Day 23 – Burketown to Adel’s Grove

Despite the seemingly strong wind overnight and the ground being so hard I could only hammer some tent pegs in about 5 cm., nothing in the tent (or the tent itself) moved. I got up earlier and had my shower and dressed and then started breakfast in the very well-appointed camp kitchen. Lynn came over a little later and we finished breakfast, washed up and finally broke camp. I wasn’t in a hurry as I had promised to call back at the Shire offices and Lynn wanted to get some money out at the Post Office. I drove around to near the offices and Lynn bought rolls made up for lunch while I enquired about the census and the roads. A very helpful council officer ( ) found out I could do everything at the Roper Shire (either Borraloola or at Katherine) and also told me of the road conditions – from Burketown to Adel’s Grove (relatively good) and from Burketown to Doomadgee (relatively bad). So I’ve decided I’ll go back to the main road to continue on after Lawn Hill. I met Lynn at the car and we went to the store and Post Office. The store didn’t have much (but there were two classes, total around 24, at the school) but the Post Office had a lot. I was able to buy a sticker from Burketown there and they had a lot of general supplies. I posted off magazine entries for Kerry. We chatted with some ringers from Mt Isa. Lynn got her money and we set off. The first part of the road was very good. However my Hema SatNav couldn’t find Adel’s Grove, so I started up my old one and then went to 4WD on the Hema. Surprisingly, it worked very well. The scenery along the way was very good, with examples of all types of vegetation, and we saw many eagles (some in flocks, but none remained on road kill long enough for a good photo), some kangaroos and even a family of emus (dad with about six chicks). The road was still bitumen but cut up where mine traffic used it, and was a little better after it became unsealed beyond the mine turnoff. We arrived at Adel’s Grove before 1 and found it to be a little oasis in the middle of nowhere. I booked in for three nights, Lynn booked for a cruise tomorrow and then we selected a site – near a little waterfall, relatively isolated and next to a couple from the Netherlands we had met at Cobbold. We settled in, got the tent up, ate the rolls we had and explored the little walks around the camp. It’s very peaceful. I signed up for a massage tomorrow and Lynn for a massage the day after. I did some reading and puzzles, then we bought tea (chips and potato cake for me) from “The Shack”, a fish and chip shop sharing the camp kitchen structure. I did many more puzzles from the magazines (I want to be able to post them in Borraloola) and eventually went to bed about 8 and to sleep – Lynn had retired earlier.