwin and get organised for our visitors on Monday.

It was a nice easy 350k up the highway to Darwin, more traffic than we have had for a while and lots of livestock road trains running south.  We have booked into the FreeSpirit Darwin Resort, about 20k from town, nice park with a cement slab and green grass, more pure luxury.

We caught up with friends (Jess and Angela) we met in Mount Surprise, seems so long ago now, and had a great evening with them at the Mindil markets, saw the sunset over the bay, ate great food from the markets it is a true tourist attraction.



Mindil Markets Darwin



Sunset across Darwin Harbour

A perfect Sunset

Trip Facts at our Second Milestone

We have now been on the road for just over 6 weeks, and it is so much fun.

Distance Travelled: 8,213km                        Average Fuel Consumption: 14.8 l/100km

Fuel Used: 1,217.8 litres                                Most Expensive: $1.90                   Average Fuel Cost: $1.57

Hours in the Car: 130.4 hrs

Longreach - Winton - Mount Isa

Longreach – Tuesday 26 & Wednesday 27 July 2011

Well here we are in Longreach, the true Outback of QLD and probably Australia, there are stockmen and cowboys everywhere. Along with miles and miles (not kilometres out here) of bushland driving along the road you expect to see the Bonanza boys riding their horses. Apart from all that it is a nice town, clean and tidy with proud residents. 

We spent the day at the Stockman all of Fame, an excellent museum of Australian Outback history, starting with the discovery, the pioneers then onto how the outback has been tamed.  We took in the show, with a cowboy riding and talking about stock horses, camels and a bullock team, all the time telling yarns.

Stockman Hall of Fame Longreach

Story telling in the Outback

Stockmen Hall of Fame

The next day we visited the Qantas Museum, as this area is the birth place of Qantas.  This is another full day, we had a tour through a 747, top to bottom, then walked on the wing and sat in the Captains seat, Capt’n Kenny was in charge again!!.   

Boeing 747 Wing Walk

Sucked In

Flying high and In Charge

That night we took a cruise up the Thomson River on a paddle steamer to watch the sunset on the river then had a drover’s dinner, stew & damper, this too was a fun night topped off with the bare foot poet telling yarns.

Longreach to Winton – Thursday 28 July 2011

Easy drive today, only 188 km to Winton to visit the Waltzing Matilda centre, as this is the birthplace of the swagman and the waltzing matilda yarn.  The centre was full of history about the story, along with plenty of history and museum pieces from the area.  We strolled the main street, and visited the pub for a beer in the outback.

Waltzing Matilda Cetre Winton

That night back in the caravan park they had a couple of bush poets and story tellers, it was quiet a night with them telling great yarns, 2 ladies who cruise the outback telling bush stories.  As we sat down one of them came up and started asking questions about where we came from and who we are, she was the ex union rep from Canberra, very interesting conversation with her.

Winton to Mount Isa – Friday 29 July 2011

We were up and gone by 8am as it was a 460+ day, the road was rough, we did manage to see a mob of camels just out of Winton and a number of emus, but of course no opportunity to stop and take photos.  On the way we stopped at McKinley to visit the WalkAbout Pub, made famous in the Crocodile Dundee movies, didn’t have a drink but there is still a lot if memorabilia from the movie there.   We arrived in Cloncurry around lunch time and had some nice fresh bread rolls form the Cloncurry Bakery, and those people that know me I can’t ever go past a fresh cream bun, to bread rolls and cream buns for $4.00 a bargain.

Walkabuot Hotel

After lunch and more fuel we headed for Mount Isa, the terrain changes dramatically very quickly.  After 500+k of nothing just grass, a few trees across flat plains, we were now crossing mountain range after mountain range all the way to Isa.  Mount Isa sits in the middle of all these ranges and the mine is in the middle of town, very different but still a nice town.  We settled into the Big 4 Argylla Caravan Park, nice park with plenty of red dirt, but that is now becoming the norm.

Mount Isa – Saturday 30 July 2011

Woke to a great day, temps about 28deg, but this is now becoming what we expect, hope everybody is enjoying the great minus temps at home still!!

Today is clean-up day, after a couple of weeks of dust and dirt we needed to do a full on spring clean, the van was cleaned inside and out the washing was brought up to date and of course the car was washed.  Domestics were all done by midday, off to town we went and visited the underground hospital left over from the war days, a fully working underground hospital very interesting.  Also had a trip to the look out, this is where you realise that the mine is in town. 

Underground Hospital Mount Isa

Sign Post to Everywhere - 1898km to Canberra

The mine is in the city

Looking out over Mount Isa

Did our grocery and drinks shopping then back home to get organised for the next few days.  We head off in the morning for 650+km to Threeways, then 540+- to Mataranka, 2 very big days ahead.  We look as though we will be in Darwin by next Thursday; we are both very excited and looking forward to Catherine, Ryan and Tim arriving in Darwin Monday week to spend a week with us. 

Where we have travelled so far - tomorrow off to NT

The best Letterbox so far

Cairns - Mount Surprise - Normanton - Karumba - Cloncurry - Longreach

Cairns – Mount Surprise – Wednesday 20 July 2011

Up and on away bidding farewell to tropical Cairns and the luxury of green grass and palm trees.  We headed out up the tablelands to Mareeba, the trip up the mountain was similar to the Clyde Mountain between Batemans Bay and Canberra.  Whilst in Mareeba we visited the Coffee Works factory to taste their coffees, teas and had a look through their museum of coffee machines, grinders and such, a very interesting place with very nice coffee.  Back on the road we travelled down through Atherton, Ravenshoe (the highest town in Qld) and Mt Garnett, on the way we stopped at Innot Springs for lunch. Here the hot water springs flow down through the creek, there are very hot patches of water and some very cold, and not that inviting really.



A small part of the museum at Coffee Works



Later in the afternoon we arrived at the Bedrock Village Caravan Park, no grassy sites, but plenty of dirt.  The park owners have a great personality and very friendly making you feel welcome, this is rare in some parks we have been to.  That night we went to the park dinner and campfire sing along, a lot of fun even though the average age is well above ours.



Sing Along at Bedrock Village



Catching up on the Paperwork

Pam, Angie, Jess, Nick, Marlene & Ken after Happy Hour @ Bedrock

Mount Surprise – Thursday 21 July 2011

Today we are off on a tour of the Undara Lava tubes, a very interesting National Park.  The tour was a half day, we walked the rim of the Kilarny Volcano then walked through two lava tubes.  A sensational experience, to see results of lava spewed from the volcanoes down through the valley’s and forming tubes.  A truly incredible experience and should be on the list to visit.

Inside a Lava Tube

Deep inside a Lava Tube

Jess the Tour Guide

Inside a Lava tube about 100 metres long

We were back to the caravan park by mid-afternoon for scones & coffee, then catch up on emails and bills.  We caught up with a couple of others from the park for happy hour that went into dinner and into the evening until it was too cold to sit outside.

Mount Surprise to Normanton – Friday 22 July 2011

On the road by 8am for a long drive to Normanton, we are now well and truly in the Queensland Outback, all roads are straight, very few bends and the country side is rough with few trees, plenty of cattle roaming around right down to the roadside. The road soon went from a double lane road to a single lane road.  When a vehicle comes in the opposite direction you move onto the dirt to let them through, it takes a while to get used to moving on and off the bitumen.  Then of course you have 3 & 4 trailer Road Trains to make it just that little bit more interesting.  We saw an incredible sight of mother emu and baby emu crossing the road, then there was another, then another who just missed the vehicle coming in the opposite direction, then as we started off again a fifth emu came running out and we missed it but about 10 metres, close enough believe me.

Where we are heading

This is a mian road, approx 150k was like this

We travelled through Georgetown and Croydon on our way to Normanton, stopping at Croydon for lunch and a look around visiting the oldest “General Store in Australia”.  We arrived I Normanton mid-afternoon to a dry and dirty caravan park. 

Croydon an old mining town

Since we had left home we heard that our old neighbours from Isabella Plains were travelling up through Central Australia, then across to Normanton arriving there about the same time as us.  We modified our plans to meet them in Normanton to catch up with them.  We had a great meal of fresh Barramundi at the caravan, it was nice to catch up with friends from home to share our stories.

Tim & Kerryn with Marlene @ Burke & Wills camp

Krys a lifesize replica of a croc caught in the Norman River



Normanton to Karumba – Saturday 23 July 2011

We moved from Normanton to Karumba, a total distance of 70km, Karumba was a better caravan parks and facilities and it is right on the Gulf of Carpentaria, it is very impressive to stand on the beach on the Gulf.  We booked a half day fishing charter on the Gulf, heading out at midday and after an hour we were out on the Gulf 11 miles of shore.  The waters were very calm and only 22feet deep, and very green (much different to the colours of the ocean on the south coast) incredible. 

Well we fished all afternoon, and luckily I caught the first fish but Marlene caught a bigger fish.  We got back to shore about 5pm with a bag full of fish, that now had to be cleaned, guess who got that job and you wonder why I don’t like fishing. 

Marlene's Fish

Ken's fish - its bigger than it looks

Happy Fishing - No real competition!!

Lucky Ken cleaninig the fish

 

We did have time to visit the local pub for a very spectacular sunset across the Gulf, then back home to cook some of our catch.  All the cleaning and scaling was worth it they tasted great.  We still have a freezer full to share with the kids in Darwin.

Sunset Karumba Point

Sunset across he Gulf of Carpentaria

Finally enjoyiong our catch

We also bid farewell to Jessie & Angie, Nick & Pam and Tim & Kerryn as we are all heading different directions the next day.

Karumba to Cloncurry – Sunday 24 July 2011

We were on the road by 9 for a very long day to Cloncurry, just short of 500km.  We picked up fuel in Normanton then headed for the Burke and Wills Roadhouse for lunch and more fuel so we can get through to Cloncurry.  The road was rough and narrow for the 180km from Normanton to the Roadhouse, with a lot of traffic, so it was on the road the off the road all the way.  We managed to see  8 Emus in a group just off the road and a couple of beautiful Eagles feeding on road kill.

Road Train at Burke & Wills roadhaouse

After lunch is was only a couple of hundred k’s to Cloncurry, the weather was warm to hot, we had the air conditioner on all day, and not to keep us warm.  We stayed at the Cloncurry Discovery Caravan Park, it has grass, so this is a nice change form the last few days.  The night has turned very cool, no jumpers but an extra blanket maybe needed. 

Cloncurry to Longreach – Monday 25 July 2011

First job for the day at 6:30am was to send a text to my old mate and 'brother' Stevie, as he turns the big 50 today, Happy Birthday and go the Saints!!!

On the road by 8:30am for a big rough and basically boring drive to Longreach.  Our first stop is Winton 370k’s, and a head wind, so it was a close call with only 5 litres left in the tank.  The road is straight and rough and the land is baron, not much to look at hour after hour.  Our most exciting part was a road train that had rolled within an hour of us arriving, there was truck andtrailers everywhere and also cattle, the clean-up job will take days. 

The road in front

And the road behind

We finally arrived in Longreach late afternoon, this is a nice little town in the middle of the outback with plenty to do.  Our plan is to stay here for 3 days then back up the rough road to Mt Isa.