Darwin the last leg

The completed trip (trip 3) now now looks like this. (4,219kms one way). Details below the map.

As we said in the last post, just before Mt Isa we stopped at Dajarra. It was an interesting little town where we had the most amazing burger at the general store. 

A bunch of Abo blokes over the road had a massive party following a funeral - the party went until 7am, but we thankfully slept through the whole night. They were pretty good really and left us alone.

We were able to hook up to power for free so that was a welcome break from the heat.

I took the opportunity to install the rest of the UHF radio. A small job that had been nagging me for days - its just been far too hot to do up here in the bush.

It meant pulling most of the dash out - easy in a Prado not one Bolt or screw !

Finally finished

We moved on towards Camoolweal, we passed by the BIKE TREE, only missed it about 3 times and had to turn back to see it.

Aint she gorgeous.

Our camp at Camoolweal below - nice shady spot - and a pub also.

While at the pub, one Abo bloke came in gave us a fist pump tried to chat - but we just could not understand him. , He later bought a box of beer, abused everyone in the pub and left, so that was cool.

Camoolweal is where we crossed into NT. Obligatory image below.

Called into the Barkly Homestead roadhouse for a quick lunch

We stopped and camped at "Threeways". Just needed water and power, I was buggered at this point.

The next day we drove down to Tennant Creek for a looksee. A bit of a warzone, pretty glad we chose not to stay here. But we stopped into the mine Info centre.

And the Tele station on the way out of town.

We then went to see the Devils Pebbles (as it was closer then the Devils Marbles). Located around 12km north of Tennant Creek, the Pebbles Free Camp is a nice quiet spot to pull up for a night or two. 

We didn't stay there but, the campground is situated among the outback alongside an interesting rock formation, offering a great spot for some photo ops! 

Lake Wood Conservation Park was also worth seeing

A quick nights stay at Banka Banka.

A few long days driving out this way. Green - but very remote.

Then the next leap was a big drive up to the iconic and somewhat funky Daly Waters Pub - and a great camp.

too many Tequilas .....

I had to come to the rescue ...

We stayed a couple of nights and enjoyed the pool ! After the incident in the pub, Allie could not leave the wildlife alone.

We headed north to the Daly River, going the longer way and dropping into the town of Adelaide River. But on the way we stopped into the spooky town of Larimah.

We found the people here very odd - we could not work it out. And it was only after our stay we read this story. Read this story .... to know more about the murder there. This small place has a real "children of the corn" feel to it.

We travelled north and west to Lee and Jennys Bush camp. Its a really nice place, the hosts were the best you could have. We will be back to this place. 

Here near Bamboo Creek - it is famous for catching Barra and I gave it a fair crack. After two days only one bite - but it was huge and nearly tore my arm off, so that kept my interest for the next couple of hours. 

Thx to Lee, I learnt a hell of a lot of tricks to catching them but sadly report I did not get one.

I had a bit of a silent challenge on with a mate (Doug) as to who would first get one. He is at Lake Tinnaroo and while I was balling my eyes out - he sends me this picture. 

I have to say - well done mate - that is impressive !

Anyway, back over where we are - its very very croccy up here.

Awesome camp site, but unbelievably humid

We stayed 3 nights and headed the 2.5 hours to Darwin.

Trip Stats to follow shortly.

Trip 3 - Onward to Darwin

This blog post takes us on a bit of a detour due to blocked roads.

Our journey to Darwin begins with a camp at Yarraman Weir Park, and then winds its way westward from there.

A really nice little park. I think it was best that we were there off-season as there are not too many camps that a van can access.

I did the Rail Trail south for a couple of KM's, then headed north and did the circuit back into camp. I guess all up about 7kms. Lots of history about Yarraman on the way especially around the old train station area.

From there we headed to the Dandabah camp in the Bunya Mountains (a trip of 62kms).

What a massive steep hill. It advised no caravans, but we got up there without to much issue. Its really quite a steep climb.

The cool air up on top was awesome, so we headed off to do the Scenic Hike. There is a lot of walks up here, but we were glad we choose the one we did.

Driving out (heading toward Chinchilla - 153kms away) there is a massive downhill slope which even tho we engine braked to the bottom and used 1st gear - our brakes were nearly on fire. We got a good run at the base of the hill to cool them down, but it was a bit touch and go.

Arriving at Chinchilla we set up camp at the Chinchilla Weir - possibly one of the best camps we have ever seen.

Free power (which we did not need or use), a camp right on the Lakeside positioned for the sunset and free loos and water. It was awesome. We decided to stay a couple of nights here. 

We filled up with Fuel here, and it only cost a small amount - unbelievably cheap.

Had a nice bike ride to the dam and up the main road

I dipped the fishing rod in a few times, but to no avail.

While there we met the local Fireman named "Hammer" - it turns out he owns the local Toyota Dealership. So we discussed our squeaky wheel issue and they managed to fit un in the following day. It seems one of the brake Caliper pistons may be rusted out and causing the squeak. Thats was good news as we can replace that in Darwin and it seems our wheel will not fall off.

Every night here we had awesome sunsets. We learned that Chinchilla is the Watermelon Capital. And that they celebrate a moth which was brought in to decimate the Prickly Pear cactus (google CactaBlaster Moth) over a 7 year period.

Read about it by clicking here

From here we set out for Roma (about 220km). We first stopped at Judds Lagoon where we were hit by a storm, and for safety we pulled over in the park where the Lagoon Road meets the main road toward Roma.

One of our highlights once in Roma, was a walk through Ace Drapers. Its a real eye opener of a store,

We saw Roma's largest Bottle Tree, and we bought a new UHF Radio as ours seems to be playing up - a little job for me to install over the next couple of weeks on the road.

In Roma we stayed and grazed at the Bowls Club

Next on the trip (86kms) was the town of Mitchell. Here we drove around down to look at the Reno opportunities, and we soaked in the Artesian Spa pools.

We didn't stay long as we needed to keep moving, and we headed to Charleville from here (180kms away).

Arriving in Charleville we decided to camp out of town at Wards Fishing Camp which is abut 20kms out of town located at the boat ramp near the old bridge. Lots of flys and bugs, but we made the best of the quick nights stay.

The next day we got an early start toward Quilpie.

Arriving with only 11kms of fuel in the tank - we quickly filled up.

We stayed at the Channel Country Tourist park. Kerry the temp manager was awesome and very chatty.

Here they had Spa pools with cold water - basic - but its what we needed.

We were intending at this point to cross to Birdville and up to Mt Isa then Darwin, however the road was closed due to flooding north of Birdsville. A similar distance is to got from Quilpie to Longreach, Mt Isa, then to Darwin. We opted for the latter.

We were soon pleased we did. It gave is a chance to catch up with friends Doug and Vanessa (they were coming from xx). 

We stopped at Swanvale Jumpup for a looksee.

We travelled up via a very interesting route via Stonehenge (where we stayed one night - just us and 6033 flies.). 

We met up with Doug and Vanessa in Longreach.

We visited the Stockmans hall of fame.

Got the van photo by the big bird in Longreach.

and travelled to Macsland Camp, the next day moving on about 1.5 hours toward Winton and shared Aussie day at the Gregory pub. Best bacon and Beef burger on the planet !

We spent some time in the local public pool as well. 

We stayed one night at the RV stop and went our separate ways in the morning. 

They toward Hughenton,  us toward Boulia.

The next day it was off toward Boulia. This trip is without doubt the most scenic we have seen. The Hills have a western look about them - its really quite stunning. Highly recommend this route.

We stopped so see the old shed used in the movie Goldstone, just a few kms before Middleton.

The condition of the road from Quilpie to Longreach, and then from Winton up to Dajarra (via Boulia and all the way up to Mt isa) was exceptional - not a single pothole and sealed the whole way - it was narrow tho - barely single lane even, so you had to pull right off for trucks and cars.

We rolled into Boulia quite tired but the town had a bad feel to it and the local shop owner was a dickhead. The Pool was closed despite saying they were open so we moved on.

It was a huge day driving, so we stopped in for the night at Dajarra. The promise of a quiet night and AirCon drove us forward.

The Wikicamps reports about the burger being amazing are very correct - and only $17 !! - it was way more than we could eat.

Being off season the shop owner pointed us to a camp over the road where we could stay and use free power. The Temp was 41 deg, so A/C as turned on !! 

The next day - a nice 2 hour drive to Mt isa