The Road to Adels Grove & Lawn Hill National Park (NP)

On Saturday the 5^th August we left Cloncurry. We were still making our way up to our main destination, ie Adels Grove, Lawn Hill NP. We could make it from Cloncurry in the one day but we knew that the final 85km to Adels Grove was a very rough road and it would be slow going.

Coming out of Cloncurry we spoke to a friendly truckie on the CB. He called us up to ask if we wanted to pass him. But the road was a bit rough and he was going quick enough for that road so I told him I would sit behind until the road got better. We chatted on and he gave us information about the road  and talked about his job and we had a couple of laughs. He had recently been to Adels Grove so he gave us tips on that too. He turned off after a while and said goodbye as his turn was coming up. Nice guy. A CB makes life so much better on the road, safer, funnier and informative.

We came to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse. I was a bit underwhelmed I have to say. I knew it would only be a roadhouse with little other buildings except for a bar and accommodation but there did not seem to be any effort in displaying any history or outback, larrikin trinkets and memorabilia which could make the place an iconic outback stop off. Business wise they did not need to do anything because they are in the middle of nowhere and everybody stops off anyway to get fuel or food anyway. They had a blackout at the time so we had to pay cash as the eftpos was disabled. It pays to carry extra cash in the outback. Some people were going to be in a plight.

So after refueling and a couple of photos we moved on to the tiny (smaller than tiny) town of Gregory. I had heard all about Gregory and the beautiful, free riverside camping and the cranky hotel owner so I knew exactly what to do. I wasn’t going to bother staying up at the dusty free camp above the river or behind the pub and pay money for nothing. So we went down to the river and found one of the last three remaining options for putting a caravan. There is a beautiful spring fed river running through this place. The water is very clear and it is beautiful. I will hold off showing photos of the place as it was a bit cloudy, strangely, and the photos would not do the place justice so when we go back and stay there after Adels Grove I will get better snaps then and show those. I will just show some photos of the town, ie the pub and the café and the wide street, that’s it, that is all the town is.

That afternoon we met Peter and Jennifer as we had arrived at the riverside camping at a similar time  and went down to have a swim in the river at the same time. We got talking and found out they are from Charlestown near Newcastle. So I mentioned that we had camped beside a couple from Charlestown a few months ago in Canberra on our short, southern three week. The fellow had lost a leg due to meningococcal disease. Would you believe that they knew him and his wife. That is one of many amazing coincidences we have experienced on the road. We are in outback Queensland and randomly meet people who know people that we randomly met a few months ago. Go figure!

We were finally without TV reception and not in anyone else’s company. Linda and I were forced to talk to one another and we had a really nice chat.

The next morning we headed off to Adels Grove. We’d had many opinions by this stage on whether to leave the van behind at Gregory and drive in with the vehicle only or take the van in. It was obviously going to be rough so we had to weigh up a few things, such as, what is the capability of our van, how long we planned on being there at the NP and whether we would be happy with day tripping it in or camping in there with a tent.

Our van could be described as semi off road. We wanted to spend at least 3 days in at the NP so we would not be happy day tripping in 100km one way for three days, that would have been 600km so that was out of the question. We had brought everything we needed for tenting it except we forgot the airbed. So we decided to take the van in and drive to the conditions.

Yes it was rough. On the severe corrugations we could only do 5 to 15kph. On the not so severe ones we could go 50 to 60kph. You can also use all the road and chase the smoother sections and achieve a better average speed.  So the 85km took 2.5 hours but we didn’t care. Just sit back and make the most of it and nurse the van so as not to do any damage. And we didn't do any damage nor was there any dust let. It was definitely worth taking the van in. We have all of the comforts with us. Thanks for the good advice John O’Malley and Wal.

So we have finally arrived at our main destination. I will save the story and photos of this place for the next post.