Tuesday June 22nd 2021

Lorella Springs, Savannah Way NT. Camping out night 2.

A beautiful morning in the wilderness. Mist drifting across the river in dawn light.

Morning view from the camp site

Handy road signs to keep you on track, in MOST places

Morning coffee was at the gulf. We parked on the sandy beach while we explored the beautiful white sands and turquoise waters. 

Beautiful waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria

At the Gulf we flew the drone which attracted a lot of interest from the local small eagle/kites both high and low. We chatted with a couple of travelers who recommended Karumba and Lawn Springs.

Eagle's eye view of the gulf and us.

The tide was too high to do as had been suggested and walk a mile out to sea. There's the crocodile issue too that made this an unattractive option (and sharks). Nonetheless there was still plenty of room for the tide to rise further as we noted it getting uncomfortably close to the car tyres while we drank our tea. Discretion being the better part of valour we decided to move on and head back from the Gulf before the tide rose any further.

Rising tide

Stopped for lunch at the Scary Thing swamp. Saw a dingo, not fussed just curious to see us and retreated. No scary things.

From 'beach camp' at the gulf down to the new Carpentaria Rd. Plan to camp at Nanny's retreat.

Egrets and spoonbills at Scary thing swamp

We moved on to the next stop, along a very interesting 4WD track, then a bit of a hot walk for a welcome swim in Helicopter pool-Its possible that someone forgot to put on his swimmers :)

Helicopter Pool, worth the walk and drive

Huge spinifex on the walk back from the pool

The plan was to camp at Nanny's retreat but when we got there it looked very unattractive, just rocks and lots of cars. Maybe we missed something but decided to move on.

In the end, it was getting late so we camped by the road past Nanny’s retreat. The only traffic for the night being some of the young station staff looking for their friends. Good luck in a million acres!

Cooking up a storm and a few minor storage adjustments.

The left over sausages were turned into fried rice and veges.

Loads of birds but very shy so very difficult to identify.

What we saw today:

• Sea eagle big
• Bird Like a female koel or pheasant, most likely a pheasant coucal
• Lots of bright orange grevillea probably GREVILLEA pteridifolia
  and red grevillea
• Lots of flowering wattle
• Great camp sites along the river
• Gulf of Carpentaria
• Yellow chat
• Tiny pigeons
• Dingo
• Spoonbills
• Egrets
• Ducks
• Ibis
• Baby frill neck crossed road
• Lots of tiny dragons

Grevillea parallela

The days warm up quickly into the 30 Cs but generally cool down quickly in the evening and we need the sleeping bag on top of the blanket. Tonight at 7:40pm we are still sitting around the fire in t shirts. A warm wind blowing.