Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip - Summary

I left the Gold Coast on Good Friday morning and after 2 and a bit days of driving (2250 kms ) I finally got to Lawn Hill National Park. The walks and kayaking up the gorge were spectacular, as were Wayne and Anne's desserts in the evening. It was pretty hot during the day so early morning was the best time for walking and the afternoon could be spent swimming. I packed up and left on Thursday the 24 th stopping in at the Age of Dinosaurs display just outside of Winton on the way home. It was an interesting place to visit and the tour of the lab area was especially good. I also visited mum and dad at Caloundra on the way and finally got home Sunday (27 th) evening. All up I covered 4822 kms using around 550 litres of diesel (11.6 l/100 km) which ended up costing just under $950. Thanks to Wayne, Anne and the kids, Ben and Meg and Phil and Shane for making this such an enjoyable trip. No thanks to the flies. Below shows the GPS track recorded by my SPOT tracker. 

Photos from the trip can be found on my Picasa site :- https://picasaweb.google.com/108619961450363964837/Easter2014LawnHillTrip?noredirect=1

All up a great trip and I'll certainly go back to Lawn Hill but at a cooler time of year. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 10

I had a very restful day, spent at mum and dad's place at Caloundra catching up with family who were gathered for my Nephew's birthday. To dodge the traffic jams heading back south from the Sunshine Coast I left Caloundra just before 6 pm and had a great run home for the last part of this trip. I was back home just before 8 pm and the car was unpacked by 8:30 pm. In total I had driven 4,822 kms over the previous 10 days and had a great time. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 9

I got up at 6:30 am as the sun was coming up. Someone needs to recalibrate the Roosters in Alpha as the were crowing randomly from about 5 am while the local Kookaburras were almost dead accurate with their calls as the sun came up. There had been a fairly heavy dew overnight for the first time and the tent was a bit damp on the outside. Had a quick pack up and left at 6:45 am, driving east into the rising sun wasn't much fun for awhile. Got to Emerald and refueled at around 8:30 am and ran into Wayne, Anne and the kids as they came into fuel up after having Brekky at Maccas. Then I found some breakfast and headed east again. 

Finally turned south onto the A3 and headed towards Biloela. Had an early lunch at a great little bakery on the way into town and I was returning to the car, Wayne and company drove past waving. I passed them later on as they stopped at a rest area in Monto. I refueled at Gayndah and guess who I saw drive past just as I was getting back onto the road. They stopped not much further at another rest area (Bin Bin I think) and I continued on south. 

I turned off the A3 at Tansey and headed to Kilkivan and then onto the main highway just north of Gympie where of course I got stuck behind someone doing at least 10 km per hour less than the speed limit. Then all the traffic lights in Gympie conspired to turn red just as I got to them. The only good thing was the new bit of road that was opened to the south of Gympie, very nice cruising at 110 km/hr until being dragged back to reality and a 90 km/hr single land road. In the background the sunset was looking pretty spectacular. Then a simple drive down the main road until I turned off to go to mum and dad's place at Caloundra for the night, arriving about 6pm and looking forward to a nice hot shower and a soft bed inside for a change. For the whole day the temperature gauge in the Paj didn't get over 30 deg, a first since the start of the trip.

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 8

Got up a bit after 6:30 am while it was still darkish. I packed up and a breakfast of an Ice Break iced coffe and hit the road about 7 am when the sun was above the horizon and I headed south towards Winton. I eventually found the sign to the waterhole (Combo Waterhole Conservation Park) just south of Kynuna and about 200 kms away from where I thought it would be. Just past Winton I decided to drop in and have a look at the "Age of Dinosaurs" display. It was well setup and I quite enjoyed the tour of their fossil processng lab. 

Then it was on to Longreach to refuel the car and myself. All the way down from Cloncurry it felt like I had been driving into a headwind and it showed in the fuel economy with the downhill (north to south) trip using an extra 1.5 l/100 km. In Barcaldine I had to blow into the breathalyzer at an RBT for a bored looking policeman who sent me on my way after recording zero alcohol. As I'm going to visit Mum and Dad in Caloundra on the way home I took the turnoff to Alpha and will go a different way home. I got to Alpha at about 4:30 pm and decided to call it quits for the evening rather than trying to make it to Emerald before the sun went down. I set up camp in the caravan park and caught up with my blog before having a nice hot shower and heading to bed early. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 7

It was still overcast in the morning, so I didn't get out of bed until 7'ish. I wanted to do the remaining walks while it was still cool, so I packed the backpack with some water and wandered off to the Cascades. This was a relatively easy walk and didn't take long. 

On the way back I decided to try the climb up the Island Stack as my knees weren't feeling too bad. I took the climb slowly, pausing to take photos regularly, that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. At the lookout on the top the view back down the gorge was spectacular. 

I then did the walk around the top before heading back down the steep section and going back to camp. 

All up approximately 3.5 kms over about 2 hours and many litres of sweat.

I went up to see Wayne and Anne and crew and they were almost packed, so I headed back to camp for breakfast and an ibuprofen or two. They left about half an hour later heading towards Julia Creek. I had also decided to leave today but I would pack up a bit more slowly, however while my tent was still in shade I decided to get it all done. It ended up that I was packed and showered and ready to go by 11 am, so I headed off back the same way I came in. The gravel road was fine and there was no other traffic to kick up any dust, then once the bitumen started it became a very easy drive. Only the odd cow or horse wanted to get in my way. 

I powered past Gregory Downs, Burke and Wills roadhouse and onto Cloncury where I refueled the car and had a quick snack at around 4 pm. I thought I remembered seeing a sign to a waterhole just south of Cloncurry and thought that would be a good place to camp for the night. But, my memory must have been playing tricks and I couldn't find it, so I ended up driving onto McKinlay where I stopped at the local caravan park for the evening. Then once I had set up the tent and had a shower a refrigerated truck pulled into the servo just down the road and it looks like I'll have a noisey evening as they run their fridges all night. Serves me right for not finding a quiet place off by the side of the road somewhere. I went to bed early and wrote up my blog and read a book for awhile. Luckily the truck was only there for a few hours and everything quieted down when it left. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 6

As it's been so hot I decided to do a few walks in the morning. So I got out of bed around 7'ish and had an excellent bacon and egg wrap for Brekky and then started getting packed for the walk. Lots of water and swimming togs in case it got too hot. I had the spot tracker as well but of course I forgot to take the Fitbit. I left around 8 am after saying goodbye to Phil who was packing up to head home via the more scenic coast road and found that Wayne, Anne and company weren't interested in a walk as they were just getting up. I had decided to do just a shot walk around to Indarri Falls and Duwadarri lookouts but once I got to Indarri Falls and I was feeling pretty good so I decided to head onto the upper gorge lookout. 

The weather was overcast and a little bit cooler than yesterday but I still had to drink heaps of water and take a few stops, mainly to take photos of course and not to have a rest. :) The walk along beside the gorge was very pleasant and shady. 

I eventually got to the turnoff to the upper gorge lookout and then the going started to get tough as the climb got steep and because it was exposed it got hotter as well. The view both up and down the gorges was spectacular from the lookout and well worth the effort.  

Then it was time to walk back to the campsite via the inland track and thankfully it was relatively flat but hot. 

I took the route past the Indarri Falls Lookout which then wound across to Duwadarri lookout where you could see out over both the ranger station and the camp grounds. 

The track down to the campsite however was very steep and the knees were protesting severely, so I just took it slow and easy. I dropped in to see Wayne and Anne on the way past their camp site and they were worried that the overcast sky wouldn't let their small solar panel farm keep up with the demands of both the freezer and fridge, so they ended up running their car for awhile. 

I was back in camp about 7.5 kms and three hours later and feeling worn out. So after lots of cold drinks and a light lunch I decided to just laze around camp for the arvo. I tried moving the solar panels around to get the best charge but with overcast skies it was hard to tell when the tree shadows covered the panels. We then had about 10 drops of rain, it wasn't even enough to make the car look wet. The weather radar is showing lots of clouds and rain to the north in the gulf but it doesn't look like it'll come down this way. I spent some time getting the car into some sort of order and charging a multitude of batteries before having an early dinner and then heading down to see Wayne, Anne and company and then getting to bed rather early. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 5

I had a little sleep in today as the shoulders and knees were still a bit tender after the exertions of yesterday. After a leisurely Brekky I did a few things around camp and wrote up my blog of the epic adventures of the previous day. Wayne, Anne, and company got up really early and climbed to the top of Island Stack to see the sunrise. After lunch we all went for drive out to the Riversleigh Fossil site about 55 kms away. 

The site doesn't seem to have changed since I was there in 2005 and the self guided walk doesn't really show you many fossils.  

It was hot wandering up the hill and around the site, so we decided to head down the road another couple of kms to the Gregory River crossing and have a swim. The fast flowing water was perfect and very refreshing. 

Then it was back to camp for some chocolate birthday cake for afternoon tea and then a bit of a rest before dinner. Dessert  at Wayne and Anne's campsite consisted of chocolate Easter egg cake and ice cream and was the perfect way to end the day. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 4

Got up about 6:30 am and had a nice bacon and eggs Brekky. The sun finally came up at about 7 am as I was getting packed for a morning of paddling on the gorge. Shane arrived just before 8 am and we wandered down to the canoe rental place. Shane had his own canoe and I rented a one person sit on top kayak for $45 for 3 hours. Much cheaper than the extra fuel it would have cost me to transport a kayak on top of the car for roughly 5000 kms for this trip. 

We had a very leisurely paddle up the first section of the gorge taking photos along the way. Shane was much braver than me and kept his camera around his neck, I kept taking mine in and out of a dry bag and I also tried taking a few photos with the gopro in its waterproof casing. 

The views were sensational as the sun was still rising over the side of the gorge behind us. We got up to Indarri Falls and pulled the canoes out of the water at the portage site and then carried them 50-60 metres to the top section of the gorge. 

The paddling was still easy going and we finally came to a section where a large fallen tree meant we couldn't paddle any further, but we were able to manhandle the canoes past this with a bit of swearing and a lot of getting wet. 

This let us paddle a bit further until a couple of little water falls blocked our progress. We got out and explored a bit further on foot climbing to the top of a nearby hill. 

We could probably heave carried the canoes a bit further and done some more paddling but decided to head back. At this point I had a brain fade and managed to fall off the canoe as I was trying to turn it around, luckily the camera was in the dry bag and it just floated waiting for both Shane and I to stop laughing and get the canoe the right way up and me on top of it rather than being in the water. 

At this stage we realised that the paddle back wasn't going to be easy as the breeze had sprung up and we were paddling directly into it. We got back to the fallen tree and got around it much quicker although still not elegantly. More paddling into the wind until we got back to the portage site and we carried the canoes back to the lower gorge and then made our way back to the canoe rental site. Along the way, we met Wayne, Anne, Phil and company paddling up the gorge with the wind at their backs looking very relaxed. 

We had been paddling for just on three hours and my shoulders were starting to feel a bit stiff and sore, so we headed back to camp for a rest and a cool drink or two and some lunch. Then we wandered back to the swimming hole to cool off and I had a try of Shane's canoe, it was easier to paddle than the one I had rented but felt funny as I didn't have anything to brace my feet against. Then Shane decided to experiment and see if he could get back in the canoe in the middle of the stream in case he ever fell out. The results of this were hilarious. His canoe will float even if it is full of water and he can climb into it but it is so unstable that he couldn't paddle without tipping over. 

Back to camp for another cool drink and a rest, then as it was still bloody hot we back for another swim to cool off. We decided to go for a walk up to the Constance Range to get some sunset photos later on in the day so we packed up the cameras, tripods and some water and wandered off a little bit before 5 pm (sunset at approx 6:30 pm). The signs and the walking guide suggests it is a 3-4 km return hike which is way underestimated, using a gps app on the iPhone suggested it was 2.2 km to about half way up the hill (I turned this off as it was eating my iPhone battery pretty quickly). 

As we were a little early we found a nice shady spot with a view to the north and east and had a rest and caught up with Facebook. 

There wasn't a real good view to the west but we found one with minimal trees and setup the cameras and tripods. We stayed there taking photos until well after the sun had gone down and then had to climb back down the hill using head lamps as it was pretty dark with out the moon. 

I need to practice taking sunset photos more often as these didn't turn out all that well. The climb down the hill didn't do my knees any favours but as a consolation this made me forget about my sore shoulders from paddling. We got back to camp about 7:45 pm and had a cold drink. Shane then packed up and hit the road as he had to be back home by Thursday. I wandered down to see Wayne, Anne, Phil and company and had a wonderful apple crumble for dessert (with ice cream). I went to bed around 10'ish and slept very well after the exertions of the day. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 3

We got up around 6:30 am, the sun wasn't even over the horizon yet. After a leisurely pack up and a breakfast of Easter eggs and a can of Coke Zero we hit the road around 7:30. It was an easy drive to Gregory Downs where we had a quick stop to stretch, there were quite a few people camping down on the river. Not long afetr this we hit the gravel road but it was in very good condition and we could motor along at close to normal speed. After the the Zn mine turnoff however the road conditions deteriorated abit and we had to slow our cruising speed. 

We also had the trifecta of dumb animals trying to commit suicide by car, cattle, kangaroos and bloody emus. We ended up making it safely into Lawn Hill national park at around 10:30 am and found our designated camping spots. Then we went and chatted with Wayne and Anne and their family and friends for awhile before going to set up camp. It was bloody hot so the set up was slow with lots of drinks breaks, luckily my site was still in abit of shade. 

Then back for another chat before coming back to setup my solar panels since the shade had mostly disappeared from my site. I had a quick wander around the camp ground before having a bite to eat for lunch. I then had to keep moving the car to keep it in shade while the solar panels could keep charging. After awhile it just got too hot so I went and lazed in the cool water for an hour or so to cool down before coming back to camp to write up my journal. When the wind blows it is quite pleasant but when it drops off it is very warm. It's starting to get cooler as it gets closer to sundown. It will soon be time for dinner and I'll need to charge up a few batteries before going kayaking up the gorge tomorrow. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 2

Woke up at about 6:15 am after a pretty good sleep. When I arrived in Barcaldin the previous evening it had been around 30 deg but in the morning it was down to 16 deg. I had a quick pack up and Brekky and as I was heading out of town I dropped in to have a chat with Phil. He was going to visit the Qantas museum in Longreach so I continued on. 

The stretch between Barcaldin and Ilfracombe was pretty bad in terms of kangaroo carnage with large flocks of birds feeding on the dead animals in the middle of the road. The smaller kites and crows didn't cause any problems but the larger wedge tailed eagles are pretty slow to get up in the air and they didn't learn their traffic awareness very well as I had to avoid them a couple of times. I stopped in Ilfracombe for a quick look at the rows of machinery in the main street and then it was onto to Longreach to refuel.

 Driving into Longreach one of the first things you see is the big Qantas emblem on the tail of a 747. It looks somewhat out of place. 

Then onto Winton where I had the first shock of the day with the bakery being closed, so I continued on stopping at a little place called Kynuna for a quick bite to eat and the fuel was a couple of cents a litre cheaper than Longreach, I might stop there on the way back. While I was stopped a couple pulled up to get a drink, he was driving a new Range Rover Sport towing a large double axel caravan while she was driving a Ford Ranger dual cab ute towing a largish boat. They must have been on their way to the gulf for a spot of fishing. 

Not long after I left here I spotted a herd of emus beside the road and started to slow down. I'm sure these birds have it in for me as just as I was about to pass them one dashed out in front of the car, luckily I was going slow enough to be able to stop. Bloody stupid birds. 

Then it was onto Cloncurry where I stopped to refuel and have a bit of a late lunch at around 1:30 pm. I left at around twoish and continued on towards the Burke and Wills roadhouse at the turn off to Lawn Hill national park. I topped the fuel up and decided to stay for the night as it was around 4 pm. Shade was at a premium in the camp ground as it was pretty hot (36 deg). 

I think I'll go to the roadhouse for dinner as I'm feeling too lazy to boil water to rehydrate a packaged dinner. Then maybe it will have cooled down enough to have a nice shower. Hopefully, Phil will catch up with me here and we'll head into Lawn Hill tomorrow. Phil rocked in just after 6 pm while there was still plenty of light and the temperature had cooled off substantially because a nice cool breeze had sprung up. 

Easter 2014 Lawn Hill trip Day 1

I got up with the alarm at 5am and tied the tent to the car, packed the fridge stuff and had a shower to complete the wake up process, then it was off to the local servo to fill up. I finally hit the highway at about 5:45 am and headed north to the Logan motorway. The first hour of driving was excellent, a nice multilane highway, hardly any traffic, the car purring along, the sun rising in the east and it was stil cool, a large Ice Break iced coffee, singing along loudly (and badly) to my collection of 70's and 80's music. I looked down to see I had gone about 100 kms and then reality kicked in and I realised I needed to do at least another 900 kms for the day.

Then it was on to Toowoomba and I had to change my singing style to a raspy, gravelly voice as it was the Darren Lockyer Way. The speed zones seemed to change randomly as did the appearance of road works. Hopefully they will build a Toowoomba bypass soon as I think the traffic lights are timed so that you have to stop at each set. :(

On the other side of Toowoomba they had fixed the road up quite abit since my last trip. After Dalby the traffic started to thin out and this continued until Roma where I stopped for fuel and lunch. As always happens the fuel pumps at the Roma Caltex don't like pumping into my main tank, luckily I had filled it from the auxiliary tank while driving. Then it was more driving and the traffic became almost nonexistent. I turned north at Morven and continued to have an easy drive, although I had a bit of a surprise when I came up behind a large Orica truck and saw the "Explosives" sign. I got past him quickly and continued on. I only saw a couple of live Roos along the road, most were dead and being eaten by swarms of birds. I finally got into Barcaldin at about 6:15 pm and checked into the first caravan park I came to, it turns out Phil is in the next one along. 

I set up the quick tent and swag and had some Moroccan Lamb for dinner. Then a nice hot shower before I sat down to write up the days adventures. All up a total of 1170 kms in 12:30 hours of pretty easy driving.