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Normanton to Lawn Hill

We are headed now for Lawn Hill National Park, en route we detoured on to the Top End Road, which you can take all the way across to the Stuart Highway, but we are just going 30 odd kms. up to see the memorial for the last camp of Burke and Wills before they got to the gulf. The single track to the campsite was easy to drive down with a turn around area for larger vehicles and trailers. As you stand in these places you have to wonder how people like Burke and Wills ever managed to get there, the land today where most of these memorials are has changed little since the 1800’s when they were doing their thing but transportation and equipment have which makes our getting there relatively easy but back then they must have been incredible people. The general bush area was hot, dusty and although it had a beauty of its own not very inviting.
Back on to the main track and we’re off to Gregory Downs for the night. Camping at Gregory Downs is either at the van park behind the shop or ‘under the bridge’ down by the river, which is very beautiful. Rather than look for a riverside campsite Clive parked the van where we could see it (the river) and get out again relatively easily. There were a lot of people camped here, some for weeks at a time, they had their bathroom tents set up and were just kicking back. We were a bit concerned that these ‘shower tents’ were a little close to the river from an environmental point of view, but they certainly had top notch spots for staying a while. The council had put two portaloos on the site which was very kind of them, unfortunately for me they were so high off the ground and I cannot push hard to get my legs up I literally had to crawl in on my hands and knees, not very elegant, but hopefully no-one was watching, it was better than trying to find somewhere in the bush when there were so many people camped there. The campsites were free which was a real bonus, and the bird life very prolific, there was an eagles nest in one of the trees and a pair of wedge-tailed eagles soaring around, budgerigars twittering about and lots of other birds which I couldn’t identify, this made up for the fact that I had a really bad nights sleep – there was a generator going at one end of the area and a dog barking at the other, both of which conspired to keep me awake and give me a headache.( should have used the ear plugs.)
The next day saw us off to Lawn Hill National Park (approx. 100 km. Away) – a place several people we had met, this time and on our previous trips considered to be a major highlight in their trip – so we are quite excited at the prospect of seeing this place. The comment was it needs to be worthwhile because the road into Gregory Downs was not good, and most people would be going back the same way. The road from Gregory Downs to Adels Grove (the camping area for Lawn Hill) also is not good and I hope all those people who must have taken their ‘normal’ vans along it suffered no damage. Everywhere is very dry, dusty and corrugated, Adels grove itself on first impressions is also dry, dusty etc. The Campsites are large each with a BBQ. between 2 sites and very good ablution blocks (when you can work out how to get to them). You follow a series of coloured markers from your camping area to the ablutions, your track will be criss-crossed by quite a number of tracks on route. Whilst the sites were dry and dusty a short walk down to the Lawn Hill Creek and you are in a different world, lush rainforest type vegetation and behind the office/shop there is a beach area with deck chairs where you can sit and watch the fish (or feed them) go for a swim very lovely, there are a lot of permanent tents set up for rental I think they call them campmotels or something similar. Lawn Hill itself is a few kilometres further down the road. They have a few camping sites there but there are no facilities whatsoever, Adels Grove doesn’t have power on its sites but you do have normal ablution blocks with hot and cold running water etc.
We tried to rent a canoe to paddle up the gorge but there were none available and there was a queue of people waiting for when they came in, so we decided to just walk around following the tracks on the maps provided.. We went to the art site which for us was quite disappointing, just a few handprints and scratches, not what we are used to, then on to the lower gorge which was quite beautiful. You view it from above as the sides are very steep and there may be a crocodile or two hanging around. The walk to this area was awkward as you had to negotiate a lot of fallen trees, large tree roots and cross the creek over a log bridge, just a log over the creek, but I managed. When we returned to the log we decided to walk on to the cascades, which was very much like a small version of Buley Rock Holes in Litchfield National Park but didn’t have the ‘viewing’ areas at the side, again very pretty, but the water is very cold too cold for the likes of us to go swimming even though a lot of the younger people were having a dip.
We spent three nights at Lawn Hill and enjoyed ourselves, however, I don’t know that it would be very close to the top in my top ten must sees. It is however a real oasis in the middle of some really dry country. One night we were there was the Queensland/NSW state of origin rugby match. It was really amusing listening to the cheers and groans coming from the various sites dependent upon whom they barracked for. Kangaroos were grazing quite close to the campsites and you could just sit there and watch them for hours. The moon was spectacular also up there, unfortunately none of our photographs came out very well and it’s hard to describe what it was like, spectacular will have to suffice.

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