Tobermorey Station

3 - 4 August 2017

Tobermorey Station is a working cattle station and a welcome stop-over along the Outback Way - the Donohue and Plenty Highways. Information provided tells visitors it is just 4km from the Queensland/Northern Territory borders and is 5994 sq km - approximately 2 million acres. The property is 40km wide and 200 ling. It's southern boundary is the Simpson Desert and its eastern is the QLD/NT border.

It was only lunchtime but we were ready to stop and Tobermorey certainly looked like a nice spot. Green grass, clean amenities and a warm welcome - you couldn't ask for much more. As the first ones into the campground we were able to pick the best spot to suit us. The campground filled up as the afternoon wore on and many friendly conversations were had - typical traveller talk - where are you headed, where are you from, where else have you been? We noticed the nights were starting to get colder as we moved closer to the centre of the country and a few of our fellow travellers lit fires.

A shady tree is always welcome.

In the morning we set off again, thinking we might stop at  Jervois Station, about 220km down the road. That would be enough of a drive on the gravel road we thought. We pulled into Jervois about noon and were given another warm welcome. We went up to the camp ground and made lunch before setting up - and discussed the problem that had arisen for us. There were no amenities in the campground itself. There was a small toilet and shower block down at the small shop and reception area - a walk of a good few hundred metres from where we had planned to set up, and at least 200 metres from the entrance to the campground. In addition to the distance, the block contained a separate ladies and gents - each with only one shower and toilet, in a single space - could be a bit of a problem if you wanted to use the toilet while someone was in the shower. We decided to keep on going a further 206km to Gemtree. We were refunded our camp fee and bought fuel before setting off again. 

About 45km before reaching Gemtree we were back on bitumen so the last leg wasn't all that bad. The dirt road from Jervois to the bitumen, however, was by far the worst section, but nowhere near what I was expecting. There was even some bits that had been recently graded. When we arrived at Gemtree we were glad we had kept going.

Boulia

2 - 3 August 2017

Heading further west the road narrowed and necessitated pulling off the bitumen when vehicles approached from the opposite direction. Fortunately there wasn't much traffic on this particular part of the highway. We stopped for a break at the Poddy Creek Rest Area and enjoyed the magnificent views.

Typical 'jump up' country.

Morning tea time.

This is a popular free camp and has toilets and picnic tables. Continuing on, we arrived at Middleton around lunch time so stopped at the shelter across the road from the pub. In the hot, dry and somewhat windy. air our sandwiches dried out as we ate them. Oh well, we'll have to get used to that! There are no public toilets at Middleton, so after lunch we ventured over to the pub to buy a soft drink and use the amenities.

Middleton Hotel.

When we finally arrived in Boulia we headed straight to the only caravan park in town and were pleased to see some green grass. We knew there would't be much of it at many of the places we would stay. We set up the camper trailer and went for a walk along the river - this time there was some water, but not much in the way of bird life. Again a pleasant night, and surprisingly quiet considering we were right on the highway!

The Burke River. The caravan park is on the right.

A good population of Black-tailed Native Hens were resident at the caravan park.

This horse was checking out our camp.

In the morning we packed up and stopped at the visitor centre hoping to find out about any good birding spots but were a bit disappointed that the volunteer really couldn't help with that. We fuelled up and asked about how much further on bitumen before we hit the dirt road but the international backpacker manning the cash register had no idea what I was talking about. She though we were headed for Birdsville when I said we were heading west - Birdsville is due south of Boulia.

We headed off from Boulia with the GPS telling us we had over 1500km until Alice Springs - never believe the GPS! I call mine the crazy woman for a good reason - she wanted us to head north through Mount Isa instead of west along the Donohue and Plenty Highways (our intended route) - a distance of just over 800km. Fortunately there are road signs that ensure you find the correct turn-off. Out of Boulia and turn left basically. We were pleasantly surprised to find there was about 7kms of bitumen to the turn-off onto the Donohue Highway, and then a further 65 kms until some dirt, with some more stretches of bitumen until about 90 km from the turn-off when the bitumen really does finish. This is where we stopped to let some air out of the tyres as recommended for those travelling on this particular highway.

Single lane across the Mitchell Grass plains. Good for raptors, Pratincoles and Black-faced Woodswallows.

Australian Pratincole (taken from a very long distance). These elegant birds inhabit the most inhospitable areas.

Once onto the gravel road, the going was slower and with a lot more caution. The section on the Queensland side of the border wasn't too bad, but it did deteriorate once we crossed into the Northern Territory. Road conditions in this part of the country vary greatly over time so it is wise to get up to date information before setting off. The information I had received suggested the road was awful for most of the way.

Spinifex Pigeon at our Georgina River stop.

There's not much along the way but we did make a stop at the Georgina River for a stretch. This section of the drive is characterised by Mitchell Grass plains. Just over the border with the Northern Territory we reached our next overnight stop - Tobermorey Station.