Days 89 - 95 of trip with no particular destination: Hell's Gate Roadhouse to Boodjamulla NP to Gilbert River

 Day 89: Hell's Gate Roadhouse to Boodjamulla National Park (previously known as Lawn Hill National Park) via Doomadgee and the road through Lawn Hill Station (Waanyi country)

Today was a fascinating drive.  Doomadgee is an aboriginal town and we were able to use their good supermarket – best and freshest fruit and veg we’ve seen for a while.  Unfortunately the town bakery doesn’t operate on the weekends so we couldn’t sample the place, which one of the blokes at the Hell’s Gate Roadhouse had recommended. It is the first town I’ve been to where we saw horses roaming the streets. 

Doomadgee lies along the Nicholson River, which you cross before heading down into Lawn Hill Station towards Boodjamulla NP. We had morning tea down by the river and heard this very loud squawking only to notice a flock of brolgas.  I had never heard their raucous call before. At our morning tea spot there was a weir, so I walked along this while Pete drove the car to meet me at the other end (or near enough).  In doing so I managed to get a little close to some of the brolgas. 

    

The river at this point runs through rocks that look like one massive ancient lava flow and from the weir the view of this and the river itself was pretty stunning.

The rest of the drive through Lawn Hill Station was varied and interesting. It is a working cattle property so you can’t drive off the main road but the views change. You drive through and around ephemeral creeks, and see the hills that denote the start of Boodjamulla National Park.  Towards the southern section there are very degraded pieces of land. I’m not sure if this area was badly affected by drought but these areas look as if they might have been where cattle had been fed during drought. The ground was virtually bare and covered with cow pads. Rather depressing.

                 

We arrived at Boodjamulla to the last of the campsites. We were here 21 years ago with our boys and the campsite itself is very different. They have made an effort to minimise the effect of people.  Gone is the grass and any view of the water. It was not long before we felt the need to go and look at the water.  The colour of the water is amazing – a bluish emerald green caused by the huge amount of calcium carbonate in the water.  This, together with the red rock of the gorge makes for a stunning place.  The gorge is as beautiful as I remember it – one of my favourite places.

Day 90: Boodjamulla National Park (Waanyi country)

We started off the morning, pre-sunrise, on what is known as the Constance Track.  This takes you to the top of one of the hills near the campground where you can have a wonderful view of the savannah country below, of sunrise, and of the morning (or evening) sun on the gorge.  We were about 15 minutes too late for sunrise at the top of the hill, but the light on the red rock of the gorge was still beautiful.  The seeding head of the spinifex, the main grass in these parts, just glows in this light.

    

    

There were quite a few plants of Wickham’s Grevillea flowering which brought an additional touch of red to the scrub.

    

The main activity for the day was kayaking down the gorge, or at least the middle and upper gorges (you are not allowed for cultural reasons in the lower gorge).  This was a wonderful experience, except for the kayak portage where for some reason we missed the track back down to the river between the two sections of gorge and carried one of the kayaks for much longer than we needed to have. Had to laugh at our oversight when we finally worked out that the put-in spot was soooo much closer to where we put out.

We took our time and just meandered around the edges of the gorge, criss-crossing our way to a final set of rapids which indicates the end of kayakable water.  

                                    

The trees along the highest parts of the gorge are amazing. They find some little crevice to grow in then send roots all the way down to the water. These roots are visible all over the gorge.  

               

In other parts, groves of pandanus and/or Livistona palms line the edges of the water, forming beautiful reflections in the water.

    

    

We were delighted to see one large freshwater crocodile sunning itself on a log near the bank in the  upper gorge section. It was so well camouflaged that it could easily have been missed except for the fact that I was considering that point as a possible ‘get-out-of-kayak-to-get-a-better-look-at-a-tree-spot’. I didn’t see the croc until I was pretty close. I know freshwater crocodiles are not considered dangerous but this one was a decent size (<2m) and I’m not going to test the theory out.

One interesting feature of this gorge is that sometimes the water has a film on the top that looks like a whole heap of pollen is floating.  It is however, undissolved calcium carbonate.  Apparently, on very hot and still days it can look and feel like a layer of custard on some parts of the water!

The water in the gorge is quite cold and very refreshing after a decent kayak in the middle of the day.  You don’t need to stay in long to feel the therapeutic effects.

I went for a wander in the afternoon on the Botanical Track, a lovely little walk that meanders down part of a creek coming out of the gorge. So many birds, so many feeding on mistletoes that seemed to like a fig as their host plant.  A range of interesting plants to be found also, although not many in flower at present.

              

    

Before sunset fell, we took the kayaks out again, this time just in the middle gorge and enjoyed the evening on the water. Very peaceful.

    

Day 91: Boodjamulla National Park (Waanyi country)

Early to mid-morning is by far the best time for walking in these parts since it becomes quite hot by early afternoon. Therefore, we head off reasonably early to to combine two lookout tracks, one over the middle gorge and one over the upper gorge. Both were loop tracks so we only had a very small section of track to walk along twice.   Of course the views were great, and the trackside scenery interesting.

 View of middle gorge looking downstream

 View of middle gorge

 View of Indarri Falls

 View of upper gorge 

 View of rocks beyond upper gorge

 View of spinifex-covered hillside

In the afternoon, a little earlier than yesterday, we set off again in the kayaks, this time to repeat the whole gorge run.  What a wonderful time to do it!  As we were setting out, the last of the tour boats (quiet electric-motor run ones) was returning as were the hire canoes.  By the time we got into the upper gorge we were the only ones there. The late afternoon light was beautiful and the whole place so peaceful.  We found the resident croc again, this time on the opposite side of the gorge, sunning itself before hiding/feeding in the evening. By the time we returned to camp, the sun had set.

Day 92: Boodjamulla National Park to Leichhardt Falls

We began the morning reliving a memory of 21 years ago, a walk in the spinifex on the Island Stack Track that we did with the boys.  These days, the track is well formed and well maintained but back then, the spinifex came well onto the track and the boys who hadn’t worn long pants were forced into ‘doing the spinifex walk’ – shorts around their shins!  Pete relived this – just for one unnecessary moment!  (No, I won't include the photo.)

The walk itself has great views down into the lower gorge and also into what is known as the Dingo Dreaming area, an area of much importance for the Waanyi people. You can also visit the Dingo Dreaming area via a track down the bottom of the Island Stack where you can see aboriginal etchings and paintings and a shelter.  From above it is not difficult to see why this place would have been important.  There is a confluence of waterways, beautiful shelter under sandstone overhangs, and trees/palms galore for shade. And of course, plenty of food. It is not a place where photographs are allowed.

On the walk I did see another of my favourite trees.  This time it was fruiting.  Hopefully that gives me a chance to find out what it is.  (P.S. I now know that this is the Malara, or Gardenia pyriformis subsp. orientalis.)

   

After morning tea, we headed off on our way towards Karumba, with the intention of stopping somewhere along the way. A spot at Leichhardt Falls looked promising.

Despite being gravel for all but the last 60km, the road from Boodjamulla to Gregory Downs was in very good nick. We headed north from Gregory Downs through stations like Augustus Downs and Floraville.  Just as we turned into this road, everything looked green.  Apparently, a couple of weeks ago there had been unseasonal patchy rain.  For about 20km, the country looked good, with fresh grass shoots everywhere.  It then reverted to the dry savannah country that it normally is at this time of the year.  This road was also in very good condition most of the way although we had to pull off the road entirely in a few places to let road trains pass.  The dust cloud they leave behind is not worth trying to drive through.

We arrived at Leichhardt Falls mid-afternoon. There were quite a few other campers there, but we had 40 metres between us and neighbouring people so it was still pleasant. A little croc sunning itself on the other side of the river reminded us of the ‘don’t swim’ rule very clearly.  

There was no water running over the falls.  They would look stunning in any sort of flow.  However, the rock platform on the top of the falls is interesting, nevertheless. Another lava flow?  

    

There were lots of Agile Wallabies around and many appeared to be licking something on the rock platform. Salt? Lichen?

All the campers were ‘serenaded’ in the evening by a massive flock of corellas for which trees on the opposite side of the river were obviously their night-time roost.

    

Amazingly we have some sort of reception out here.

Day 93: Leichhardt Falls to Karumba Point (Kurtijar country)

Pete’s birthday and plans to go with it.

We left Leichhardt Falls reasonably early, headed to Karumba Point via Normanton. The road here was like a highway – hang on, it is.  We are travelling on Highway No. 1, even if most of it is gravel. I don’t think it will be long before this section is tarred.  Already a few sections have bitumen and work is being done in other sections that looks as if bitumen will be the end outcome.

Although we had a coffee here, we will visit the sights of Normanton properly on our way out again, since the road east continues out of there, rather than Karumba. 

The country between Normanton and Karumba was quite interesting.  After crossing the Norman River there is quite a large expanse of land known as the Mutton Hole Wetlands.  Then there is typical savannah country for a bit, after which there is a large area of salt marsh.  

Along the road in this area were sections of drain with water in it and lots of brolgas. We had noticed brolgas in cattle watering holes all the way from Boodjamulla.

                                        

Karumba is divided into two settlements, Karumba proper and Karumba Point. We are staying in the more touristy Karumba Point and are lucky to have secured a site that backs onto the salt marsh. A lovely view and it seems that the ocean breeze is enough to cool us down a bit.

Our plan for Pete’s birthday was a three and a half hour sunset cruise on the Norman River and just out into the Gulf.  It was lovely and included quite informative commentary about Karumba.  We passed by the zinc processing plant, the prawn fishery headquarters, and the Barramundi Centre that are along the river in Karumba proper. These three places are the major employers of the town. There used to be live cattle exports from here but no longer. The cattle go to Cairns to be shipped to Indonesia from there. Hard to believe live animal exports still happen.  I know jobs in Indonesia would be lost if the exports stopped but …

The cruise people fed a hand-raised Black-necked Stork, which is now free to go in the wild, and put pilchards out for Whistling and Black Kites to take if they chose.  They did choose, but did so over quite a long period of time. We saw one of the resident saltwater crocodiles and received another reminder not to test them out.

    

We were fed nibblies and prawns and were given plenty of drinks. They even had cake (not specifically for Pete) and the whole boat sang Happy Birthday when I let them know the significance of the day. 

  

Once out in the waters that are the start of the Gulf or the end of the Norman River, we waited for a while, chatting with others on the boat. We watched a pelican that landed on a sandbank also wait for sunset.

Sunset was beautiful but it was pretty much back to land when the sun finally sank below the horizon. The boat turned on its party colours to say goodbye at the shore.

    

                                         

 We then bumbled along the shoreline in the semi-dark to get to the Karumba Point Hotel for a little more dinner – a shared pizza.

Day 94: Karumba (Kurtijar country)

We decided to get our bikes out and cycle the track between Karumba Point and Karumba today. We hoped to have a coffee right at the last point, the Barramundi Centre, but we got there (8.5 hot kilometres later) only to find that the café was closed, undergoing some sort of renovations.  Bummer!  Anyway, the Barramundi Centre has a bit of a barramundi/Karumba information centre and so we wandered around that, which was interesting.  I didn’t know, but now do, that all barramundi begin life as males and most change to females in their adulthood.  I wonder what the evolutionary logic is behind that?

 Barramundi Centre (not my photo)

We finally found somewhere to have morning tea in Karumba and then followed that up with our second COVID booster shop at the Karumba Pharmacy. We’ve been meaning to do it since learning that we were eligible, but it seems that this is the first chance we’ve had.  All done now.

In the afternoon we took the bikes out again to have a look at a boardwalk near the mouth of the river. Well, the boardwalk bit lasted for about 50 metres, then I think the track joined up with the one we’d done in the morning.  We tied the bikes up and went for a bit of a stroll around, but it was too hot to be very enjoyable so we gave that up.

We had decided to try the hotel again as it is apparently THE place to see sunset at Karumba.  We scored a reasonable table (all the beachside ones were reserved) only to find we had front row seats for couple travelling around the place with their guitars, picking up gigs where they can.  They played well and she had a lovely voice!  

Most of the music was of our era, the volume was perfect and so we had a perfect evening.  They played till the sun went down.  We hung around to see the colours then headed off back to camp on the bikes.

Day 95: Karumba to Gilbert River via Normanton and Croydon (Kurtijar and Bugulmara country)

After deciding that it was too far to travel to Cobbold Gorge in one day, we decided to stop after Croydon somewhere and leave travel to Cobbold Gorge for tomorrow.

First stop was the Mutton Hole Wetlands on the edge of the Norman River at Normanton.  Unfortunately, we didn't see a huge number of birds but the area would be a bird watcher's paradise just after the wet season. We did see a few though.

    

     Black-faced Woodswallows                                         Black-fronted Dotterel

    

      Black-winged Stilt                                                        Greater Egret

    

      Magpie Geese                                                              Radjah Shelducks

We then turned our attention to history and went to view the historic sights of Normanton.  First stop, the historic Normanton Railway Station, where we had morning tea.  From this station, it is possible to catch a 1950s rail motor (a bus-like train engine) to Croydon and back, a journey that takes some 5 hours by train (as compared to one and a half hours by car). For train buffs this would be something.  This railway was set up originally when Croydon was a gold-mining town and Normanton was the major port.  Croydon no longer mines gold and with the river having silted up too much, Normanton is no longer a port.

                

We then went to the old Burns Philp building, which would once have been the centre of the town. It now houses the town library and information centre.  The information centre part had a very interesting history of the Aboriginal station workers.

    

There are also some features of the town left from the late 1800s, notably the guttering of the main street, a hitching post and some old street lamps.

And, as is the case with many old Australian towns, the old police station/lockup/gaol features in Normanton too.

Saw a few interesting signs in Normanton.

Onwards to Croydon, an old mining town. While it was only a big centre for a short period of time in the late 1800s, Croydon still has some lovely old buildings that the shire has worked hard to preserve. There is the old police sergeant's residence, the court house and the hall.  These were all rather lovely buildings.

                                       

    

In its heyday there were 36 hotels in town and in more recent times there were still 2 butchers.  Now there is one hotel and no butchers.

Another fascinating part of town was the Chinese Temple archaeological site.  In recent times people have rediscovered the remains of a Chinese Temple and with the help of descendants of those Chinese who came to Croydon in the gold rush, a fitting tribute to these people is being made.  There are little markers with stories of some dozen Chinese people whose history is known - all interesting.  In one case, a white person who stole a mosquito net off a Chinese gardener was actually gaoled for 6 months!  No-one knows if the Chinese person ever had their mosquito net returned.  Lots of little anecdotes like that. 

 Pig oven

 A typical information stone

Modern day Croydon is expensive!  We had to get a few vegetables ... there was not a lot of choice.  Here's what I had to pay for my zucchini (I only bought one) and here's what I didn't pay for broccoli.

   

We have ended up at a free camp near the Gilbert River for the night.