2ND JULY 2013 – OVERLANDERS WAY, NTH WEST QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

Waking to a 5deg morning is a bit of a shock but the Billabong at Camooweel is glassy with lovely reflections before we left. On a morning like this it’s a joy to be on the road with lots of wedge tailed eagles cleaning up the overnight roadkill. We nearly got a couple through our windscreen as they were loath to leave their breakfast as we fast approached. Would have been a great photo shot with their wings spread wide, but murphy’s law – didn’t have the camera on my knee as I usually do. There seem to be a number of big rigs & 5th wheelers on the road today, luckily not going our way to hold up the traffic. We did have a huge bus at camp last night with two slideouts, & a car on trailer behind as well, & was just one rather elderly man & his faithful german shepherd dog. Has been on the road for 8 years.

We finally leave the very flat land behind & experience trees & hills as we near Mt Isa which is a big mining centre. Again our second time here so we just stop for morning tea & continue on though taking a different route from last visit. The mornings seem to go quite quickly we find, but by two in the afternoon it is a drag & we are glad to stop for the day by three. We are now on the ‘Overlanders Way’ which stretches from Tennant Creek in NT to Townsville in QLD, taking in little outback towns as we go. On arrival at our overnight stop we discover a gravel road which goes to an old township, so decided to take the bikes for a spin & get some much needed exercise. It wasn’t the easiest track with quite a few sandy patches, a few we had to walk through, some we persisted through doing little skids & almost getting stuck. Have to admit on the way back I even managed to fall off but luckily it was sand so didn’t have any injuries at all & we both thought it quite a joke. Two old fogies out on their mountain bikes looking for adventure. As for the old town, there was not a single sign of it left. If we had taken the 4WD we could have gone a lot further & found the old railway tunnel & a waterfall (probably dry like the rest of the landscape). Anyway it was a good 11km ride after sitting so long in the car each day. The camp was absolutely crammed that night so good that we got there early.

 

Wed 3rd, got a late start due to being jammed in by other vans & when we did finally get free, two very inconsiderate road trains had blocked the exit so we had to wait again. Temperature this morning was 2deg at 7.30am so we have had to put another cover on the bed. Lovely sunny, calm morning though so we didn’t mind that & as soon as we head off in the car we soon warm up. The landscape is still quite hilly with rocky escarpments as we head towards Cloncurry which is the home of the Flying Doctor Service which started in 1928, & also a copper mining town these days though formerly mined uranium. Most of the towns on this route were also the main stock route for this area & have a great Droving history (thus the name Overlanders Way). Rodeos are an annual event in the area but unfortunately they are mostly held around April/May so no riding the bulls for me??? By now the temperature has risen to 22 so not a bad day at all.

Thurs 4th. We have now reached another little droving town called Julia Creek which is a beef, wool & mining district of McKinlay Shire. There are four little towns which make up the the shire with a population of 1000 between them over a land area of 40,728 square kilometres. It’s a tidy little place with all services although like most of these little country places they are unplanned & a bit jumbly with industrial businesses often between houses. They all have wonderful huge wide roads which are a pleasure to drive or ride on. Their main streets often have covered parking situated in the middle of the road to keep the cars cool in the heat of summer. Its main claim to fame is firstly their award winning Visitors Centre, secondly their reputation as an RV friendly town, thirdly a rare little animal. The Visitors Centre cost $2.3 million, $1 million of which was donated by the nearby mining company (I think BHP). It is not large & modern, in fact it is partly made from little recycled ‘Fettlers’ cottages & is quite different & suits the area well. The landscaping is superb, as it seems to be everywhere we go. Guess with the raw materials they have on hand in this country it’s not too hard but we do give them credit for the job they do. The other claim to fame is a very small rare animal called the Julia Creek Dunnart. This tiny bright eyed creature is an insect eating marsupial only found in the Mitchell grass downs of Nth West QLD. It is very like a mouse but is a separate species & is endangered. One only live one is on display in the Visitors Centre. , Another thing of interest here is ‘The Walkabout Hotel’ of Crocodile Dundee fame, formerly called the Federal Hotel & built in 1900. It & several other buildings in the town featured in the film. By co-incidence we saw Paul Hogan himself on TV here a couple of nights ago & it was interesting on being questioned about how hard it was for him to have instant fame & perform the part. He said it was no problem at all as he was just being himself & I hadn’t realised that he actually produced, directed & acted the whole thing. He is looking quite old but is just the same & is here in Oz doing a one man comedy show. I really liked him as he appeared honest & fun. Anyway, getting back to Julia Creek, it provides a brilliant free RV park beside a creek just out of town & it would take enough vans for a rally. All users are meant to be totally self contained as there are no toilets etc provided & although there are taps, it is not allowed to fill up caravan tanks with it. Lots of camper trailer tried to get away with it but there is a check done several times a day.. The council run it & have just put in a brand new road from the township to the park. It’s downside is that it is quite near the main highway (roadtrains), & the railway line which carries ore etc to Townsville day & night & the trains are up to 2km long!!! It’s not so bad when they are full, but when they return in the middle of the night empty they really clang along the lines & of course they have an engine at front, middle & rear. Amazing! Luckily we again got a good spot so not too close to the noise. We really enjoyed our two nights there – handy to use our bikes to go up town several times & the locals were friendly & helpful. And to top it up we had phone signal & internet – great.

Julia Creek Campground

Julia Creek Visitor Centre