Off to the cape tomorrow will update the site in about 3 weeks will also add some photos

Cheers all

15 September 2008 Cairns

Up early, to Holloways Beach for brunch, then we went separate ways for more shopping and last minute things to do. Back for some final packing and then to Palm Cove for mail for Mike and Jan that was forwarded from Darwin and drinks (thanks Julia and Dave) at the surf club. Back home for nibbles and dinner

14 September 2008 Cairns

Time to catch up on getting bits and pieces and supplies. We all went our separate ways and did what we needed to. Sall cooked a lovely baked dinner with Fannie Bay Beef – had a couple of drinks and then bed.

13 September 2008 Mt Surprise to Cairns

Jan and Mike decided to take the road to Innisfail to try it out, Sally and Col the road through Kuranda. Both enjoyed the trip – Sally said that she had a permanent foot brake print on her side of the car. Got to Lee and Johnno’s etween t 2.00 and 3.00. Unpacked the cars – Sall and Col did some laundry, Judy came over and we had some drinks and a lovely dinner.

12 September 2008 Karumba to Mt Surprise

Woke up early packed up camp. Had buns that the lady at the Karumba Bakery gave us because the shop was closing down soon. Lovely. Jan and Mike off first – went to Normanton to fill up and visited the Bakery again, passed Sally and Col on the way out of town. Jan and Mike then stopped at the Norman River for some photos of the train line, Sal and Col passed them then. Decided to meet in Croydon. On the way stopped at Black Bull siding (a train station for the Gulflander). Croydon was an old Mining town and the end of the line for the Gulflander. We saw emus running in a property parallel to the road – The first for Jan. As we left Croydon Mike Edwards rang – said to look out for his mum and dad who were in the area – we didn’t see them though. Stopped at Georgetown to have a break, decided to stay at Mt Surprise. Stayed at the Bedrock Caravan Park. What lovely people and a great place to stay. Organised to have their BBQ dinner and salad. Set up camp and then to bed relatively early. Did have a few drops of rain today – first in a long while. Met Kim from Canberra who was cycling from Brisbane to Darwin then on to Asia and Europe.

11 September 2008 Leichhardt River to Karumba

Up early toast and coffee for breakfast, packed up camp and on the road by 8.30 (pretty good for us). On the way to Normanton stopped at the Burke and Wills camp 119 for the cultural side of the trip, then into Normanton, what a really lovely town – very old world. Found the bakery in Brodie street and had nice pies for lunch. Went to the bank and then on to Karumba. Stayed at the Sunset Caravan Park - but if anyone else stays there make sure that you do not move the hay bales – they are covering water pipes, although no one told us about it – we had the whole park talking about us!!! Went for a swim and shower – the best showers so far rated at number 1, had a couple of beers and then to the Sunset Tavern for dinner (even though Sally didn’t get to have chicken as Colin ordered the wrong thing)and a QLD sunset. In bed by 9.00

10 September 2008 Lawn Hill to Leichhardt River

Jan and Mike got up early (6.30) packed the car up and went for a canoe ride down the gorge – lots of photos taken, then back to move on. First stop Gregory Downs pub. Jan had seen photos and wanted to stop and have a beer. Sal and Col put some fuel in the car. After that went in to Burketown for Fuel and to buy some beer. Had some lunch (left over roast beef sandwiches). As the time was getting away from us we decided that we couldn’t get to Karumba at a reasonable hour, so thought that we might try to camp at Leichhardt Falls. Got there and there was no falls, but there was some water still in the river. Sally found a huge Saw fish in the water. We decided to suss out the other side of the river – much nicer – it was our first bush camp. There were heaps of corellas (hundreds if not thousands). Mike dug a pit toilet for us to use. Had some cheese and biscuits and a couple of beers to watch the lovely sunset. We also watched the passing skippies, cows and corellas. Had an easy dinner and then early to bed.

9 September 2008 Lawn Hill

Sal and Col went for a walk to the falls and then the circuit around the gorge. Mike slept in still trying to fight off the cold that he has, Jan read magazines. Sal and Col came back after the walk about 3 hours later – they were knackered. Mike made some Bubble and Squeak with the left over baked dinner bits and pieces. Mike then went back to bed for a sleep. Sal and Col went to the gorge for a swim – took the noodle chairs to make it a bit easier as their legs were sore from all the walking this morning. Did some rearranging of the contents of the cars, Sally made a lovely stew. We played 500 and then to bed relatively early. Tonight Sal and Mike were having coughing competitions.

8 September 2008 Lawn Hill

Woke up relatively early, had bacon and tomatoes for breakfast yum. Went for an exploration to the cascades and then to Wild Dog Dreaming – lovely. Came back and had something to drink and decided to sit in the gorge to cool off. Came back to camp and played a few hands of 500. Sal and Col put on a baked dinner and Mike and Jan went for a walk to the sunset lookout – worth the experience. The baked dinner was YUM, they excelled themselves (it was the first time Sally cooked one in a camp oven). Played some more 500 with changed partners then bed.

7 September 2008 Hells Gate to Lawn Hill

Up at 6.30 – what a lovely morning but the flies are a bugger. On our way to Lawn Hill today, we were very surprised at the quality of roads for this part of the trip. We decided to go the alternate route although the signage was a problem at parts we were not quite sure if we were on the right track or not, eventually got there though after passing many cows and lots of dry creek and river beds. Finally got to Adels Grove -a private caravan park just outside the national park. Had some lunch and then pushed on to Lawn Hill. Lawn Hill was about 14 kms down the track and we were very surprised with the camping arrangements. Rather than provide a separate camping area for each party (similar to the national parks in the Territory) it is basically a big carpark where you put the car on the outside and tent on the other side of the fence. After much tooing and froing and Jan grumbling about it, we decided to give it a go and picked a space – Jan and Mike decided to use the tent for the stay – Mike was still really sick with his cold and Sally still hadn’t gotten over hers yet. It was extremely hot so after setting up the camp we decided to have something to drink and then have a swim in the Gorge (which was only a 2 min walk from the camp site) it was lovely and cool – made it all worthwhile came back had dinner and early night for bed.

6 September 2008 Borroloola to Hells Gate (Qld)

Up early – Will made us a lovely Bacon and Eggs breakfast then on our way. The roads today are like chalk and cheese from yesterday – as Col was saying it was like we are now on a superhighway. Travelled most of the day today stayed overnight at Hells Gate Roadhouse (although its only a Caravan Park now) as they have closed down the Roadhouse. Watched the news, had dinner and went to Bed very early. Poor Sally and Mike have both got colds – Sal has had hers for a while and Mike’s is just coming on.

5 September 2008 Lorella Springs to Borroloola

Woke up early Mike and Jan had a flat – bugger – had to change the tire and will need to get it fixed in Borroloola. Would have been nice to stay a few more days as there is so much to do here. The drive to Borroloola wasn’t fun the road is so rough; none of us really enjoyed it too much. Arrived at Borroloola around 2.00, Sal and Col needed to get to a hardware shop – the Jockey wheel had broken on the trailer and Jan and Mike needed to get the tyre fixed. No luck on the jockey wheel, but found Terry Fisher the mechanic and he fixed it for us – excellent service. Grabbed something to eat from the shop and went and met at the boat ramp – lovely place with a bit of shade. We knew that Colin’s cousin Amanda wasn’t home from work until after 4.00, so waiting around for a bit. Made very welcome, Amanda and Will organised a BBQ with friends for the night, was lovely but we were all pretty buggered by the big day we had had and needed some sleep. Being in a typical community didn’t get much. Sal and Jan are a bit over the song La Bamba – the house behind were playing it over and over and over (at least up until 4.00 in the morning).

4 September 2008 Limmen National Park to Lorella Springs

Continued through Limmen national Park. First stop Limmen Bight River for some photos, then on to the Rangers Station (not much there though but nice scenery). Decided that we would go on to Lorella Springs for the night. Went via the Butterfly Springs, a great place to camp and the only place to swim in the National park. Col had a swim and we stopped for a small break, then on to Lorella. The road was extremely rough, but we finally got there. Set up camp and grabbed a couple of beers (as recommended by the host at the campsite) and went to the Hot Springs for a swim. Temperature is a constant 38 degrees. Back to the camp and put on some dinner – played a game of 500 and then decided to do the Sunset walk which was recommended. Big hill, not wearing walking shoes, so Sal and Jan decided to go back to the camp to stir the pot. The boys went on to take photos for us. Had a nice Chicken curry for dinner – more 500, then bed.
...............Not much more time later, MOOO, then another MOOO and many more of them (well we are on a cattle station) A backpacker decided that she had to wake us to tell us that we had buffalo behind the tents – don’t think so but thanked her anyway
.............Not that much more later Jan heard a noise outside the tent (it sounded like something eating the cover off our tent) so she sent Mike to have a look, Mike didn’t have a torch so had to get one from the car first, then he turned around and came face to face with a big black cow who had decided to come to investigate, back to sleep

3 September 2008 Mataranka to Limmen National Park

Time to leave Mataranka, stopped in Mataranka for petrol and one of the famous Mataranka pies (they were huge and worth $7.90) each couple shared one. Drove from Mataranka to Roper Bar, not much there except the store and a caravan park. Mike bought some cokes for his bourbon, 600ml bottles for $4.20 each – just shows what you have to pay to live in a remote community.
From Roper Bar to Limmen National Park. The road was pretty corrugated, but there were some lovely spots here. We stopped at one spot which was a bit of a fishing camp setup. They had put in a couple of steps to take into account the tide and some platforms for people to stand on. We stayed for a beer and a bit of a look around. We decided that we would stay at the Town River camp. Mike and Jan went into one area for a bit of a reconnaissance, not too good though as Mike found the sand – yep there was the first bogging of the trip. Eventually got out and decided that we would not stay there (mainly because it was so close to the river and the Crocs. Drove on a bit further and found the actual camping site – what a great setup. Didn’t have showers, but did have toilets and a great camping site. Went for a wander down to the River and talked to the southerners who were camping. They discussed the saltie that was cruising past. Mike went down later and actually saw it go past – wouldn’t catch us staying there. Set the TV and Sat dish up to watch Spicks and Specks, early to bed

2 September 2008 Mataranka

Jan and Mike woke up late – lovely. Col and Sal were already up. Sal was making coffee and Col has gone for a swim in the Hot Springs. We all sat around and chilled out for a while, Col set up the Sat and TV, we had some lunch and then down to the Hot Springs for a swim. We have commenced the 500 tournament today. After that Mike, Col and Jan went for a walk to Steve’s Hole – this was on sunset, we all wished that we had more time as it was a great place to visit – just got dark too quick and of course we didn’t have any torches with us. Had dinner when we got back, wrote some postcards and played more 500, then bed.

1 September 2008 Mataranka

Sal and Col purchased the Sat Dish and made their way to Mataranka. Jan and Mike were supposed to leave Darwin between 10.30 to 11.30; by the time they actually left it was 3.30. About 1.30 Sally rang to see how they were going and Mike asked if they could organise a cabin for them as there was no way that they were leaving any time soon. Yes we know the first night of the very big trip was spent in luxury in a cabin at Mataranka. Jan and Mike arrived in Mataranka at 8.30, were met by Sal and Col and a cool beer, also there was Mike and Carmel (local nurses from Mataranka). Stayed up and had a few welcoming drinks – the suggestion was made to stay an extra day which was agreed to with enthusiasm. (As well as organising the cabin for the second night for Jan and Mike)

30 August 2008

Sal and Col have started their leg of the trip. Left Darwin and stayed w and Steve at Tindall Airbase. On the way they purchased a TV monitor and will be getting a Sat Dish tomorrow so we can watch Spicks and Specs and the Bill.

Jan and Mike were busy still packing and cleaning - so much to do. They had Harry Steve and Tracy over for baked dinner.