Last time I blogged, our buddies had all left, and it was time for us to hit the road again and make the slow trip back home. We stopped off at Katherine where we were going to do the gorge trip on a sunset cruise as a last thing before we started heading to the Queensland border. The gorge trip at sunset was certainly a highlight of the trip.
From the moment we stepped on the boat the magic began. Apparently the aboriginal people have taken over the tour company again, and the improvements since the tour we did years ago were marked. The walkways were all paved, there was water and seats available along the walk and the sunset cruise idea, well that was just magic!
The tour was more about the place than the wildlife, and as we'd already done heaps of wildlife tours, this was great for us. In comparison with the Darwin Harbour Sunset Dinner Cruise, that cruise was just a meal on a boat, this was an experience!! The whole place was quite spiritual and we were just amazed at the beauty and how much more intense the colors, and light and shade were at this time of night. And then just when we thought it couldn't get any better, our guide turned the motor off in the boat and we just drifted in absolute silence for five minutes soaking in the spirit of the place in the middle of the river!!
The second part of the cruise returned us to the first gorge and we boarded the dinner boat which was all set up with clothed tables, beautiful dinner settings, champagne etc. If i wasn't already married, this would be the ultimate place to be proposed to! The music played gently in the background (it was the music of an aboriginal musician who plays the guitar upside down and was truly beautiful) and after we ate the most amazing three course meal, the floodlights were turned on and the whole gorge was lit as we slowly drifted back down the gorge. This was the best thing we have done so far and a lovely way to farewell the Northern Territory.
We made an early start the next morning and headed off towards Mataranka but decided not to stop and kept going till we came to Daly Waters Roadhouse, and then we kept going. We pulled over on the side of the road for lunch which we made in the back of the van. Then we headed for Elliot. We weren't sure whether to stay at Elliot, or try and make it to Renner Springs Roadhouse for an overnight stay there. We drove through Elliot and decided straight away i was not staying there. I'd rather camp on the side of the road. It was right up there with Roebourne which had been up till now the worst place ever. I managed to get Renner Springs on the phone and pre-booked a powered caravan site for the night, so we breathed a sigh of relief and travelled slowly there.
We arrived to a huge amount of caravans, so we were glad we had booked our site. It was pretty primitive, and there is no way I would have used the amenities. With no phone coverage, we called home from the phonebox, then after fighting off the mosquitos, and speaking over the sound of the road trains, we headed off to get an early night.
We got away early again the following morning, but not as early as we would have liked. We were heading to Barkly Homestead as we thought it was probably the only point in the road suitable to stay as we knew we wouldnt make it to Mt ISA in a day from here. We weren't sure what we would find there and guessed our night stay would be similar as the night stay we had last night- ordinary at best! We made a short stop at Three Ways Roadhouse for fuel, comfort, coffee (which was surprisingly a great coffee), and a Three Ways stubby holder for Kevin's growing collection, we then hit the road again heading for Barkly Homestead.
We arrived at Barkly and were pleasantly surprised. The guy at Renner Springs has told us it was pretty average, but in comparison to Renner Springs, it was a five star place. We got our pick of the sites, and if it wasn't for the noisy generator that kept Kevin awake, it would have been a perfect stop along the way to Mt ISA which was our next stop.
The next day, we made it to Mt ISA in fairly good time, but were starting to feel quite travel-weary so decided to stop here for a few days to catch our breath and have a look around. The caravan park was OK, so we figured we'd be fairly comfortable here. Mt ISA itself is not really that inspiring though, and would not be my hometown of choice!!
We've noticed the weather is beginning to change, and I've dragged out the little fan heater again, as the mornings are quite chilly compared to the beautiful 27 degree days. I don't mind so much though, as it means I'm sleeping much better of a night. I found Darwin just way too hot with no escape from the heat at night.
We got away fairly early the morning we left Mt ISA, Kevin was aiming for 7.30 and we did it by 7.45, so not too bad. First main town was Cloncurry, where we stopped for fuel,and coffee. We sustained a 'war wound' on the van getting in to the fuel station and the woman in the bakery was an absolute cow. We didn't rate Cloncurry very highly at all. Next stop was Winton and the only decent cafe in the street decided they would put a closed sign up at 2.30, so there was no opportunity for a coffee. We found a service station but only had one pump available, so found another. This one only took credit card as they had closed for the day -well it was 2.30 afterall.
We left Winton behind after having lunch on the side of the road just outside of the town. It was a long haul, but we eventually arrived at Longreach at 5pm. We were tired and crabby by this time - well one of us was tired, and the other was crabby anyway! So we grabbed a quick meal and decided to call it a day - it had been a very very long one.
Longreach provided us with a much needed sleep-in and catch up morning, and then as Longreach is the home of the Stockman's Hall of Fame, it was obligatory that I should accompany Kevin there for the day. It was pretty well done, but a day of it was an overload of heritage really!
From Longreach we are heading to Charleville, and probably Bourke, but Kevin is still deciding, and I'm just ready to head for home, so quite frankly I'm not to fussed which way he goes as long as it's south!
My next blog will be somewhere along the track on the way home from BumbleF......
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