Day 80: Thu 14 Jul - Lawn Hill to Burketown

Day 80: Thu 14 Jul - Lawn Hill to Burketown

Towed 207km

It was a full moon last night, very bright and thankfully nothing un-toward happened. We were up nice and early to a very fresh 4.6Deg. No breakfast, just a hot brew before we packed up, hooked up, then drove off at 07:20am to fill our water tanks before we drove away from Lawn Hill shortly after. With less tyre pressure all round, and a slower speed, we made it to Gregory without any issues apart from the microwave which came adrift again - some more running repairs needed. We stopped at Gregory to re-inflate our tyres to normal pressure, had a brew and late breakfast, then continued the 120km to Burketown. It was mostly a very good drive, with extra caution needed in a few places with cattle and horses grazing along the unfenced road side.  We arrived at the Burketown Caravan Park by midday and we were pleased to have good internet and phone service again. The park is quite small and dated, but appears clean. It is the only one in town; in fact, there isn't much else in town at all. One service station, a school, a pub (no meals because they don't have a cook), a general store and a council office, but not much else. It's all part of the experience. The caravan park is for sale if anyone is interested. Burketown is the self-proclaimed Barramundi Capital of Australia and fishing is the primary appeal, but I suspect you must have a boat. After lunch Noel and I walked to the store to buy milk and a few other essentials, then when we returned, I caught up on the past four days of the blog, while Noel got stuck into washing and cleaning away the dust. Greg, Wendy and I went for a short ride around town late in the afternoon, the main attraction was the thermal Hot Springs just out of town. Unfortunately, it's not the kind that you bath in, as you will see from the photos, but there were plenty of Wallabies and birdlife enjoying the lush green grass. Back to the van for sundowners, dinner and a quiet night considering some late changes to our travel plans. Stay Tuned. 

Our last morning at Lawn Hill - a fresh morning, but another lovely sky.

Leaving Lawn Hill towards Gregory

Outside the Information Centre in Burketown (an old Post and Telegraph Office) - some old farming machinery

Outside the Information Centre in Burketown

Broken fence line on the outskirts of town


The nicest looking, and most contemporary building in Burketown - the Midithinda Yardilathi Birrjilda Learning Centre

The Midithinda Yardilathi Birrjilda Learning Centre for rural and remote health for Indigenous trainees to upskill their aged care workforce in the region

The Burketown Bore drilled and completed in December 1897 was drilled to 702m.

The Bore has been running for over 100years and the minerals in the water have built up so that it now looks more like a modern sculpture


Lots of wallabies grazing on the mineral rich green grass 


Interesting colours in the afternoon sun



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