Monday, 14 October 2024
Our final push north today but first we had to return to Cloncurry from Mount Isa, so we started out heading east back along the Barkly Highway. Arriving in Cloncurry about 9.15am we refuelled at the BP Servo and then made our way around to the bakery to buy some sandwiches for lunch on the road today. There’s not much between Cloncurry and Karumba so we though it was best to buy sangas before leaving town. Weirdly there were fewer sandwiches to choose from at 9.15am on a Monday than there were at 12.30pm on Friday.
Finally, after a quick pit stop at Cloncurry’s public conveniences were were back on the Matilda Way heading north on the Burke Developmental Road. We passed through Quamby and then had leg stretch at a very well-appointed Rest Area about 80 kilometres out of Cloncurry. The Rest Stops range from parking bays right beside the road to stops a little off the road with a shaded picnic table to the Rolls Royce of Rest Stops with covered picnic tables AND toilets!
Ugh, this morning we were driving through locusts that were splatting all over the windscreen that had been freshly cleaned back in Cloncurry. Gruesome! The countryside was different again, flatter with occasional outcrops of rock rather than the rugged Selwyn Ranges that we have been enjoying for the last couple of days. We could also see a different species of eucalyptus growing beside the road together with something that appeared to be at the end of its flowering season with a bottlebrush type of flower. They might have been banksias?? The landscape was still peppered with hundreds of termite mounds but the soil here is grey rather than red hence the termite mounds have changed colour.
I drove for the first time this holiday between the Rest Area and Burke and Wills Roadhouse. And there’s a good reason I don’t drive very much … because Bernie does not make a great passenger criticising my driving and making too many suggestions about how I should drive the car. Grrr!
Pulling in at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse we purchased drinks and chocolate bars so that we could use their facilities without feeling guilty. With signs up saying that we had to leave our food and pets at the gate we couldn’t in good conscience eat our sandwiches here, so we decided to aim for the Rest Stop in about 60 kilometres with Cathy and Steve’s road atlas indicating that it would be a Rest Stop with the lot.
Returning to the vehicles from the roadhouse there were birds in the grill of the truck trying to pull the locusts out. Bernie took pity on them and pulled half a dozen dead locusts out of the grill and threw them on the grass. The apostle birds were delighted to snap them up for their morning tea,
With Bernie back behind the wheel we motored along for 60 kilometres and sure enough there was a Rest Stop with a shaded picnic table BUT … no toilets! We ate our sandwiches quickly because we were being plagued by small bush flies. Ha, another 30 kilometres into our journey and that was the Rest Stop with the lot. Oh well, we might as well keep going to Normanton now.
Still about half an hour out from Normanton we encountered several stretches of road works. One being actively worked on and a couple of other newly surfaced stretches with no lines marked. Fortunately, the works did not slow us down much. We arrived in Normanton and pulled into the servo to top up again since we were not very sure about buying fuel at the end of the road in Karumba. Best to keep the vehicles topped up. Used the loos and then commenced the last 70 Ks to take us to the End of the Road Motel where we are booked in for two nights.
We made good time today and arrived just after 3.00pm checking into our two beachfront rooms. Not that we can swim in the ocean … it’s crocodile country! Fortunately, the motel has a lovely pool which we made use of after a quick trip into town to buy some salad and bread to go with the seafood platter that has been prepared for us for dinner tonight. The motel has a café/bar/restaurant BUT it’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays. When they contacted us about this a few days ago they said they could make us a seafood platter for our dinner, so we said – Yes, please!
We wandered along to the pelican sculpture to watch the sun set over the Gulf of Carpentaria. We had looked at it earlier thinking it would make some nice foreground interest for the sunset. Walking along to it as the sun was setting, I discovered a couple sitting on it. Yep, you just sit on the prime sunset photographing spot and spoil it for everyone. Fortunately, there was another person wanting the photo who had no qualms at all about approaching the couple and asking them to please move so she could take her photo. I was able to capitalize on her gumption and take my photos too. And then there was a gaggle of people all rushing up to take a photo while it was not cluttered up with complete strangers. The couple patiently waited but ultimately resumed their spot on the sculpture without concern about whether there might be anyone else after a sunset photo. It’s the same the world over with people cluttering up the sites/sights!
With it being a beautiful balmy evening at about 28° Celsius we decided to eat our seafood feast outside. With the motel restaurant closed we availed ourselves of one of their outdoor tables while we ate our oysters, bugs, prawns and mud crab accompanied by the potato salad and pasta salad we managed to buy in town. And I learnt that I CAN eat oysters natural with just a squeeze of lemon juice!
Sounds like an awesome trip.