Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park

2 - 5 August 2014

Unfortunately the "Crazy Lady" thought we should go back through Mt Isa - which might be a shorter route but is definitely 4WD only - thank goodness for maps, sign posts and a little bit of local knowledge! We stopped for petrol and morning tea and Burke and Wills Roadhouse and then moved on to Gregory Downs where we had lunch. Then it was on to the unsealed road to Boodjamulla. Parts of the road had been recently graded and most was in fairly reasonable condition so we arrived at Boodjamulla by about three in the afternoon. It had been a big day's drive, with a cold tailwind all the way.

We decided our first walk would be the Indarri Falls walk which we had done with the kids when we last visited 12 years ago. We headed out straight after breakfast before the day started to warm up too much. The walk, if done in the clockwise direction is rated as "moderate" so of course we went that way. We both remembered the steep descent and had no desire to do it as an ascent. We rewarded ourselves with a swim at the falls before the climb along the cliffs and then along the flat back to camp. 

Indarri Falls swimming area

We managed the walk well enough for a couple of old folks. It seemed to more difficult in my memory - but then it had been near 40 degrees and the girls were only 8 and 6 last time. 

Ring-tailed Dragon seen on the walk

One of the amazing views on this walk. The swimming area is on the left.

Mick had been hoping to see a spinifex pigeon for some time and we couldn't believe our eyes when two walked right across the path in from of us. On closer investigation, we realised there were five moving about in the spinifex - so a good bit of time was spent stalking them with the camera. 

Later in the afternoon we walked down to the cascades - which weren't cascading due to lack of water, but it was a nice walk anyway. We finished the afternoon with a swim in Lawn Hill Creek, back at the camp site.

During the night the wind had come up and the morning was really cold. We were glad we had decided on taking the electric powered boat tour instead of canoeing. The boat tour has only been operating for a few weeks and was a great way to see the gorge from inside - without battling the elements, and besides, Mick wouldn't have been able to take the camera in a canoe. The tour took about an hour and afterwards, the wind was still blowing, and it was still quite cool, but we decided to walk back towards Indarri Falls, and then on to the Upper Gorge track. This track is rated "difficult" so we opted to do the easiest part along the creek and then back over the hill onto the flat ground. It was well worth the effort, and parts of this walk were quite different to the Indarri Falls walk.

On our final morning we walked down again to the cascades to take some photos of the cliff faces with the morning sun on them, then headed off for the short drive to Adel's Grove.

The Cascades