To drive the Queensland Outback is to experience roads that are different to any others we’ve driven in Australia. And I mean the Outback in Northern Territories and Western Australia, both of which are really remote and sparsely populated. Sure, they all have unsealed roads and rough roads and narrow roads without shoulders. But here there are “developmental” roads and this often means one sealed traffic lane and a dirt shoulder on either side.  If you happen to approach another car in four hours of driving, you both share the sealed lane and half move into the shoulder with a billow of dust following as you pass one another and lift a finger in nod. It actually works well (and saves the government lots of bucks) but I’m not sure what happens if someone wants to overtake you on your side of the road. That hasn’t happened yet.
Once we leave Karumba and travel back through Normanton toward our real goal this trip, there is but one place for fuel for Ranger and us. Burke & Wills is at a crossroads called Four Ways, and even though its 3 hours in any direction to another fuel or food stop, its slim pickings what you can get here. We aren’t desperate but we refuel and press on into the hot dusty landscape where the one interesting site is three emu running across the road and disappearing into the scrubby bush. At Gregory Downs we stop at the only hotel (pub) in a town of little else. The rest of the road to Boodjamulla is presumably unsealed and not for the feint of heart so we will wait till the morning when we are fresh. The options to stay here are limited to the Gregory River “bed” and above the Gregory River bed.  We’ve heard the river bed is the place to stay but it’s also illegal to stay there and the fine can run $1,000 on the spot. A sudden rainstorm can flood the river quickly. It’s environmentally hazardous as well since some caravans tend to dispose of their grey water in the bed.  We decide to play it safe and proper and camp above the river. We temporarily park and walk down to check out the “hotspot”.  It’s actually too crowded to accommodate us but it is certainly an attractive spot with a crystal clear fast-moving creek flowing through a wide riverbed of melaleuca trees that provide plenty of shade.  We have a refreshing swim in the cool water and a chat with some of the campers who don’t seem terribly fussed about their trespassing.  We’re rather happy its too crowded so we don’t have to make an ethical decision here.  Our spot in the safe zone is dusty and there’s not a lot of shade but we set up camp and swelter in the heat. We can’t wait for the sun to set so it might begin to cool down. Since we have no power or water (and won’t have for the next few days) we can’t run our A/C unless we use the generator.  This option doesn’t appeal since we have neighbors and they aren’t using theirs. So every window remains wide open tonight.

The next morning we realize that the car that drove past us several times during the night had kicked up quite a bit of dust and everything, including our bodies, had a gritty film covering it. Such is life in the Outback. We headed off early toward Adels Grove, the “resort” where we will stay the next 3 nights.  The road wasn’t as formidable as we anticipated but it did take us 2 hours to drive the 90 kms. Adels Grove lies a few kilometres from Boodjamulla (formerly known as Lawn Hill NP, now back to the indigenous name) but there are few camping options in the NP and, as it turned out, little shade. Adels Grove is an oasis that lies next to Lawn Hill Creek and the grove of trees beside it provides lots of shade for those that can handle the “no power, no water” option. Alternatively we could camp in the open range above the grove and run our generator but we still wouldn’t have any water hookups. We picked an isolated grove site that might give us a little sun to power our solar panels but this was not a success. By the time we left 3 days later the house battery was almost flat, after providing power for the essentials like water pump, lights, fan and fridge fans.  Despite days in the mid 30s, the nights were more comfortable – there is some solace in dry conditions.
Boodjamulla is quite exceptional.  A gorge is formed by Lawn Hill Creek and the sandstone walls make for great hiking with spectacular views of the water channel below. When we took our first hike we didn’t know quite what to expect so it was a delightful surprise to find ourselves looking down on several waterfalls.  We spotted swimmers and made our way down to the creek to join them.  This turned out to be one of the highlights of our visit here. The crystal clear waters were beautiful, just cool enough to be refreshing, and warm enough in which to languish for an hour or more. Trying to swim beneath the falls was a fun challenge if you like a good head and neck massage. We returned to this spot after lunch when we rented a canoe and paddled easily upstream to the same pools.  After more swimming we took the canoe out of the water and portaged about 80 metres along a path to the upper gorge.  This gorge was stunning as well and led to a set of rapids that kept us from traveling any further upstream.  We were told that the creek originates from an underground spring not much further up.
That evening we intended to have dinner at the resort since it was my birthday. It was a Sunday evening and the Aussie Sunday Roast was on the menu…beef, lamb and pork.  Not exactly hot weather fare, but better than cooking in Silver. When we arrived to dinner we were told the lamb and pork weren’t actually on offer – some sort of kitchen snafu – and when we were called up to the queue to be served we were told they were out of beef. So it was chicken nuggets and spaghetti bolognese for dinner. It was one of those birthday dinners you don’t forget. We did enjoy the two couples that we shared a table with since they were able to laugh about it too.
The next day was filled with hiking and swimming as well – hard to believe all this beautiful water year round in the middle of what is effectively a desert.