More of the Savannah Way

It was sunny as we returned to the Savannah Way for our westerly progress across Queensland. A farewell to the sea was a must (it looked so different in sunlight) and we hit the road, stopping to spot the wonderful birdlife of the area on our way. We also visited the last campsite (Number 119) of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It was interesting to see how close but also note how far they were from their goal. Another stop was at the gorgeous Leichhardt Falls and we got extra thrills of looking down on a medium-sized estuarine crocodile, an unidentified swimming snake, black kites and whistling kites. Certainly stopped us wanting to go for a swim.

The drone has been such a great asset to our trip; it gives us such amazing perspectives of where we are. Unfortunately for us (just for droning, because otherwise it is brilliant), the local raptors/birds of prey are numerous, curious, territorially protective and everywhere, which has made droning a tad nerve wracking. Wanda is pilot and Alistair is bird and obstacle spotter, which makes for an awesome team and even more awesome images.

We have been using our UHF radio more, since meeting Shane and Clare, and it was a lifesaver (overstatement warning: more a stress reducer) on our way out of the falls. The track is one lane wide with very few passing places, very sandy and slippery and has washouts and gullies to navigate. As a precaution and courtesy, we put out a call to say we were heading back to the main road. Luckily an incoming group heard the call and was able to stop us from starting. Two large off-road campers, two motorbikes and a 4WD were on their way in. Such a relief not to have to reverse too far or meet head on.

Dusty roads have been the order of the day ... not a lot of bitumen on this part of the route. It is somewhat of a relief to leave the gravel or dirt/sand roads for the hard top – but in some cases these are just as rough or more so. We discovered a stunningly colourful artesian bore wellhead on the entrance to Burketown, lunched in the pub eating food from the one place providing food (which was across the road), refuelled the car then headed southwards towards our next stop.

We arrived at Gregory Downs, which has a pub, a council depot and not much more. We camped by the Gregory River and looked forward to a pub meal and a few wines. Entering the pub, we could get the wine, but a management decision meant that the weekend’s kitchen work (who would close a pub kitchen over a weekend?) had not finished. No food (or petrol for that matter; there was diesel) was a big problem for quite a few travellers. The poor staff, all of whom were backpackers from Europe, had to deal with irate grey nomads and fuel-starved young travellers. We, on the other hand, cooked ourselves a delicious parmi, accompanied by salad. We are always prepared!

We had a noisy night, with the rumble of cattle and mining road trains all night long. The next morning, we drove the 100km dirt road to Wugudaji Adels Grove. This is a beautiful (and dusty) campground on the banks of Lawn Hill Creek. We spent a few days kayaking (in our own kayak; it was not getting a free trip around Queensland!) along the creek, portaging over the rapids and marvelling at the stunning, red-cliffed Wild Dog Gorge (we had it to ourselves). We drifted past a freshwater crocodile (see video) that had Wanda dropping her camera, spotted a birdlife and cooked delicious dinners over our firepit.

We were the first visitor (according to one of the rangers) to the reopening Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park. The park, Adels Grove and river had been devastated by a massive flood in 2023 that scoured the riverbanks of most of its vegetation. Along the creek’s edge were tree trunks and branches in huge dams, rapids and cascades had been created, removed or combed clean, and buildings and other infrastructure destroyed. We definitely preferred Adels to Boodjamulla but it was great to see them so resilient and positive. On our departure to places further south we stopped at the world-heritage Riversleigh Fossil Site for a fascinating walk through Earth’s fossil record.