bloggerooni: Camooweal to the Gulf of Carpentaria

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…