Gotta Love This Life

In Mount Isa today but ummmm....which way should we go next??? The original plan was Normanton, then Cooktown, finally Townsville.

Mount Isa Mines stand just on the edge of downtown Isa. Funniest thing. At least we had the winds blowing the right way for our visit....no foul mine odours heading our way.

Richmond waterpark...no I didn't just push the button and watch it run. I jumped in ,clothes and all, closely followed by my brave husband.

Lunch on The Strand in Townsville with Jim and Marie. Thanks guys!

Taking in the action at Dairy Farmers' Stadium in the 'do or die game' for the Cowboys.

Sadly, they died.

Sitting in Mc Donald's on Wednesday morning in Mount Isa, I was reading the Courier Mail. And discovered that the Broncos were to play the Cowboys in Townsville on Friday night. 'Let's go!' says my ever-spontaneous husband. Half an hour later, we'd booked internet tickets using Maccas free Wi-Fi and hit the road for the 900km journey to the game. We travelled the Flinders Highway through all sorts of exciting towns....Cloncurry, Richmond, Julia Creek, Hughenden, Charters Towers and discovered a few more of the delights Australia has to offer. Bomb bunkers aplenty in CT, muttaburrasaurases in H, artesian spa in JC and a fun little waterpark in dry old Richmond of all places. The road itself was pretty flat and boring but the many l-o-n-g (and wobbly) road trains and plenty of big road kill certainly added some interest to the trip. Our arrival in Townsville on Friday was to a wonderful lunch and some sightseeing with Jim and Marie....the owners of the company Jon worked for for 8 yrs in Gladstone. They were headed to the game that night too. Small world! For the record, the Broncos won.....which sadly, ended the Cowboys season for 2009. Better luck next year boys!

Lovely Lawn Hill

I said in an email last week that anyone who has ever told me Lawn Hill National Park - north of Mount Isa - was beautiful, was so right. We had a lovely couple of days camping in the national park and canoeing the middle and upper gorges, swimming and bushwalking. And we weren't alone. A swarm of grasshoppers...in their millions....maybe their billions....or even gazillions....gate-crashed our visit. As did 2 VERY hot days...thank goodness for the cool water in Lawn Hill Creek.

Jon swims with new friend Richard in LH Creek. No sign of 'Whitelip'...

....the menacing, enormous catfish.

Lawn Hill's famous palms look a little worse for wear. The grasshoppers' favourite treat seemed to be the tips of the palms leaves.

Undarri Falls divides the middle and upper gorges. You carry your canoe about 50 metres up and around the falls to explore the upper gorge.

View from our swimming spot up to the middle gorge at 8am one morning.

Ahhhhhh...lovely!

I'm hoping that if you click on this photo and enlarge it you'll have some idea of how

prolific the grasshoppers were.

Days in the sun

And the kilometres just keep clicking over....

Darwin was great...hot and sandfly ridden...but it was terrific to catch up with a Gladstone friend working for YWAM and get to the beach markets and opening concert of the Darwin Festival. Troy Casser-Daly puts on a good show:)

Kakadu had a flying visit from us....just 2 nights. But it was good to go see what all the fuss is about and I can appreciate the World Heritage listing. We saw aboriginal rock art, billabongs, birds and a few crocs, along with LOTS of tourists. Also, a little travel tip...NEVER camp at Merl. I nearly didn't live to tell the story. No not crocs attacking.....but swarms of ferocious, carnivorous, ravenous mosquitoes!

Now....Jon's currently firmly wedged under the Navara investigating a mysterious 'clunk' while I got to go shopping in Katherine....needed to buy an anniversary gift for Mr Wonderful. It's 2 yrs tomorrow:)

Tomorrow...as long as the car gets sorted - again - we'll head to Mataranka and then tackle the second half of the Savannah Way across the Gulf. We aim to be in Cairns by the end of the month, relaxing on a beach somewhere and getting ourselves psyched for the Great Cape Adventure with my folks.