Heavenly Beverley : Romeo Becomes The Boggabilla Bus!

We left Normanton after an eventful afternoon and evening. We were heading for Julia Creek, a place of which we knew nothing. We had originally been going to Cloncurry, but thought that the Curry Muster would mean that town would be crowded, which was not our style. Hence the decision to head to Julia Creek.

This was an all day drive along the quaintly named Route 83. The distance itself was pretty challenging, without any added surprises. Although sealed, this road, along with Route 84 (from Four Ways to Julia Creek) and then the Matilda Way to Winton was built on black clay soils. Plus, the Channel Country was marked by frequent and lengthy floodways, which resulted in an extremely unpredictable ride, reminiscent of the Boggabilla Bus ( a well known children's song from the iconic Play School) -

"Bouncing up and down on the Boggabilla bus,

Bouncing up and down on the Boggabilla bus,

Bouncing up and down on the Boggabilla bus!

Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!..."

I began driving from Normanton towards the half-way point - the Burke and Wills Roadhouse. Every now and then, I would erupt into fits of laughter as we navigated the road becoming single lane and then reverting to double lane, bumps and shudders as we passed over floodways and unexpected jumps as we passed from one erratic surface to another. Romeo's shock absorbers are non existent at the best of times and this road didn't provide that at all.

After almost two hundred kilometres, bruising of bums travel, we arrived at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse, the only stop between Normanton and Julia Creek. This place exceeded all our expectations. Rather than being tired, dusty and expensive (I'm afraid comparisons with Auski Servo in the Pilbara are not favourable with the glorious venue that was Burke and Wills), we wandered the establishment with our mouths as open as possible without collecting flies.

Burke and Wills is big, clean, inviting and boasts a fuel station, a caravan park, a licensed restaurant, decent loos and gift shop. There was indoor and outdoor seating along with a central gathering undercover area for overnighters to gather for a yarn.

It was named as the Four Ways junction - part of the route taken by the ill fated Burke and Wills expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria. These blokes were, unfortunately filled with hubris, disregarded travelling with First Nations assistance and perished on the southwards journey at Cooper Creek. Only John King survived with the help of the local First Nations inhabitants. And what blew me away is that they were all mostly very young men.

After a most satisfying lunch and breather, we launched forth in Romeo once more. Julia Creek was another two hundred and forty kilometres further on and the road conditions did not improve. Another interesting feature was the sour smell of some of the grass, which looked to be in poor condition and the lack of trees. We later discovered that the Mitchell grass was still recovering from the horrific 2019 flood event that killed up to half a million cattle and devastated stations around Julia Creek and Cloncurry. There had never been a significant number of trees in the savannah country and there was few incidences of high ground so the 2019 monsoon that followed seven years of drought created a perfect storm of destruction.

Julia Creek itself, was another delightful surprise. The day had been stinking hot with a dry wind, so we had upgraded our powered site to a cabin, which boasted every mod con. We were very thankful to have done so as we were pretty shattered when we arrived. Julia Creek Caravan Park is also famous for its artesian bath enclosures, bush dinners and free bicycles

The town itself boasted two pubs, a fabulous visitors centre - At The Creek - a photographic exhibition in their "Opera House", street sculptures, a Julia Creek Dunnart enclosure, a museum, WW II communications ruins, an illuminated (at night) water tower and an upgraded main drag.

We returned to At The Creek in the morning to meet Donald the Dunnart up close and personally. Our lovely guide summoned Donald with tantalising insect titbits which he consumed with gusto. He kept us entertained with his antics on show. We also explored the replica mining huts which contained fascinating short stories on screen and panels. The grounds also featured some marvellous sculptures, a water feature, shade and lawn.

In the afternoon, I tackled some tremendously exciting washing and met solo traveller Melanie in her very efficient and spacious camper trailer. We were smitten on the spot. I firmly believed that we have discovered the camper trailer of our dreams. We shall investigate further when we return home.

The following morning, after purchasing some excellent vino from Rebecca at the Julia Creek Hotel, we set out for Winton, hoping for a more agreeable ride in Romeo. Alas, we were to be disappointed. Our trusty camper morphed back into the Boggabilla bus as we set off in a south easterly direction. We gratefully stopped for lunch at the Kynuna Pub before we completed the second half of the trip into Winton, a shire with a population less than Heavenly Beverley but bursting with character and tourist attractions.

Oh, and I found my absent earrings in a front slot of Romeo's dashboard...I didn't leave them at the Normanton Pub after all.