Girls at the gates

23 July

After a day of R and R with Bob and Sue we packed up and moved on to Gregory Downs, stopping off at the Cloncurry library on the way through, to use the internet for emails etc.
Passed through a few locust storms along the way
Gregory Downs was an expensive fuel fill up ($1.69) and a nights camping a little way back from the river away from the crowds. We didn’t manage to find the idyllic spot that David had suggested until further exploration up river the next morning

24 and 25 July

The road was dry and dusty with quite a few passing road trains.
Next stop Lawn Hill where we camped at Adels Grove just outside Lawn Hill National Park, as there aren’t very many camping sites available at Lawn Hill (20) and we hadn’t pre-booked. Adels Grove was commercial, quite busy and expensive $16 per person per night + 3% for card! but pretty and we scored a nice shady spot not far from the creek.
We used Adels Grove as a base to go to Lawn Hill and we were glad we did as Adels Grove was more sheltered with more facilities. Lawn Hill Park itself was magical though – we went on several walks in the morning including the cascades, the Island Stack and Wild Dog Dreaming,

and then did a 2 hr canoe trip up the Lawn Hill Creek to the Upper Gorge carrying the canoes over to the top of Indarri falls

Spotted a beautiful red winged parrot.

Sebastian Maio bought Lawn Hill as a property and bequeathed the pieces he could not use to the government for National Park. Maio is apparently a rich Brazilian, who came to Australia, could not speak English, and hired a Sydney taxi driver to interpret and drive him around properties for him to buy!
The Lawn Hill creek as it was 15 million years ago had calcite deposits that formed like scum on the top of the water. When it accumulated it sank to the bottom and solidified trapping things in it and formed something called tufa.

This is one wild river. The Gregory was obviously a big river too but the banks less scoured as the gums bound the banks better. The Lawn Hill creek seemed like a devastation zone!
By climbing up surrounding hills at both Adels Grove and Lawn Hill we were able to get a phone signal, thanks to the nearby century copper mine, and were able to make a few phone calls such as to Chasely to wish her a happy 5th birthday.

26 July

Quick trip to Riversleigh the World Heritage Australian fossil mammal site before packing up and heading north. At Riversleigh we went on an 800 m self guided tour of what they called “D Site”, fascinating as to how they could make out whole animals from the fragments of bone in the rock. This is apparently part of a gulf snapping turtle.

Next on to the Savannah Way to Kingfisher Camp. Not a big distance but fairly slow going. Lots of gates to open and close,

some interesting river crossings

lots of bulldust, black cockatoos flying overhead, and an emu with her baby chicks,

finally reaching the oasis of Kingfisher Camp at 6pm. Because we are by now getting quite expert at setting up camp it didn’t faze us that the sun was already on its way down when we arrived.

27 July

This is such a magical place that we decided to have a lay day. Repack the cars; pack away all our cold things – its 38.5 deg in the tent! And generally catch up with letters, photos, etc and enjoy the environment by bushwalking, canoeing in the Nicholson river, where John spotted a crocodile and relaxing.

On the road again tomorrow for Borroloola and King Ash Bay so hope we can do some blog updating from there.........