Normanton

Hit the road from Mt. Isa towards Normanton. We decided to be adventurous and take a "short cut" via a dirt road, about 100 klm across to the Burke & Wills Developement Road, rather than backtrack to Cloncurry. Man oh Man! What a road, super dry and dusty, corrugated, bull dust. Tested my driving skills (that's right Bevy at the wheel!!!) anyhow, about 30klm in the engine light comes on, and we start loosing boost...great! So we nursed the Paj along, and finally made it out the other end, stopping and starting to rest the car. The short cut took 3 hours!

The up side? Magnificent country.

Dusteeeee!

Hit the bitumen, and found a roadside free camp, so stopped for the night so Dezzi could check the car, and decide if we needed to call the RACQ out from Cloncurry, a mere 80 klm backwards? BUT..turns out it was a minor fix. For those mechanically minded, a vacuum hose had come off the turbo. Re-attached, glued up with sikaflex and jobs right. The Paj back running like a dream! Glad we packed the Australian 4WD Handy Hints mags. 

Mr bush mechanic :)

An absolute must! The well stocked tool box / recovery gear!

So happy sundowners and no need for the RACQ :)

Yeah! Real peaceful till a road train pulls up for the night and runs his aircon generator most the night aaaaagggghhhhh!

Needless to say early rise and hit the road. First stop Burke and Wills Roadhouse, Julia Creek for a big Fathers Day Brekky.  Obviously have trouble with dopey tourists putting the right fuel in their cars........

We got it right!

Yummy big brekky here in the middle of nowhere. Another Auzzie outback location, and not an Auzzie to be for found behind the counter!

Normanton was great, full of more history of course. Scored a great camp spot in the Park, down in the "new paddock". Not a blade of grass to be found anywhere out here. Dust, dust, dust. Thankfully,plenty  of trees. And a BIG pool :)

Ah! No barking dogs, road trains or quacking ducks...heaven!

Really feel like I'm on holidays now :)

Took a look at Goosey Lagoon. Amazing variety of birdlife. Advised not to get out of the car 'cos.......yep....crocodile territory!

Beautiful brolgas.

Jabiru, geese, ducks, cranes...it goes on..

..and pretty little birds

This is what the car is starting to look like. Can't wash anything because of very strict water restrictions.

Some of the history around town.

Oldest bank, built in 1880, and still operating.

Old jail. Just a concrete room! Very stylish! They used to use Aborignal trackers to"get their man".

Burns Philp & Co. Established.  1880. Was so successful as a building, trading Company back in the day of gold mining, that they used to run out of money...so they printed their own ha ha!

Safe out the back where they kept all the legal and illegal cash!

Gorgeous old railway station.

And a run down of the dinky die outback pubs we just had to go to in our quest to find a true blue Auzzie  Barmaid, not a backpacker!

Nope, not here!

The Purple Pub, nope not here!

Yeah! We found Donna!  The Auzzie! She was fantastic!  And had the best pizza for dinner.

Headed to the Norman River to try a spot of fishing. Think the crocs ate them all!

The Norman River. Very green?

Picked up a leaflet on "How to be croc wise". This is one of the paragraphs..."Neve dangle your arms or legs over the side of a boat. If you fall out of a boat, get out of the water as quickly as possible." NO KIDDING! Thought I might have a swim?? This cracked us up :)

Great three days...but still need to find a big fish. Karumba here we come!