Gulf and Kakadu tour, 2015 Day 6 and 7

The shade shelter took awhile to pack up but we were ready to leave the lagoon at about 8:15 am. We headed west but had to make some detours to get to the Savanah Way because of road works. The detour involved the opening and closing of several gates but was otherwise uneventful. We got to Burketown around lunch time so we refuelled the cars and then had lunch at quite a nice bakery. I tried the Barra pie which was ok but not wonderful. 

Then it was onto Gregory Downs  before turning west to Lawn Hill. The road was much better than when I was here at Easter last year and this made the driving much easier.

We got into the national park just after 3 pm and set up camp, as the car wouldn't be moving and there was a bit of wind I used the normal ASS setup. 

Afterwards we explored the camp site and water for awhile before having dinner and chatting about our plans for the next day. Then it was an early night in bed. 

We were going to go canoeing early but as the sun doesn't get up too early we delayed until it had warmed up a bit. In the meantime I inflated my kayak and then went for a walk up to the top of Island Stack to take some photos down the gorge. 

At about 10'ish the others rented a couple of kayaks and we set off on a grand expedition up the gorge. 

As always happens to me there seemed to be a bit of a head wind that we were paddling into. 

Getting out of my inflatable kayak at the portage point to the next gorge was difficult as the water level was low and the kayak not as stable as the hard shell ones. Then the next gorge also seemed to have a head wind but the sights were worth the effort. 

The stream into the third gorge was narrow so the water flowed a little faster making it hard to paddle this section but it wasn't too long until it opened out. We got to the far end where there were a couple of small waterfalls that meant we weren't going any further. Luckily I managed to turn around a this point without capsizing like I did last time I was here. The paddle back seemed to take ages as my shoulders were getting a bit sore but at least there was no headwind. We got back to the camp area just after midday and I setup the kayak to dry out so it could be packed up. As I was already wet I went and had a cold shower before having some lunch and a couple of ibuprofens for my shoulders. I then had a very lazy afternoon while the others went on a couple of the walks around the park. As we were heading off in the morning I repacked the car and had an early dinner and an early night in bed. 

Gulf and Kakadu tour, 2015 Day 4 and 5

It had been cool overnight but no dew on the awning meant packing up was pretty simple after a brekky of bacon and eggs. We left Undara at about 8:15 am and headed out to the highway, turning west and heading towards Normanton. We stopped briefly at Mt Surprise for a refuelling stop before heading onto Croydon for lunch. Over lunch we planned out the next couple of days travel. 

We decided to stay at Leichhardt Lagoon - a bush camping place about 20 kms south of Normanton and explore Normanton and Karumba the following day. We have a nice camp amongst the trees surrounding a lagoon which has plenty of bird life and supposedly no crocs. This time I set up my light weight shelter instead of the car awning but I probably don't need it as it is quite warm and dry. 

Overnight there was no dew and I packed away the sleeping bag and blanket as if was too warm for them.  We slept in the next morning and had a leisurely time around camp until leaving around 10 am. A quick refuel in Normanton and a few photos of the big concrete croc and the purple pub before heading north to Karumba. 

We drove around the dock area of Karumba first and then headed over to the beach section. The caravan parks here were packed with tourists and boating and fishing seemed to be the main occupation. There was a pub right on the beach so we decided to have lunch here and I had an excellent Prawn Bucket. 

On the way back to camp I picked up some fresh prawns and bread rolls for dinner. We dropped into the river opposite the camp site and saw a few small crocs but they were pretty shy and didn't really hang around for photos. Back at camp we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and got ready to head off to Lawn Hill national park the following morning. 

Gulf and Kakadu tour, 2015 Day 2 and 3

Slept in a bit as it was still a bit chilly and there had been lots of dew overnight so the awning was wet. Eventually got up, packed everything away and hit the road at 8 am. Drove into Springsure where I refuelled the car and had some brekky before heading north to Emerald. 

Then there was a relatively boring drive north through Clermont and then onto Charters Towers which I got to a bit after 3 pm. Once again refuelled the car and drove about 40 kms North to Fletcher Creek, a free camping area. 

This place is huge taking up three of the four quadrants made by the road and the creek. There is one set of toilets and there was way more than a hundred caravaners and campers.  I set up an ASS camp (Awning, Stretcher, Swag) and sent a text message to Phil. 

While I went on a walk along the creek Phil and his brother David arrived and easily recognising my red SWB Paj, started setting up camp. 

After introductions and finishing setup we had some dinner and continued chatting for awhile, finally heading to bed around 9'ish. It was not as cold nor as dewy overnight and we had planned on leaving at around 8'ish which we didn't quit make. The road was mostly good and there was a bit more traffic, mainly tourist as we headed north.  After a quick morning tea at Greenvale we continued onto to Undara and found Kemsley and Liese around lunch time. So after a quick setup (another ASS camp) we headed to the restaurant for lunch and a chat. 

We booked in for dinner that night at the restaurant and headed back to camp to finish setting up. Then it was off for a walk around some of the tracks followed by a cool drink and some planning for the trip. After dinner (Barra and chippies) we got a fire going and sat around chatting until it burned out and then went to bed with the plan that we would leave about 08:30 and head for Normanton. 

Gulf and Kakadu tour, 2015 Day 1

Had little bit of a sleep in before getting up to finish packing the car around 06:30. It took longer than I had thought to get the spare wheel tied unto the roof rack so I didn't end up leaving until about 08:00. A quick stop to fuel up at Mudgeeraba and then I headed north before turning off at Logan motorway and heading toward Toowomba. The traffic was pretty minimal and what there was disappeared around Dalby. I stopped in Chinchilla for some lunch and to top up the car around noon. Then it was onto Miles where I turned north to Taroom. Just past Taroom I turned off on the Fitzroy Development Road heading for Bauhinia and hit the first gravel road for the trip. It was in pretty good condition but I could see where there had been a bit of mud from previous rain. 

I had planned on staying in Bauhinia but I still had an hour of daylight left so I pushed onto Rolleston. I checked into the caravan park and set up the awning, stretcher and swag before having a hot shower. 

Then it was off to the pub for an excellent dinner of pork chops before relaxing for awhile. Back at the car it was getting chilly as there were no clouds and a cool breeze was blowing, so I climbed into the swag to keep warm, type up this blog and have an early nights sleep after a day of driving.