Our travellers have reached the largest city in the world at Mount Isa

After leaving Mt ISA we started to head north towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, with a small diversion en-route to Gregory Downs via the Burke and Wills Roadhouse. This roadhouse was named after the two Victorian explorers, Burke and Wills, who led a disastrous expedition through this area in the 1860s. They were hopelessly inexperienced, carried way too much unnecessary equipment and the expedition failed and they both died. Still, it’s nice that they have a roadhouse named after them. At Gregory Downs we camped in the bush for a couple of nights in a boulder strewn dry river bed. We met a very interesting married couple here who we travelled with for several days. They were from Western Australia and were taking time off work to travel. He was a prison officer and some of the stories he told us would make your hair stand on end. The prison he worked in was full of very violent men, mostly murderers. The scenery here was rugged but really stunning. At Lawn Hill Gorge we managed to hire a canoe and went on a day trip on the river through the gorge. A great experience but it wasn’t until we got back we discovered that there are crocodiles in the river. When we expressed alarm at this we were told “it’s alright, they’re only freshies, they’re very shy and won’t hurt you”. Freshwater crocodiles are supposedly less dangerous than their salt water cousins.

That night, still with our new found friends, we decided to have a campfire. Sadly there was very little available wood lying on the ground, but there were plenty of dead branches still attached to trees, but seemingly out of our reach. By this time a few beers had been consumed and we decided the only way to reach these branches was for one of us to get on the shoulders of the other one. He being the younger and stronger offered to put me on his shoulders. This was attempted and after much staggering and falling and wives laughing hysterically, we managed to get enough wood to build a fire. A very memorable evening, sitting round a camp fire, out in the bush in the middle of nowhere, drinking a few “tinnies”.

Moving on we made the coast at Karumba where we parted company with our new friends who were planning to stay for a while to do some sea fishing in the gulf. We headed east across the bottom of Cape York Peninsula via Mt Surprise and across the Atherton Tablelands. Very different scenery and very pretty countryside. Northwards again, we travelled through the tropical Daintree Rainforest, absolutely stunning, and reached the coast at Cape Tribulation, so named by Captain James Cooke in 1770 when he ran aground on a part of the Great Barrier Reef and had to beach his ship for repairs. One of the most beautiful spots we’d been to but sadly no swimming here as there are plenty of things in these waters which will kill you, salt water crocodiles and deadly jellyfish just for starters.

to be continued………