Wylie Adventures; There and Back (Finke Desert Race 4)

  Wednesday 30th June Karumba! Red tailed black cockatoo staying out of easy reach We were up nice and early,  in time to leave the donga at 8:20am for the birdwatching cruise at 9am. We drove into the town and walked down to the jetty on Gilbert St. No people or boat wasn't a good sign. After waiting around hopefully for some time we managed to call the organiser of the Ferryman tours and left messages which they finally returned. Apparently there was a mix up in days, a death in their family, no cruise today but we are booked in for tomorrow. Map showing Karumba which is a bit off the Savannah Way but very worthy of a visit As there was no bird cruise this morning, we went for a bit of a drive around the local wetlands and even the golf course, and found lots of birds but they were pretty shy and distant. On the way back to our accommodation we got a few good shots of brolgas that were standing right next to the road. Didn't even get out of the car for these guys!  Back...

Tuesday 29 June Normanton to Karumba Gulf of Carpentaria Famous Kris the Croc at Normanton Leaving Normanton after a leisurely start.. queued for fuel then visited the visitor Centre. Lots of info including on the local bird life. Visited Kris the Croc and headed to Karumba. Lots of info on local birdlife at the tourist Centre. This Bustard is the bird that we claimed feathers from when we came across where one had been plucked - for our hats! We passed Mutton Hole Wetlands Conservation area as we left, but hadn't allowed time to investigate - not this time. But, from the road we drove past, pelican, ibis, egrets possible magpie geese, water lilies. Didn’t stop. Warm sunny day, 28C by 10am. Station. Cattle and horses Loads of brolgas by the road in water ways. Another stork. We are on the Matilda Way leading into Karumba now. So many brolgas! In Karumba we did the shopping for groceries and had a nice pepper pie each from the bakery followed by a thick shake and lamington at the ca...

  Monday 28th June Adel's Grove to Normanton, Qld Started the day with a call to home to  see what happened with mum at the hospital to fix up her skin tear last night. So glad big brother was there to be with her as she would be distressed and confused on her own. The usual 6 hour stint in emergency and returned her to her aged care home after midnight. Hence I unusually woke him when I rang at 8:30 this morning. Amazing that we had Optus coverage at this remote location. Taking a photo is how you show the 'office' what you need to pay for! Packed up camp at Adel's grove, filled up with fuel and headed off. The road back to the Savannah Way 7050km on the clock since leaving home, and a long way to go. Kms of termite mounds Friendly locals Alternative route to Dimadgee through the station and water crossings. A very strange route and we felt like we must have taken the wrong road a few times, but all well and interesting. No problems with passing through. Our anticlockw...

Sunday 27 June Lawn Hills Gorge Breakfast at Adel's Grove Up early at Adel's Grove camp ground and up to the office to work out transport to the national park, Lawn Hill, for walking and our canoe paddle to the gorge. We camped in 'The Grove' The problem was that our tent was pitched atop the car so we didn't want to have to break camp and drive! Finally, it was arranged that we would go and get our stuff organised and someone would drive us up to Lawn Hill Gorge. Canoe was booked for 12 and we wanted to do some walking ahead of the paddle. Bushland at Lawn Hill We quickly grabbed our cameras and swimmers and made some sandwiches and headed up to the front office where we waited for a lift. A young local took us in a 4wd which was rather 'agricultural' but did the job. He was very friendly and chatty and dropped us off in the car park and said he’d be back at 2pm to get us. Look Out at Lawn Hill He recommended the dingo dreaming track and the lookout track f...

 June 26th Queensland: Hell's Gate to Adel's Grove Fuel at Hell's Gate (just kidding, they did have the real thing too) An early rise but a late start after mucking around with contacting unisuper before realising it was Saturday! Too carried away with being back on the internet to stop and see what day of the week it was! We posted mums 2nd postcard at Hell’s gate as they were expecting the mail plane today. We still found a few river crossings A distant emu Our intended and preferred road to Adel's Grove, just East of Doomadgee, was closed apart from local traffic so we had to divert and go a lot further to get there. Hells Gate to Adel's Grove/Lawn Hill Wills Developmental Rd to Gregory Downs We stopped at Tirrana Springs roadhouse just before the next turn off and topped up with diesel. A big frog in the toilet had to swim hard to stay in the bowl when flushed! Apparently the closed road wasn’t really closed and is ok for the return trip. It was a rather longer ...