Richmond was our next stop over for a couple of days.  This was only a short 115 km drive down the road from Hughenden.  Richmond is also part of the dinosaur trail through outback Queensland.  As the weather is  quite a bit warmer now there definitely are a lot less grey nomads on the road.  Quite a few families travelling as it is the school holidays so the caravan parks can be a bit noisier than usual.

We stayed at the Lakeview Caravan Park and the lake beside the park was very impressive.  We were expecting to see an almost dry lake and were very surprised to see a lake very full of water.  It was also well set up for swimming in, which we did a couple of times.  The lake is called Lake Fred Tinton and is set up for water skiing, canoeing and fishing.  They hold a fishing competition here every year and the lake is stocked with 18 species of fish.

You can go fossil hunting at Richmond as well.  There is a couple of sites about 12 kilometres out of town that are open to the public to  go and look around on.  We thought we would save this for another time as Richmond was turning on some nice warm weather for us.

Kronosaurus Korner is a very informative marine fossil museum on the main street that houses over 1000 registered fossils from the Richmond area.  This museum is well worth a visit.  “Penny” the polycotylid is one of the most complete vertebrate fossils in the world and looks very impressive in its laid out form.   The Cambridge Display Centre is a replica building of the original Cambridge Downs Station Homestead and shows off artefacts and stories from the last 150 years of Richmond’s history.  This was free and also worth the time to look at.

We quite enjoyed Richmond and would easily stay here again if ever this way again.  Julia Creek was our next stop.  This was about 150 km down the road.  We had heard quite a lot about this place and were looking forward to stopping here and having a look around.  Our travel day was also accompanied by some very strong winds and for a change we had the wind behind us.  Normally we always seem to cop a head wind so this was a bit of a bonus for us.

We had planned to stay just out of Julia Creek at the free camp they have there near the creek.  When we got there it was very dusty and not very inviting at all so we decided to go to the caravan park instead.  We didn’t really do very much in Julia Creek at all while there.  We didn’t actually think there was much around to see.  The lady we spoke to at the tourist centre didn’t really help us much at all with things to see and do around the area.

Although Julia Creek was a nice little town we were a bit disappointed with what it had to offer.  If it didn’t have the camp area just out of town that would be very nice to stay at during the cooler months, we felt that there wasn’t much here at all.  At the caravan park they had some hot spring baths that you could use but it was going to cost you $25 each for one hour.  We said thanks but no thanks and went to the local pool for free with the tokens they give you.

To be fair Julia Creek might be one of towns we need to come back to and see if we find it different another time. We are sure it must be a lot nicer when it is a bit cooler and not windy and dusty like when we were here.

Clem Walton Park was our next destination.  This is roughly halfway between Cloncurry and Mt Isa.  We stayed here about four years ago and really liked it.  You can camp on grass right next to the waters edge, you cant ask for better than that in the middle of the outback.  We also weren’t expecting it to be very crowded given the warm weather we are currently having. 

Clem Walton Park is next to Corella Dam that you can also free camp at.  This is quite popular and there were a few camping here when we drove in.  To get to Clem Walton Park you have to go through a second gate and along a bit of a rocky road and I think this puts a few people off from coming into this part.  Clem Walton is alongside the Corella River and with all the bird and animal life it attracts it can be quite idyllic in its setting.  We were also glad to see there was hardly anyone here.  A bit selfish but we do like it when there are not many people around us.  We were planning a two night stay but stayed for three instead.  Although it was warm with a couple of swims each day we were able to cool off easily.

Clem Walton is one place you should put on your places to visit.  Our second time here was still as impressive as our first and we would definitely make the effort to stay here again.  Mt Isa was our next stop just a short 70 km drive down the Barkly Highway.  We are only here for a couple of nights to get a few supplies before we start our next stage across the gravel.  The only thing we did do in Mt Isa was go for a picnic lunch out to Lake Moondarra.  This is the main water supply for Mt Isa and they have set up picnic areas around the edge.  Its a nice short drive out and well set up.

From Mt Isa we start our trip to Alice Springs.  We have decided to go via the Urandangie Road with our first night a stopover at the Urandangie Hotel.  We have read some good stories about this hotel so all going well we will be having dinner tomorrow night at the pub.  Going this way we will be travelling a bit more gravel so hopefully the road gods are kind to us and the road isn’t to corrugated.  Time will tell.