Karumba, then the fabulous Lawn Hill National Park

  Lawn Hill, Australia
Saturday, July 28, 2007

Tuesday July 24  Normanton-Karumba
   Pack up our donga, and off to Karumba, taking photos of the town and the model of the  28' croc shot by a woman in the '60s.

001. Normanton -model of real crocodile

Almost immediately get into interesting wetlands. Stop for what we think will be a rare shot of Brolgas,

003. Wildlife - brolgas dancing

but see heaps along the road, with Jabirus,

002. Wildlife - black-necked stork (jabiru)

and other water birds.

006. There's plenty of birdlife

The whole area is a  floodplain with a couple of good rivers. There is a major new bridge over what is probably the Walker River, about halfway.

004. Walker River?

005. There's not much around here.

  Take a drive through Karumba town first, which doesn't look very exciting. Murray can't see a lot of familiar territory from his trip of 40 years ago, although the river looks the same.

007. Norman River, Karumba

Surprised that you can now see the mouth and the open sea from the north end of town. The caravan park is booked out, and the other accommodation too, so head in hope for Karumba Point. This looks better, more of a resort area, but the Sunset Caravan Park can only do one night in a cabin, one in a powered site. Just nearby, on the land side of the road, try hopefully at a place offering family cabins. End up with a very nice cabin, one of four set in a square, with walkways between. Nice and airy, and big fridge, modern kitchen all for $72.
   Walk along the foreshore to the north,

008. Beach Karumba Point, near airport

looking carefully for croc tracks (NOT plastic shoes), and end up halfway along the airport. Walk back on a sandy road, through a virtual grasshopper plague.
   Drive into town to take up the $15 a kilo prawn offer at Raptis processing plant as this area is famous for the prawns, most of which are exported, with all the preparation now being done at sea. Photograph some prawn trawlers.

009. Karumba - prawn trawlers

The prawns were big, but a strange pink and yellow colour (banana prawns?), and obviously the rejects, and tasted fairly ordinary. Can't get fresh bread to go with them, so have to settle for seafood sauce. We city folk aren't used to most of the town closing down for lunch. Eat about half of them, but DP finds them suspect (which was proven correct later in the night), so end up throwing the rest of them out.
   Walk the other way in the pm, and check out that we don't have to book for a meal to go to the Sunset Tavern, just across the road (we're sick of turning up and finding everything booked out).
   Take it easy, then across for sunset on the shore in front of the tavern. Pretty crowded, and get a seat further back, and work our way forward as people leave. Run into Jim and Frances (from Crystal Waters Caravan Park, in Cairns, and Cobbold gorge) and join them and another nice couple for a drink, and later for the meal. Now quite cold, so MP goes back to our unit for warm gear. Not a bad sunset, and meal of minestrone and barramundi not too bad, but not cheap.

010. Karumba Point sunset

Woken early by our neighbour, who is a keen fisherman, who heads out about 4am.
   Wednesday 25th July         &a mp;n bsp;  Karumba
   Plan a lazy day. Check out the waterfront,

013. Karumba Point

014. Karumba Point - fishing

and the massive lineup of 4WD's with boat trailers at the boat ramp.

011. Most of these trailers fold up

012. Karumba- rows and rows of 4WD's

At first we can't work out how they can tow a caravan and a trailer, but then realize that most of the trailers are fold-ups. We still can't believe the amount of money that is being spent in this country on large 4WD's, caravans, boats, etc etc.    Walk on a path through the mangroves, along the waterfront toward Karumba, but it looks like croc country, so head back after a while.

016. Karumba Point-path through the mangroves

Do a bit of shopping - a bit shocked at the prices ($5.50 for a lettuce!), but mandarins surprisingly good and cheap.
   Do internet at the Karumba Library. Find out that tour of the barramundi hatchery runs every hour, so just catch the 3pm show. It is quite interesting.  They are growing fingerlings to put into the rivers and dams.  Surprised that they are not publicly funded. DP feeds the big females with a small fish dangled in the water.

016. Karumba - barramundi at hatchery

Barramundi don't have teeth, and they take food by big slurps, which was very quick and quite scary. Too quick to photograph.
   Check out the waterfront upstream of the town. See the large Century Mine plant where zinc slurry is piped all the way from Lawn Hill, then transferred by lighters to large boats a few kms offshore.

017. Karumba- Century Mine plant

  There are some pretty ordinary boats, both in and out of the water, including a very weird trimaran under construction.

018. Karumba - "I had a dream..."

   Take photos of a "duck camp",  a wetlands with lots of birds,

019. Wetlands near Karumba Point

just on the way into Karumba Point, right in the flight path to the airport. Drive out on the road along the coast to past the airport. Fairly rough scrubland, a haven for free campers.
   Have another sunset at the Tavern, this time it with a couple from the South Coast. He is a railway bridge inspector, still working, just on 3 weeks holiday.
   Watch TV, freeze water and milk bricks for the esky tomorrow, and clean up where out green liquid, flexible freezer pack expired.
   Thursday 26th July         &a mp;n bsp;  Karumba - Adel's Grove (Lawn Hill National Park)
    Reasonably early start ( buy the good mandarins from Awesome Annie's) then back on the Karumba Development Road through Normanton, where we take some more photos. Top up with fuel at an old-style servo ($1.41.4c per litre), with an ancient operator, and a pile of archaelogical spare parts in the office cum storeroom. Underfill the tank, which is a bit of a worry as it doesn't go up past 3/4, and we have a long way to go. Photo of old Burns Philp building,

020. Normanton - Burns Philp building

then get back onto The Savannah Way (The Gulf Developmental Road) for a few kms, and have a bit of confusion finding the Matilda Highway (The Burke Developmental Road). The road is pretty good, mainly through flat savannah land,

021. Flat savannah land

with very high cable-stayed telecommunications tower marking the way about every 30 kms. Quite a few road trains.

022. A typical road train.

  The termite mounds show a lot of variation and character,

023. Termite mounds

and we see a new variety of bottle tree.
   Burke and Wills roadhouse is colourful, with lots of travellers pulled up, a couple of road trains across the road, and a game chiller up the back.

024. Burke & Wills roadhouse

  Ask about Lulu the young camel who meets visitors, but apparently she was chased by dogs last week, and is resting in a back paddock. At first we can't see the ULP pump, think it must be somewhere else, worried that they might only have diesel. Find it and top up with $1.51 per litre fuel, making sure it is topped right up this time. Share a pretty good "bloody big burger", then head west on the Isa Riversleigh and Barra Byway (Wills Developmental Road) . Photo of emus on the way.

025. Wildlife - emus

  Stop at Gregory Downs,

026. Gregory Downs

which is a 3-way intersection with a pub, a public toilet, and a large cattle station complex, and not much else.   Fill again with $1.58 per litre fuel, check out the extent of the "town", then cross the Gregory bridge to look at the river, and are impressed by the flow in the river and the magic camping spots down beside it. Drive back and walk down on the east side for a good look. Some of the caravans are pulled up right beside the river, down on the gravel a foot above the water, with people sitting on their easy chairs with their feet practically in the water.

027. Great free camping site - Gregory River

028. Gregory River

029. Gregory River

If we weren't booked into Adel's Grove, would consider staying here for a night.
   The road is wide and well maintained gravel, obviously kept so to accommodate heavy traffic to the Century mine, as it is ok, but not as good after the turnoff.  We can't believe the number of dead cattle on this road -  there were at least a hundred!  Up to now we've seen quite a few dead kangaroos and other wildlife, but only the occasional cow, which makes it even more strange.  Assume it is because the road trains don't stop for anything!
   Get into the camp well before dark, pay our non-refundable $20 per night for three nights - are told to take the "Grove" turnoff, and find a space anywhere we like. The grove is a lovely, heavily wooded river flat, with scattered fireplaces, and the deep, green, waterlily covered river beside.

030. Our campsite, Adel's Grove

Find a satisfactory place, then go looking for a better one.
   We set up between trees with our own fireplace, but are short on firewood. We find we are a lot closer to the amenities than we feared. Before dark, we walk along the river, which is lovely.

031. River Adel's Grove

Find that there is a series of rapids just below the camp, and made pathways through the trees. We walk for a couple of hundred metres, but the creek continues, and it is getting dark.
  The dining room is booked out, but the meal is not all that enticing, so we settle for our pasta with bottled sauce and tinned fruit dessert.
   There are bird noises in the night, a howling child, and early diesel engine noises from departees. DP has also found the cut-out in the mattress can be cold, and all-told, doesn't get much sleep.
  Friday 27th July           Lawn Hill
   Plenty of early morning disturbance, but still don't get to Lawn Hill National Park, 12 kms away, before 9.30.

032. Wildlife - some sort of wren?

Straight down to the canoe hire, but they have already gone. Carry on walking, over the floating bridge across the deep green, clear river, and on to the start of the Island Stack walk. Decided now was the time to do this, as the climb was in the shade, and the morning was still cool. From the top, we have wonderful views - can see a fair bit of the extent of the gorge, and the main pool leading to the narrow section of the gorge. The top of the stack is relatively flat, with side tracks leading out to view points. We take all these, and some others beside, checking out everything. We are surprised to find that it is really an island, with the river splitting above it and rejoining at the lower gorge.

033. Lawn Hill - looking down at cascades

034. Gorge where we later canoe

035. Lawn Hill

  The view over the lower part of the river is wonderful, but there is a cultural significance sign, so we move to the side a bit, and take a photo. We can hear falling water on both sides of the "Island", so, back down the bottom, we follow the Cascades sign, and find some excellent rapids and swimming holes, with adults and kids swimming, and wingeing.

036. Lawn Hill -cascades

037. Lawn Hill

   We are able to walk down to the pool at the base of the island, and clamber around the edge till we reach an impassable ledge high over the large green pool of the lower part of the river. See a large barramundi, then return to the car for lunch, then down to hire a canoe.
   The canoes are short, double ended Canadian canoes, polythene construction, and quite heavy. We put the camera in a plastic food box, and the other gear in a barrel, and are launched backward down a roller ramp. MP is in the back, with a double ended paddle, DP in front with a single. Takes a while to co-ordinate the two paddle types, and settle down to a condition where we are game to get the camera out of the box.

038. Lawn Hill - waterlilies

039. Lawn Hill - canoeing

   Spot a medium-sized freshwater croc sunning on the bank.

040. Lawn Hill -can you see the crocodile?

Take lots of photos, as the scenery is superb. Lots of reflections in the water.

041. Lawn Hill - reflections

Are surprised by how far the gorge extends,. We can see people on the high lookouts looking down at us.
   At the top of the pool, there is a very attractive wall of precipitated limestone (tufa), looking just like a dam wall, 1.5m high, with three or four waterfalls over it, and pandanus and other vegetation growing on it.

042. Lawn Hill - Murray and waterfalls

PHOTO_ID_R=043x-watefalls-we-have-to-portage-around.jpg] The gorge obviously extends beyond, so we park the canoe at a landing, and check out the portage to the next pool. We are pleased to find an inclined slide with two parallel pipes to get the canoe up to the next level, and only about 50m to the top launching point.

044. Lawn Hill -canoe on slide for portage

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   The top pool is of similar length, and we think it ends in a pandanus thicket, but there is a channel through to a top pool,

046. This way home-through the greenery

which ends in rapids and multiple channels. We park the boat on the wrong side, then cross across and get into the water. There is another couple there who warn us about the current. It is difficult to get in, and chilly at first, but good later. A bit scary being swept into the pandanus branches. We are later told that the whole river starts from a spring just here.

045. Lawn Hill - near where the river starts

047. Some more scenery upper gorge

We are running out of our 2 hour hire, so head back, with the hire costing $37.50 for two and a half hours, as much canoeing as we can handle.

048. Lawn Hill - lower gorge

049. Lawn Hill - lower gorge

   Back at Adel's grove, we do a walk up the river before tea. The river is lovely, with water lilies, and wonderful greenery.

050. River at Adel's Grove

We follow a path well beyond the campground, but it eventually ends in scrub. After tea, we check out the bar and restaurant, and meet up with Frances and Jim for a drink, and to bed by 10pm, for a better night's sleep.
  Saturday 28th July         &a mp;n bsp;   Lawn Hill
   Back at Lawn Hill NP by 9.30. Decide to do the long walk to the upper level of the gorge, taking the inland route to the lookout over the end of the gorge.

051. Wildlife - lizard

052. Lawn Hill - the inland walk

Inland it is very hot (about 32 degrees), and not that interesting, but it is all worthwhile when we arrive at the lookout over the upper gorge, and the limit of our canoe trip yesterday. The views are SUPERB.

053. Looking down into upper gorge

054. Looking down into upper gorge

Unfortunately no photos can do them justice, as it is impossible to get into one photo the narrow gorge, with its wonderful  red colours, contrasting with the magnificent greenery. From here, we headed back inland for a bit,

055. The track heads inland

then up to the next viewpoint, with more magnificent views.

056. Lawn Hill - the next viewpoint

057. More magnificent views

058. The canoeing path from above

Could spend hours soaking in the view, and looking at how trees have managed to take a foothold in sheer cliffs.  Descended to the water,

059. Back down to the water

060. The path along the river

then walked along the edge of the pool, against the high rock wall, to  the canoe portage and waterfall,

070. Lawn Hill - back to the waterfall

062. the Archer fish

where we stopped for lunch and a long swim, which was sorely needed after our hot morning's walk. Taken aback when we're suddenly squirted by water. After it happens a few times, we realize that our toes, which are hanging over the wharf, are being attacked by archer (or rifle) fish.  Eventually leave to tackle  the short, steep climb to the next lookout, which has a great overview of the tufa terraces and waterfalls dividing the upper and lower levels of the gorge.

063. Tufa dividing the upper and lower level

064. Lawn Hill - another cascade

065.Lawn Hill -closer view of cascade

 Continue across the higher ground,

066. Continue along the higher ground

067.Lawn Hill - Looking towards Island stack

and to the last high lookout over the National park headquarters (in the trees) and the more exposed camping area.

068. It's pretty dry inland

069. There's a gorge down there

070. National Park offices and campsite

   Have another swim in the main pool where we saw the freshwater croc, and encounter Frances and Jim, who have been down to Riversleigh, and report the road is good, and the creek crossings are deep and scary, but passable.
   Do the walk to Wild Dog Dreaming, around the base of the Island Stack, firstly through the palm grove along the creek, where we can hear the water falling, but can't see it. The path leads into open woodland along the base of the stack. There is an exhibition area for aboriginal art, with a request not to take photos. The amount of work put into platform and boardwalk is completely out of keeping with the amount and quality of the artwork so this is no problem. Path comes out at the lower gorge pool, which is large and deep, and we walk almost to the spot we reached yesterday, going the other way. Track back goes along the pool, which is lovely, with waterlilies and birdlife,

071. Pool near Wild Dog Dreaming

072. Lawn Hill -Coots and waterlilies

and we follow it to the junction of the two streams. Take photo looking up to the top of "The Stack" where we walked yesterday,

073. Looking up top of "The Stack"

then back to our car, and back to our camp at Adel's Grove. Fill with $1.67 petrol, get road information, then collapse for the rest of the afternoon.
   Meet Frances and Jim, and the other couple we have been talking to after tea. To bed pretty early, as we have a big day tomorrow. Lawn Hill has been the highlight of our trip, and is definitely one of the best gorges we've ever seen, and we've seen plenty.