'Wherarwee' in Oz: Log 28-05 Mt Isa

Having decided not to proceed to the cape we proceeded very quickly back to Mareeba & on to the Savannah Way, down through the Atherton Tablelands stopping at Archer Creek rest area, then on to the hot springs for a relaxing hour before continuing on to the Undara Lava Tubes. Largest & longest in the world & they were immense. Unfortunately the only tour we could get on was at 3:30 PM. The tubes are at least 10m high & 20m wide, although they did narrow down as we went along. Wooden walkways have been constructed as there is always water from seepage at the bottom of the tubes. One of the tubes we visited was still flooded to a depth of about 2m & we went for a swim. Water temp was around 28º & tasted sweet, it also had a pale aqua tint. Leaving there around 5:45 got us back to the Savannah Way just on sunset, the colours in the sky were brilliant but we had to find a place to stay before it got too dark. Pulling over at a place where we could get about 4m off the road we stopped for the night.

Once past Georgetown the road became just wide enough for 1 vehicle, to pass, both vehicles had to put one set of wheels in the dirt. Fortunately traffic was light although we came across a couple of road trains with 3 trailers, very long & very scary. The savannah plains we travelled through consisted of stumpy trees & grasses on very flat ground, but every once in a while there would be a small hill, high enough for us to look down on the plain which stretched to the horizon, breathtaking, & the colours, red soil, brown grasses, a range of greens in the trees & the dark grey of the granite sparkling in the creeks. Beautiful to look at but continually the same so we continued on for more than 500K’s to Normanville & out to Karumba on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The road to Karumba travels through 40K of wetlands bordering both sides of the road, looking out, all you could see was grasses waving in the breeze with patches of water in between. We could see jabirus searching among the weeds for prey. Liz said it looked like Africa & she expected to see a lion at any moment. Arriving there about 5:00PM we settled in at the pub with it’s beer garden facing the sea & waited till sunset. Not as beautiful as the previous night as there was no cloud, but watching the sun sink into the ocean was worth the wait.

Karumba was another nice little town but having seen the sunset I wanted to return to a river we had passed on the way there which upset Liz muchly. When we arrived at the river it was pitch black & as we knew there were crocks in the river Liz said NO Way. So we had to return to Normanville to find somewhere to stay.

Leaving the Savannah Way we put in another big day today, finally stopping at Terry Smith Lookout, near Cloncurry. The terrain today was very boring, no trees, just grasses either side of the road, dusty & very windy. Only in the last 50k did the vegetation change, lots of wattle in flower & bushes with a white flower lining both sides of the road. Liz thought it looked like we were driving through a garden. There were about 4 vans in the rest area when we arrived & the number swelled to about 10 by the time we retired. We decided to have a lay day there for a but of a rest.

I must mention the fauna around here, instead of crows eating the carrion we have wedge tailed eagles, huge birds, & to take off they do 5 or 6 running jumps before getting airborne. As well as roos running across the road we have brahman cattle grazing along the sides &, as you approach, they look up & saunter across. The jabirus as I mentioned, are also a large, long legged bird & they feed wherever there is water. We have also seen our first camel in the wild.

Today, Thursday, after travelling to Cloncurry where we spent some time looking around, we have stopped at Fountain Springs rest area & intend to stay tomorrow as well, then on to Mt. Isa on Saturday. The scenery has changed again with lots of rocky outcrops & rugged hills that look millions of years old.

The town of Mt Isa is not very big but has a great commercial centre with everything one could want. There are several tourist attractions, mines underground hospital, fossicking fields etc. We have stayed in a campground to top up water, charge battery’s, long hot shower etc. as there is not much between here & Tennant Creek.