Day 14 Saturday July 5th
Karumba to Hughes Crossing (Mitchell River) on the Burke Development Road (275km)

There was no need for an alarm clock this morning, (not that we DO ever use one when camping!), because someone close by started their diesel engine pre-dawn and left it running for a whole hour or more! We can only assume that they were using it as a generator because their fridge battery needed charging!!!
Apart from that, it was a lovely morning, and it had been quite warm overnight,(for a change!).
We were on the road by 8am. We have had a day filled with gravel roads; waterholes; birds; 'roos; roadworks and heaps and heaps of cattle!!!
The area between Karumba and Dunbar, to the north east, is just one cattle property after another.....some of these stations are vast. We must have seen thousands of cattle at the numerous billabongs and gravel pits along the way.
We also saw Brolgas and Sarus Cranes at the waterholes and white-bellied sea eagles and numerous other birds of prey, mainly feasting on road-kill.
We stopped for coffee and wood collection and also at two picturesque camp spots, the Gilbert River and the Staaten River, but unfortunately we hadn't travelled far enough to stay at either of these spots.
We were slowed down a little by several sections of roadworks where the road was being repaired following wet season damage. Overall however, the road was in reasonable condition.....we have certainly travelled on worse.
We found a spot to camp just before 4pm. It is in the bush near the Hughes Crossing of the Mitchell River, (not the WA one obviously), The river is close by, but we cannot see it from our camp, deliberately, I might add, because there was a crocodile warning sign at the crossing. So we are camped well away from the water.
There are a few other campers, but we cannot see them either. The only real negative to this campsite is that it is very dusty.
Today has been our first really hot day, and it is still warm well into the evening. I suppose this is also the furthest north we have been so far.....
We lit a small fire and had 'Barra burgers' for dinner using fresh Barra fillets which we had bought in Karumba yesterday. Delicious. We did not need the fire for warmth, so put it out when we had finished cooking.
We heard, but didn't see, several loud, blue-winged kookaburras making a racket just at sunset. I expect that they will be our alarm clock tomorrow morning! Much nicer than a diesel engine!!!
We had to use several baby-wipes each to clean the dust off our feet before bed!!!!