Welcome to Cindy and David's 2013 Adventures
Note 12 - Barkly Tablelands
Leaving Adels Grove was a wrench but one cannot stay on, and on.... We chose the quick route to Mt Isa which involved well over 200 kms of dirt road but which cut out a couple of hundred kilometres. (well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!)
Not far down the track is Riversleigh which is a World Heritage Site with amazing amounts of rock in which are scores of bones of long dead creatures from millions of years ago. Left is the entrance to the site which has pictures depicting what archeologists thought the creatures would have looked like. Above is the leg bone of one of them. Below views from the top of some of the rocks.
Below is Mt Isa's water supply.
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At Mt Isa, We picked a caravan park at random mainly because it was a very busy town and we had heard difficult to get in to these days. It was packed but we had some great neighbours inside the park and appalling ones outside, (marital screaming matches and endless amounts of dogs!)
Sunset over The Isa.
Our van in dusty Mt Isa and our immediate neighbour, a young Harley bikie called Andrew. An ingenious carrier held his tent, his computer and endless other stuff. He was totally tattooed with Ned Kelly symbols! The nicest bloke you could meet!
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Above left is park on our arrival and on the right later in the afternoon. Chockas! Barkly Homestead is a very central part of going up or coming back down from Darwin. It is truly miles from anything at all and is a welcome oasis on arrival with trees and grass and a pub! (of course). We stayed two nights to allow David to catch up with things that require phones and computers! He decided to write a letter of protest to the Mt Isa council about how disappointed he was with our visit there this time.
We left Mt Isa after only staying two nights. It was dirty and dusty and noisy and horrible! Our neighbours were all moaning and complained to the office who then wrote off to council. It is in fact a delicate situation and I can't see what could possibly be done to improve their outside neighbours but we left them to it. We found a very pleasant free camp and enjoyed a pleasant stay as we had a shady spot to sit right next to the van. We were joined by quite a few people but all enjoying the peace. Honestly the silence of the outback is almost deafening! Went on to Barkly Homestead and we were first in!
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Instead of the direct route up north we went up towards the Gulf to Cape Crawford which is nothing but a pub and a caravan park but is a very pleasant outback place with evening entertainment on the pub's verandah. We spent a couple more days there (no phone reception of any kind and we signed the current pub petition to Telstra that they would like to drag themselves into the 21st Century with a satellite connection please! Hear, hear we say!)
On to a nearby free camp which we had found a couple of years ago and found the river site much diminished water-wise due to the NT not having had much of A Big Wet this year but lack of water brought us a magnificent concert of bird life. Photos of the magnificent budgerigar show we caught on camera and video will be on a separate page.
On to a nearby free camp which we had found a couple of years ago and found the river site much diminished water-wise due to the NT not having had much of A Big Wet this year but lack of water brought us a magnificent concert of bird life. Photos of the magnificent budgerigar show we caught on camera and video will be on a separate page.
All the little chaps wanted was a drink but they obviously were very wary of landing so they swooped and dived for a very long time before taking a chance and dipping down for a couple of seconds before taking off again. They were right to be wary as we watched a falcon appear from nowhere and grab one and fly off.
A "must stop" place on the road to Darwin is Daly Waters, an historic village with a couple of museums, the pub and caravan park. Again, it fills up for one night and empties completely the following day as the pub produces a great meal and excellent entertainment.
Meantime, David had two excellent responses from the Mt Isa council requesting he meet with them to discuss what could be done to attract more people to stay in their town. Very impressive. He is staying in touch.
Meantime, David had two excellent responses from the Mt Isa council requesting he meet with them to discuss what could be done to attract more people to stay in their town. Very impressive. He is staying in touch.
We were on our way over to the main Darwin highway (Stuart Hwy) and found another free camp just for a quick stay overnight before going back into the main swing (people!)
Above left the campground on our arrival and right a few hours later. Note the red roadway. On our second day there we had a big dust storm and a very red caravan!
We had more than one swim in this particular pool.
We went on to Makaranka and caught up with a couple we met at Daly Waters, Helen and Graeme so enjoyed exploring the interesting spots of Makaranka.
We explored around the town and found this resort which had the same river as where we were camped but it had been made into more of a swimming pool.
The replica homestead used in the making of the film 'We of the Never Never'
Bitter Springs is the main attraction being a beautiful river down which you blissfully float supported by a floatie to save you bothering to swim. The current is gentle and the whole experience is delightful and apparently very good for you in that the waters are thermal, very warm indeed and full of minerals etc.
Heartbreak Hotel in the day time
Heartbreak Hotel at night
With a bit of imagination, one can just make out the "S" (nearly as big as the photo)