Day 17 Boroloola, NT

 We congratulated each other for choosing to stay in Boroloola for an extra day.  The sleep-in this morning was bliss and we eased into the day with a leisurely late breakfast. We did some washing and after we had hung it out to dry we decided that it was a good time to drive the short distance to King Ash Bay.

We drove slowly through Boroloola and noticed that diesel was down to $2.06/litre. That was the cheapest so far so we kept it in mind to fuel up after our drive to King Ash Bay.  We pointed the car towards King Ash Bay but saw a signpost pointing towards a museum.  We decided to go and have a look.  The original Boroloola Police Station had been turned into the museum and it was full of memorabilia.  There was almost too much information to read but it was so interesting that I did read most of it.  Philip was content to wander around and looking at all the artifacts.  We were there almost an hour and we could quite honestly have been there all day.

However, the morning was moving on so we got back in the car and drove the 40+km road to King Ash Bay.  A fellow traveller told us about this place and he raved about how good it was, particularly the sunsets.  We were a little underwhelmed.  There is not a lot here but if you were a fisherman you would think you had died and gone to heaven.  King Ash Bay is on the mighty McArthur River but quite a distance from the mouth of the river.  The river is full of crocs so you don't go swimming in this area although the lovely sandy river edges and clear water certainly looked inviting.

We watched as a houseboat was being unloaded of its passengers and cargo and we asked one of the passengers a little about the boat.  He had just returned from a four night trip that took them to the mouth of the river.  The houseboat sleeps up to 10 but there was only 4 of them on this trip.  He said the fishing was great but as there is a bag limit he didn't say just how many they had caught.  Philip and I both commented that it would be quite a nice relaxing time on the houseboat with a few friends, but for us the fishing would be a waste.

We drove around King Ash Bay and noted that there was not too much in the way of shops.  We saw a service station that doubled us a food store and we saw a place called Gropers Bar that was opened in the evenings for meals and drinks.  There is one caravan park but lots of free camp areas that were all shady.

We returned to Boroloola along the same road and fuelled the car before heading to the grocery store for a few food items.  The grocery store was very well stocked with it's owns butcher shop.  We spoke with the butcher and he said that he received his lamb from Victoria, Chicken from Queensland and Beef was local.  He also made his own sausages.  We were spoilt for choice but we chose some of his sausages and a small leg of lamb shrink-wrapped with its own sprig of rosemary. I can't wait to cook it up. The food was all very reasonably priced that was also a bonus.

Back at our camp we cooked up steaks on the bbq and I threw together a Pearl Couscous Salad that was very delicious even if I do say so myself.  We rested this afternoon and had a late swim in the cool (very) waters of the swimming pool.  We wandered down to the office after our swim because we had seen camping chairs that folded up very compactly for $25 each.  Yes please.  We were sitting outside and playing Sequence when a fellow traveller wandered up to us for a yarn.  We had been camping together at Hells Gate so we kinda knew each other. He loves the NT and has travelled just about every road there is to travel.  He was heading to a place called Lorella Springs from here and recommended it to us.  He also said that a stay at Mataranka Homestead was a must.  We will certainly do the latter but Lorella Springs is too far out of our way and we also don't feel like tackling another dirt road for a little while.

So tomorrow we pack up and head to Daly Waters where the same fellow traveller told us to go to the pub and order Steak and Barra!