August 2023. The last post!!!!
Where the hell does time go. I suppose when you do nothing, nothing happens worth reporting.
BUT – Jude had back surgery in December and this meant that traveling was out of the question for about 6 months. Prior to the surgery traveling was a real problem and this was no more evident than when we traveled north to get to Lawn Hill in FNQ. We set out in June (or was it May) with the very express intent of making Lawn Hill as it was/is a spot on the map that we have had to by-pass on no fewer than 4 occasions. However Jude’s back slowed us down somewhat with many stops to relieve the back pain. We got to Boonah in Qld to catch up with Robyn so she could travel with us onwards, only to find out that Lawn Hill would not re-open until July after it was very seriously flooded earlier in the year. OK, we would just take the journey slowly and catch up with friends along the way then.
Well….before we got to Boonah the diesel heater didn’t. In Newcastle we had to get it “re-programmed”. There went $70.00. Then in Boonah the gas valve let go and we lost all of our gas. There went $250.00 on a new valve/regulator and gas.We eventually got to Innisfail where upon testing we found the electronic control/battery management system had shit itself and our house batteries were dead. New batteries but no new BMS available. There went another $660.00. Attempted to find new BMS which may happen in Mt Isa. OK, that’s sort of on the way somewhere. In the meantime we’ll catch up with Graham and Pauline in Cairns – HA! Not a caravan park available anywhere so we move on towards Lawn Hill.
Stopped along the way to do the lava tubes only to find you had to book weeks in advance and the cost had skyrocketed. Stopped further on at Mt Surprise to overnight free camp and listen to the herpetologist (snake man) only to find he didn’t do it any more. Subsequently booked ahead to do Cobold Gorge out of Georgtown and found the cost was exorbitant but decided as Robyn hadn’t done it to do it. Jude wasn’t up to the walking and climbing etc so she stayed home and made friends with Garfield the cat in the caravan park. 
Cobold Gorge was good again but for $128.00 a head it would want to be. Part of the reason for revisiting here was a new glass bridge over the gorge. Spectacular! It is still a loverly place to see.
Closer we got to Lawn Hill we thought we’d better check its status. Great status – closed until the end of December. Now, Adeles Grove is a private property sporting a caravan park at the entrance to Lawn Hill and we learnt that it had just re-opened after suffering the same flooding event that took out Lawn Hill. Well, lets have a look anyway. So, 100 odd k’s on a real outback track including detours at 20 KPH got us to Adeles Grove. Now light on fuel. Turned out to be a beautiful spot adjacent to the entry to Lawn Hill but still in the process of being rebuilt after the floods. The locals advised that it was unlikely that Lawn Hill would ever re-open. Spent a great night here with the snakes and bought petrol at $2.95 litre (a snake made it into the ladies amenities so Judy and Robyn didn’t).
A few days in Mt Isa to do it all over again thence on to – DARWIN. Well its only 1600 km from Isa isn’t it? Lets go and visit Mitch and Danielle (we missed them in 21 when Darwin got Covid). A few days later, via Daly Waters Tavern for another jolly night, we got to Humpty Doo. Spent the week lounging around the pool in tropical heat while Mitch went to work and Danielle headed to Sydney for a trade show. Then we came back.
I’m not sure if this post is at all interesting and I’m not going to re-read it so I’ll publish anyway.There are virtually no usable photos so here goes!