Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road

Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road
10&11 September

Fuelled up and with new tires fitted, we bounced off up the road through Lawn Hill station.

From Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road

We stopped at Domadgee for a break and some more supplies. Despite some negative press the Aboriginal people (especially the kids were really friendly) waving as we passed. As we drove around looking for a shop we ended up at the local swimming hole for morning tea. There I met a small girl called Margaret who wanted to know where we were going when I told her Borolloola she inquired about our family there. I think she found it hard to comprehend why would we go somewhere if not for family. Something to reflect on.
The road is fairly rough in parts but you could do it in any car if you let your tires down and went slow enough. Corrugations, sharp rocks, deep sand and creek crossings keep you on your toes. One dip with a deep dusty hole caught me unawares. We hit it pretty hard and the trailer bounced in the air. A bit further along, looking in the mirror, I thought the trailer wheels weren't turning properly but it all looked fine when I stopped and checked. Then the car didn't seem to be able to go any faster than 50km/hr. A better inspection showed the trailer brakes were on, and further inspection revealed the cause, one spring had snapped, and as the axle moved back, the trailer brakes were applied.
Luckily, the trailer came with a spare new spring, so I set about working out how to change a trailer spring.

From Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road

Broughton documented the process well on camera and Fabian helped with the repairs. A few vehicles passed as we worked. A couple of them stopped including a road train – others didn't, but then we didn't ask for help. It took about one and a half hours to replace the spring. I sent an an imaginary kiss to the previous owner for supplying the spring and set off more carefully. We had planned to camp by the Calvert River crossing but darkness caught us and we ended up pulling off near a little creek. We had fun that night catching native fish and yabbies in the creek.

From Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road

As well as Rainbows we found Purple Spotted Gudgeons, and lots of cane toads.

At Boroloola, we visited the Museum before heading out to the King Ash Bay Fishing Club Campground on the Macarthur River.
At the office we asked for an unpowered site and got directed to Jenny Flats beside the river. That night, we discovered it was actually Genny Flats as in generator. Every camp had one running until they had to be turned off at 10pm, apparently to run freezes for the big catch No swimming in this river as it is apparently full of esturine crocodiles. Luckily none of the kids got taken as they used the cast net to catch minnows and then fished until dark.
John

Next day Fabian and Broughton continued fishing with live bait they caught.
Fabian ended up catching a nice queen fish.
After we'd left I realised Broughton's beloved crocs got left at the river edge.
We joked about 2 crocs being sighted there or the next door neighbour campers thinking maybe the “young tike” had been taken by a real crocodile. Broughton is now working on developing tough feet ! I was saddened by their loss as I was set to inherit them when Bro's feet grew.

We made another call into Boroloola the next day on the way through to the Southurn Lost City on the Savannah Way. We had to shop for Fabian's birthday dinner – a challenge in a supermaket at 35 degrees, fans whirring, customers bustling. I managed to buy nachos ingredients and a sara-lee cake but failed to find sorbolene.
I was hanging out to buy beer but it wasn't going on sale until 2.30pm so we decided to push on.
Glad we did because we got to our destination, the Southern Lost City, at about 5pm – we were the only campers!
The backdrop was amazing and Fabian was able to play his trumpet amongst these stately rock formations – great acoustics.

From Southern Lost City

Later on that evening John got out his harmonicas and we tried a few numbers, I'm slowly learning to pluck the ukelele and Millie can pick up most tunes on her violin. Broughton has now learnt quite a bit of trumpet and he is loving it.
Next day we walked around the Lost City - extremely striking rock formations - before heading off. We stopped for the morning at Butterfly Springs, a very refreshing spot and aptly named.

Fabian got Millie and Bro to jump off a rock ledge and we all enjoyed a long swim with the fish.

We checked out the Tomato Rd Fishing camp on the Roper River but decided to keep going to Elsey National Park, where we set up camp in the dark.

From Butterfly Springs

Maggie