Kirb's Line: May 2012

Hi All,
Well we have been waiting for some favourable weather to go exploring again, it has been hot and just recently wet,so when we got the chance with 4 rdo's in a row we packed up the camper(been hangin for this) and headed northwest toward the gulf and the NT border to a little place called Adel's Grove. I say little place because in the scheme of things up here a place of only 80 acres is small. Adel's Grove is completely surrounded by the 6000 square kilometre's of Lawn Hill Station, and in 1904 was surveyed as a miners homestead lease. In 1920 a Frenchman named Albert de Lestang took up the property, being a botanist it is believed that he was commissioned by the government of the day to experiment with the growing of tropical trees and fruit. By 1939 he had 1000 species of trees and fruit growing there. de Lestrang worked tirelessly tending his orchard digging irrigation channels and building infrastructure and kept records of everything he did. He had a constant battle to keep everything in place as the elements and termites were a constant threat. In the early fifty's a wild bushfire came through and destroyed everything at Adel's all his buildings and more importantly all of his records, Albert never recovered from this and died in 1959. The name Adel's Grove is derived from his initials and the present owners love to tell you the history of this little place on the banks of Lawn Hill creek.

Up the road north to Burke and Wills, the roadhouse is busy this morning.

Burke and Wills is also the intersection of the Burke Developmental road and the Wills developmental road, Burke to Normanton and Wills to Burketown. Confused!

Gregory Downs is the next settlement along the way, it is situated on the banks of the Gregory River and is a popular camping spot for people from Cloncurry. We thought we would top up with fuel here but the diesel pump was broken, just as well I brought spare fuel in Jerrie's.

Pretty much the pub is it in Gregory Downs but there is great camping down by the river which is crystal clear and runs all year round.

Once you have left Gregory Downs you have about 20km of bitumen then 63km of dirt. It was along this stretch we got out the chainsaw and cut some firewood for the weekend and put it on the roof rack.

Arrived at Adel's Grove,it gives nothing away as to what is inside.

This machinery is some of the equipment De Lestang used.

There are two campgrounds here the Top Campground and The Grove. The Grove made up part of De Lestang's botanical gardens and there is a lot of it's remnants still here. We couldn't resist camping here with Lawn Hill creek just a stones throw away. Not much good here for solar panels though.

This is Lawn Hill Creek, it flows all year round and is fed by underground springs that discharge the water at 5 cubic metres per second. In the monsoon season the underground storage is replenished. The water is so clear because it flows through limestone rock and it has a very green colour in the sun because of a freshwater algae that thrives in the warm conditions and they reflect light in the green spectrum.

This channel off the main creek flows into the Grove and back out again to rejoin Lawn Hill Creek a couple of hundred metres downstream and creates an island in the middle.

This what they call The Beach. It is right behind the office,restaurant and bar. The island is the other bank.

This little bridge allows you to access the island, behind Joanne is the office bar and restaurant, to the left is the Beach.

This billabong is in the middle of the island, the water is so still.

Black Striped Grunter live in the billabong as well as in the Lawn Hill Creek.

Sooty Grunter.

Just before the creek rejoins the channel is this little waterfall.

Put the hat back on!!

I can see you.

These fish are Black Striped Grunter, people feed them and they actually follow you along the creek looking for something to eat. There are also Archer Fish in here too, they shoot water at you

Because the underground aquifer and storage capacity is so large it's estimated that the water flowing here is several thousand years old.

These pic's we took on a walk downstream from the campground, just can't believe that a place like this exists in the surrounding's it's in.

The restaurant and bar are just up those steps.

Buff Robin.

Great Bowerbird.

Absolutely a paradise to camp here, we were here for 3 nights, shared with half a dozen others and on the last night only 2.

A pair of happy campers here!!

Nothing beats a good campfire.

Just a short 20 minute walk away from Adel's campground is Lookout Hill, this is the track to some great views.

When you reach the top it is customary to add a stone to one of the cairn's.

Part Of the Constance Range.

Still the Constance Range in the background with Adel,s Grove's buildings in the foreground and the airstrip.

What do you know, you get phone service up here!

In this picture you can see the flat top of the overburden stockpile of Century Zinc mine. We are looking east here and the Constance Ranges are to the west and we are only about 50km from the NT border.

There are some cabins and quite a few flash tents under permanent cover to stay in, some of the tents are on the bank of the creek with a little veranda facing the water.

On the second last night of our stay we decided to go on a tour organised by the owners of Adel's Grove, Rod and Michelle Low Mow called Harry's Hill Sunset tour. Six of us along with 2 kids got on their little bus about an hour before sunset and took the short drive to Harry's Hill. When we arrived about 10 minutes later Rod set up a camp table and arranged some nibblies and broke out the wine, all in the price. He tells us all about the place and features of the landscape, he also tells the story of Harry's Hill and why he goes there. Harry was an aboriginal tour guide and used to bring tours up to the area from Mt Isa regularly for many many years he was very well known and liked and one of the things he would do was take people to this lookout to watch the sunset. Old Harry died only a few years ago in Charters Towers and so Rod and Michelle continue on the tradition and bring visitors to the hill they now call Harry's and toast him as the sun goes down.