Which way to go? A wedge tail Eagle! And yes, we're still in fly country
Doomadgee
to Hells Gate – 1/07/15
After a quiet night we drove into
Doomdgee, Martin wanted to fill up Diesel. I wasn’t really keen on drive
through the town centre but we did just to see how it would look like. A lot of
good facilities: state school, playground, health- and a family centre and a
pool all looking really good and fairly new. At the end of the road we found a
grocery shop and decided to check for fresh milk since we ran out (breakfast
cereals without milk isn’t that good). Big surprise: for such a remote area
this shop was superbly stocked and ridiculously cheap. Good for us, fresh milk,
bread, cookies and some fresh vegetables…
That day we drove the 80 km to Hells
Gate, the last fuel stop before Borroloola, which is already in the Northern Territory (NT) . The road wasn’t too bad and nothing
else happened. We cooked all our vegtables (apart from the stonelike avocados)
because for quarantine reasons you’re not allowed to bring FRESH fruit and veg into the NT. We had a nice
little camp fire, without marshmellows (but a glass of
Appenzeller after Sarah was asleep).
Last stop in QLD: Hell's Gate Roadhouse and Dilldoll Rock
Northern
Territory – 2/07/15
We left Hells Gate and planned to have Morning Tea at the border. Unfortunately there was only a sign and no good spot to
stop so we drove on.
NT Border, Grader, Road train approaching and view just after it passed
The sign that made me most happy was “grader ahead”! We
had a lovely, smooth road, no corrugation at all. Happy driving and soon we found
an abandoned hut to stop and have coffee. Sarah had fun with the hula hoop (she’s
getting really good now!). After another 90 km and a little water crossing we
stopped at a nice little campsite next to the Calvert river. A couple of other vans
came in during the afternoon.
As it was rocky and safe from crocodiles we did explore a bit of the river crossing. After
dinner we watched the full moon rise and chatted with 2 couples at the campfire
- this time with marshmellows :-)
Calvert River Crossing, Campsite, Kookaburra and Full Moon over Calvert River Crossing
Gruel
Gravel – 3/07/15
This one had a broken axle. Termite mount
A happy good-bye in the morning quickly turned
into grumpiness the longer we drove. The road conditions had
deteriorated quickly and the corrugations were as bad or worse than the 10km
into the NP in Lawn Hill – but here it just kept going on and on. At our
Morning tea stop right at the road after nearly 2 hours of driving and only
60km done Sarah was the only one fairly happy (because she could play with the
hula hoop. And the perspective was not promising. Sarah had an energy rush and
was happily singing, better: roaring in the back of the car. Not helpful if you
try to concentrate on the holes in the road in front of you, watch your dusty back
for cars from behind and look out for oncoming traffic and obstacles. So both
Martin and I were more than happy, when it went quiet in the back. Sarah had
been rattled to sleep – thank God. We stopped at the Lily Lagoon, not wanting
to drive another km. The place was nice, a bit too much garbage lying around (hint: we’re in Aborigine land) but otherwise no one else around. A lazy
afternoon, early dinner, a “Sendung mit der Maus”- DVD for Sarah and the hope
that the road soon be better saw the day fading away in light orange and purple
colours.
On the way to Lilly Lagoon
