Brian bought one of the pub's singlets - I call it his "yobbo" look
From Daly Waters we had our longest drive so far - 560 km to Barkly Homestead. The following day we crossed the border into Queensland after 5 months on the road
We freecamped at Camooweal Billabong which was beautiful and peaceful. This is a black kite.
The moon rise over the billabong was absolutely spectacular and Brian managed to get a pretty good picture of it (without a tripod)
From Camooweal we went to Mt Isa where we met up with our friends John and Gael from Bunbury - not previously planned, just a happy coincidence.
This is Moondarra Lake which is the water supply for Mt Isa town and mine - a huge expanse of water with good picnic, swimming and boating areas.
In the picnic area adjacent to the lake there were lots of peacocks and peahens, and we were lucky enough to photograph this peacock doing his thing.
We decided to tag along with John and Gael through Cloncurry, onto Normanton and Karumba. This photo is from the lookout at Cloncurry.
Cloncurry was the destination of the first commercial flight by Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service (QANTAS).
John and Brian, both being ex QANTAS guys stood proudly in front of the original hanger.
In Normanton there is an exact replica of the largest estraurine crocodile ever caught - and it was shot by a woman!
On the trip between Normanton and Karumba we saw hundreds of Brolgas. Prior to that Brian had been having difficulty getting a good shot of one as they were always too far away.
We arrived in Karumba about lunchtime, and Gael and Brian went fishing at 4.30 pm. Gael caught a fish with her first cast (not quite size) and then Brian caught this Black Jewfish measuring 68cm. By 8pm we were all having a great dinner of fresh fish - beautiful.
Karumba is right on the Gulf of Carpentaria, so the sunsets were quite spectacular. The only tavern in town is well situated right on the waterfront for photographers and drinkers alike.
After a few days in Karumba we stopped at a free camp at Gilbert River for the night - very dusty, but OK for one night.
We drove on to Mt Surprise where Brian and I stopped, while John and Gael went on as they had to get to Cairns to meet up with friends. We stayed at Bedrock Village and hired fossicking equipment and bought a fossicker's licence. We headed out the next morning to the O'Brien Creek gem fields where we had a bit of luck fossicking for topaz.
Brian quickly became addicted to the lure of the topaz and kept saying "This will be the last sieve"
This was our haul from the first day, and we did even better the following day!
From Mt Surprise we drove to Undara Volcanic National Park which is famous for its lava tubes which are the longest known in the world.
Brian from the top of Bluff Walk.
The following morning we took a four hour tour which took us to the top of Kalkani crater and then on to the lava tubes.
A collection of wallaby and dingo bones in one of the lava tubes
The entrance to one of the lava tubes
Looking towards the end of one of the tubes. You can only gain access to them because sections of the roof have collapsed.
From Undara we drove to Atherton, on the Atherton Tablelands, about 1 hour west of Cairns. It was amazing how quickly the scenery changed from the dry outback to the lush green rolling hills of the tablelands.
We visited an historic village in Herberton which was extremely well done.
In the tool shed there was a collection of old tools, but this one had Brian stumped - does anyone know what it is???
Some of the signage was interesting!
Brian wishes he had a tool shed like this.
We spent a day touring some of the many waterfalls in the district. This is Dinner falls
The ultimate photographer!
Curtain fig tree
Millaa Millaa falls
Zillie falls
Ellinjaa falls
That's all for now. We are currently at Lake Tinaroo anxiously awaiting news of the arrival of our new grandson who was due yesterday.
In Normanton there is an exact replica of the largest estraurine crocodile ever caught - and it was shot by a woman!
On the trip between Normanton and Karumba we saw hundreds of Brolgas. Prior to that Brian had been having difficulty getting a good shot of one as they were always too far away.
We arrived in Karumba about lunchtime, and Gael and Brian went fishing at 4.30 pm. Gael caught a fish with her first cast (not quite size) and then Brian caught this Black Jewfish measuring 68cm. By 8pm we were all having a great dinner of fresh fish - beautiful.
Karumba is right on the Gulf of Carpentaria, so the sunsets were quite spectacular. The only tavern in town is well situated right on the waterfront for photographers and drinkers alike.
After a few days in Karumba we stopped at a free camp at Gilbert River for the night - very dusty, but OK for one night.
We drove on to Mt Surprise where Brian and I stopped, while John and Gael went on as they had to get to Cairns to meet up with friends. We stayed at Bedrock Village and hired fossicking equipment and bought a fossicker's licence. We headed out the next morning to the O'Brien Creek gem fields where we had a bit of luck fossicking for topaz.
Brian quickly became addicted to the lure of the topaz and kept saying "This will be the last sieve"
This was our haul from the first day, and we did even better the following day!
From Mt Surprise we drove to Undara Volcanic National Park which is famous for its lava tubes which are the longest known in the world.
Brian from the top of Bluff Walk.
The following morning we took a four hour tour which took us to the top of Kalkani crater and then on to the lava tubes.
A collection of wallaby and dingo bones in one of the lava tubes
The entrance to one of the lava tubes
Looking towards the end of one of the tubes. You can only gain access to them because sections of the roof have collapsed.
From Undara we drove to Atherton, on the Atherton Tablelands, about 1 hour west of Cairns. It was amazing how quickly the scenery changed from the dry outback to the lush green rolling hills of the tablelands.
We visited an historic village in Herberton which was extremely well done.
In the tool shed there was a collection of old tools, but this one had Brian stumped - does anyone know what it is???
Some of the signage was interesting!
Brian wishes he had a tool shed like this.
We spent a day touring some of the many waterfalls in the district. This is Dinner falls
The ultimate photographer!
Curtain fig tree
Millaa Millaa falls
Zillie falls
Ellinjaa falls
That's all for now. We are currently at Lake Tinaroo anxiously awaiting news of the arrival of our new grandson who was due yesterday.
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