The Gulflander, near Normanton

List making, sorting and loading — ‘did I pack that?’, ‘do we really need this?’ — finally all came together to get our big rig rolling and make the adventures a reality. We were headed out of Longreach, to Mena Creek Hotel about 16km from Innisfail, to start our first Safari and our first big lap of Australia.

As we traversed the Great Inland Way, Emerald to Charters Towers, we were treated to a contrast to the bare brown, drought-stricken landscape of home. Green, green and greener, through fields of redheads — keep the excitement down fellows, we mean sorghum crops, with John Deere already laying claim.

From farms we transitioned to open forest of Blackbutt, grey gums and ironbark. We passed the signpost for Three Beers Dam — was this a micro-dam only holding three beers worth of water? Further along we crossed ‘The Ditch’ so the sign said — had we entered New Zealand? Better dig out the jandals and chilly bin.

A peaceful stop along the way

The only civilisation along the way was Belyando Crossing Roadhouse, sitting up on the wide sandy banks of the Belyando River. Not a lot of water at the time, but giant old paperbarks made for a scenic spot.

Reaching Charters Towers, we hit The Overland Way, AKA Flinders Highway, into Townsville. We made a stopover here to do a final stock up of the fridges before the leisurely 270km drive to our destination.

More everchanging landscape, now the real tropical feel with pineapple, banana, and sugar cane farms. A pitstop at Five Mile rest area, a pretty little spot with BBQ and picnic tables on the banks of a creek. During a leg stretch walk along the creek we spotted eels and big catfish in the crystal-clear running water. Some signboards informed us the creek  was also home to a ‘Bullrout’, which is a freshwater stonefish. By the pictures he is just as ugly and nasty as his ocean cousins, but at least the old dogs had learnt something new for the day.

We finally spotted the sea at Cardwell, and the Big Gumboot at Tully. The gumboot is 7.9m tall, which the annual rainfall recorded in 1950. Tully is the wettest town in Australia, with its average 4000mm annual rainfall. This must be perfect for sugar cane as there was mile upon mile of cane farms.

We turned off the Pacific Highway at Silkwood and wound through lush rainforest to Mena Creek Hotel. We were still rubbing our eyes and blinking at all the brilliant green surrounds — after so many dry years at home, a bare brown landscape had become the norm.

The Purple Pub in Normanton

MEETING THE CREW

Turning into the paddock behind the Mena Creek Hotel we were met by our safari leaders, Andrew and Renee, who directed us to our site to settle in for the next two nights.

Come 4:30pm, it was the first meet and greet happy hour. You carry your chair up to the designated spot as you calm the butterflies in the stomach from walking up to face 44 total strangers. Was this really a good idea? After the introductions were made, we quickly made acquaintances as plates of nibbles were handed around.

Each of us told a little about ourselves. Everyone received a team cap, vehicle and van number stickers and a travelogue of safari etiquette, where we were going, what we were doing and when it was happening.

We would travel in convoy in numerical order (hopefully everyone can count!) and roll out of camp in a safe and orderly fashion.

Paronella Park’s gardens are a testimony to its creator’s drive

SETTING OUT

The first day as a group we did a tour of Paronella Park. This structure was built in 1932 by José Paronella, with a movie theatre, ballroom, and hydroelectricity — he was a man of vision way beyond his time. The buildings and gardens are testament to the passion and determination of José to achieve his dreams. After a dinner at the Mena Creek Hotel, we ventured over to Paronella Park again for a night tour and musical entertainment. All lit up, it was just like a ‘princess castle’, as my little granddaughter commented after receiving a postcard I sent later. This  is definitely a bucket list destination if you have never visited.

Briefing and roll call were at 8:45am for a 9am departure, and only 121km of travel for the day. Really! By 9am half the day is gone for us old bushies, always up and away by 5am when travelling and often covering at least 1000km. But this is a holiday! Relax, chill, stop and smell the roses, this is what retirement is about and there is no need to rush anymore.

Old habits die hard and it was a period of adjustment to get into the rhythm of this laidback lifestyle. I still could not stay in bed any later than 6am. So those early hours became diary writing time, or a walk to capture the sunrise.

How many local parks have a waterfall and hydroelectricity?

We drove up the range to Millaa Millaa, our morning tea stop, before going on to our night camp at Innot Hot Springs. We felt very relaxed after soaking in the hot springs, and ready for happy hour. A game of Finska or Molkky followed, with lots of friendly rivalry and rule bending between teams and a battle of the sexes, was a great way to end the day. The ladies won, of course.

Some of the countryside in this area was very dry too, although one would expect it to be in higher  rainfall area and always green. Next stop was at Ravenshoe, the highest town in Queensland at 920m above sea level.

We visited the grand old pub. Oak panelling oak staircase, cedar French doors and a dining room set up like it was still 1927. The pub is still owned today by the great-granddaughter of the original owner.

From there it was up and down over hills and valleys passing through Mt Garnet, named after the gemstones. Would love to have a fossick but would not know what to look for.

The Undarra campgrounds were well hidden in the bush with lots of shade. Diesel was liquid gold at $1.98 per litre — not the place to fill up. On-site accommodation was converted rail carriages and big safari tents, dome shaped with wooden floors.

Ravenshoe’s memorial gardens

There were most interesting geological features, giant slabs of lava rock which cover an area of 1550 square kilometres from eruptions 190,000 years ago, when there were 164 active volcanoes in the area. The lava tunnels are a reminder of the might of nature.

We toured three big caverns, very cool inside them and the most striking pink, orange, cream and grey colours in the rocks on walls and ceiling. Ficus trees from above had roots penetrating the caverns in search of water.

Travelling onward through Mt Surprise and Georgetown we crossed three of the big gulf rivers, Einasleigh, Etheridge and Gilbert. The road alternated from two lane to single lane bitumen. It was Murphy’s Law that we met all the oncoming trucks on the narrow sections.

Cumberland goldmine’s chimney

Lunch stop was at Cumberland Wetlands, where there were water lilies and birds galore. It was an old goldmine and the big brick chimney still stands. Then on to Croydon Rodeo grounds for our overnight stop. We were spread out in a big circle like the old wild west days of covered wagons, but thankfully were not taken under siege.

Croydon was a nice little town with a street of heritage buildings and the one grocery store boasts it is the longest single operating store in Queensland opening in 1894. In its gold rush days, the town had 36 pubs — now there is one. Lots of relics of these days remain, with bits of old machinery strewn about the countryside.

Sunset at Karumba Point

ONE TICKED OFF THE BUCKET LIST

Onward to Karumba with a shockingly early start at 8:30am and a spot I’ve long wanted to see, the Gulf of Carpentaria. This features a lot in our weather reports for Central West Qld and the ‘low’ in the gulf often means good rain heading our way. There was a lot of swampy paperbark country, with the trees so thick a stick insect would need to breathe in to get through it.

Morning tea was at Black Bull siding — is he famous like the white bull in the Harry Redford tale? Then into Normanton with the Purple Pub and statue of Krys the Croc. It was 28ft 4in, or 8.63m, weighing 2 tonne. A whole lot of croc, enough skin to stock a shop with handbags and shoes. It was shot in 1957 by Krystina Pawloski.

We rolled into Karumba and settled into the caravan park for two nights. Not much retail therapy here, but it had all the services, with an indoor sports complex, aquatic centre/playground, golf course and bowls club, alongside a zinc refinery and export cattle yards.

Everyone seemed to have a boat, though some looked very dubiously seaworthy. We took a drive up to Karumba Point where there are lots of cabins and holiday accommodation and walked out onto the sand in the actual Gulf of Carpentaria. Not too close to the water though as we were very wary of those big lizards on steroids that  frequent these parts.

A visit to the Les Wilson Barramundi centre was worthwhile and very interesting. Most of us know they are very tasty to eat but know little else about barramundi, so again we learnt something new. This venture was set up to raise fish stocks and keep the industry sustainable. For those wanting to be a bit adventurous in the kitchen there were recipes such as barra in soy sauce and ginger or barra buddha bowls.

Adel’s Grove

Heading back through Normanton, we checked the old wharf on the Norman River and Muttonhole Wetlands (interesting name), which cover 78 square kilometres with a carpet of white and purple water lilies. I was thrilled to see brolgas and chicks (later we discovered these are actually Saurus Cranes), and a lone Jabiru. For the train buffs you can take a ride back to Croydon on the Gulflander starting from $115 return.

Crossed long stretches of open Mitchell and Flinders grass downs a shame to see the encroachment of Parkinsonia and Prickly Acacia trees, both declared noxious weeds. Still visible were signs of the horrific floods of a few months earlier, with flattened fences, debris and cattle carcasses hanging high in trees or kangaroos hanging like washing along the fence lines. The scenery changes from open plains to red soil, spinifex and ghost gums, with termite mounds of all shapes and  sizes scattered amongst the timber like a mini city of high-rise buildings.

We took morning tea to the top of a jump up, on our way to Burke & Wills Roadhouse. The caravan park behind the roadhouse was a bit of a jigsaw fitting us all in. Some parked back-to-back or nose to nose and side on. All part of the adventure. It was far from a quiet night, despite the isolated location. Cattle were moving in amongst the vans, shuffling and bellowing, and there were trucks roaring up the highway all night.

The big crocodile at Normanton

Next stop was Gregory Downs on the banks of the Gregory River, a real tropical oasis with white sand, clear water, and Pandanus palms. A quiet and dark night, just how I like it. However, there was a very anxious and stressful drive for those inexperienced with dirt roads and a looming 70km of corrugations out to Adels Grove. Personally we found the potholed bitumen, jump up and drop off creek culverts and humpy, bumpy grids far worse than the unsealed sections. Everyone made it safely in their own time and the cruise up Lawn Hill Gorge and surrounding guided walks were more than worth the effort.

Along the cliff walls a natural calcium called Tufu (too fu) builds up and causes a scum on the water so the pelicans and ducks avoid the gorge, as this scum strips the oil from their feathers. Fish such as Sooty Grunter, Long Tom, Bony  Bream and Anglers Fish live quite happily in the water.

The rusty wreck of the Katoora, on the Norman River

Unique flora such as Livingstonia Palms Cabbage trees, and Leichhardt tree which gets a big Lychee like nut after highly perfumed flowers and the Sandpaper tree so called due to sandpaper-like rough leaves. The gorge is also home to a rare Golden Snapping Turtle, once believed to be extinct. We did an added tour to the Riversleigh fossil site. Not dinosaurs but megafauna, giant wombats, meat eating kangaroos (scary thought), snakes bigger than the boa constrictors of India (even scarier), tree dwelling giant crocodiles, and a giant bird which resembles a fat emu with thunder thighs but was actually an ancestor of the modern duck.

Spinifex is the main fodder for the cattle grazed in these areas. We learnt there are over three hundred types and its only found in Australia. The roots can be metres long to tap into below ground moisture. 

Then it was time to backtrack to Gregory Downs, rest, regroup and prepare for the next part of the adventure.

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Written: Thu 01 Apr 2021
Printed: April, 2021
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