North Queensland - 21 Sep 2021

We heard the Koala call during the night and it was gone from its tree by morning.

We left early. The drive down the "Horror Stretch" was an interesting one. At Clark creek, we turned in to go to the river to check out a potential campsite but turned around once the road became gravel.

Darryl did a great job not hitting this Plains Turkey as he ran across in front of us

I can't believe I got this shot of a kite...from the car as well!

This is the strangest thing at Lotus Creek, a monument to the Olympic Torch Relay, with a picnic table. That's fine except that there's no toilet and it's kms from anywhere.

We stopped at a park at Marlborough for Morning Tea. There was no toilet paper but somehow, (luckily), I had a feeling about it, and had taken a roll and left it there. The park has a huge lump of Chrysophase under a shed.

We arrived Home at midday, and began the not so wonderful part of the trip, unpacking and cleaning up.

So, this was our trip. 

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• 21 Aug - 21 Sep 2021
• Total Distance: 6388km
• Fuel Use: 733 L
• Fuel Cost: $1110

Chris' Highlights:

For me it's always about the people (living and dead), so even though we didn't catch up with a lot, those we did meet were very special. Finding the grave of Herbert Hillgrove Bray at Chillagoe was amazing, and finding a previously unknown daughter, Ina, of Ernest Edward and Mary Jane Lake, at Muttaburra was special. She is related to Darryl, 12 different ways (that I currently know of).

Many of the places we went were ones we had never been before, and were amazing, such as Muttaburra, Blencoe Falls and Burdekin Falls. Fountain Springs was spectacular, and most places were just wonderful. I really enjoyed the fossicking, (even though it wasn't me doing the hard work), the sunset cruise at Karumba, Blencoe Creek, Cobbold Gorge, and celebrating Heather's birthday.

Darryl's Highlights:

This was a special trip I suggested in June to see places we  had planned to visit while on other trips but circumstances prevented us and I am so pleased it worked out the way it did. Travelling with others has distinct advantages and helped make it another enjoyable trip especially at happy hour.

Despite living in North Queensland for 23 years, I have never seen Karumba or Normanton and they are worthy of a visit. They were catching fish off the jetties, but I lost interest in fishing years ago once I realized how depleted our existing stocks are compared to when I was a child holidaying at Kurramine Beach.

As usual, Lawn Hill was beautiful and I enjoyed the walks, and just relaxing beside or in the creek.

Usually Cloncurry is just a place you drive through on the way to Kakadu, Kimberley or the Gulf but that area has so much to offer with its mineral wealth and history that it should be appreciated as a destination in itself. Camping for a couple of days in isolation at the top of a range near Kuridala was special, but nowhere near as satisfying as finding a handful of worthless garnets.

After marrying, Chris and I lived in Ayr for over a year and we did a couple of canoeing or camping trips on the Burdekin River and Blue Valley, (further up the Burdekin River). We have wanted to camp at Dalrymple dam since it was built, and have been past the turnoff a couple of times but it was always too far to the dam. I am not sure how the Burdekin Plum wine went but I bottle it shortly. We were told the problem with the flying foxes started once another species muscled their way in forcing the smaller breed to move to the trees above the sites and it returned to normal once they left. The smell and risk of disease is problematic with flying foxes and fortunately the wind was in our favor. The next visit might be with a canoe.

I canoed the Herbert River in 1978 and considered it so special that we spent a couple of days of our honeymoon with our newly built canoe, camped upstream from Abergowrie. Chris and I met during a bushwalk at Porcupine Gorge in 1979 and our interest in each other grew during the bushwalk from Herbert River falls to Blencoe Falls and have wanted to return to see Blencoe Falls. I was not disappointed and, to me, it remains the highlight of the trip.