Awake early after a great nights sleep , we were woken by the delivery truck/B double and forklift unloading it , so we got up and got organised . We had to pack the ute and close up the RV .
It’s off to Adels Grove , which is near Lawn Hill National Park NW Queensland . We had 146 klms to Gregory Downs , before turning west toward Lawn Hill . The road out to Gregory Downs was good , bitumen all the way , with about 60 klms of single lane . We only met 4 road trains , only one of which had 4 trailers , the rest 3 , and none of them were on the single lane !!!
We had stacks of wildlife today , the kangaroos & wallabies were feeding on the edge of the road because they’d had some moisture/rain at some stage as the weeds were green beside the tar . Because of this , there was plenty of road kill , hence lots of whistling kites and crows and a few wedge tailed eagles . We hadn’t seen any emus till today , and we saw 6 of them , all at different times . There were the odd few cattle that decided it would be better on the other side of the road as well - just a few obstacles for the day - Lyn coped quite well !!!
We had a toilet break at Gregory Downs and continued out - another 85 klms to Adels Grove . The road was still good - mainly due to the Century Mine , where they mine silver , lead & zinc . Now remember Karumba and MMG factory , they process the zinc and export it . So they look after the road fairly well - it is dirt , but has been treated with bitumen so it stands up to truck traffic .
The road past there however is reminiscent of Cobbold Gorge , but different , this one has dust holes and rocky sections with thousands of loose rocks , still has corrugations - teeth rattling ones also , but worth the drive . We drove through quite differing countryside today , here are some pics.
Upon arrival , we checked in , getting so much information about the park and where to go , set up etc . It has a restaurant and bar and takeaway . You can hire tents , cabins , van sites & camp sites and canoes , they do a series of tours around to different sites and a cruise up the creek - all for a fee of course .
We found a spot and set up our new tent we purchased back in Rockhampton . It claimed one person could set it up in a few minutes , we had it up in 10 mins . It has no poles , instead there are 3 tubes that you pump up , that act as poles - it’s 11 ft x 9 ft , 3 windows & an entry - we are suitably impressed !! We put a tarp up above it , to help with falling leaves etc. This is our home for the next few nights .
We had some lunch and wandered down to the Lawn Hill creek , about 25m from our tent , and followed it for a while , finding the swimming area , and some walking tracks . One crossed the creek , so we went across and found some rapids , and stood in the cool water for a while , cooling us off nicely . The creek is a beautiful colour and crystal clear , fish swimming around happily - some good size ones at that !!
We Headed back to camp for some salsa & beer , there is birdlife everywhere here , this one came and visited . There was also a curious looking flower .
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