Wednesday morning saw us up at 6AM and on the road by 7AM. We only had about 300 Km to Camooweal but much of the road is 4WD dirt so we are allowing for very slow travel. We took the road towards Lawn Hill National Park again before turning towards Riversleigh (Myumba). We travelled some 50 Km South East towards Riversleigh Fossil Area D. The road was rough with lots of sharp rocks and varying widths. No traffic to speak of as we were very early. Encountered our first Gregory River crossing just before the Fossil location which we crossed with no issues.
We stopped for a break and a quick tour or the Fossil Discovery at Riversleigh. Interesting but very hot even by mid morning. Nice display area under cover with information about the discovery. Had a quick look at 3 or 4 Fossil areas before returning to the cars.
We had another 30 Km of rough road to tackle before we hit the more significant gravel road between Gregory Downs and Mount Isa/Camooweal. This section was challenging with two more River crossings. The first one was crossing the Gregory River again and was fairly high/strong current. We both made it across but was a bit of an unnerving experience for all of us! The crossing at the O'Shaunnassy River was much easier and less stressful. Very slow going travel as we were taking it easy for safety and reduced stress on our cars/caravans. Completed the first 80 Km of our trip in about 3 hours!
The road improved marginally once we joined the gravel road between Gregory Downs and Mount Isa/Camooweal. That being said we still needed to keep our speed down as conditions varied with a lot of dips/floodways and sharp rocks. Country side was very pretty for most of the trip with beautiful reds/whites/greens on either side of the road. A couple of nice water scenes but no water crossings. Another 120 Km of gravel/dirt/and some sealed sections took us a further 3 hours. We finally rejoined the Barkly Highway for our final 70 Km into Camooweal. Was really happy to see a real highway with shoulders and lines!
Arrived in Camooweal in late afternoon and checked into the Post Office Caravan Park. Nice site with all gravel sites. Has a lovely swimming pool, mobile coverage, and best of all power! I'm sure there electricity meters started cranking like crazy when we hooked everything up and powered up the Air Conditioning, Washing Machine, and every electrical device we had that needed charging! From a speedy setup straight to the swimming pool. Very, very long day of travel and not one we look forward to repeating. We certainly have a feeling of accomplishment from our off road experiences over the last week but also a healthy respect for living/traveling in Remote Outback Australia.
The caravan park is very nice and tidy with the swimming pool being a bonus. Pricing was reasonable at $30/night. Still quite hot but much more comfortable than our last week even without the air conditioning. Nice breeze and some shade. Amenities are good and clean with a 3.5 Star rating! The park appears to be an overnight stay only for travelers heading to the Northern Territory or Northern Queensland. The park fills up quickly most afternoons although not to capacity. Only one other couple spent more than one day here during our stay. We enjoyed an easy dinner and an early night as we were all exhausted.
Thursday was spent cleaning and performing minor repairs/maintenance to the cars/caravans. Sandra and Carol had most of our clothes to wash and the insides of the caravans were a dusty mess. I spent quite a few hours blowing red dust out of the outside of the van. Had a couple of repairs to the electric brakes on the caravan as some wires were disconnected. Rechecked all the tyre pressures on both sets of cars and caravans to ensure everything was back up to highway pressures again. Enjoyed the pool for a few cool downs during the day as well. Topped up the Diesel on both cars for our next leg into the Northern Territory. Had a nice meal with the Ransleys before doing some more stargazing. Sandra and I spent a few hours going through about 400 photos that we had taken over the last week. We weeded them down to 125 that we uploaded to our Web Album.
Got another couple of nice Sunset photos during our stay as well.
Friday saw Sandra cleaning the caravan and car while I got stuck into Blog updates. Got Leichhardt Lagoon and Adels Grove done before lunch. Gave Sandra a bit of help with the car as well. Back into the updates for Camooweal in the afternoon. Warm day again but manageable with a bit of a breeze, swimming pool, and of course Air Conditioning. Spent the afternoon doing a bit of R&R around the pool. Didn't see too much of Camooweal during our visit as have been busy cleaning. I don't think there is a lot to see regardless. That being said we have certainly enjoyed the caravan park and the modern conveniences of mobile coverage, fresh water, and power!
Tomorrow we are leaving Queensland behind as we make our first foray into the Northern Territory. Our plan is to travel West to the Barkly Homestead before turning North on the Tablelands Highway.
It may be awhile again before we have mobile coverage as we are heading up to the Gulf of Carpentaria again. Will talk again when we can.
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