Cape Crawford is approximately 100klms SW of Borroloola, home of the famous Heartbreak Hotel at the junction of the Tablelands & Carpentaria Highway. Despite the first part of its name, Cape Crawford is approx 120klms from the ocean & was named because it is situated at the northern extremity or ‘cape’ of the Abner Ranges which were first discovered by drover Lindsay Crawford in 1880. The Abner Ranges are home to the ‘Lost City’, which covers around 8 square klms & is dotted with towering sandstone formations – very popular with birdwatchers & hikers. Its a quirky joint & very interesting, we had dinner at the hotel & it was amazing.
Next morning, we headed off down the Tablelands Hwy, quite a scenic road to travel, we came across some cattle at a waterhole enjoying the refreshments. Before reaching the Barkly Hwy we turned left onto Ranken Rd(another road we had not travelled), we camped up at a gravel pit for the night. Quite good spot some cute willy-wagtails & finches, but there were lotz of flies.
Next stop Camooweal Billabong – WOW! what a beautiful spot & very popular, we managed to find a nice little camp with neighbours not too close. Lotz of birdlife (quite a variety) & lillies.
Our camp in the park.
Some cuties have a drink next to the Tablelands Hwy.
We drove out to Elsie Station, thanks to brother Rob we were able to get permission to go fishing on the Roper River – WOW! some beautiful spots out there, our 1st trip we just went for a few hours, caught 5 barra but only kept 2. Our next rip we camped out there for the night – another WOW! experience, so beautiful, we did manage to catch a couple bara but didn’t keep any this time. Had a coffee when we greeted the morning, then walked down the river for a few klms throwing lures, caught a few sooty’s, 1 catfish & no bara – so no keepers but was an interesting walk. Peter made us a yummy breaky on our return, we packed up camp then called into another spot where the pump is located – nice spot, a rather large water hole & 1000’s of ‘slater bugs’.
Slater bugs – just like worms are great for your garden living on organic matter & returning nutrients to the soil. They are known as woodlice or pill bugs. There was 1000’s of them everywhere along the river bank near where the pump was located, none were at the spot where we camped.
I was lucky enough to be able to spend 5 days in Kununurra with Ben & Sawyer(grandson), Mum was in Perth for a netball carnival, had great times with Sawyer, what an amazing buba – thankx Ben & Erin. xxx
Also was able to catch up with some ‘Lamonds’ in Katherine – was wonderful, thankx Mary, Gary, Carole & Costa for giving us some more great memories. 🙂
The mighty Roper River.
A nice one – 68cm
The fish cleaner at work……….
Another nice one – 65cms
Saw these critters on the 2nd trip out to Elsie, they are cute.
Got the fire going not long after we got to our camping spot.
all set up – r’n’r time
early morning flick of the lures – no keepers
Breakfast king on duty..
Thankx Mr Weier our toaster working well.
slater bugs.
Our camp in Katherine – 15klms out of town at Patow’s towing.
Lotz of these critters wondering around.
Sawyer – loves his food.
Sawyer & Dad (Ben) having a splash in the spa.
Sawyer & I going out for a walk.
Great night out with family – Mary & Gary, Carole & Costa. Thankx guys it was awesome to catch up. 🙂
Spent 5/6 weeks at Mataranka house sitting Nathan & Emma’s place (Nathan the whip cracker)- 5 acres, 7 horses, 4 cows, 20 odd chooks, not a bad place, could be really nice but we enjoyed our time there.
Chris & Di Robbo from Kununurra came for an o/nite visit, we drove out to the hot springs for a look then stopped along the way back on the Roper river a few times & tried our luck fishing-no joy, but Di & I had a nice paddle. We drove to Katherine the next day & checked out the Katherine hot springs – very surprising, they are quite lovely, was nice spending time with great mates.
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Nathan & Emma’s place that we house sat for 5/6 weeks
our home for 5/6 weeks
Cooked a couple of camp oven dinners from the coals
Everlastings – presently full of flower all along the road sides
Greenbank QLD, Willows QLD, Gunpowder NT & Tablelands NT & Mataranka NT.
April 2025
After 4 & a bit weeks our time at Greenbank, QLD is over, Abby did a great job of making a cake. Amy & Pat returned home on 14th April after cruising around Australia for a month. We all went out for dinner, the O’Neils, Cathrine, Greg, Georgia & Joe (Gregs brother) to the Logan Village pub, a long time between visits for us to be there but was very enjoyable.
We left Greenbank 0400hrs Wednesday 16th April, big day driving, we camped up at Bogantuncan, a free camp next to the railway station. On 26th February 1960, just south of this town the Midlander passenger train heading east to Rockhampton passed over the flooded Medway Ck. The bridge collapsed when the train was partly over it & a number of carriages plummeted into the water, 4 passengers & 3 crew were killed while 47 people were injured. Bogantuncan was once a thriving town, in the early 1880’s there were 28 hotels, several churches, numerous businesses, sporting clubs and a racecourse. Today there is only a few houses & the railway station has become a small historical museum. It was a small area but quite lovely.
Next camp up, after another longish day found us just west of Mt Isa, on the Barkly Hwy at WW2 airfield, a rather large area that extends out the back a far way, they have picnic tables, fire pits, flushing toilets & good phone reception: a great overnight stop.
3rd night on the road we pulled up at Attack Creek on the Stuart Hwy approximately 600klms south of Katherine, this area pays homage to John McDouall Stuart. It has picnic tables, watertank (not potable), firepits even firwood at different times, a toilet, we have camped here before down near the water – both camp areas good.
Next day we called into the Daly Waters Pub for lunch, it has been on our ‘to do’ list for a long time – WOW! very quaint, luckily for us we chose a quiet day to visit, it is a very popular place for lotz of locals & visitors. Lunch was very enjoyable & the wall features interesting. 2 hours down the road we came to Mataranka, our final stop at Nathan Griggs & Emma Palmer’s place 10 minutes from the hwy, our home for the next 5 weeks – we are house sitting while they go south & do their whip cracking shows.
Abby made a cake for my birthday, she did great job.
Pat & Amy
Grandpa & grandies…Abby, Tommy & Georgia.
Georgie gifted me some beautiful roses.
our camp
Had a few visitors.
our camp
sun going down
sun coming up
our camp at Attack Creek
wild tomato
there were a few road trains passing through but they didn’t bother us
sun going down
full of lotz of ‘stuff’ – very quirky & cute
a couple of interesting signs hanging up
Bit of local & interesting information.
a couple of the locals outside.
This where we are at Mataranka – Nathan & Emma’s place.
The concrete slab apparently originated in the 1940’s with the Defence Force.
Camped up at Casino & spent few days with Peter’s family – nice.
Next stop: Beebo Weir also known as Cunningham’s Weir located on the Dumaresq River which I think is the border between NSW & QLD is 30klms NW of Texas, a free camp on NSW side where we camped up. Lovely spot – just us. The weir is a timber-crib stepped weir completed in 1954, during a major flood in 1956, the maximum recorded head-above-crest reached 7.3m, very little damage to the weir which is still operational today.
Spent the next few nights at my cousins at Pittsworth – thankx Ros & Neil, always an enjoyable time at your joint.
Greenbank – Amy & Pat’s (Peter’s middle daughter) – we house, children & dog sitting for a month. So much rain, the dogs & I still went walking, the local park run track was under water quite often. Got to spend a few nights with my daughter Jenna & 2 ‘grandies’ Harry & Imogen – I am very lucky.
our camp
the weir
Dumaresq River
Lotz of prickly pear fruiting but none ripe as yet.
Lake Wyangan Picnic Area is a 10 minute drive NW of Griffith(NSW) – a 309 hectare former gypsum mine & natural swamp area it is home to peacocks, geese, kangaroo’s, water fowls & numerous birds. It offers a free camp location for a maximun of 3 night stay, lotz of facilities available & a great spot.
Macquarie Woods Recreation Park, Vittoria State Forest is 30 minutes W of Bathurst on the road to Orange & has both pine plantations and native forest, also home to a variety of native fauna. It was another great free camp with such a large area.
Cathedral Reserve – a free camp in the northern part of the Blue Mts about a 45 minute drive from Katoomba in the hills of Mt Wilson, it is one of the largest free campgrounds in the Blue Mts National Park. Has great drop toilets & lotz of firepits available, a great base of hikers. Mid afternoon the mist/fog enveloped us -WOW! so quick & at times you could only see a few metres in front of you. We had an enjoyable walk along the fern edged tracks.
Barham is a town in the western Riverina of NSW, it is located 823klm SW of Sydney and 303klm NW of Melbourne, situated on the Murray river across the river from Koondrook in Victoria.
We camped up on the Murray River on the Victorian side (free camp) -quite nice, just us. Next day found us travelling SW through the centre of Barham towards Griffith (NSW), about 20klms out of Barham funny noises were heard, lucky for us we pulled over – wheel nuts on back right hand side of ute tyre had all been sheared off except one…WOW. A new experience for us, rang RACQ, they put us in contact with a local fellow from NRMA, he was awesome, made sure we contacted all the right people to enable us to receive the entitlements we were due with our RACQ breakdown membership. He towed our KK & took us back to town where we booked into the caravan park, 3 nights, a hire car & all towing fees paid for: wow! The tow truck driver collected Peter from van park that afternoon & they went & picked up our ute, dropped it off at NRMA guys shed then Peter got lift with tow truck driver to Kerang, Vic (thats where the tow trucks apparently come from, none in Barham) & Peter drove the hire car back to caravan park- so an interesting day that ended okay because of some amazing assistance. We picked up the ute in 2 days, dropped the hire car back at Kerang & left Barham the next morning.
While we were camped up in caravan park we did a bit of walking, did the Koondrook Barham Redgum Statue River walk – quite interesting, so much history here but the statues were amazing. The statues, carved by chainsaws, highlight local identities and wildlife significant to the region began in 2002.
not a pretty site…..
1st experience for the ‘old girl’
Paddle steamer – used for tourism
Pioneer woman raised families, cleared land, built fences, tended stock sowed crops & faced many dangers of living on the land alone.
Sir John Monash – chief engineer of the Barham/Koondrook Bridge that officially opened 1904.
Barham/Koondrook bridge
The mighty Murray River
Herbert Keck – 1st citrus grower in the area.
Stuart Appleby – Australian Professional Golfer use to hits balls from paddock to paddock as part of his practice regime.
Eastern Grey Kangaroo – very common in this area.
Sidney Carl Percival Reid – Managing Director of Arbuthnot Sawmills for 44yrs & oversaw the conversion of the mill from steam to electricity
Sir John Gorton – He lived at Kangaroo Lake (located between Kerang & Swan Hill) with his wife working an orchard, in 1968 he became the 19th Prime Minister of Australia in unusual circumstances.
Laughing Kookaburra – found throughout eastern Australian.
The Murray Cod – is renowned as one of Australia’s largest fresh water fish.
The might Murray with its abundance of wildlife especially cockatoo’s.
Paddle Steamer Captains -worked long hours & had an enormous knowledge of the Murray River, for many years Barham & Koondrook were important trading stops.
John Powell – a popular local tragically died in a tree felling accident in the Koondrook State Forest, he was 52 yrs old.
Alexander Arbuthnot – was the founder of the Arbuthnot Sawmill in the late 1800’s, Arbuthnot Sawmill continues to operate on the original site in Koondrook.
The Arbuthnot Sawmill as it is today.
a very busy place at the mill
Australian Pelican is common to this area.
Nurse Elizabeth Rosen – established the ‘Carnarvon’ Private Hospital in Koondrook.
Arthur Molin – migrated to Australia from England in 1912, moved to Koondrook in 1935 & took over the petrol station & added a mechanical business.
Wedge-tailed Eagle – largest raptor in Australia & is the most common of the world’s largest eagles.
Roy “The Professor” Higgins – born in Koondrook at Nurse Rosen’s, Roy had 2312 wins as a jockey including 2 Melbourne Cup wins.
William Nkuppa Sampson – an Aboriginal stockman who grew up on Edward River near Moulamein, wa was involved in the classing & breeding of the Peppin Merino bloodline
Murray river Goanna – Tree hugging goannas live in the redgum forests along the Murray River, growing up to more than 2 metres long.
Slatey Camp has 3 separate secluded camping areas with fireplaces & at Slaty Creek Camp #1 there is accessible toilets, these campsites are located in the Creswick Regional Park 120klm NW of Melbourne between Ballarat & Daylesford. These camps are popular for the bush walkers, bird watchers and gold prospectors although there are a lot of deep mine shafts throughout the park. We parked up at camp#2 – no one there til late afternoon when 2 vehicles arrive, was a great spot. We spent 3 hours trekking through the bush (mainly off track) which was really good & got the heart rate going but we did have to watch out for the old mine shafts, some looked to be very deep.
The following night we camped up at a caravan park in Ballarat & had dinner with Lisa – a very enjoyable time.
Next day we arrived at Skinners Flat Reservoir located on the Calder Hwy approximately 6klm NW of Wedderburn, it features an island in its centre, surrounded by bushland & is a popular spot for fishing, swimming, camping & bushwalking. We found a great spot to camp up at the bottom end of the reservoir, the water didn’t look that inviting so we skipped on the swim idea but it was a great spot. I would definitely come back here especially if there was more water, it was nice & quiet.
our camp
Looking down at our camp from a nearby ridge.
lotz of old mine shafts – looked a bit like sink holes.
Lotz of r’n’r
Found a friend on our afternoon walk.
There was plenty of great firewood already cut up.
You would wonder how these trees survive with very little dirt for their roots.
Next camp found us in the Otway Forest Park, Beauchamp Falls – a really nice free campground, drop toilets, picnic tables & bbq’s. When we arrived mid afternoon there were 3 others caped up, in the morning the overnight area & the day use only area were both full……
We walked down to the falls, a 3klm round trip, downhill to the falls then uphill on the return, definately gets the heart rate up. I went for a quick walk in the morning before we left – well worth it.
Next stop Lake Colac – Meredith Dam. Lake Colac is the largest fresh water lake in Victoria & has a maximum depth of approximately 2.5m – it was a great camp spot.
The Falls were quite nice, bit too fresh for a dip.
After 10hrs driving from Weipa – we arrived at Rutland Station, SW of Cape York on the Kowanyama Rd & met up with some great cousins, 5 days fishing on the Nassua River – so many bara but lotz of fun.
Peter & I set up our swag high up on the banks of the river – what a view.
The fishing was amazing – so many bara, we threw back more than we kept, no over meter fish caught but lotz of others. Julie & Danny (the cousins) provided tooooooooo much food but we had a fantastic time. Lotz of other critters around camp but not too invasive, the goanna was the most persistent visitor but no problems with him, the hawks were amazing, feasting on the bara skeletons – it was Christmas every day for them. The sunsets were amazing, so many colours.
We camped up overnight on the way back to Weipa, along the Dixie Rd & stopped at a gravel pit which worked well. Peter reheated some of Julie’s curry chicken – WOW! so nice. Got to the Archer River, the new bridge is getting closer to completion – I am sure they will want it finished before the ‘wet’ season starts.
Imogen is growing so fast – it is such a joy to look after her while Mum working.
Our bed overlooking the amazing Nassua River on Rutland Station.
lotz of action
Cheers.
so many bara
sun going down
moon shining through
lotz of different critters around camp – regular visitor
this fellow loved carrots
The hawks feasted on the bara skeletons.
so many doves
Camped up along the Dixie Rd on our return trip to Weipa
Peter reheating some leftover chicken curry – soooooo yum.
New bridge over the Archer River nearing completion.
Kerry and Peter's Blog 