Lawn Hill Gorge

(Magyar összefoglaló a végén)

Monday, 21 May - In the morning we went to the Normanton Railway Station, to witness the departure of the "Gulflander", a passenger train from Normanton to Croydon. It had an important function in the past, now it is a joy ride for tourists only. The train and the station is a nice relic from the past, there is also a little museum about the history of the service.

Leichardt Falls

Then we packed up, managed to seal the air vent on the door with a piece of cardboard and packing tape, another attempt to keep the dust out. We left Normanton and continued our trip Westward along the Savannay Way. About 15 km-s after Normanton we reached the end of the bitumen. Big clouds of dust followed our car. The gravel road was well maintained and the river crossings were easy. We met only a few cars coming in the opposite direction. We had a quick stop at the 119. Camp of Bourke and Wills, and checked the glazed trees around the camp. Our lunch stop was at the Leichardt River, a very wide rocky river bed, mostly dry. We walked across to see the Falls, an interesting experience. 
When we opened the van for lunch, we realised that the air vent must not have been the main or only source of the dust, because the sealing on the door was intact, but the van inside was full of dust again - a big disappointment. It took a half an hour to clean at least the most visible part so that we can sit down for lunch. It seems this will be part of our life now, we'll have to get used to it.


In the afternoon we drove to Bourketown, and after some hesitation we decided to go on a side-trip to visit Lawn Hill (Boodjamulla) National Park, a 220 km detour each way on mostly gravel roads. We reached Gregory Downs by sunset, about 120 km from Bourketown, where we stopped for the night at a free camp site. 


Tuesday, 22 May - Our campsite turned out not the best choice. There was an aboriginal family camping close-by, in the evening they made a fire and someone sang and played the guitar, which was not too bad, but later an argument broke out and then a man and 3 women shouted at each other until about 2 am. We did not have much sleep.

Peter in Lawn Hill Creek

After another 90 km drive on very dusty dirt road we got to Adel's Grove and booked into a campsite at the National park. We set up the van and cleaned it. The campsite is very neat and well organised, with only basic facilities but beautiful surroundings along the Lawn Hill Creek, which was so inviting I had to jump in right away. Clean, fresh and quite warm water, hard to get out.

Indarri Falls

In the afternoon we went on one of the walks around the Gorge, up to Indarri Falls, an idyllic spot, like a movie setting. After another plunge in the water and a rest we went on to the Indarri Lookout and then to Duwadarri lookout, with fantastic views of the gorge and surrounding areas. It was a beautiful day and we are looking forward to a much better night than yesterday.

Kayaking in Lawn Hill Gorge

Wednesday, 23 May - The night was good, and the day was even better. In the morning we hired a kayak and paddled through the Gorge up to Indarri Falls and back. The dark-red vertical rock walls were even more impressive from the water than from above. Back at the camp, we had a good swim in the creek, even Kati could not resist to jump in. 

The flood plain

After lunch and a long rest - it was a very hot day again, 34 degrees in the van - we went on another short walk, to visit an aboriginal cultural place called Wild Dog Dreaming, with ancient rock art and stone engravings in another section of the Gorge walls. The walk led through the flood-plains of the creek with interesting vegetation and tufa formations, like some scary movie setting with giants and monsters. We were not allowed to take photos of the rock art, but the whole environment was very impressive. We finished the day with another refreshing swim in the creek.


Thursday, 24 May - Our plan for the day was to go for another walk in the morning, then pack up and drive back to Bourketown, for a night stop with a bit of shopping, refuelling before continuing on the Savannah Way towards Borroloola. It did not happen that way...

Peter checking the road conditions beside the truck

It started to rain lightly a few times during the night, then more solid, continuous rain came down at 6 am, and did not stop almost all day. So we did not go walking, but packed up and left the campground around 10 am. As soon as we reached the road, we realised that this won't be such an easy drive as the way in. That few hours of rain has turned the dirt road into a pool of slippery mud. Still I thought that our powerful Land Rover and off-road caravan must be able to cope with these conditions and persisted. After a few km's we were bogged down, but using all available machinery (low gear, mud-ruts terrain response system) I managed to get going again. But the road just got even worse, and after a few more km's we met a big road train in the opposite direction standing in the middle of the road, also bogged down. The driver said he will stay there and wait until the road dries out. At this point we gave up and turned around, which was also quite a difficult manoever. 


We drove back to Adel's Grove, a private resort and caravan park near the National Park. As I was driving in to find a suitable spot for our van, I managed to get bogged down again in the middle of the road. It was a bit of a slope and so slippery that the car and the van started to slide off when I tried to move on. Finally we had to set up the van right there, in the middle of the road. Fortunately not many other campers wanted acces to this part of the park.


We spent the rest of the day reading, playing Scrabble and hoping for a turn of the weather. The rain has stopped by the evening and the forecast is promising for the next few days.

Adel's Grove

Friday, 25 May, Adel's Grove - There was no rain during the night. In the morning the sky was overcast, but there was a bit of wind and it started to clear out gradually by lunchtime. Still we were advised to stay and wait another day. We did a bit of cleaning around the car and the van, then went on a short walk up to "Lookout Hill" where mobile reception can be found. We could send an SMS to our children, then went on down to the Gorge, another similar scenery to what we saw in the national park.
We have another good rest in the afternoon. The weather is promising, we hope to be able to leave tomorrow. But after yesterday's experience we may have to reconsider our planned route to NT...



Saturday, 26 May, Terry Smith Lookout - A clear, sunny, but very cold morning, 8 degrees in the van! After breakfast and a bit of hesitation we packed up and left Adel's Grove. The road to Gregory Downs has mostly dried out, but there were a few sections of black soil with deep slippery mud ruts. It was very scary, but using all the available technology in the car we managed to get through. We reached Gregory Downs by lunchtime, we stopped for lunch, then decided to change our planned itinerary. There were roumors of road closures towards Bourketown and further to the West, and another rainy patch coming in a few days time. So we chose the alternate sealed route through Bourke and Wills Roadhouse, Cloncurry and Mount Isa then on to the Northern Territory. 

Our campsite at Terry Smith Lookout

After a refuelling stop at the Bourke and Wills Roadhouse, we stopped for the night at the Terry Smith Lookout, a popular free camp site 80 km North from Cloncurry. There were about a dozen other campers around, but we did not disturb each other much. A beautiful sunset, even without the sea but nice views around, and another very cold night.












Sunday, 27 May, Mount Isa - We left the campsite quite early and by 10 am we were in Cloncurry, enjoying the easy drive on good quality sealed road. The only disappointment was the large number of kangaroo/wallaby carcasses on the road, about 6-8 on that 80 km stretch. In Cloncurry we stopped at the information centre to pick up some brochures then drove around the centre but did not find anything interesting. After refuelling and filling up the van with water, we continued Westward.

The landscape was quite interesting with undulating hills, nice views. There were several big road trains passing by opposite even on Sunday. We reached Mount Isa by midday, and booked into a caravan park - in the third one as the first two we tried were full; it seems the tourist season has started, we need to be more careful from now on. I managed to wash down most of the dirt from the caravan on arrival. In the afternoon we went out for a little tour of the town, but everything is closed here on Sunday. 

We found an automatic car wash where we could clean our car, too, that was very much needed. We also found one supermarket open where we could buy something for dinner. It was good to return to a bit of "civilisation", after a week without mobile reception, even without radio stations in the area. 

Mount Isa town centre and the open-cut mine

We will stay here for a few days to restock our caravan, and look around this place.


Our itinerary can be seen at the following Google Map:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8 
(Note that to see the route after Bowen, you need to move down to the bottom of the right panel, and select the following pages!)











Sok érdekes történt az elmúlt héten, szép is meg izgalmas is, és a terveinket is meg kellett változtatni egy kicsit.
Hétfõn reggel indultunk Normantonból, gyönyörû idõben, jó minõségû de nagyon poros földutakon, több rövid megállással Bourketown-on keresztül estére eljutottunk Gregory Downs-ig, itt egy szabad kempinghelyen töltöttük az éjszakát, ami nem lett volna rossz, de sajnos egy aboriginal család táborozott a közelünkben, akik este tábortûznél egész kellemesen énekeltek meg gitároztak egy ideig, de aztán valamin összevesztek, és éjjel kettõig hallgattuk egy férfi és két nõ folyamatos ordibálását. Más baj nem volt, de nem sokat aludtunk. 
Kedden folytattuk az utat, és elég hamar eljutottunk a célunkhoz: a Lawn Hill (Boodjamulla) nemzeti parkba, itt töltöttük a következõ két napot (terv szrint, meg még kettõt mert muszáj volt...) Itt is van egy gyönyörû "gorge", egy szûk szikla-szurdok, a Lawn Hill folyócskával. Fantasztikus táj, nekem eddig ez volt a legnagyobb élmény az úton. Elsõ délután felmásztunk a sziklagerincen vezetõ gyalogútra, több kilátó-ponthoz, meg lementünk az Indarri vízeséshez, ami nem valami magas, de az egész környék olyan vadregényes, mint egy romantikus film helyszín. A folyó vize teljesen tiszta, és kellemes langyos, nagyon jókat fürödtünk benne, még Katit is rá tudtam venni, pedig az nem könnyû. Másnap délelõtt béreltünk egy kajakot, és felhajtottunk a folyón, keresztül a szurdokon megint az Indarri Falls-ig és vissza. Nagyon szép volt ez is. Délután sokat fürödtünk, nagyon meleg volt, és tettünk még egy rövid sétát egy aboriginal szent helyhez, primitív sziklarajzok és vésetek a függõleges sziklafalban, állítólag többezer évesek. Érdekes és nagyon szép nap volt.
Csütörtök reggel terveztünk tovább indulni. Amire nem számítottunk az hogy éjszaka elkezdett esni az esõ, és reggel még erõsebben folytatta, szinte egész nap esett. Mi azért tíz felé összepakoltunk és elindultunk, de hamar kiderült, hogy ezt nem kellett volna. A poros földutat a pár órás esõ mély, csúszós sártengerré változtatta. Én egy darabig még bíztam benne, hogy a szuper terepjárónk és terepre tervezett lakókocsink meg tud birkózni ezzel is. Elõször kb 5 km után ragadtunk be a sárba, de akkor még sikerült egy kis elõre-hátra tologatás után továbbmenni. Újabb pár km után egy hatalmas "road train" (nyerges vontató két pótkocsival) állt az út közepén, az is beragadt és elfoglalta az út legnagyobb részét. A vezetõ azt mondta, hogy õ onnan nem tud kijönni, megvárja amíg eláll az esõ és kicsit kiszárad az út. De bíztatott, hogy el tudnék menni mellette és aztán már nem olyan rossz az út. Én megnéztem, és úgy gondoltam, hogy jobb ha visszafordulunk. Az sem volt könnyû, de sikerült, és 2-3 órás kínlódás után visszaértünk a nemzeti park bejáratánál levõ caravan parkba, Adel's Grove-ba. Itt töltöttük a következõ két napot, várva hogy megjavuljon az idõ és újra járható legyen az út. 


Péntekre elállt az esõ, és délutánra a nap is kisütött egy kicsit, de nagyon hideg volt, éjszaka a lakókocsiban kb 8 fok volt. Jól fel tudtunk öltözni, de így sem volt kellemes. Nem sokat csináltunk, csak egy kis séta, meg pihenés. Sajnos a készleteink fogytán voltak, de azért még volt mit enni.


Szombat reggel ragyogó napsütés és még mindig szokatlanul hideg. De már nem akartunk tovább várni, többen elindultak már, és a road train is megérkezett, így mi is összepakoltunk és nekivágtunk. Az út nagy része tényleg elég jól felszáradt, de azért volt egy két nehéz szakasz, különösen ahol a kamion beragadt. Izgalmas volt, de sikerült átjutni, és délre visszaértünk Gregory Downs-ba. Ott aztán elhatároztuk, hogy meg kell változtatni az utitervet. A hírek szerint Bourketown környékén és tovább nyugatra is lezárták az utakat az esõ miatt, nem akartuk kockáztatni egy újabb beragadást, így kelet-délnek fordultunk, hogy nagy kerülõvel, de burkolt úton mehessünk nyugat felé. Estig még haladtunk pár száz km-t, és egy szabad kempinghelyen, Terry Smith Lookout-nál töltöttük az éjszakát. Jó hely volt, vagy egy tucat másik lakókocsi is volt ott, de nem volt semmi probléma. 


Vasárnap reggel korán indultunk, tízre már Cloncurry-ban voltunk. Itt csak röviden körülnéztünk, tankoltunk és mentünk tovább, délre már Mount Isa-ba értünk. Itt letáboroztunk egy caravan parkban - nem volt könnyû, csak a harmadikban kaptunk helyet, úgy látszik megkezdõdött a turista-szezon, ezentúl erre is kell gondolni. Délután sikerült végre lemosni az autót és a lakókocsit, megszabadultunk az egyhetes vastag sárrétegtõl, és tudtunk valami keveset vásárolni is vacsorára, mert a készleteink teljesen kifogytak, és itt vasárnap minden zárva van, megáll az élet. Most ittmaradunk pár napig, fel kell tölteni a készleteinket, mosni, esetleg az autót szervizelni ha sikerül, aztán indulunk tovább.


Az útvonalunk a következo Google Map-on látható:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8
(A Bowen utáni szakaszokhoz le kell menni a jobboldali panel aljára, és a következo oldalakra kattintani!!)