Artemis Station

 27 – 31 May 2021

We left Lake Eacham and drove back through Atherton and Mareeba before continuing on to Mount Molloy where we stopped for a picnic lunch. Rifle Creek is a very popular free camp just north of Mount Molloy, and has a few picnic tables, as well as toilets. From there we drove on towards Mount Carbine, but took a short detour at Maryfarms to search for Australian Bustards. We did see a few, but they weren’t well positioned to have their photos taken.

From there it was on to Lakeland for a comfort stop, then through Laura and beyond. The bitumen extends all the way to Laura, and from there several stretches of about 10 kilometres each break up the gravel road. The turn to Artemis is past Hann River Roadhouse and about 10km beyond Morehead River. From the turn off it’s only a short drive to the station.

Mick had called a week before to arrange camping for a few nights and had indicated his desire to see and photograph the Golden-Shouldered Parrots that are resident in this area. We have visited about 5 year ago, but Mick wanted to try for some better shots. We made it into camp quite late for us, so by the time we had set up and settled in it was time for dinner and a quiet night after a very long day.

Mick rose early the next morning to go down to the feeding station where he spent a few hours, with limited success. Later in the morning we chatted with some of the station staff (also family members) who told us about a spot on the property where the birds are often found in the afternoon.  We decided on a walk to check it out – and the fill in the time – and were very surprised to spot some parrots exactly where we were told they would be. Mick managed to get a few photos – not the perfect shot yet – but a good start with another spot to try.

We’d also been told about a nice place for a picnic – about 10km along the Dixie Road. The only concrete causeway is easy to get to if you watch out for the wash-outs along the way. There had obviously been a good wet season and many of the small gullies still have water running through them too. The creek at the causeway was still running and with lots of shade, made a perfect spot for lunch. The water wasn’t deep enough for a swim, but we did sit in it for a paddle, just because we could.

Mick spent the late afternoon down at the bird feeder, but again wasn’t really happy with the shots he took.

On Saturday, Mick again rose early to get down to the feeder while I spent the morning pottering around at our camp. He also drove down to the spot we had walked to the day before. Another session at the bird feeder finished the photography for the day. The sky was cloudy on and off throughout the day, which made getting the perfect shot difficult. During the day the campground had started to fill up and we were joined by a tour group who arrived just on dusk.

One Sunday morning Mick finally managed the shot he was after – a male Golden-shouldered parrot, clear and crisp. Happy with his success he went to download the photos only to find his laptop battery was completely flat. Looks like our next few days will be on a powered site in Cooktown – which we were planning on anyway.

To help pass the time we decided to drive the 23km north to have lunch at Musgrave Station Roadhouse. The place was busy with a few campers already settled in to the grassy campground, the fuel pumps in constant use and many people having burgers, pies or sandwiches for lunch from the shop. The chicken burgers we had were tasty and even included fresh salad – something you don’t always get when travelling in remote areas. We spent the afternoon considering our options for the next few days – the water tank was low so Cooktown became a definite for the next few nights, then probably Elim Beach, and Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park if it was opened on 1 June, as planned.

Mick finished off our visit to Artemis with a short afternoon session and an even shorter morning session at the bird feeder. We packed up efficiently as always and were on our way just after 8:30am. Our first stop was at Laura and then Lakeland for coffee.