Boorooloola

The Savannah Way is a long dusty, rutted stoney stretch of road to some of the furthest outreaches of the top end. As is our custom, we are up early and packed for travels which means we get to hit the road without many vehicles and hopefully we get to see the fauna before it rests in the heat of the day. Today we were pleasantly surprised. The Australian Bustard bird was active, we saw our first wild buffalo (with me getting a tad too close and having to run for cover), a beautiful monitor lizard, wallabies, wedge tail eagles and our very first Salty! Yes! Coming over one of the creek crossings and bigger than the 6”1 giant I live with, was a croc. He silently slipped away but kept his watchful eyes upon us and looked for all its worth a large log.
We reach Boorooloola a once lawless town with high crime including duffing, murder and robbery. It’s seen some characters come and go. It’s now resigned to its quiet place as a gateway to the McArthur river and fishing adventures in the gulf. Upon reaching the tiny township of Boorooloola we were invited to the local NAIDOC ball! Not only were we invited but we were asked to judge the best dressed in all categories. What a night! I’m not sure how it happened but we were in for an interesting night with locals. Made to feel very welcome and felt like part of the mob. Andrew a tad out of his comfort zone judging best dressed, but his dedication and commitment to the job was stellar.Read more