The
only way to get to the Australian Fossil Mammal Site and Lawn Hill
Gorge in Boodjamulla NP, was to take a ‘B’, or sometimes ‘C’
road. Unfortunately, my car didn’t have enough clearance to handle
the high build up of rocks (and I mean rocks,
not stones) in the middle of
the tracks that constituted a road, and ended up with a crack in the
diff. Thank goodness Elliot spotted it when we stopped for a short
break, as if we’d actually reached the fossil sight, all the oil
would have leaked out of the diff and we would have been totally
stranded! It’s in the middle of nowhere this place. So while
powering on to get to the nearest town where I hoped there’d be a
mechanic, we bypassed Riversleigh Fossil Site, which has fossils aged
between 20 million years and 10 thousand years, and Lawn Hill Gorge,
which holds a dazzling array of flora and fauna. Sounds quite magical
from what I’d heard, and a fairly isolated spot that’s hard to
get to, even in a proper 4WD.
So,
maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t make it in my little car.
We drove into a place called Gregory Downs, after 5 hours straight of
driving on a dreadful road. I was shattered. My car had also been
through a bit, with the cracked diff, a rock puncture in a rear tyre,
and both back tyres generally quite shredded from the rocks. My
trailer too suffered rock damage. That drive was really hard going.
Gregory Downs didn’t have a mechanic though. But, once again,
country folk know enough to get by, and a Road Train driver, called
Syd, helped us out. He patched up the diff, and plugged the back
tyre, (all for $60!), but to make sure the epoxy resin had set
properly for the diff, we had to stay a bit longer. We ended up
staying there about 2 nights. It’s funny how things work out, as
there’s nothing to do in Gregory Downs, but the people who live
there were all so kind and friendly, so our stay was ok. Because
there was nothing to do, Syd invited us to go to the quarry in his
Road Train (he picks up and drops off different grades of gravel for
the ‘roads’ – God knows where the rocks on the road I’d been
on had come from!). So, we got to sit in the cab of one of those
massive trucks, and head off to a gravel quarry, and see huge
machines doing their thing! It was pretty cool actually, and
certainly not something planned. Syd was originally a Brisbane lad,
but had chosen a quiet part of Australia to live and work in. He was
a happy young bloke, really generous and great with Elliot. I was so
grateful to him for fixing my car up.
“10-4
Good Buddy!” – me having a
snack in the cab.
Despite
Gregory Downs being friendly, I was keen to get back on the road and
head to The Gulf. I Can’t remember much of the drive, which is
probably self explanatory, but it was a very long 8 hours or so. The
landscape did change though, as it became like flood plains, some
with crusted salt, and just cranking up the heat a bit. Saw lots of
wildlife too, including a number of brolgas…
The
main town we passed through on the way to Karumba was Normanton. A
reasonable size, with interesting history, and known for the largest
croc EVER caught (over 28ft/over 8 metres). What’s more, the
crocodile shooter that caught it was a woman. Terrifying this beast!
They built a life size replica of it. Check it out…
some
local kids happy to pose for us.
Elliot
totally engulfed!
And
here’s the story board.
So
after Normanton, it was further on to Karumba, one of my favourite
stops on the trip…
