Category Archives: Travel

LEICHHARDT FALLS

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Not far from Bourketown are the Leichhardt  Falls. The Leichhardt River spreads out over a series of eroded rock shelves and the wet season piles up banks of sand all over the place.
The falls look amazing just before the sun comes up. Sorry about the clichéd long exposure – couldn’t help it.
Downstream as the sun is about to come up.

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Not far from Bourketown are the Leichhardt  Falls. The Leichhardt River spreads out over a series of eroded rock shelves and the wet season piles up shifting banks of sand.

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The falls spill over a rock shelf into a large basin. They look amazing just before the sun comes up. Sorry about the clichéd long exposure – couldn’t help it.

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Downstream, yellow reflections as the sun comes up.

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The Savannah Way has some beautiful places to camp. Most of the river crossings are really spectacular and, fortunately, not much traffic goes that way, so most of the time you have these places to yourself.

ON TO BOURKETOWN

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ON TO BOURKETOWN
The road out of Normanton to Bourketown was incredibly good. After a while we discovered why – we had just caught up with the grader. Problem is, what do you do? – sit in dust at crawl speed on a nice smooth road or pass and suffer the corrugations?
We passed soon to come across this guy bogged in a creek.
The driver was sitting under a tree, complaining about his boss telling to go via the swamp. The boss was on his way back to Normanton to find a chain.
Not far from Bourketown are the Leichhardt  Falls. The Leichhardt River spreads out over a series of eroded rock shelves and the wet season piles up banks of sand all over the place.
The falls look amazing just before the sun comes up. Sorry about the clichéd long exposure – couldn’t help it.
Downstream as the sun is about to come up.

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The road out of Normanton to Bourketown was incredibly good. After a while we discovered why – we had just caught up with the grader. Problem is, what do you do? – sit in dust at crawl speed on a nice smooth road or pass and suffer the corrugations?

We passed soon to come across this guy bogged in a creek.

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The driver was sitting under a tree, complaining about his boss telling him to go via the swamp. The boss was on his way back to Normanton to find a chain.

LEICHHARDT LAGOON

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LEICHHARDT LAGOON
Leichhardt Lagoon is a series of waterholes on the Leichhardt river near Normanton. There were plenty of crocodiles in the nearby Leichhardt River, great sunsets and lots of interesting birdlife so we stayed for three days. Did some painting, lots of walking and cycled along some rough old sandy tracks spotting crocs.
Great camp site, right beside the water.
The sunsets across the wetlands were mighty.
Stilts fed in the shallows around our camp
These two cool looking ducks waddled past us one morning
Young Stilt trying to figure out how all these legs work?
Large Egret showing off elaborate plumage.
Attractive looking Egret making herself more attractive.
Important looking Egret walking importantly
Pied Heron circling.
Pied Heron – cruising.
Pair of Curlews – the way they behave is as weird as their mournful cry. They stand dead still and stare at you, then walk a short distance, freeze, and stare again – very strange!
Mobile studio – right on the edge of Leichhardt lagoon.
Cobalt Blue and Permanent Rose are normally used as soft, transparent washes. In this painting, as well as using the colours as transparent washes, I mixed them with white gouache to make the random opaque purple shapes that interrupt the detail.
Surprisingly few insects at night meant we could cook and eat outside and enjoy the view across the wetland.
By now you might be thinking this place is pretty close to perfect, and it was except for this guy…
He owns the station the wetlands are situated on, and thought it a good idea to blast away with a shotgun every once in a while to frighten off all the birds?

Leichhardt Lagoon is a series of waterholes on the Leichhardt river near Normanton. There were plenty of crocodiles in the nearby Leichhardt River, great sunsets and lots of interesting birdlife so we stayed for three days. Did some painting, lots of walking and cycled along some rough old sandy tracks spotting crocs.

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Great camp site, right beside the water.

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The sunsets across the wetlands were mighty.

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Stilts fed in the shallows around our camp

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These two cool looking ducks waddled past us one morning

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Young Stilt trying to figure out how all these legs work?

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Large Egret showing off elaborate plumage.

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Attractive looking Egret making herself more attractive.

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Important looking Egret walking importantly

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Pied Heron circling.

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Pied Heron – cruising.

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Pair of Curlews – the way they behave is as weird as their mournful cry. They stand dead still and stare at you, then walk a short distance, freeze, and stare again – very strange!

painting at leichhardt lagoon

Mobile studio – right on the edge of Leichhardt lagoon.

wetland painting

Cobalt Blue and Permanent Rose are normally used as soft, transparent washes. In this painting, as well as using the colours as transparent washes, I mixed them with white gouache to make the random opaque purple shapes that interrupt the detail.

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Surprisingly few insects at night meant we could cook and eat outside and enjoy the view across the wetland.

By now you might be thinking this place is pretty close to perfect, and it was except for this guy…

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He owns the station the wetlands are situated on, and thought it a good idea to blast away with a shotgun every once in a while to frighten off all the birds?

HEADING WEST

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HEADING WEST
We wound our way up over the mountains, across the Atherton Tablelands and west to a waterhole on the other side of Georgetown. It felt good to leave the busyness of the coast and head inland. The smell of dust and dry grass in the night air is something else. We followed a rough track down beside a creek and found this amazing waterhole – camped the night and headed off early in the morning.

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We wound our way up over the mountains, across the Atherton Tablelands and west to a waterhole on the other side of Georgetown. It felt good to leave the busyness of the coast and head inland. The smell of dust and dry grass in the night air is something else. We followed a rough track down beside a creek and found this amazing waterhole – camped the night and headed off early in the morning.

TRAINS

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There are some great old steam trains, pensioned off and parked in railway stations throughout Queensland. This one in Mareeba was loaded with coal and appeared to be still in working order.
Every Sunday they fire up this old engine. Everything had a thick coat of grease and from meters away there was a strong smell of heavy gear oil.
Every part of these old engines looks to be built to last forever.
The old steam trains look pretty impressive, but this famous old train , the Gulflander, looks plain weird – like a cross between a train and an old Morris van. It does a regular run between Croydon and Normanton in the Gulf. Its baby brother looks even weirder

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There are some great old steam trains, pensioned off and parked in railway stations throughout Queensland. This one in Mareeba was loaded with coal and appeared to be still in working order.

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Every Sunday they fire up this old engine. Everything had a thick coat of grease and from meters away there was a strong smell of heavy gear oil.

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Every part of these old engines looks to be built to last forever.

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The old steam trains look pretty impressive, but this famous old train , the Gulflander, looks plain weird – like a cross between a train and an old Morris van. It does a regular run between Croydon and Normanton in the Gulf. Its baby brother looks even weirder

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Nothing cute about this baby.

NORTH QUEENSLAND COAST

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Mission Beach

Mission Beach

The beaches of North Queensland are the palm fringed, white sand, clear blue water type beaches you see on a postcard. That’s why it is impossible to find an uninhabited one unless you have a boat.

Cairns and Port Douglas have grown incredibly in the 10 years since we were here. All tourism based and very busy.

US Navy ship - Cairns

US Navy ship - Cairns

There were two awsome looking US warships visiting Cairns while we were there. 3,500 US sailors wandering around town having a great time.

US Troops sailing out of Cairns

US Troops sailing out of Cairns

We visited Green Island and on the way back one of the US ships was sailing out.  What a neat sight as the sun was going down. The other ship had to wait till high tide as it only had 27 inches of water under the keel.

Green Island Rail

Green Island Rail

These little birds were all over Green Island. They are some kind of Rail but I couldn’t find out any details.

If you don’t want to wait for the ferry back to the mainland you can opt for the $300 Chopper

Green Island Chopper

Green Island Chopper

After a few days in Cairns we decided to head west rather than going on up to Cooktown. The Coast was busy with school holidays we figured it would be slower and more relaxed over the mountains.

RAPIDS, RAINFORESTS AND RUBBER BOATS

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Tully River

Tully River

Fifty kilometres inland from Tully are the headwarters of the Tully river. A huge rainfall and a dam feeding a power station ensure a constant flow of water down a long series of rapids – the perfect setting for white water rafting.

The craze was started in the 70’s by a guy taking a few interested adventurers up to the head of the river in an old station wagon.

Tully Gorge Rafting

Tully Gorge Rafting

We drove up to the top of the gorge around 10:00am and saw 4 huge coaches unload a couple of hundred backpackers dressed in life jackets and helmets. The business sure has grown.

Down the Rapids

Down the Rapids

Tully Gorge has some fantastic rainforest. We saw a lot of Ullysis butterflies but were never quick enough to photograph one, so I will paint a word picture for you – They were very blue.

Rainforest Tully Gorge

Rainforest Tully Gorge

Rainforest Undergrowth

Rainforest Undergrowth