It was windy all night and it didn’t let up this morning so we were in no hurry to get on the road.

 

To keep the fuel economy good, there was no speeding until a couple of road trains passed then I hooked on the back and got pulled along.

 

There were a couple of stops along the way to look for things and after a couple of hours we arrived in Mt Isa.

 

There was no way you didn’t know where it was. The copper smelter was firing on all cylinders and the black smoke was pumping out of the stack.

 

Luckily the wind was blowing away from town as there was only a little creek separating the mine from the town.

 

After settling the van into the Sunset Top Park, Jenny was dropped off at the shops to get here fix while I discovered the town through geocaching.

 

After picking up Jenny we checked out the town from the highest point at the lookout. From here you can see most of the surrounding landscape.

 

For the last couple of years there has been an ad for the Buffs Club on the satellite TV, so tonight we had to check it out for a meal.

 

It wasn’t a bad meal and was obviously the most popular place in town.

 

After our time at the Buffs Club, it was back up to the lookout to check out the view at night. The mine was certainly lit up and the full moon didn’t disguise the smoke from the copper smelter.

 

We hadn’t even gone to sleep when we got a call from the US. It was just after midnight and apparently it is Rachael’s 21st birthday here in Oz so she gave us a call.

 

I am sure we celebrated it a month ago. Oh well, happy 21st again Rachael.

 

When we woke up and looked outside there was an empty campground with us the only one in the park.

 

After filling up with almost our most expensive fuel ($1.899), it was onto the road to Queensland.

 

I had read that the Barkly Highway was a rough ride but the road yesterday was some of the best we had been on and it started out the same today.

 

As soon as we hit the floodplains though the road became a roller coaster ride. The soil must be reactive here with the water in the wet season and lots of ups and downs and bumps.

 

It certainly showed today why it was called the Tablelands. The lands for as far as you could see was as flat as a table.

This is cattle country and there was plenty of cattle today and even some horses to see.

 

We farewelled Northern Territory and welcomed Queensland with the obligatory Border photos.

 

Today’s camp was Camooweal with its drover history. Not much here except for a couple of servo’s, a pub and a couple of caravan parks.

 

After setting up camp, we headed down to Camooweal Caves National Park to have a look. It seemed to be a claytons National Park with cattle roaming all over the place.

 

These caves are similar to the Nullarbor Plain but are not open to have a look. All you can see are a couple of sinkhole cave entrances.

 

Before heading to the van we checked out Lake Francis free camp on the western side of town. It was packed with vans lining the banks for about a kilometre.

 

You might as well be in a caravan park being that crammed in.

 

Not a big day today and when we woke at 9am and looked out all we saw was grass with only 3 other vans still here after being packed last night.

 

We farewelled our neighbours, Ian and Cheryl from Mt Gambier and headed south but only for 80 kilometres.

 

At Three Ways, with the second most expensive fuel at $1.89 but as I was sniffing fumes, had to fill up.

 

It was then time to turn left and start the journey to Queensland.

 

There was plenty of heavy transport from the east on the Barkly Highway but didn’t seem to be as much headed our direction.

 

Another quick drive pulling into the Barkly Homestead oasis around 1pm.

 

No problems getting a powered site with a patch of lawn with the wave of vans coming in about an hour later.

 

Another Country and Western singer for happy hour but was very loud in the indoor venue so back to the van where you could still hear him.

 

Jenny tried to burn the van down by using the air frier when it was still full of plastic bits.

 

Spent the night doing a binge watch of “Code Black“.

 

Having been on the road now for almost a month, there has been no wind to talk of until today. It started as soon as we left Daly Waters and continued until we reached our destination at Banka Banka Station.

 

It had an effect on fuel consumption with over 20 litres per 100 km.

 

Digs for the night was Banka Banka Station and we did the grey nomad thing getting in around 1230pm and luckily we did as we managed a grassed site in the shade.

 

Even though there is no power here, the hot showers are good.

 

We must have been spoilt last night with the entertainment as tonight’s Country and Western singer was not quite up to the same standard.

 

Diesel was $1.719 at the Hi-Way Inn at Daly Waters.

 

We had intended to get up early, pack up the van and then go for one last soak. So much for that plan.

 

The alarm went off, snooze was hit and we then snoozed until 930. So it was pack up the van and hit the road around 1030.

 

That’s OK, there was only a couple of hours travelling today with camp for the night at the famous Daly Waters Pub.

 

Getting in early has its rewards with a shady powered site at the campgrounds with water. You do have to collect your grey water but can put it around the trees.

 

Dinners are done a little bit different here due to the popularity. You are booked into a sitting and being in early meant that we have the first sitting at 630pm. Sittings are then every half hour until 8pm.

 

It was a big night for entertainment while we waited for our meal.

 

First up was the Pitts Family Circus. They were a family of 5 acrobatic troupe with the youngest being 2 years old although they didn’t do too much with him but the other 2 kids were involved. They put on a good show but a couple of times you gasped with the kids.

 

Next was the old favourite, Country and Western singer Tom Maxwell. He was here last year as well. Mid way through his set we one the Barra Bingo and got our meal.

 

It was a good meal with Beef, Barra and salads.

 

Following on from Tom Maxwell was some more singers, this time from Nimbin NSW, “Lou Bradley and Phil“. They were also Country and Western with some comedy thrown in as well as some Banjo playing.

 

It was a good night overall and we were back to the van by 9pm.

 

After a sleep-in, it was down for some more soaking at the thermal pool. It must be getting closer to school holidays as the number of kids is starting to outnumber the oldies.

 

Spoke with a few and most have taken their kids out of school early as holidays dont start for a week.

 

The afternoon session was a little bit better with the pool clearing around 5pm. By 6pm there was half a dozen of us in there to enjoy the nightly flight of the flying foxes and the near full moon rising.

 

It was getting cooler out but eventually we had to get out after 2 1/2 hours soaking.

 

Just for something different, we headed down to watch Nathan “Whippy” Griggs and his whip cracking show. That is now the 10th time I have seen the show.

 

This is our last night here and it is time to move on further south before heading east into Queensland.

 

Sunday in Mataranka is Market Day. It is not a large market but I was able to fill the car at the servo across the road while Jenny checked out the market.

 

I guess it didn’t break into our soaking time all that much but Jenny did get her dried mango.

 

It was then onto Bitter Springs. The workers had excelled themselves as the concrete paths were all finished so it was an easy walk to the entry point of the Springs.

 

For some reason, it wasn’t all that busy which allowed for peaceful float down the creek each time.

 

There was even wildlife to see each time with turtles sunning themselves, plenty of kingfishers grabbing insects from the water and even a water monitor on a tree root.

 

After 3 hours, we headed back to camp for lunch and a chat with some of our neighbours.

 

There was still daylight, so back down into the thermal pool for another couple of hours.

 

On dusk, the flying foxes were active darting around grabbing the mozzies and other insects.

 

I tried the satellite dish one more time and finally a signal. This meant that we could watch the Rugby State of Origin.

 

It would have been good for Queensland to tie the series but that was not to happen with NSW taking the series 2-0.

 

Diesel in Mataranka was $1.525 a litre after a 5c discount.

 

Not far to go today. Just 100 kilometres to the Mataranka Homestead and the Thermal Pool. This will be our home for a few days.

 

It is amazing what a couple of weeks will do. Two weeks ago, it was 34C on my last stay while today it only just made 29C.

 

The water in the thermal pool was still warm though and we managed a 3 hour soak.

 

It is not a bad lifestyle here with some of our neighbours spending several months here.

 

The only issue was that for 2 days, I have been unable to get the satellite dish to lock onto a signal. Not a huge loss without TV.

 

The morning was spent getting rid of dust in cupboards and other nooks and crannys in the van. Some dust was from last year, the year before and this trip.

 

It was then time to visit the various waterfalls in Litchfield National Park, all but one you can swim in, so we only visited the ones you could get wet in.

 

First on the list was Wangi Falls. The swimming area was open with no snapping handbags in the area and plenty of feed floating around if there was.

 

The water was certainly refreshing but you soon got used to it. With a noodle each it was easy going discovering under the falls and in the elevated rock pool.

 

After an hour, it was time to move onto the next waterfall. This time it was Florence Falls. These are a couple of k’s downstream from Buley Rockhole.

 

There was 2 ways to get to then. One was a kilometre walk along a paved path or a 400 metre descent down 135 stairs. We chose the long way of course, after-all there was a geocache to be found on the way.

 

Even though Florence Falls are mostly shaded, the water seemed to be warmer than Wangi Falls. The current was a lot stronger here but that would be due to a smaller pool for the amount of water flow.

 

After another hour or so, we headed back to Buley Rockhole to finish off the day.

 

Tomorrow we should end up in Katherine but may go all the way through to Mataranka.