Saturday morning and the first stop was at Bitter Springs for a soak and swim. After morning tea and fuel we headed for Daly Waters. We were shocked when we pulled in. The place was deserted. There were 3 vans in the park and the "shops" were closed other then the pub of course. We didn't mind. We made camp and had a quiet afternoon reading and relaxing before a yummy pub dinner while watching some AFL.
We had planned to be out early but we woke and had a slow morning. We turned south on the highway with plans to make Tennant Creek. When we got to the Three Ways we ditched that idea as we would only have to back track tomorrow and changed our course to the Barkley Homestead. We arrived later afternoon and found a nice shady spot to spend the night.
Monday we leave the NT and head into home soil. We have travelled with this set up for 1 year and 2 days, been through 5 States and 1 Territory and had the most amazing time. We did get up early and get going and made good time into Mt Isa arriving at Ben and Bonnie's house about 3pm. It was nice to see them again and it didn't take Gage long to warm up and play Lego with us.
We decided to stay a day in Isa and have a day with Gage. We visited the Museum and Fossil display, then took him shopping and bought him more Lego and had lunch out then after Skyping with Mum and Dad we went to a fantastic park that has a water play section to it. When we arrived home we were all exhausted.
We farewelled Ben, Bonnie and Gage today and headed east for well somewhere. We arrived in Richmond and the park had all we needed. It was cheap, had a nice view over the lake, a cool breeze and plenty of grass. We just chilled out till after dinner then took a nice long stroll around the lake watching the full moon rise.
Up early again to travel while it was cool we made for Charters Towers. We pulled into camp for a late lunch. After lunch we went exploring the town. It is a very beautiful old town that is well laid out and the old buildings give it a real country feel. We visited the info centre and picked up a self drive audio tour of the town. We set out and visited all the old sites. It was informative and interesting. A well laid out and set up scheme for visitors. Back at camp we had an easy night.
Friday morning and the end of another "working" week. We packed up and firstly returned the CD to the info centre. Heading out of town we made Bowen our next destination. The Big 4 park is set right on the water and we had managed to get a waterfront spot. The trip in was easy and we made good time. First thing we noticed was how much cooler it was now we are back on the coast line. We sure did have a water front spot, it has loads of green grass and palm trees and oh the view. We immediately booked a third night and set about relaxing. We used the camp kitchen to bake a chicken and roast vege before watching the footy finals.
Saturday morning we took a nice easy start and ventured out for the walk to Gray's and Horse Shoe bay about 9.30. We strolled along the waters edge just loving the view. Both bays were so inviting but the over head clouds were enough to keep us cool. On our return journey I noticed someone had hacked into a beautiful frangipani tree and there were loads of branched lying on the ground. I took advantage of this and found a nice branch to keep for myself. Half way back the clouds opened and we made for a big tree to shelter us. Luckily it only rained for a few minutes and we kept on walking. Back at camp our neighbours told us about the good fish and chips meal at the pub so after a look through town we headed down for a yummy meal. Later in the afternoon we set up in the camp kitchen to watch more of the Footy finals games. The camp kitchen here is among the best we've seen as it has a great stove with oven which is rare and a big TV with cable should you want or need it. Taking advantage of the oven I baked some cookies and on the stove did slow cooked lamb shanks.
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