After Cloncurry, we drove in the direction of Normanton. Then, ( after approx 180km, at Burke and Wills roadhouse ) we headed west towards the Northern Territory. This brought us to a lovely little spot called Gregory Downs.
With a caravan park and a pub and not much else, it was the discovery of the Gregory River nearby which provided the attraction.
Grandparents, parents and children alike, all had heaps of fun jumping into the river at one spot and letting the current carry us quickly downstream and then jumping out to do it all over again .All accompanied by cheers of encouragement from bystanders, whoops of joy and much camaraderie. Plenty of vans were lined up side by side along the river, all free camping and there was constant chatter and meeting of new people.We were entreated to move our van down by the river to join them but I quite enjoyed swimming there by day and then retreating to our peaceful site up at the park to watch the sun go down.
After 3 nights at Gregory Downs, we made the foray into Adel's Grove. This fantastic little camp ground began as a government project in the 1930's. A Frenchman by the name of Albert de L'estange was commissioned to plant thousands of different trees ( maybe to see what would grow, but I'm just guessing.)
We felt like Robin Hood's merry men camped among the trees and kicking the leaf litter as we walked along under the dappled sunlight. It was a very relaxing place to stay and the boys enjoyed swimming in Lawn Hill Creek ( They stayed in for 6 hrs one day! ).This beautiful, fresh, clear water and that in the gorge at Lawn Hill is thought to originate either in New Guinea or The Great Dividing range and is possibly up to 10 000 years old.
Lawn Hill National Park is an easy 10km drive from Adel's Grove and is a great place to explore by canoe. It's quite serene paddling quietly up the Gorge with red sandstone walls towering 60m high on either side whilst spotting freshwater crocodiles lazily sunning themselves by the banks. Further up where we swam by a waterfall, dozens of newly hatched brown frogs were jumping about on the rocks.
Reluctantly,after 3 nights we left Lawn Hill and Adel's Grove and continued our travels.
After days of driving through dry, dusty, flat plains covered with yellow spinifex, the scenery between Cloncurry and Mt Isa was a pleasant surprise. The flat plains gave way to distant red hills which bcame more and more frequent and closer together. Whilst they were still arid and sparsely vegetated the land in between became greener with bushes lining what must be waterways during the wet season.
We knew that the town of Mt Isa was built to service the mine, but the first sight of the smoke stack as you come over the hill and the proximity of the mine to the town still comes as a bit of a shock!!
So too, have we been surprised to still need doonas and blankets on the beds at night... Some of our card games have been retired indoors where it is warmer!
Yesterday we played tourists and went on the Hard Times Mine tour. Whilst not a working mine, they do use it for training purposes and our tour guide still works as a contractor at the mine, so was up-to-date with his information. He was quite a character and regaled us all with some hilarious stories of miners' antics.
We have one more day here at " the Isa" before wending our way to The Territory.
