Through the Bush to Borroloola

After 4 fantastic days at Adels Grove we packed up, hitched up and were on our way again.  We followed the signs to "KFC".  No we're no having the well known take away chicken for dinner, we going to Kingfisher Camp.  It's only 113km away, but it will take us about 4 hours to get there.

Our first challenge came at our first river crossing.  It took us a few minutes to work out where the road went and Robert waded along the river to find the road out.  The farm road through Lawn Hill Station was in good condition and we continued to negotiate the river crossings without any problems.  We passed through several gates before we reached Bowthorn Station.  More gates and the farm roads here were not as good so we slowed down and "drove to the prevailing conditions".  About 5km from Kingfisher Camp we arrived at the Nicholson River.  This river would be very wide in the wet season.  At this time of year it's easy to negotiate.  More of a problem is the BULLDUST!!!  About 5kms of it and sometimes it seemed bottomless as our wheels were spinning and we were enveloped in a cloud of fine red dust.

Eventually we arrived at the campground.  It was as good as we expected and we had a relaxing couple of days camped under the trees.

Back to the Savannah Way and our first stop is Hell's Gate Roadhouse.

Hell's Gate got its name because in earlier times this was the place that the Queensland Police would guarantee safety to. West of here and you were on your own.  Luckily not the case these days.

We were spoiled by about 20km of sealed road then we're back to the dirt.  The next town is Borroloola in the Northern Territory, about 315km away.  We've got plenty of river crossings on this stretch.  We stopped at Calvert Creek for lunch and then proceeded on 70km to Robinson River Crossing, 95 km from Borroloola to camp for the night.

When we left the car, Cherryl discovered her keys are missing.  OOPS!!  They must be at Calvert Creek because she had them there.  Nothing we can do about it now so we'll camp the night and sort it out tomorrow.

In the morning we get all ready to leave and discover - FLAT TYRE!!  It's really not our day.  An hour later than we'd planned and we're on the road to Borroloola.  We've checked into the McArthur River Caravan Park for a few days.  Once set up it's back into the car and we travel the 300km round trip back to Calvert Creek.  The keys are exactly where Cherryl left them, on the ground where the caravan was parked when we had lunch yesterday.  We're very relieved - the last lost car key cost $800 to replace!

We feel like we've got to know this bit of the Savannah Way.  It's a really beautiful stretch of road with picturesque river crossings.  The grevilleas are in flower - bright orange, yellow, cream and red flowers abound.  There are also many purple kunzea and yellow/gold acacias in flower.

Borroloola is 300km from just about everywhere.  We've cycled our batteries, had the tyre repaired, filled the empty gas bottle and stocked up the food cupboards because we're heading back onto the dirt roads and into the bush tomorrow.  There's not a lot to do here.  The King Ash Fishing Club about 40 km away is a popular camping and fishing area, with many fishing clubs based there.  Across the road from the caravan park is the Waralungku Arts Centre which is worth visiting to see the paintings and other art works from all of the language groups of the Borroloola region.

We'll be out of communications contact again for a few days as we head through the Limmen National Park on our way to Katherine.  Watch this space for the next instalment in a week or so.