Dry clothes were required after our canoeing adventure, and we were ready for lunch too. Dry again and fed, we set off to walk some of
the gorge rim to get a different view of where we went on water this morning.
Lawn Hill Gorge viewed from the top.
So we set off towards the falls on a very scenic but at times challenging walk on a track that was quite steep in
places. We were struck by the contrast in the vegetation up here – spinifex, gnarled gum trees, hardy wattles and some lovely red flowering grevilleas.
Red Grevilleas
Very different from the lush green growth only metres below us.
Back at our
campsite it was time for a
well-earned swim to cool off, before doing a few chores and making dinner. Two neighbouring couples joined us for a drink around the fire to cap off a memorable day.
There was a mini exodus from Adel’s Grove as the school holidays came to an end, and we joined onto the end of it although we had no school commitments to keep. We decided to head towards
Gregory Downs,
Looking west towards Adels Grove and the gorges
though shortly after leaving Adels Grove we pulled off on a small
hill from where it was possible to get a good view looking back over the river and towards
the gorge.
The road was in reasonable condition and was good beyond the turn-off to the big Century Zinc
Mine.
This monster emerged from a cloud of dust.
There was very little traffic with the notable exception of a truck carrying a very large bit of earth moving equipment.
When we reached the
Gregory River crossing, where we had been told there was good camping, we found about 30 other campers and caravanners already there. This was hardly surprising as it looked to be a delightful spot, despite numerous “No Camping” signs. After exploring around we found a spot across the river where a rough access track kept caravans out.
A special spot beside the Gregory River
We had lunch and settled in for a lazy afternoon that included a quick dip in the water, which was very clear, fast flowing and rather cool. There were a lot of birds and also lots of butterflies that seemed to be clustering around damp spots on the riverbank.
We liked this place so much that we decided to stay a second day. We walked up to the pub, saw that there were fewer vans near the
old bridge and
Yesterday this space was crowded with campers.
watched as a canoe crewed by 3 people and a dog came hurtling past us on the strong current – they returned about an hour later, this time paddling very hard.
Next day we set off north heading for
Burketown, along a good gravel road.
Heading for Burketown
The country here is very flat and covered with tall grass, although there do not seem to be many cattle about. The Tourist “I” place at
Burketown is very informative and has good displays covering the early history of the area, so we spent some time there learning about the colourful characters and events from the past. There is a very small
supermarket where we stocked up on essentials, then set off to explore. We headed out of town to
the wharf. A tourist boat had just come in and we learned that it was a good trip to go down the river 25km to the mouth.
There are huge salty mudflats
Out on the mudflats.
so we drove out across some of these towards the mangrove lined river banks, although there was not much to see except a couple of fishing
shacks. In this almost alien environment we were glad to have OziExplorer working as the tracks in
places were almost non-existent, and the flat country appeared almost featureless to us. Val was anxious about getting bogged in a sudden hole and then getting stuck as the tide came in, but that was a drama that didn’t happen.
We saw some signs to an historical site and found a heap
Bits of the old boiling-down works
of old machinery that had once been a boiling down works to extract tallow from otherwise worthless sheep, that were the original grazing animals introduced into the area. The site dated from 1867 and saw numerous attempts at meat processing and tallow production. It also saw a number of
explorers pass through as
well as serving as a supply depot for some of the search parties looking for Burke and Wills.
In our wanderings we also found a number of good campsites overlooking the river, so we decided to make one of these
our camp for the night. Before setting up
camp though we drove back into town to book onto a fishing tour tomorrow, and to see the old
bore.
The calcite encrusted old bore and wetlands.
This draws hot water from about 700 metres down and has been established for a long time so that it is now encrusted in rocky material and coloured by algae and slime that is able to survive in the hot mineral water. Water from the
bore flows out into what is now a permanent wetland where lush green grass supports wallabies and water birds.
We spent a quiet night beside the rather muddy but neverteless picturesque
Albert river.
Albert River
We were up and away early to get to
the wharf in good time. When we went on board we found that there were 5 of us on the trip plus our Skipper, Pete. We took off downriver quite fast, watching the
Albert RiverMangrove covered islands in the river
become wider and the mangroves becoming bigger and thicker. There were occasional open grassy areas viewed between the walls of mangroves, and a few fishing huts and
places where there were many mangrove covered islands. Our first stop was about 20km downstream to try our luck at fishing.
John wets a line. The fish stayed away - again.
But there was no action there so Pete moved us down to the mouth of the river where we had open sea as an horizon. The water here was still shallow but its colour had changed from brown to greenish. The fish were biting and a few were caught, mainly by Pete.
John and I caught 4 toadfish between us, maintaining our impressive fishing record. Pete took pity on us and gave each of us a bream to land.
After about 3 hours we had caught about a dozen good sized fish between us. Pete cleaned and skinned these and divided them up between everyone. It was time to head back, between the
Mangroves line the river.
mangrove walls where by now a couple of crocs were out sunning themselves on the banks. Finally we were back at
the wharf saying our farewells. It has been a different trip and even if the fish weren’t biting for us, it has been a good way of seeing a little of this very different coast.
Catch of the day.
Fish for dinner tonight.