Monday 09 May 2022: Gregory to 80 km north of Cloncurry 240 km
On Sunday, to escape the heat at the Lawn Hill National Park camping grounds we drove back to Gregory where we set up camp beside the river. Today we continued on the the Terry Smith Lookout Rest Area, 80 km north of Cloncurry on the Burke Development Road via the Burke and Wills Roadhouse, 240 km of not too exciting bitumen roads.
The small sign says “Sorry no Coffee”
Anyway, Murray has “Gone for supplies” so it’s closed
We spent the night at the Terry Smith Lookout Rest Area, 80 km north of Cloncurry and dedicated to Royal Mailman Terry Smith who delivered mail along this road from 1950 to 1991. It rained heavily during the night.
Camp oven chilli con carne with tortillas for dinner
Tuesday 10 May 2022: 80 km north of Cloncurry to Julia Creek 250 km
It has these wonderful murals on the front porch
This photo is from 2020, the roof has collapsed and it’s fenced off now
Cloncurry
Cloncurry was once the major center in NW Queensland and there are some lovely old buildings. The weather was terrible for taking photos but we had been here before. Those photos are here.
Features the Cloncurry Parrot which is only found around here
“The Feed” – illustrates the local food chain
We were going have lunch at the Walkabout Hotel (Crocodile Dundee’s pub) in McKinlay and continue on to Kynuna for the night. But leaving Cloncurry the road sign indicated that route was closed (flooded) so we had to continue on to Julia Creek in heavy rain. With multiple road closures due to last night’s downpour the town is full. Luckily we were able to get a donga at the caravan park.
Julia Creek
But this week it could have been the RAINnMUD Festival
They are only found between here and Richmond – this one is being fed at the Visitor Information Centre
Brought from Charters Towers in 1923; burnt down 1929; rebuilt 1930
Wednesday 11 May 2022: Julia Creek to Kynuna 215 km
Today we decided to go via McKinlay to Kynuna (pop 20) along the sealed Gidyea Bug Byway but first I checked QLD Traffic App: OPEN, McKinlay Council website: OPEN, rang McKinlay Council: OPEN. Confidently we set off but after 50 km we were stopped by a Council worker “Yer gonna hafter tun aroun. She’s 600 mil over n risin”. So back 50 km to Julia Creek to start again, 115 km to Kynuna.
The highway is open but not the road to the airport
Banjo Patterson’s first pub performance of Waltzing Matilda was in this bar
You can write your name for a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service
Thursday 12 May 2022: Kynuna-McKinlay-Kynuna 150 km
We liked the Blue Heeler so we decided to spend another night there and go for a drive to McKinlay (pop 20) and back, 75 km each way on our day off.
Previously it was the Federal McKinlay Hotel, now it’s a tourist attraction but there’s a lot more interesting sights in the town
We haven’t seen a town like this anywhere else
Friday 13 May 2022: Kynuna to 20 km west of Longreach 320 km
Thursday afternoon we discovered that there’s a parkrun in Longreach. Is 340 km to far to drive to parkrun? No. We stopped at Macsland Rest Area 20 km before Longreach for the night all prepared to get up and go. But at 5 pm the parkrun was cancelled due to water on the course, big disappointment.
Winton
Here are our pictures of Winton in 2020. (Not keen on dinosaurs so we bypassed the nearby Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum).
