Lawn Hill

After driving back through Borrorloola we had another long drive to Hell’s Gate, a sinister sounding place, and once upon a time it was, now it’s a beautiful roadhouse with GRASS!! We were so delighted to be able to walk around barefoot on grass and the boys had the run of the place so played footy all afternoon. We enjoyed the company of one of the workers, who looked a bit like Costa from Gardening Australia, as we yarned over a couple of afternoon drinks at the bar.

Next morning we had a short and pleasant, finally no corrugations, drive to Lawn Hill, stopping in at Doomagee, a self-sufficient Aboriginal community, for fuel and a delicious bakery stock-up. The drive out to the Lawn Hill area was interesting. From the Savannah Way the road comes down through Lawn Hill cattle station. Although the road was excellently maintained, it was dry, dusty and barren, and felt like driving through a wasteland.

As we neared Lawn Hill, we stopped at a beautiful river crossing for lunch and it was a bonus that we could paddle and get our feet wet.

Onwards through more dry plains until we arrived at Adele’s Grove. It had hit 41 degrees and was very dusty. We hurriedly set up so that we could get down to the Grove and swim. The Grove was a gorgeous area under a canopy of trees, cool and shady, along Lawn Hill Creek. The swimming area was so awesome! There was a large, sturdy tree where the kids lined up, climbing out along its branches to jump or swing off into the deep, green water. Noodles and tyres were bobbing round for everyone to lay around on, chatting and having an afternoon drink in the cool water, and a pontoon was set up for kids to jump off too. The teenagers had laid claim to this and sat and chatted, told jokes, called encouragement to those jumping out of the tree or played king of the Island. It was so much fun for everyone. It was 6 o’clock before we finally dragged ourselves out of the water to go back to camp to have dinner.

Next morning we made ready for a day ‘next door’ in the National Park. We arrived just in time to claim a canoe and a kayak for us to paddle up Lawn Hill Creek. It was absolutely stunning, breathtaking. The gorgeous clear green water lined with lilly pads, surrounded by the ancient red-brown rocks of the gorge, reaching up to the bluest of blue skies. It was so peaceful and relaxing. We paddled up as far as we could get to, and had a swim in the rapids before turning and heading back. The pool at the waterfall was full of people swimming and enjoying the water so after we got back we had lunch and a rest, re-stocked our water and re-lathered the sunscreen to walk back to the waterfall for the afternoon. It was a short, but very hot, walk and it was a relief to see the falls and the pool.

Because it was about 2pm the hoards of people who had been there in the morning, had left. We had it to ourselves apart from one other lady and her two daughters, who were having a rest in the shade. It was glorious. We spent a good couple of hours there; swimming, playing, exploring, relaxing.

It was a hard place to leave, I tried to commit the scenes and the feelings of peace to memory, the only bonus being that we would go back to Adele’s Grove for the afternoon playtime in the pool there.

I really hope to come back again one day, but maybe from the Barkley Highway next time ;)

We left Lawn Hill in a haze of dust and heat, and were absolutely incredulous at why the campground did not have a watercart to dampen the roads and keep the dust at bay, when they had gallons of water at their disposal. Lawn Hill Creek is spring fed, long and deep, feeding into the Gregory River which then runs into the Nicholson, then on to the Gulf. There is soooooooo much water in these parts and yet the surrounding land is like a dustbowl, a wasteland. The only thing we can think is that the amount of minerals in the water is no good for the land anyway. After swimming at Mataranka and then, Lawn Hill, our skin was so unbelievably dry. Even to the point that at Mataranka, Lachie’s skin was almost like it was burnt. We do know that Lawn Hill Creek has a very high calcium content, so……

The road out towards Gregory was absolutely terrible, half corrugated dirt and worse, half tar gone to wrack and ruin after the previous closure of the Century Zinc mine.

However, if you’re considering making the trek one day to this stunning place (and it’s definitely worth it) there may be a brand new road in, as the mine has re-opened and Ben saw an application for tenders to re-do the road.