Towards Mary Kathleen

 After spending two days camped just outside Longreach, we were heading towards Winton, but just thirty-two kilometres northwest of Longreach, it's possible to camp on the banks of the Darr River. We've passed by here at least six times, so we decided why not.

Arriving early gave us the benefit of having the choice of several sites.

We would have liked to spend more time here than just the two days, but we will undoubtedly return this way again on another occasion.

The drive to Winton follows the railway line for its entire distance of one hundred and forty kilometres. Along the way, there were piles of wooden sleepers that we would usually stop and gather to use for our campfire cooking, but unfortunately, there just wasn't enough room for us to safely park beside the highway. 

Arriving in Winton, we refuelled, replenished our water, and then stopped at the bakery for lunch before continuing for another sixty-five kilometres to camp behind a mesa-type structure for the evening in the Ayrshire Hills. It was nice to see the hills after the whole day was spent driving through a never-ending landscape of featureless grasslands. I spent that afternoon cutting gidgee to use in our campfires and loaded that on the front of the van.

The grasslands continued with occasional trees lining the dry creek beds for another one hundred and sixty kilometres until we passed through McKinlay. Gum trees and low shrubs started appearing, and the closer we came to Cloncurry, the larger the hills became, which was a pleasant surprise. It was just sixty-five kilometres to our next campsite at Mary Kathleen uranium town site.

This is our fifth visit here, but I first came to Mary Kathleen nearly fifty years ago when a school friend's parents were the caretakers after the mine had closed. All the buildings remained; it was an eerie experience with just the five of us here. We even enjoyed a VB beer still on tap at the bowling club. This is our fifth day camping here, and even though there have been upwards of eighty vans each day, the area is so large that no one is camped on top of the other. The drive out to the open-cut mine is seven kilometres, with the journey taking us half an hour each way due to the condition of the road.