Atherton Tablelands

We arrived in Herberton and decided not to stay at Wild River caravan park and continued onto Atherton and stayed at the Big 4 Caravan park which was much nicer.
A drive out to Lake Tinaroo and we decided to stay there in the National Park for a few nights later in the week. Dick managed to get a huge bag of wood for us to use in the campfires at night.
At Herberton there is a Village made up of old buildings from the area- we spent quite a few hours looking through them,  from there we went to the Gallo Cheese and Chocolate shop where we sampled the goods and watched the cows "riding the merry go around" - like we saw at Menangle when we were younger.  The cows were coaxed into the pens, had the milking machines attached, and they went around until all their milk was transferred into the vats.

                                           Cows at Gallo Cheese and Chocolate shop

                                          HerbertonVillage Museum

We also took a trip to Lake Barrine - but didn't go on the cruise, as we had done that before on another visit.

Undara

We called in at Mt Surprise for morning tea and were able to buy some fresh fruit at the stalls at the small market there.There was a man there with snakes around his neck, encouraging people to "have a turn" - no thanks, I didn't wish to do so.  Whilst having our tea we sat with a couple who told us that they lived at Collaroy - smallworld.

There was a tour to the Lava Tubes which Dick, Gloria and Rick went on on the Sunday.

Georgetown

After staying overnight at a free camp near the Gilbert River, we continued on to Georgetown where we saw that they were holding a Campdraft at the local showground.

                                         Calves waiting to be chosen

                                           Grandstand at Georgetown Campdraft

We went along after lunch and watched one of the cattle being chosen from a group of about 8 calves and then the horseman was trying to get the calf to go into the pen on the other side of the yard - we stayed for a few hours and saw many riders, male and female of all ages trying for the $1000 reward.

Karumba

                                          Fishing boat at Karumba

                                         Barramundi at Karumba Fish farm

                                           Sunset at Karumba

We arrived at the Gulf - stayed in Karumba and drove out to the" Point" where we enjoyed a beer at the Karumba Hotel - sitting in the beer garden overlooking the Gulf and enjoyed the sunset.
The Barramundi Fish Farm was a short drive from the caravan park and after watching a dvd of how the fish "fingerlings" were put into several fishing spots around the area, we looked at the fish. The fish were not very interested in being fed - apparently as it was Winter there, they were happy to just swim around the ponds and then eventually they took the food - they just "sucked" the small fish - they have no teeth.

The Sunset Hotel at Karumba beckoned us for another night and we enjoyed a nice meal whilst watching a most beautiful sunset ( again) on the Gulf of Carpentaria

Normanton

We arrived in Normanton and the first thing we noticed was the Purple Pub - on the corner opposite our caravan park.  A young Canadian ( a backpacker) served us in the Hotel with a nice cool beer after we had walked up and down the main street.

                                          Burns Philip Building

                                        Leichhardt River at Normanton

                                           Crocodile at Normanton

PurplePub in Normanton

Next day we drove down to the Leichhardt River.

Mount Isa

We again stayed in Mount Isa, this time at the Sunset Caravan Park after stopping at the WW2 Rest Stop for morning tea.  Shopping at Woolworths was a bit of a challenge - they were renovating, so things were in a bit of a mess, and the freezers almost empty, but we managed to purchase what we needed.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch again at Lake Mondarra - so peaceful - just a few kms out of town.

Next day we went to the School of the Air, to watch the school in progress - we tried on our last visit, but it was closed as the children were at camp.  It was very interesting and our time there went very quickly.  I had broken a tooth, so made an appointment with the local dentist who made a very good temporary repair job on it.

                                     Windmill 40 kms from Camooweal

                               Christmas in July at Terry Smith Lookout

Dinner on our last night there was at the Buffs Club, we had planned on going to the RSL, but were told that they didn't serve dinners there, so we had enjoyable meal in the Bistro and then coffee in the Coffee lounge later on.

We stopped at the Mary  Kathleen Park for morning tea on our way to the Terry Smith Lookout Rest area where we planned on having a "free camp".   We cooked a chicken and vegies in the campoven and Gloria had the table all set up for a "Christmas in July" dinner. When that was cooked, I baked a Sticky Date Pudding in the camp oven which was quite a success - for a first time - and after dinner about 20 campers joined us to sit around the campfire and chat.

We bought petrol at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse and had morning tea there in the garden, before heading to the Bang Bang Rest area where we had another "free camp".

Camooweal

We had stayed at the Billabong on the way over, and decided to stay 2 nights this time - it was so peaceful - water lilies on the water and a multitude of birds flying around, and ducks on the water ducking for fish - it was such a pretty spot - bad luck that there isn't somewhere like that nearer to home-

We called in at the Pub for a drink and ended up staying for a Pizza dinner there.

                                          Rick at the Drovers Shed

Camooweal Billabong

Next day we had decided to visit the Drovers' Shed - what an amazing place, and amazing stories of the old Drovers and how they moved the cattle from one place to another - now it's almost all done by road train - the drovers would be out in the areas for up to 13 months at a time, what stamina !  Rick sat on the Bul and had his photo taken .
 After that we called in at the Post Office/General store/Coffee shop and enjoyed some afternoon tea.