CLONCURRY
We arrived in Cloncurry towards the end of July to meet up with Joe & Glenys; they were bringing the bus they have been working on converting for a few days break away from the farm. It tied in well as I needed to get the car serviced at Mount Isa before heading further north.
We stayed at the Gilbert Caravan Park which is the first park on the left if you are heading west. The park is run by a great couple (Peter & Cheryl) along with the the rest of their family, they are constantly on the go and nothing is too much trouble. The sites are roomy and mainly drive through for the larger vans; the amenities are clean and checked periodically throughout the day and tidied up as required.
The park is pet friendly and the rates are quite good; it was $26 p/n but they did have a special of $140 for the week. The park has a pool, camp kitchen and entertainment 3 – 4 nights a week during the tourist season. The roadways are gravel and this is the first park we have seen were they use a water carrying ute to keep the dust down, great idea and it works well.
Many of the sites are drive through; they try to keep the grass as best they can but it is typical “outback couch”, dusty grass or just dust.
Cloncurry does have an outdoor cinema that runs a couple of nights a week; it is part of the cafe / take away so settle back with some fish & chips with and couple of tinnies.
There is a market one one Sunday of the month; we went along for a look and they had 6 stalls. Apparently we did not get there early enough as there was 7 stalls but the lady selling home made Anzac biscuits sold out and went home; better luck next time.
Joe & Glenys rolled in on the Friday and parked next to us; Joe was not real good at putting the pegs in so I proceeded to show him how to bend them whilst trying to peg into rocks. Joe was not impressed.
Some of Glenys & Joe's handy work in getting the conversion on the way; a little way to go yet but it's looking very good.
The outside of the bus; we all had a great time over the weekend and hopefully we will see them again over Christmas.
Well the car has been serviced so time to head of towards Adels Grove and Lawn Hill National Park but we are stopping at the Burke & Wills Roadhouse on the way.
BURKE & WILLS ROADHOUSE
This is like an oasis in the middle of nowhere; it sits at the junction of the Burke (Matilda Hwy) Developmental Road & the Wills Developmental Road. From here hading further north takes you to Normanton & Karumba or turning left (west) to Gregory Downs and Lawn Hill NP.
We stayed one night here and the way you park is 4 around one central slab with a roof over the top; sort of gives you a communal happy hour location even if you did not want to be involved. Price was $18 for the night each van has access to a power and water connection, the amenities were okay and the people we met were very friendly.
Parked for the night at the roadhouse; power, water, satellite dish up, what more could you want.
Unfortunately the picture does not do the roadhouse justice as it is set over a large area with outdoor tables, chairs etc. It has a bar, take away come restaurant and souvenir shop. Just the perfect spot to get rid of more cash. notice the sign “Welcome To The Burke And Wills”.
The below sign is not so welcoming to the weary who just want to use the roadhouse loo's to pee, eat their own egg & lettuce sangas and in the main make use of the free facilities. No freeloading here (if they catch you).
We did enjoy the nights stopover and we wanted to get to Gregory Downs by mid next morning so by staying overnight it gave us a good start after breakfast.
Hope you have enjoyed this section of our travels; the next post will be Gregory Downs, Adels Grove and Lawn Hill NP.
Love and warm regards to all and those that are on the road travel safely.
David & Linda – The DavLin Rig
