Heading east from Katherine the traveler is offered a plethora of route options. We chose the Savannah Way which tends to hug the Gulf of Carpentaria although at no time does the Gulf coastline ever come into view. This invention of the tourism marketing people up here runs from Broome WA right across to Cairns in Qld through, well, Savannah. Now what do you get when you combine Savanna with, in the main, flat terrain. Bored is what you can get if you don't notice subtle changes!

There are however some towns to break up the journey, but as you would be aware they few and far between up here. Booraloola is one that springs to mind as the local rodeo was warming up when we passed through. A rodeo is a series of organized events in the main involving men, horses and angry cattle. Young station men try to demonstrate that they have the biggest balls and the smallest brains by jumping on the backs of large unsuspecting cattle that, surprise surprise, get ****** off by this unwarranted attention. Even sheep are known to receive attention at these events! No, lipstick is not applied, but they have been known to have been ridden by young children who are keen to emulate the actions of their simple minded brothers or fathers.

These events tend to degenerate into drink fests and running battles once the bar opens so we didn’t hang around for the action.

A little down the track a sign advertising Seven Emu Station caught our eye as we emerged from a creek crossing. It professed to offer many things to the traveler including of course camping, but the thing that made up our minds to take a look was that it was in some way affiliated with Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). Twenty five kilometers down a side track saw us at the property where we were greeted by the station owner Frank.

I remembered from somewhere, in that vacuous space that keeps my ears apart, reading some AWC blurb about them forming a relationship with property owners up here in the Gulf. This apparently was the place and Frank the owner was making good use of the new relationship. At fifty bucks per night per vehicle it is expensive even for up here, or for camping anywhere really, but it will increase Frank’s personal wealth considerably. When we asked questions about the place Frank was a little vague, saying for example, that most campers prefer to wash in the river rather than use the showers. This we took as meaning an eco approach to personal hygiene was available if you wished.

After being guided to our bush campsite by two visiting overseas WWOOFers we ended up being left at a site with a bark lean-to shelter and behind some rustic corrugated iron, what I initially took to be the toilet shower combo, a rusty upturned drum that lacked a seat over a flyblown toilet pit. Even with a reasonable view over the Robinson River, and the sighting of many fish and a shark, this was the worst campsite we have paid for in the world. Even African community camp sites put this one to shame. Added to this, we would now have to go back to homestead for a shower on the way out.

We found out why it was suggested campers wash in the river as we looked with horror at the homestead shower block. To cut oneself in the shower would most certainly have meant an infection leading to the amputation of a limb, or quite probably a protracted death from an infectious disease was on the cards. Why AWC lets this bozo Frank use its name on his signage is a worry.

We dropped in briefly to Doomadgee near Bourke Town. As I have previously mentioned, I had a brief association with the school there. Well all positive to things to report! Paved streets with curbing, more housing and best of all a community sports centre for the kids. All great to see, and the town also had a good feel about it. Another positive has to be that the nearest pub some eighty kilometers away lost its liquor license in 2006.

Our trip now takes us south from Doomadgee through Mount Isa on our way home. Not far out of the Isa we headed for Diamantina Lakes NP. This is a remote Queensland NP that I have always wanted to visit. Given that it was some way of our route we did ruminate a bit about the visit, but what the heck, we probably won’t be back this way.

Well, I haven’t been so ****** off since I dropped my toothbrush down the toilet. The Queensland Government that promotes Diamantina Lakes with pictures of Bilbies, and the near to extinct Night Parrot at its information centers, has let the local cow cockies back in. We were only in the park a matter of hours and saw hundreds of head of cattle tap dancing on Bilbies homes all over the place. There must be thousands of head in this National Park Paddock. Rather than have to cut their stock numbers because of the drought, the neighboring graziers have applied pressure to the Government and been allowed to decimate a park that has been free of cattle since 1998. We are ****** off. What hope is there for our countries native species when even existing National Parks can be trashed on economic grounds?

Left Birdsville after spending a few days on its outskirts. The Birdsvillians can see the benefits of a flexible approach to tourism here and camping just outside of the town on the Diamantina River bank is accepted as good for local business. Our solar regulator spat the dummy and has required us to hook the camper accessory thingamebobs up to the trucks batteries. I was all for torching the whole camper, but Gael indicated that this would not be appropriate given our remote location at the time of this unfortunate occurrence.

This part of the trip, down the Birdsville Track, I have done many times before. Its open space has always been a tonic. Unfortunately this is all changing. It appears that nearly all the cattle stations are supplementing their incomes with tourism. Private land signs litter the countryside in an attempt to restrict access to remote areas of pastoral properties. Travellers who litter, don’t bury toilet waste, leave front bum tissues, use chainsaws, drive off track, etc, etc, have stuffed it for everybody. Those that are on their first visit to this part of the planet will know no difference. They will still enjoy the big skies and the desert, but to me, well, I liked it the way it was.

On a positive note, totally out of character for me I know, we did have a good experience at AWC’S property Kalamurina near north Lake Eyre. No partnership arrangement here with land owners, just good old fashioned conservation. From what we have seen on this trip, privately funded conservation parks hold the only hope for Australia’s native flora and fauna. Our National Parks are too often used as bargaining chips by groups like graziers, miners, or shooters. As is the case with Diamantina Lakes, or Victoria’s Alpine NP, they can too easily be handed over by gutless politicians who would sell their first born into prostitution if it would win or keep them government.

Well, roll me in chocolate and sprinkle me with smarties, I couldn’t be happier. In the South Australian Flinders Ranges, and loving it. The area has great scenery, great walks, native wildlife (unfortunately also its share of goats, rabbits, etc) accessible, all the things that the north of Australia is not.

PS. Don't forget Gael's photo's and short videos below. It takes her age's to load these little gems.

One life, live it.