Camooweal

An early morning start for us today as we Facetimed with Flynn at 6:00am for his 10th birthday. It was such a thrill to share the opening of presents with him even though he (and we) were still in bed.
We eventually left Mount Isa around 9:30 and headed to Camooweal.
An uneventful drive until we got close to town and spied a police car with flashing lights ahead. They had pulled over someone with NSW number plates heading towards Mount Isa. We hadn't really thought about the prospect of people trying to enter Queensland from the NT against Covid rules. It wasn't the last time we saw the police with someone pulled over.
We passed through town and noted the line up at the only remaining service station in town. We definitely needed fuel before heading across the border so decided to come back later when hopefully there was less of a crowd.
Just through town and over the Georgina River we turned into an extensive area of bush camping along the banks of several lakes. We were lucky enough to find a spot beside the water and camped up. A beautiful location but getting hot! 35° today and forecast again for tomorrow.
As we entered town we drove past The Drover's Camp, a tourist destination in the town that highlights the lives of the early drovers in Qld and the NT. Turns out this weekend they are having the annual Drover's Festival with displays, entertainment and campdraft competition events. We decided to check it out and spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering the site and listening to the “entertainment”. We watched one of the events where calves were separated from a herd, roped, tied and “branded” with paint. Talk about hot and dusty work! These guys really earn their money.
Back at camp for a beautiful clear warm night with the best star display I think I have ever seen.
The camp was so nice we decided to stay another day. It had nothing to do with the fact I put the wrong entry date (Monday instead of Sunday) on our NT border passes. We were due for a day of rest anyway.
The birdlife around the lake kept us busy as well, spotting and identifying. We saw brolgas, hawks, eagles, pelicans, egrets, grebes, dotterels, ducks, cockatiels, budgies and the ever present magpies, peewees and crows.Læs mere