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Lawn Hill Gorge
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Having travelled down the cape with Sam and I, for some unfathomable reason Lana and Ollie were keen for more. Sam and I had been running with rough plan to make our way across the top of Australia after our Cape York adventure before we had to return to work just before Christmas. So anyway after resupplying and sorting ourselves out for a few days in Cairns we pointed the 4wd's west, climbed over the Great Dividing Range again and headed along the Gulf Development Road which back in those days was a mixture of single lane bitumen and rough corrugated dirt.
By the time we finally left Cairns it was already late morning so we only made it as far as Croydon on the first day, camping at the parched caravan park in town. Being November it was stinking hot now, the country looked pretty desiccated as it awaited the wet seasons first rains. We, on the other hand were a little wary of the up coming wet season, getting stuck out here for summer wouldn't of been ideal.
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Early evening in Croydon, my main memories of Croydon were of the stifling heat and humidity and the fact that the caravan park where we stayed had a pool;)
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Leaving Croydon next morning we continued west, passing Normanton before making a short side trip to check out Burke and Wills northern most camp on their ill fated journey north to the Gulf of Carpentaria. I've always been interested in these old European explorers so was pretty keen to check out the small monument here, Sam and I having visited Coopers Creek and the Dig Tree a few years earlier. Continuing on we passed by the bone dry Leichhardt Falls (another early explorer for whom things didn't work out so well) before we dropped down to meet the Wills Development Road. The Wills Development Road was in the process of being sealed when we headed through on our way to Gregory Downs. I've got two memories of Gregory Downs, the first one was of the huge expanse of the dirt car park around the pub come roadhouse, the second being of crossing the flowing O'Shannassy River and thinking to myself that it would be a nice spot to camp...one day.
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This is the site of Burke and Wills northernmost camp on their ill fated expedition.
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The Gulf country was looking very dry.
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Now while the O'Shannassy River looked like a nice spot our actual camp at Lawn Hill was next level stuff. Before I got too far into our stay at this magic spot though I'd better clear up the name issue. I'm going with Lawn Hill today because that was the official name of the park back in '97, since then the park has been renamed Boodjamulla National Park and I'll be using that name if and when I'm lucky enough to step foot in this natural wonderland again. Our camp at Lawn Hill was in the official national park site just down stream of the red towering walls of Lawn Hill Gorge. I always enjoy camps in the northern parts of Australia that have both shade and water that is suitable for swimming in close by and our camp at Lawn Hill provided both those things in spades The swimming off the pontoon in front of our camp being absolutely stunning although it paid to be aware that the gorge is home to a large population of Freshwater Crocodiles and also that the emerald green water is very deep.
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Looking up towards the gorge across Duwadarri Waterhole.
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Lawn Hill Gorge
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Lawn Hill Gorge, this place is oasis in the middle of a very harsh environment.
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| Lawn Hill Gorge |
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Lawn Hill was the traditional home to the Waanyi people who have lived here for around 17,000 years. The park itself is home to plenty of evidence of that occupation in the forms of middens, stone tools and rock art and the rock art in particular is easy to see. The name Boodjamulla means country of the rainbow serpent. Apart from the obvious beauty of this place and the indigenous history, Lawn Hill is also famous for the Riversleigh D Fossil Site. This archaeological site is well known to paleontologists around the world.
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Exploring Lawn Hill in the tropical rain.
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There is a short portage between gorges....
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.... Which involve hauling the canoes up this slide.
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I'm thinking that this is Indarri Falls.
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Indarri Falls
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Apart from doing a lot of swimming and chilling out we also spent a fair bit of time exploring the gorge area on our stay. Arguably the best way to explore Lawn Hill is on the water (although bushwalking has to run a close second) and there are canoes on site ready for hire. I'm not sure about the situation today however back in the day the canoes were left at the gorge however the paddles had to be hired at Adels Grove, around 10 kilometres from the park. So on our second day we headed back out to Adels Grove and hired our two paddles, being so late in the year the park was virtually empty so the good people let us keep the paddles for 24 hours at minimum cost. Now 24 hours might seem a bit irrelevant but for us it was something special as it allowed us to explore the gorge at night, paddling into the gorge as wet season lightning flashed around lighting up the red walls above us while the red eyes and splashes of Freshwater Crocodiles added a bit of frisson, this was an experience that I'll never forget.
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Eventually progress through the upper gorge stops.
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Luckily I had Sam up front to break a path through the spiders webs.
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I think this is about as far as we got.
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Back at Indarri Falls.
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Below Indarri Falls.
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While our night time adventure was unforgettable it was exploring during the day that allowed us to get a good look at the park. We paddled along way up into the gorge to reach some tufu waterfalls where we were able to do a short portage (with the aid of a canoe slide) and then export even further up stream. After reaching the higher gorge we continued up until eventually the sides started to close in a bit on us and the vegetation stopped any further progress. Returning to the tufu waterfalls we enjoyed swimming at the this stunningly beautiful spot while Ollie enjoyed surfing down the canoe slide in the canoe, even though I was in my thirties I was already feeling too old for that! I'm guess a bit however I'm thinking that we probably had a round trip of around 6 kilometres in the gorge today.
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What could possibly go wrong!
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Ollie, polishing his white water skills up!
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I prefer gentler pursuits;)
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Gee I had a lot of hair back when I was in my thirties!
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Lawn Hill Creek.
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After returning the paddles we still explored the water a bit, although now we used inner tubes (remember I was running split rims on the Troopie). Most of our exploring now was on foot though, firstly the very short walk up to the Rainbow Dreaming Site (after paddling across Duwadarri Waterhole on our inner tubes). Late afternoon saw us explore the 4 kilometre Island Stack Track, allowing us some nice views down to the gorge as well as of some more looming wet season storms. The final walk that I did was the 4 kilometre long Indarri Falls Track which took me across the top of the gorge before dropping me down river level near the tufu waterfalls that we had canoed up to yesterday.
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Lawn Hill Creek.
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Lawn Hill Creek
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Lawn Hill Gorge from the Island Stack Track.
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Lawn Hill Gorge from Island Stack Track. Even allowing for the dodgy scanned photo you can see how quickly the country dries out once away from the gorge.
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The view down into the lower gorge near the Cascades.
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After three wonderful days here we eventually decided that we'd better make another move west again. By now the weather was really starting to change and the stifling heat and humidity that had accompanied us for our time up on Cape York Peninsula was now accompanied by frequent late afternoon and evening storms. While some of the storms were dry some of them were also starting to drop a bit of precipitation and with a few black soil plains between us and Burketown we weren't to keen to push our luck. Unlike the red dirt the black soil is almost impossible to get traction on when it's wet even in a 4wd with diff locks.
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The happy honeymooners at Lawn Hill National Park.
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Lawn Hill Gorge from Island Stack, we were camped on the left in the trees.
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Cascades Track
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Cascades Track
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Cascades Track
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| Looking back up towards the Island Stack from Cascades Track in the late afternoon. |
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Relevant Posts.
As you've probably guessed by the amount of dodgy photos in this post we really enjoyed Lawn Hill National Park. If people visit here in the dry season it's going to be crowded, I'm thinking that you'd have to book your site, although the folks at Queensland Parks could clear that up I think. If anyone wants a little more comfort then there is some private accommodation nearby at Adels Grove and the good news is that there are also swimming spots there too. We were using Hema paper maps mostly on this trip.
Relevant Posts.
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Soaking in one of the many natural spas off Cascade Track.
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Looks like I need to work on my tan😎
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The swimming in Duwadarri Waterhole a couple of metres from our camp was very good - although we had to be aware of the resident Freshwater Crocodiles.
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| Sam looks like she's adapted to life at Lawn Hill National Park! |
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