It's just over 300 kms from Burketown to Adels Grove at Lawn Hills so we took our time leaving Burketown this morning. We called in to the Information Centre before we left to see if we could get any information regarding the road to Borroloola and they were able to give us a couple of telephone contacts so that is good.
Once again we drove through some really good open downs country before starting to see more of the river flats that you associate with the area. The bitumen road between Burketown and Gregory was very good and I think it is a relatively new road by the looks of it. We just poke along at around 90kmh and find that a very comfortable and economic speed. We didn't stop anywhere for lunch as I cooked us up bacon and eggs for breakfast and we reasoned that it wasn't very far to Adels Grove and we would be there in time for lunch.
How wrong was I.
The road from Gregory to the Adels Grove turnoff is one of the worst roads I think we have ever travelled on. It was of course gravel (we expected that) but the corrugations were very very bad. We drove most of the way in the table drain beside the gravel road as it was a lot smoother. Occasionally we would come across a bitumen section but they were few and far between. It took as over three hours to travel the 90 odd kilometres.
By the time we got to Adels Grove we were just a little shell shocked and then to find the gate into. Adels Grove locked was almost the final straw. Fortunately for us one of the backpackers (who are running the show at the moment) saw us and let us in. She asked to see our online booking (they are only allowing pre-booked into the camping area) and once that was okay she directed us to the camping area. There are quite a few campsites and after a scout around we chose site number 3. It took quite a bit of manouvering to get us into position but it is a great spot.
Opening up the van once we had parked it, disaster awaited. Our bathroom screen door had completely fall off and was laying on the ground. Fortunately for us it is tempered glass so it didn't break. The next disaster was the fridge. As I opened it I was greeted with a carton of spilt yoghurt mixed with a jar of curry paste! That is a good lesson for me to check lids on EVERYTHING in the fridge. The last disaster was one of the new slide-out pantry shelves had fallen apart with all the shaking and shuddering. Oh dear.
We ignored everything while we ate some lunch, because by this time it was almost 2.00pm, and started on the cleaning and repair jobs after we ate. It actually didn't take us long to do and by 3.30pm we were ready to go for a swim in the area they call "The Grove".
The water was so deliciously cooling on this very hot balmy day and we floated around before some other people joined us. They too were complaining about the state of the road. It's funny now we look back but the proprietor of the van park at Burketown said to us if you make it over the Lawn Hills Road you will have no problems getting to Borroloola. We now know what he meant!
Having said all the though it is a lovely spot and we can't wait to explore Lawn Hill Gorge tomorrow. We will try to get up early and go for a walk before inflating the kayak and paddling along the gorge.
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