Category: Next Level Adventures #4 (Zone – Off Grid)

On our trip to Longreach we ran over a dead kangaroo and were unable to pull over safely for another 5 or so kms to inspect the damage. Trailing on the road for those kms were the Anderson plug and & 7 point pin for the electrical connection to the van. Gary, being the resourceful man he is and very annoyed with himself for not going around the carcass, (difficult at 95kms towing a van), sourced the parts in Longreach and was able to do the repairs.

We thoroughly enjoyed our three days at Longreach which has a rich history of cattle and sheep farming, pioneering, aviation and embracing the beauty and challenges of the central Queensland landscape.

At “The Station” the 90 year old Town Crier gathered our tour group for our Cobb & Co stage coach ride, which was the start of our full morning of activities. These included galloping on the old stock route out of town, old time entertainment with poetry recitation, many yarns filled with puns and animals.

The next day was a visit to Nogo Station, where we learned more about the history of sheep farming. Jeremy was our instructor and one of 5 sons working on this family station.

The last day in Longreach was full. We started at the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame & Outback Heritage Centre, where the inspiring stories and history of men and women are told and displayed.

Next we visited the Qantas Founders Museum and we were guided through the extraordinary history of flight in Australia. Fantastic!

Lastly, we had drinks on a sunset cruise on the Thomson River on a paddle boat. There was a dinner of beef stew, apple pie, billy tea, damper and Golden Syrup around the campfire. Great entertainment of poetry performances of original work, Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. The highlight of the night for us was the film, in the open air, re-enacting Captain Starlight’s daring theft of cattle and herding them to South Australia on the route where Burke and Wills had perished a few years earlier.

Winton is an outback town with a rich history in sheep and cattle country. A major claim to fame is it is where Banjo Paterson wrote the lyrics to Waltzing Matilda. Also it is the dinosaur capital of Australia.

Quirky entrance to our van park accommodation (above) and the evening ritual of protecting the car and van from bush rats during the night (below). Leave lights on and spray surfaces with citronella.

Gorgeous sunsets every night.

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum was fascinating. We learned how the fossils were discovered, the process involved in recovery, assembly and preservation.

More quirky creations were the Musical Fence and Aron’s wall:

The Royal Theatre in the main street is an open air cinema of yesterday, still showing films to the public:

Winton’s main street with original facades:

The Waltzing Matilda Centre and museum:

The swagman and a statue of Banjo Paterson outside the entrance to the Waltzing Matilda Centre.

Last evening in Winton at the North Gregory Hotel. A talented ‘Gregory North’ recounted Winton’s history with amusing anecdotes of pioneer ingenuity. He included performances of various poems by Banjo Paterson. Very entertaining!

The long drive to Porcupine Gorge was interesting, despite the flat terrain, which gave a wonderful vista of the vast sky and clouds. We appreciated the red earth dotted with shades of green trees and bushes. Occasionally we needed to slow down for wandering cattle, water crossings and passing road trains.

Our site in the national park was drive – through and spacious, with plenty of sunshine to charge our batteries.

Early morning rim walk with a view of the gorge and the multi-colored sandstone monolith called the Pyramid. Breathtaking!

The walk down to the gorge and back up took just over two hours and well worth it. The swim was refreshing but the walk back up in the midday sun was challenging.

After only a 25 km drive there is the tiny township of Einasleigh, which used to be a thriving mining community (with 5 pubs, a hospital, school, police station, shops, etc)The train to Einasleigh from Forsayth has recently stopped because the track was damaged by flooding with no plans yet for repairs. The last pub is for sale and the little van park seems to be the centre of activity.

However, a short walk from the pub is the stunning Copperfield Gorge.

Particularly dry cattle station property with the cattle never too far from the lagoon. Only the odd car passed by during our 2 day stay. We are about 25kms north of the small town of Einasleigh and not far from the Einasleigh river.

Camped by the Jardine lagoon, we enjoyed the peaceful setting of the bird life and cattle grazing on the opposite bank of the water lily studded water.

About 9 kms away were the “beach” and the waterhole, both on the Einasleigh River. We were delighted with the beautiful pink coloured granite, the breadth and flow of the water and the mountains in the distance.

We had the place to ourselves 😊

A change to our plans due to not being able to book Porcupine Gorge National Park. What started out as a one night stay was extended due to a flat tyre. A sharp small stone pierced the rear car tyre. Fortunately the leak was slow enough to enable the tyre to be reinflated and driving 60+kms into Georgetown for a repair.

Talaroo Hot Springs is owned by the local aborigines who with some Government assistance has turned the natural hot springs into well set up and run caravan park with tourist activities… guided tour, hot springs swim, walks and a swim in the Einasleigh River.

Relatively short drive (50kms) which included a near miss hitting a kangaroo (captured on video)

Having been looking forward to visiting Cobbold Gorge we have not been disappointed. The Gorge tour (walk and boat ride) was informative and interesting… the sandstone colours, the texture of the river paper bark trees, seeing small and larger fresh water crocodiles and so much more. Jennifer’s 1st helicopter ride was a little daunting to start with but the amazing bird’s eye views soon quickly surpassed those feelings. It was a great experience. The short morning walks outside the village and swimming in the pool capped off a memorable time.

The road into Cobbold initially was on the Savannah Way, down to Forsayth and then approximately 40 kms of dirt.

Our final dinner with Mal and Kathy. They are going as far north & inland as Karumba and Mt Isa as we start to make our way south.

Last morning walk at Undarra, this time down to the “Swamp”

The second tour was to view wildlife and catch the sunset from a hill nearby.

Undarra Lava Tubes Tour fascinating & educational. Really worth visiting geological wonders. The tour covered two caves – The Archway and Stephenson

Early morning walk, day 2…

With our Lava Tubes tours booked for the next day we followed the receptionist’s advice and drove late afternoon to walk up to and around Kalkani Crater Rim.

Short one night stop to enjoy the hot springs. The caravan park provided indoor and outdoor heat pools. We chose the indoor. Our instructions for the 3 pools were start in the warm/hot pool for 10 minutes then the hot pool for not more than 5 minutes followed by cooling off in the room temperature pool. Very relaxing, but makes you sleepy.

Not far from the CP was the creek which was frequented by locals and travelers. You were cautioned to wear shoes to protect your feet walking over the hot sand.

Redevelopment of the old pub which will over a heat pool

Next up was driving the “waterfall circuit” where we visited 4 waterfalls… Malanda, Millaa Millaa, Ellinjaa & Zillie Falls

Beautiful walk around a section of Lake Eacham

Morning coffee at Yungaburra, art gallery viewing followed by lunch at Lake Eacham Teahouse

After we set up we (Kathy, Mal, Jennifer & I) drove around Lake Tinaroo stopping at Lake Barrine for a short walk due to light rain followed by viewing the magnificent Cathedral Fig Tree and then onto Tinaroo Dam. The dirt road was narrow but in reasonable condition.

Preferring the warmer climate, we are quite uneasy about moving towards the “south” albeit only a short distance. Atherton will be our base for 4 days with plenty to see & do.