A "small" little photo post to reflect on our time travelling from The Isa to the Gulf of Carpentaria on to the green Tablelands of Atherton.
This trip was an interesting one on a few counts. It was a continued exploration of a part of Australia I had never seen or really covered any footage of. It was our first taste of "Gulf Country" and a cheeky last sunset over water. It was also the final time we see the different shades of "red dust" on the trip as we headed to the mountainous regions of the East Coast.
A stark and occasionally barren piece of country, it yet again formed another chapter in the catalogue of landscapes that is collecting in my "minds eye". And like the times when on the West Coast when we felt like the only people on the planet, this was again a return to a feel of real isolation. A real reminder of how remote country Australia can be.
Pulling out of Mt Isa, the call came down the radio (and via the flashing lights of the escort vehicle) to "find a spot off the road". Not often easier said than done at the last minute, but we did find a safe spot. A few minutes later, this big rig ploughed it's way down the road like a giant metal bull. Again, a reminder that we aren't the biggest fish in the pond. Also, a unique look at the big Tonka Trucks without their massive tyres and buckets.
A nice bakery stop over at the country town of Cloncurry. I judge most towns on the quality of their bakeries, and from this point, Cloncurry is an excellent town!
We then pointed the Rock Truck North and headed straight up the tarmac for the Gulf. A path not often travelled by caravanners, the traffic was intermittent and few and far between. There was also only a few places to stop for fuel. The above stop at Four Ways, was one of them. Uninspiring and run down, the people remained friendly and fuel available. A quick lunch in their outdoor "dining" area with our contraband food (it wasn't a BYO venue!) and we were off. But when I look back on places that felt out the back of the Outback, Four Ways will come to mind...
And despite the kilometres, these three continued to happily travel. Here James can be found writing. Not sure what this time, but we roll with it and encourage him enthusiastically.
Things were really starting to dry out...
...and then the road went down to one lane for quite a long way. We got lucky and only once from recollection had to drop the wheels in the gravel for oncoming traffic.
And then two wonderful wide lanes! With lines to boot! The spread out clouds meant that we were nearing the Gulf apparently, as they are very common up this way.
At a "toilet" stop (there wasn't actually a loo) the boys decided that, despite all the space in the world, they'd pee right next to each other. It reminded B and I of the John Williamson song "Big Brother, Little Brother":
"It's really great to have a little brother,
Piddles everywhere I pee."
A stop in Normanton to have a shot of the famous statue of Krys the Croc, apparently the largest croc ever captured/killed in history. Whilst all tangible evidence of Krys has mysteriously disappeared, he was apparently about this size. I've seen some big crocs in my time, but I think there might be a substantial amount of "Hollywood licence" in this tale...
And then we made it to our destination for a couple of nights. The sleepy fishing town of Karumba located on the southern point of The Gulf. The view from the pub in town of the sunset is nothing short of amazing and we spent both our evenings here admiring the colours bouncing off the water.
Sunset over water... I get it.
Our camp in Karumba. Slightly overpriced for my liking but it has been the only place where we've noticed staff thinking about where they put vans, staggering them out during quieter periods so you have as much space as possible. Also, the "hardest easy" site we've come across to park in. For some reason, I just couldn't park the van straight and we could even drive through! I guess you have some good parking days, and some bad parking days!
A walk around the small township of Karumba showed a great little waterfront. The expansive river served as a runway for Catalinas (sea planes) during World War II.
Then we headed to the Barramundi Discovery Centre where we learnt a heap about these amazing (and elusive) big fish. A tale of how an industry realised that what they were doing was unsustainable, and rather than fish the barra to extinction in the area, the invested time and money in learning how to breed them and restock the natural environment. A hugely successful venture, they now send fingerlings all across the country in a concerted effort to ensure the survival of the grand fish. And to do this, they have some enormous breeding barras on site which you could feed. Here you can see one of the big females passing Evie (that's her head in the foreground) trying to find a bit of bait.
Here James realised how big they can really get! It was a pretty cool place that allowed the kids to feed the big fish (with whole squid!). Unfortunately, no tips on how to catch the buggars!
The temperature did rise so back to the aircon for some respite and some indoor homework. Here James and I were working on how many blocks of lego long his bed was. I don't recall the number, but is was quite a lot!
Sam working on mathletics during some valuable tablet time.
And Evie in her "happy spot" reading with Holly Polly the Cuddly Sloth.
And walk back to the bar in the evening for a night cap and a final admiration of sun vs. sea.
This time without alcohol....
Sam found time with the other two to continue the totem and wall building started by others.
And with that, we were on the road again. Here's our lunch stop in Croydon. For the record, it's absolutely nothing like Croydon in Melbourne... Except for the desolation and feeling of hardship...
And then the country started to change gradually... We did a few climbs here and there, and found this wandering stock. We got through unscathed but not before the black cow on the right in the shot darted right across in front of us at the last minute!
And then we can to the start of the Tablelands which spread out in front of us.
The road, undergoing continual upgrade to two lanes, continued in single lane format in parts, which always kept things interesting...
Our overnight stop at the lovely Planet Earth Adventures Caravan Park. A beautiful green spot with some awesome showers and friendly owners! The let us park near the school oval and said we were more than welcome to jump the fence to kick the footy if we liked... Not sure what the school thought of that...
...but meh... we did it anyhow! Missing a few posts but good enough for us!
Next day was a short little jaunt of 220km down the road to Lake Eachem and our exploration of the Atherton Tablelands.
There was no denying, with the avalanche of shades of green through the windows of the truck, we were back in the tropics, and a climate not quite like we'd seen before. Yet another unique and wonderfully new part of Australia to explore for a few days.
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