Forever onwards and up north...Bladensburg, Winton
From Idalia NP I hit the road north again, heading to Bladensburg NP (about 85000 squ kms) which was quite a place and about 20Km from Winton. Lots of walks etc. Mostly Mitchell Grass plains and part of the Qld Channel country. The park was inundated with 50 students from a Qld Uni film school (and some of them were quite odd). This is where u realise the low level of resources that are provided in national parks: one long drop non flush dunny to service in total about 60 campers. Not good enough.
There were a lot of kilometres between things to see and so a vehicle was necessary. In parts the tracks were OK but a lot of dirt dust and vibrations all the same. The park has vast grassland plains and river flats, river red gums and rocky scarp. I saw lots of different birds (heard even more) but saw nothing in the way of animals (I am sure they are there). The old homestead has been restored and is now used as an information centre and ranger office. Scrammy Gorge was impressive (although by about here I was getting “gorged out”.
Winton was a delightful & pretty town. From here I visited the Australian fossil museum and Larks Quarry, the site of the Dinosaur Stampede. I think these were much more accessible than the similar sites at Riversleigh and a lot more interesting. I did some of the walks around these places and quite good they were, too.
From here I followed the bitumen to Mt Isa where I stayed a couple of days. Would like to re-visit the Isa when the rodeo etc is on… maybe next time.
Replaced a dead 2nd battery (lead acid for an AGM one) and paid $450 for the privilege ($50 cheaper than in Melbourne as it turned out). The problem was that the battery was not fully charged (not even close to half charged) and within an hour or two of being on the road again there was no charge at all. The solar panel controller I had was also not suited for AGM so the fridge got a bit warm over the next few days. I had to buy a new MPPT controller ($320) in Katherine eventually before everything worked properly. But it eventually Took me 24 hours of solid charging with the CTEK charger on 240volts in a later caravan park at Katherine before the thing worked properly. Now all OK… I knew the battery was on the way out before I left home and I should have changed it out before I left.
I have posted some pictures.
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