The Gulf, The Barkly and the stats

-
First  some statistics. 

Kilometres Travelled11728
Screws in tyres1
Bird species identified 35
Sandy Creeks crossedInnumerable
Windscreen stone chips3
Favourite pubChillagoe
Completed Audio books5
Incredible sunsetsMany

We had an overnight at Leichart Lagoon a nice little site by a lagoon full of birds, crocs, snakes etc. We drew up the drawbridge on the camper that night. 

We then travelled through Normanton to Karumba on the gulf. We had three nice nights there , we did the famous sunset pub then a sunset cruise where we saw many birds, and crocs and enjoyed the free flowing wine which made for a very convivial atmosphere with out fellow travellers. 
From there the state of the Savannah  Way across the top was not great so we dropped back down to Gregory  Downs were we had a nice free camp by the palm fringed river.
To our disappointment Lawn Hill Gorge is still closed from flood  damage, but we heard the Riversleigh fossil site was open so we headed there. About 120km in someone in a large 4WD truck going in  the other direction  flagged us down and told us the river was too high to cross so we had to turn around . To add to our day our TPMS ( tyre pressure  management  system ) told us we had a slowly deflating tyre which made for a long frustrating day managing that and ending back at the van site behind the Camooweal pub. I had the tyre fixed at Camooweal and we Ithen went back across the Barkly staying at the impressive Barkly  Homestead.  
We completed  our return  across the Barkly  and went back up the Stuart into NT.
The Stuart had been fairly quiet in May but is now busy with many vans going up and down. We had a night at the Banka Banka station which had a nice communal  fire, but we were packed in tight.
Tonight we are at a free camp at an old WW2 airstrip. Nice and uncrowded and not too far from Mataranka so we can beat those other vans to get the best campsites :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Savannah Way and (mostly) averted disaster

-
Image
First some good bits. From our great site at Lake Tinaroo we started west. We pulled in at Undarra to do the Lava Tube tour. This  is a a must do. Amazing geology and landscape, and a well run, and informative  tour. We loved it there and wished we had more time but we had a booking at Talaroo Hot Springs. Talaroo was an Indigenous run site at an old station near some hot rock springs by the Einasleigh River.  Great campsite with friendly communal fires and a enjoyable tour by a young Ewamian guide who explained the history and culture of the Springs followed with a soak in a pool fed by the Springs We  had a slap up dinner for our 36th wedding anniversary. See photo below. After a few nights  at Talaroo we headed out excited for our next stop in Cobbold Gorge. This is where things fell apart. Not far from Talaroo  on the road to Georgetown we heard a loud screeching noise from the car wheel. I looked for a rock but couldn't find anything, so we...
Read more

Penultimate Post

-
Image
We are nearing the finish line and our thoughts have turned to home, but there are a few more bays and piers to explore.  From Tumby Bay we drove up to Lucky Bay SA to catch the ferry across the Spencer Gulf to the Yorke Penisula. This takes two hours and was a nice calm journey. We then drove down to Edithburgh on the heel through fields of ripening wheat with old rock walls and nice old towns.  The campsite was nice enough, but maybe we should have taken a hint from the many nearby wind turbines as to how windy it would be. The wind did not stop us exploring the Yorke. We enjoyed the wild coast, the pink lakes and the Dhilba Gurranda-Innes National Park on the toe. The scallop surprise from the nearby Coobawie pub did not disapoint. From there we travelled to Elizabeth where we dropped off the van for a well deserved service.  We drove on to a nice hotel in Adelaide. We arrived fairly dishevelled from the wind in our casual camping clothes and were asked by the receptio...
Read more

Eyre Peninsula

-
Image
Our journey down the Eyre Peninsula continued with a trip out along the wild west coast to the Point Labatt Sea Lion colony. You peer down at the sea lions from high on a cliff overlooking  the rocky shelves and beaches where the sea lions congregate. It was  fun to watch the young ones play around while the big males just lie in the sun. We also visted Murphy's  Haystacks an interesting rock formation on the way to Coffin Bay. We stayed at the excellent camping facilities at Yanga Bay where emus and wallabies wandered through the campsite. We four wheel drived further into the park and did more walks by the wild coast. After a peaceful few days the weather turned wet and windy again. We headed into Coffin Bay town for a lovely seafood lunch watching the white caps on the bay and then closed the Domino's hatches in travel mode and bunkered down in the town caravan park as the rain and wind swept in. The next morning was slightly calmer so our Coffin Bay Oyster tour went a...
Read more