Mt Isa to Katherine via Wonorah Bore, Banka Banka Station and Daly Waters Hotel

Tuesday 20th May

Left Mt Isa early. The area up here is inundated with Ulysses Motor Cycle Club members. They had their annual rally at Alice Springs and apparently there were 2500 in a parade up the main street of Alice. Some of the bikes are amazing with little camper trailers behind them. Every colour of the rainbow and some quite elderly riders.

We arrived at Wonorah Bore about 1.30pm after winding the clocks back 30 minutes at the Queensland/Northern Territory border. The speed limit on the open road in the territory is 130kph so some cars do fly by.

Looking out from the caravan at Wonorah Bore

Wonorah Bore is a very old bore where the drovers used to water the cattle but it has long gone into disrepair but it is quite a nice spot to pull up if you are self sufficient from a bathroom point of view.
We met a lovely lady travelling on her own and enjoyed happy hour together.
There was a lovely sunset and the next morning a stunning sunrise but we couldn't stay outside and enjoy it as the flies drove us back inside.

The caravan parked at Wonorah Bore

Sunset at Wonorah Bore

Sunrise

Sunset

Flattering insect nets

 Then it was on to Banka Banka Station. We had stayed there before. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.

 The people next door were from Wallerawang and he knew Rays aunt and uncle, Carmel and Bob and their family. He was the butcher in Wallerawang and is going home to work at the butcher shop in Portland. Another couple from the Sunshine Coast joined us for a very pleasant happy hour.

And yes we do have happy hour every day. Sometimes on our own and sometimes with nice people and sometimes with d**kheads.. Those of you who travel will know what I mean.

We got away early the next day and were at Daly Waters Hotel just after 11am.

Those of you that have been reading the Blog for a few years will know we have been here before. In 1862 John McDougall Stuart successfully crossed the continent from south to north. After discovering fresh water Stuart named the area Daly Waters in honour of the Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominic Daly. Then cattle drovers used the water for the cattle. The telegraph line followed. Daly waters was a major Air Force base during WW2. The airfield was the first International airfield in Australia serving Australian and American personnel.
Bill Pearce opened a Drovers Store in  1930 which today is the Daly Waters Pub.

We went to the pub for dinner sharing a Beef and Barramundi dinner. Two more people joined us, Greg and Wendy from Victoria. Really nice people who are on their way to Darwin. Entertainment wasn't so good this time. The guys couldn't sing very well. One of them had so much electronics I thought he had a 3 piece girl band backing him and I was looking for them. Ray said to have a look at the box on the table and sure enough it was a backing tape. BUT I did get up and dance to the Time Warp with Wendy and Ray took some photos to prove it.


Next day, Friday 23rd May we were moving on to Katherine. It was a bit cloudy when we woke up and a fairly thick fog rolled in and stayed with us for about 50km up the road. We got to Katherine before lunch and went into town for lunch and to do a bit of shopping. For those of you who know Katherine it hasn't changed that much. The alcohol rules have changed and the locals no longer drink on the median strip in the middle of town. they just hang around outside the shops instead.
We ordered some chairs from the camping store and will pick them up on the way back through in July.

After coming back to camp we went and had a lovely swim in the pool. Very refreshing. It is a very warm afternoon.
The next morning we went down to Katherine River to take some photos. It is a lovely spot with the water tumbling over the weir.

 

We are going for another swim this afternoon and tomorrow we head to Timber Creek and we are booked on a sunset cruise on the Victoria River. So on the next Blog I might have some photos of crocs.

Emerald to Mt Isa via Jericho and Longreach

Wednesday 14th May

Leaving Emerald we headed west to Alpha where there are supposed to be 27 murals. Well we found a few but someone had forgotten to paint them after the sun faded them. So they were a bit of a let down. So we went to Jericho on the River Jordan,
In 1988 the town built a sculpture called The Crystal Trumpeters in memory of the Israelites who walked around the Walls of Jericho for 6 days, before blowing their trumpets on the 7th day and watching as the city walls collapsed. The crystals represent various moments in the Old Testament.

One of the crystal trumpeter depictions

The crystal trumpeter sculpture

A Crystal Trumpeter

There was a free camp there at a place called Redbank Park and it was beautiful. The nicest free camp we have stayed at. Right on the river with some grass around and even some flushing toilets which is always a bonus.

Our camp at Redbank Park, Jericho

The free camp area at Redbank Park, Jericho

River Jordan at Jericho

We left Jericho and headed towards Longreach stopping at Barcaldine for morning tea. We went to the Apex Park beside the Thomson River at Longreach. It is a free camp and is always packed. Everyone keeps a reasonable space between each other so no one is crowding you.

The Apex park free camp at Longreach

Our camp at Longreach. We are in the middle of the picture

Paddle steamers on the Thomson River at Longreach

Thomson River, Longreach

We decided to stay 2 nights as Longreach Show was on Friday and Saturday and we thought that would be nice to go to.

The weather is clear but there is a stiff breeze blowing which keeps the temperature down but stirs up the dust. We went to the show. Only $10 each to get in. Not a lot to see. We looked at some alpacas and learnt about their habits. They had some alpaca garments for sale but they are pretty pricey. A 50g ball of natural spun alpaca wool was $11.50.

Alpaca at Longreach Show

We had a look at the chook pavilion and the arts and crafts and spent some time looking at the cattle judging.

This little bull won first prize in the 16month to 20month section. He is going to be a big boy when he grows up.

Ray had a dagwood dog which he hadn't had for years but was disappointed as it was made with a frankfurt instead of a saveloy.

We bought some beautiful cheese from a couple who go around the show circuit selling cheese from artisan cheese makers throughout the east coast.  We bought some smoked, red Leicester, vintage and a mild blue. I also bought the obligatory show bags, only 2 though.

On Saturday we were on the road again. We stopped at Winton for a late morning tea/early lunch. Leaving Winton we had to pull over again for another wide load, 6 metres this time.

Give Way to another wide load

Next we saw a huge herd of wild camels and an abundance of road kill with various birds getting a good feed from it. We had decided to stop at Kynuna Roadhouse for the night. Nothing special but it was quiet but the flies could pick you up and carry you away. We had dinner and breakfast at the roadhouse.
Next morning we headed to Mt Isa via Cloncurry.
We are staying here for 2 nights to catch up with the washing and the Blog and then we will head further west staying at Wonorah Bore on the Barklay Highway and then over to Three Ways and north up to Banka Banka Station,then Daly Waters to visit the well known pub and then to Katherine. I will update the Blog again in Katherine