Theresa Dam and Bedford Weir

We seem to have had our first stow-away


They tell me it is a grasshopper (a bit different and bigger than the ones we are used to in NZ). It gave me a little fright when I closed the fly door. Somehow it had squeezed in between the two doors.

Spent two nights at Theresa Dam, a beautiful, peaceful spot


A bit surprised to see what we call pukeko (and they call water foul) walking by


I have been told I was brave to step out wearing the bright rainbow shirt given to me (to match the slippers and leg Warner's I had bought after a visit to Rainbow Beach.


I wore the top all day and even received compliments about it.

Next drove to Emerald. Arrived a bit late so stayed the night in a free camp there. Before moving on went to a store called Jaycar and bought an MP3 FM modulator. (we plug a flash drive full of mp3 tracks into this device, which in turn plugs in to the cigarette lighter, then tune the car radio and the modulator to the same fm frequency) We are impressed! Last night we had it playing through the radio of the van and told the neighbours the frequency it was on. They tuned in too. Then Jim decided to see how far the signal went. He walked away about 60 or 70 meters with his transistor radio and still got the signal. We were impressed. (did I already mention that?) Also, the neighbours who tuned in had the volume turned up louder than we did!

Whilst sitting outside at night we thought we had seen a rabbit on a couple of occasions. Then one night we got a close up view of the animal


A "cheeky" Bandicoot. And it was after the contents of a rubbish bag


Amazingly it was not deterred by Jim trying to turn it away with an empty bottle


We were camped at a place called Bedford Weir


The weir was downstream from the camping area





The scoured out banks show how high the waters have been in the wet season.

Julia Creek to Charters Towers

Before moving on we went in to the information centre at Julia Creek. Learned about the Great Artesian Basin and how it's discovery saved the pastoral industry of the area. To find out how vast is this underground water just google great artesian basin. I was surprised how big an area of Australia it covers.
The information centre has been developed to encourage the likes of us to pop in and take a look.





We spent just over half an hour in the auditorium watching videos about their water supply and the rare and endangered Dunnart, a small marsupial about the size of a mouse.

But time to move on. And so to Richmond, a town that is part of the dinosaur trail.


We needed to register for the free camp in the town and registration was at Kronosaurus Korner. I was taken by the rubbish bins


We didn't pay to go through this fossil museum but did take a look through Cambridge Downs store replica.


"The stone walls could not be easily breached and the windows had iron bars to facilitate defense against Aboriginal attacks"


Inside were exhibits from history. One room housed a restored two man shearing plant


The cabinets alongside showed various shearing hand pieces and combs


Out the back was a shed exhibiting the Cob n Co wagons






And so, on to Charters Towers. Straight to the post office and collected the part for the oven.
Tuesday afternoon, Brandt removed the old bent part of the door.





Wedesday took a few hours putting everything back together again





Other Grey Nomad friends arrived and we moved to a quieter free camp 22km East of Charters Towers by Burdekin River (Brandt caught a Sooty Grunter there)
The site we were on had a slope. This caused a slight problem with entry in to our Off Road Caravan. But there was a solution:






Charters Towers is known for its old buildings

Mt Isa

Well what a week this has been! We originally booked in to the caravan park for two nights and ended up staying nine nights.
I thought I had turned the fridge to electricity. Found out, when I went to get some meat to thaw out, that I had turned the dial to "off" and not to "AC".
Wondered why the tv turned off every time I turned the range hood light on until one night when I walked back from the ablution block and wondered which direction everyone had their aerials pointing, discovered that our aerial was still lying flat on the roof. Once I had put the aerial up we got lots of channels and the range hood light no longer affected reception (funny that).

Upon our arrival at Mt Isa rang the oven manufacturer in Melbourne and they agreed to "see us right" making a new bracket for the oven door glass and we are to install it. Decided not to wait in Mt Isa for the oven part but asked that it be sent to Charters Towers.

Sunday went to church. As we walked up the steps recognized the guy standing at the top. Bishop Bill Ray again. He was there for baptisms, confirmation, reaffirmation and presenting lay ministers with their licenses. He recognized us too and said, "am I following you, or are you following me?" (he and his wife had left home at 3:30am to get to Mareeba by 8:30. This time he had a 10 hour drive back home and said he expected to get home at about 1am Monday morning.)

Brandt is always doing something under the vehicle and on Wednesday discovered that the exhaust tail pipe bracket needed to be welded back in position. That done he then noticed an oil leak. Discovered it was from the diff lock. Now while at Mareeba we had the air bags and diff locks done. The short story is that one of the air bags kept leaking. Finally got that sorted at Normanton. The leak from the diff lock was due to the bolts being cross threaded. Thankfully the Mareeba garage took ownership of the problems. It would have cost him a lot of money for these other two garages to fix the problems. While they had the axles out they called us and said that the wheel bearings needed repacking so got that done while it was all open. Full marks to Mareeba for paying for it all with no quibbles. RACQ has come to the party and will reimburse our caravan park fees Wednesday to Saturday.

So we finally got to drive to the Mt Isa lookout and see the city.









The mine dominates the city, driving down the CBD one is always aware of the presence of the mine


And so, we are now heading East, tonight in a free camp at Julia Creek

Lawn Hill National Park and Camooweal

Having done all we can to minimize the dust problem, imagine my reaction when upon reaching our camp site at Adels Grove, I open the caravan door and see a glass from the oven door lying on the floor! We didn't think the road from Gregory Downs was very rough, a bit corrugated perhaps but not overly so.

However at Adels Grove which is on the edge of Lawn Hill National Park, they cater for the traveller. We have individual caravan sites marked out with rocks. They allow dogs here and even offer a dog sitting service for folk entering the National Park for the day.
Someone here has a great sense of humour. In the toilets they have the usual sign about not putting anything in the toilet that has not passed through your system then added "except for the toilet paper.... of course".
At the end of the information brochure about the park they say "We advise also that for your comfort we do not permit mozzies here during the dry season." (thank goodness for that!)
Having made the decision to hire a canoe and paddle up the Lawn Hill Gorge, we put Brandt's waterproof camera on the charger (through the inverter). Next day we set off, got our canoe and paddled upstream. Brandt handed me the camera to take a photo of the beauty of the gorge. The camera would not turn on. I have been blamed for the malfunction as I took the lead out of the camera before switching off. The battery is flat! We will see if it will take a charge once we get back to ordinary 240 volts. (and it did, so I am off the hook)
The paddle up the gorge was very interesting, once we got over the wobbles and began to enjoy the scenery. Towards the end of our return to base were told a fresh water croc was sunning himself on a rock about 50m away. However we did not see it. Quite pleased with ourselves though as we paddled the 6km in two and a quarter hours and it is advertised as a three hour round trip.
On returning to Adels Grove we wanted to check out some info on the internet, so walked to lookout hill, the only place at Adels Grove where you can get mobile phone coverage.
It seems to be an Australian custom for everyone to contribute to a pile of stones. There were some amazing piles there





Who would have thought, only a couple of years ago, that I would get a photo like this:-


Yes, it IS Brandt sitting on a pile of stones on Lookout Hill, using the iPad!

Reached Camooweal late afternoon and set up at a free camp on the banks of the Georgina River.
Next day took in the Drovers Camp tour. The guide is an ex drover and talks about the days of driving cattle (almost from one end of Australia to the other). Very interesting and very hot as the "tour is really been shown through a collection of drover essentials, housed in a big shed.

To Burketown, the barramundi capital.

Before departing Normanton, we made the trip down the main street to view Krys, the Savannah King





Brandt just couldn't help himself. He just had to do what all tourists do



Stopped at Leichhardt Falls. The river was scenic, but there was very little water flowing over the falls. Probably when they are flowing well the only way to get there would be by helicopter.








We travelled most of the 221km on dirt road. When we got to Burketown there was dust throughout the caravan, on the benches, on the bed, caught behind the tap in the shower. Swept the floor twice but can still feel dust under my feet. Next day when I opened up the hatch to do some washing, the washing machine was covered in red dust. There is even some that has settled in such a way as to refuse to be cleaned off.

Burketown is claimed to be the barramundi capital of Australia. The people who went out in boats were bringing back Barra, but none were caught by a hopeful kiwi fishing from the banks. The caravan park owner gave us a mud map and so Brandt headed off to his recommended spots. First day came back with a Queen Fish and a Catfish. The next day he took our camping neighbor with him. Marty tells the story that when Brandt hooked an Archer fish, and a good sized one at that he said to Brandt, "that's a pretty rare catch. You're lucky to get one of those".





Brandt actually got 12 Archer fish, and when we left the caravan park Marty was still shaking his head and saying the haul was incredible and that he was going off to buy some soft bait for himself.

At one end of Burketown is an artesian bore that has been in service for over 100 years and is reputed to be the longest running bore in Queensland.


It was originally used to supply water to a bath house. The hot mineral water was mixed with cold water (Brandt put his finger in the water and says it is ****hot! Notice the colours at the foot of the bore.


Also, the kerb appears to have been built up over the years as the mineral deposits have also built up.

And so, onwards.....

Life at Leichhardt Lagoon

The first day we were here at Leichhardt Lagoon Brandt and Michael went fishing and came back with a load of fire wood. (no fish) Even though the nights here are comparatively mild, it is still nice to have a camp fire.



The camp caretaker came round and offered a "fireplace" made from a cut down 40 gal tin.


The next day Brandt went fishing, I went with him. As we arrived at his second spot a couple were leaving and just happened to say that they thought they'd seen a croc there. So.... What do you think? Is this a croc in the middle of the photo or not? (still no fish)


There is a lot of bird life here. As I approached this egret was so still that I was beginning to think it was a statue, but it did eventually move and caught the food it was stalking.



We are one of five grey nomads who have met up here at Leichhardt Lagoon, another couple and a single. Our vans and motor home are almost forming a circle. What do we do all day (apart from some going fishing)?


Some are really roughing it away from the comforts of home. Cheryl looks totally relaxed as she takes time out to read.


Her husband, Brian, must have drawn the short straw as he got to sit on the van step to do his reading.


All the while an industrious Brandt whips up another batch of scones.


He then put the oven tray to soak by the tap. Look who thought it was for them....


Each family did washing today, using Michael's twin tub machine, powered by his generator.





And what about the dogs, Angel and Molly? I guess you could say they just lead a dog's life.


One night we eventually remembered that we had bought some marshmallows to roast over the fire. (enjoyed by all)



Another night we gathered round the campfire for a BBQ. The camp caretaker had organized to have a chimney log (hollow log)


Cheryl took some magnificent sunset photos



So you can see.....it's a hard life, but someone has to do it.

And what about the fishing? Someone has suggested (via Facebook) that there are no fish coz the crocs have taken them all




Look closely and you will see there are crocs on the far side. I wasn't there and the others tried to tell me that Brandt was trying to hit a croc on the head.



I was also told there were three crocs swimming and when one submerged and didn't reappear all three human adults there took a big step back from the water's edge!
Put your minds at rest, the ones in the photos are fresh water crocodiles.

Not to be outdone, Brandt found a good hollow log and we had our own chimney fire a couple of nights later


Michael, Cheryl and Brian have all moved on now but we will never forget the fun we had playing Mexican Trains with them. That's a game we highly recommend and will be purchasing when we find one at the right price.



Farewell Leichhardt Lagoon


Still no fish!

P.S. We spoke to one couple who come here every year for the fishing. They have been here 10 weeks and have caught only one fish!