photography – Kerry and Peter's Blog

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.