Stop #17 - Gregory Downs

Leaving Normanton, Jackie and the kids look forward to spending time in a more lush and fertile environment, where the kids can safely swim in fresh water creeks and rivers.  Our destination is Lawn Hill and Adel's Grove.  With mixed information from other travellers, we are no sure what the dirt road into these places are like, so we head to Gregory Downs, which we know is all bitumen and road closures should pose no threat.

On the way, we see lots of Bird of Prey, which we call BOPs.  These birds (Kites and Wedged Tail Eagles) are a novelty to us, as we see them circling above the skyline, riding the thermals, and scavenging off roadkill.  

The roads are also very straight, sometimes changing to single lane only.  This made it challenging when a Road Train races towards you, where you quickly need to move off the road and give full clearance to the behemoth.

 WARNING - Skip the next couple of paragraphs if you are eating or have a weak stomach.

We've not seen much roadkill to date, much less than we had anticipated.  We're able to avoid most of them, however travelling at such speeds and with the loss of concentration, I see a large Kangaroo (that had previously been run over) in the middle of our lane.  Thinking it was too dangerous to swerve out of the way, I line up the car to go over the middle of the vehicle.  The first half of the car went over fine, however we hear and feel a big thud at the back of the car.  I look in the rear vision mirror and see the kangaroo propelled sideways by the caravan rear wheel.

  

We stop at a rest stop a few klms up the road, so I can inspect the damage.  Exiting the car, I can immediately smell the stench of the kangaroo.  There is blood and matter splattered all over the front of the caravan, Jackie gagging at the site of it. 

 I inspect the underside of the car and caravan, seeing fur and chunks everywhere.  Upon looking at the caravan axle, I spot what I thought was a lengthy strip of skin.  I find a stick to remove the skin, and find out it was not skin but the entrails of the kangaroo.  The kids find it fascinating, Jackie ran for the hills.

On the subject of roadkill, there are plenty of cattle on the road, requiring us to slow down and stop at some stages, fearing they would run in front of the vehicle.

We re-fuel at the Bourke and Wills roadhouse, allowing me to also hose off and scrub some of the kangaroo from the car.  Knowing we'd be free camping at Gregory Downs, I knew this would be the only chance I'd have of cleaning the car and caravan for the next couple of days.

Arriving at Gregory Downs late in the afternoon, we head down to the river, ignoring the No Camping signs.  We've read that these are more for safety reasons, and that it was the done thing to camp by the creek.  Other campers stay up the top of the bridge, baking in the hot sun; they soon join us down by the cool, sheltered creek.  As we head down the dirt trail to the creek, we see plenty of space and decide to move closer to some other campers, to make room for others to come and for safety reasons.  A group of campers had set up their campervans down by the river, and had their camp fire blazing.

As I pull up, I ask a couple closer to the bridge, whether they were ok for us to set up beside them.  They were friendly and had no problem with us setting up next to them.

What happens next is something that disappoints me, and saddens me, for my kids to witness and experience.  I guess it is also part of their learning experience and something that I've had to explain to them.

As I un-hitch the caravan and start setting up, one of the men from the river campsite walks past with his bull terrier in tow.  I try to engage, smile and go on with my work.  He paces up and down and comments that there is plenty of space out here and that some people don't like to be cramped and live like people in the city.  I look at him puzzled, I reply that this is our first time free camping, and I wanted to keep space for others and be closer to other campers for safety; plus the people next to us did not mind us being next to them.  He suggests we should move, and I motioned we were happy where we were.  He scowls  that we stay away from his campfire, and walks off, before telling our neighbours that they were welcome to his campfire.  I look at our immediate neighbours, and they shrug their shoulders.

The kids ask what that was all about, they were puzzled as we had experienced only nice and open people to date, and that the man had not "given us a chance".  I explained that there are some people in this world, country, that are like that, and we should just ignore them and be friendly to everyone.  I know I joke around with my friends about racism etc, but I can't help think that this man's actions were motivated more by the colour of my skin and my appearance, rather than our/my actions.  With my kids, I don't believe they will experience such racism, as they are not clearly from an ethnic background, and times have changed so much that the next generation will presume it normal; accepting that Australia is multi-cultural, with everyone having the same right to be here.  I hope I am right.

With the bad start aside, we set up and have dinner.  After finishing dinner we set up our chairs in the pitch darkness and wonder at the bright sparkling stars above.  I'd never seen so many stars in the sky before, so bright and each one of them sparkling like diamonds.  

Jai pointed out the Southern Cross, and with so many stars in the sky, it was hard to pick out other formations (not that anyone knew what we were looking for).  We sit outside downing chocolate for a while, the kids mesmerized by the show put on by the stars.  We had to explain to them why we cannot see such things in Sydney, and where we need to be in the middle of Australia to see such a spectacle.

The next morning, our "friendly" campers pack up and leave.  Our kids and Jackie wave goodbye to them, and the first car waves back, with the passenger in our mate's car sheepishly waving back to the kids.  I hope our smiles and gesture help make such people realise that there is nothing to be gained from being nasty to other people, and that we can all have a good time together.

After doing some school work, we venture up to the pub at midday for some lunch.  Jackie visits the General Store, a makeshift storage unit that stores consumables with a long Use By date.  

Jackie tells us that the owner was putting on a Pizza night, raising money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  I see no sign outside or advertising for it.  We want to support the local business and a good cause, so we spread the word amongst the other campers, who have now lined the creek where we are camped. 

Whilst at the pub, we make a call to the Council Information Hotline to ask about the road conditions to Lawn Hill.  Being with Optus and Vodafone, there is very little coverage in the bush, so we resort to using the good old telephone booth.  The kids had not seen one in use before, so we take joy in showing them how we used to do things in the olden days.  Another lesson chalked up for the kids.

We escape the scorching afternoon heat by spending the rest of the afternoon floating down the creek, jumping off the swings into the creek and relaxing in the shade.  As per usual, Jackie meets lots of new people and spreads the word about Pizza night.

After toasting marshmallows, we change and head up to Murray's place for pizza.  Grace is ravenous and hangry by this stage, and we hope the pizza will be cooked in quick time.  Arriving at Murray's place, there is no lighting and we drive back and forth trying to find the entrance.  It didn't look like he was doing a roaring trade.  

Surely enough, we are the only ones that have turned up, and Murray was still working on the wood fire and the home made pizza oven.  As expected in the outback, it didn't look like Murray was in a hurry.  Murray introduces his other half, Ronnie, and we strike up interesting conversation about their work, family and his Kokoda Trail ambitions.  Even though relaxed and pedestrian, I think Murray picked up the kids were hungry, especially Grace.  He eventually assembles the pizza and puts them in the oven, bringing them out after a few minutes.  

Much to our horror, the pizzas are burnt to a crisp, the crust burnt black to 5mm thick.  Unperturbed, Murray slices the pizzas and serves them to us. I watch as Grace grabs a few pieces and starts eating.  Out of kindness and hunger, she forces herself to eat the charred slabs of pizza, eat bite making me cringe with fear.

Jai was not so obliging, even though he manage to eat some of the pizza, he mainly stuck to eating the chicken pieces that Ronnie had popped into the conventional oven.  I was proud of the children, as they showed awareness and politeness beyond their years, appreciating the hospitality and kindness of Murray and Ronnie.  They did not whinge or complain about the burnt food or timeliness, and soaked up the event as another experience for the trip.  After devouring Ronnie's homemade icecream late in the night, we make our donations to Murray's cause, thank them both for their hospitality and bid them farewell.  

We sneak in another session of star gazing, before the kids hit the sack and sleep soundly after a big day of swimming.

Next morning Jackie scoots off on her run, and not surprisingly finds a running partner.  Trying to pack up and whilst making the kids breakfast, I set them a challenge of running up and down the creek 4 times.  Jai and Emma make it half way, determined Grace finishes he challenge quicker than I anticipated.  

I cook rice for the first time on this trip, the kids missed having fried eggs and rice for breakfast.

We find that the road to Lawn Hill is still closed, and will be closed for a few weeks yet.  The road to Adel's Grove is also closed, but access can be had via the alternate road.  We make a decision to bypass Lawn Hill, and head south along the bitumen to Mt Isa, where we hope to stock up and look to repair the suspension on the car.

We had a great time at Gregory Downs, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their first free camping experience.  We'd certainly recommend Gregory Downs, and unfortunately Lawn Hill and Adel's Grove will have to be wait for another time.