Mt Isa to Karumba

So our next stop after Mt Isa was Cloncurry, a leisurely 120 km to the East. Along the way, there’s a noticeable difference in the landscape, which really started just after Camooeal. All the way across the NT from the Stuart Highway until just beyond Camooweal, the landscape is virtually flat. Then it starts to gently undulate until you start the approach to Mt Isa from about 10 km out. That’s when undulations turn into a low mountain range. From Mt Isa to Cloncurry, you have the same undulating landscape.

Cloncurry was the original home for the Australian Aerial Medical Service, which eventually became the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) as we know it today. Cloncurry is home to a fabulous museum - yep another museum - the John Flynn Place. It spreads over 3 floors and covers everything from development of the pedal radio by Traeger, to the types of aircraft used since the inception of the Australian Aeromedical Flying Service through to notable doctors, pilots and nurses employed along the way.

Rev John Flynn

John Flynn was a Presbyterian Minister with the Australian Inland Mission (AIM). The AIM had been established many years earlier in order to provide care for those people living in the remote areas of inland Australia. Flynn, a Minister assigned to a church Mission in the Flinders Ranges in SA saw the need for a more expansive involvement of the church in central and northern Australia, particularly amongst the Aborigines. He commissioned a report on the idea and, following submission of the report to the Presbyterian General Assembly, the concept was enthusiastically endorsed and Flynn made Superintendent of what came to be known as the Australian Inland Mission, the precursor to the Australian Aeromedical Service.

Australian Population Demographic - Circa 1905

People living in these remote areas during these early years were an eclectic collection of hopefuls who had traveled to remote areas following the discovery of precious metals or gemstones such as gold, silver and opals, or sheep or cattle farmers - pastrolists - who were looking for  vast areas of natural pasture on which to run and breed their stock. Earlier explorations by the likes of Eyre, Sturt, Stuart , Leichhardt and many others had opened up the inland regions of Australia, particularly for the pastrolists and so population of the inner parts of Australia began in earnest in the latter parts of the 19th century. 

Early Settlers - From the Strehlow Collection

Land was leased by pastrolists from the Government of the day at a Peppercorn rent, on the understanding that they would stock the land and make improvements within a 5 year period. Failure to do so would render the lease null and void and the leasehold returned to the Government. Many of these early pioneers couldn't make a go of it because of the uncertainty of a sustainable water supply and because of the distances involved in bringing their cattle or sheep to market. The early pioneering Station owner families such as the Duracks and Kidmans managed, through severe drought and severe floods, to hang on and profit handsomely from the good times.

Early Settlement - From the Strehlow Collection

One of the major problems faced by everyone in the remote outback in those early days was timely access to medical care. Many people working in outback locations died as the result of disease or accidents. Many of these deaths  could have been prevented had medical aide been available in a timely manner. The AIM had set up a number of Nursing Hostels at various central locations but these were still insufficient to service many areas in the more remote regions. So doctors still had to travel by horse or horse and dray, a very slow and at times dangerous mode of transport. 

Flynn, in one of his published works regarding the work of the AIM, had outlined the difficulties faced by the missions in providing medical care in the remote areas and it was a young aviation enthusiast, John Clifford Peel who, upon reading Flynn’s scratchings, was to come up with what would eventually become the Australian Aerial Medical Service. In 1917, Peel was a Second Lieut. and graduate of the Australian Army Flying Corp. In a letter to Flynn in November 1917, he outlined in great detail, including costings, the advantages of using aircraft for a “Flying Doctor” service in the outback. This was a revolutionary idea at the time, given that aircraft were only in their early stages of development. Sadly, Peel did not see his idea come to fruition because he disappeared on a sortie during WW1.

DeHavilland DH50

It took a further 11 years and the involvement of the legendary Hudson Fysh (A Founder of Qantas Empire Airlines - QEA) to set up the first chapter of the Australian Aeromedical Flying Services. Although Flynn saw the potential in Peel’s plan, funding was a big issue but through fund raisers over the years, the finances to fund the plan gradually started to take shape. As with many things good and great, something comes about that acts as a catalyst for action to be taken, and that came in the form of a station hand who was badly injured on a cattle station in a remote area. The doctor was contacted by telegraph and advice given to stabilize the injury.  Medical care was administered by station staff and his subsequent condition reported back to the doctor as ok. The prescribing doctor then set off to the station straight away, taking 10 days to get there and then, only to find that the station hand had died the day before his arrival. This  particular event convinced Flynn that something had to be done immediately so he contacted Hudson Fysh and contracted QEA to provide an aircraft and pilot to initiate the inaugural services of the Australian Aeromedical Flying Services. The first service commenced in 1928, with the first operational flight being made to Julia Creek, around 120 km to the East of Cloncurry. The first aircraft used for the purpose was a DeHavilland DH50 which was capable of transporting a pilot, doctor and one patient.

So there it is. People in the outback today can give thanks to the Rev John Flynn for having the courage of conviction to introduce an unproven technology (the aeroplane) into a role for which it had never been designed and at the same time, to be the first in the world to do so. To me though, the sad part about this story is that the contribution made by John Clifford Peel is not universally known or even acknowledged in any of the RFDS literature. He clearly was a visionary and I wonder if events may have progressed along different lines had he been able to return from the war and bring his obvious ingenuity to other aspects of the service. 

Regardless, the current day Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) takes on legend status in the outback. It, together with modern day communications renders those remote areas, a lot less remote today. And there’s another story - the story of the pedal radio and the “school of the air”. But that’s for another day ....

Cattle Mustering Rodeo - Burke & Wills Roadhouse

Our next port of call was Normanton, but on the way along the Matilda Highway, we stopped at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse. To our surprise and delight, right across the road there was a cattle mustering rodeo happening. I say cattle mustering, because there was none of this bucking bull stuff they had at the Daly Waters stop - the stop where I had my full 20 litre fuel can stolen. 

A Lady Cattle Musterer in Full Flight

So, for a couple of hours, we watched some brilliant horsepersonship being exercised in cutting out a Brahman cow from a mob and then guiding it through a marked course - that’s not the same cow each time by the way ... Contestant riders were equally disposed about the gender fence, and from what I saw, the ladies seemed to have the upper hand in their horse handling ability.

Burke & Wills Departing Melbourne 1860

At Normanton, we headed out to the Burke and Wills Camp 119 - their last camp before both passed away. For those who aren’t aware of Australian history (shame on you ....) the Burke and Wills exploration was shambolic at the beginning and tragic at the end. Robert O’Hara Burke originally from Ireland - if that wasn’t already self evident - was the Inspector of Police, Ovens district based in Beechworth northern Victoria. Wills was, by profession, a Surveyor, shy in nature and not long having emigrated from the UK. Neither had any significant bush experience and from the beginning, their foray into the nether regions of Australia were fraught with problems. On the day they departed Melbourne, horses not used to being in the proximity of camels bolted and raced through the packed crowds sending people scattering in every direction, wagons carrying provisions broke down just north of Melbourne and with the mix of nationalities - English, Irish, Indian, German and an American - cultural differences added to their problems along the way. This particular exploratory foray was happening at exactly the same time as John McDouall Stuart was attempting his south to north crossing of the continent. Suffice to say Stuart succeeded on his sixth attempt, coming through the Mangrove trees at Chambers Bay near the current city of Darwin whilst Burke and Wills fell short by about 70 km from reaching the coast west of Normanton. 

Mr Stuarts Track

The difference between the two exploratory groups was that Stuart , a bushman in his own right, was accompanied by other bushmen, all of whom knew how to live off the land. Added to this was Stuart’s uncanny ability to navigate his way through seemingly impassable scrub and bushland, and to find water, either by way of natural springs or river systems. The Stuart Highway is a testament to this man's water-divining abilities; towns such as Stuarts Well, Renner Springs, Wycliffe Well to name but a few. 

The death of Robert O'Hara Burke

To the contrary, Burke and Wills having no real bush experience of note relied on a large contingent of people and supplies, which included the provisioning of supply camps along the route for their return trip. There was no thought of living off the land, it was all “MacDonalds and Burger King” in today's parlance....! Total cost of the Stuart exploration was of the order £2000 - although there were 5 previous attempts - whilst the Burke and Wills foray cost upwards of £15,000, excluding wages. And then of course, there was the ultimate cost of the lives of both Burke and Wills and another of their team, Charley Gray.

Plaque at the last Burke & Wills Camp 119

Visiting the Burke and Wills camp site was, to me as an avid reader of Australian history, almost a religious experience - not that I’m so inclined. To have read about their exploratory work and then to visit their last camp allowed me to put in context the environment in which they worked, lived and finally died. 

Typical Australian Bush - At Camp 119

The thickness of the bush  and the number and density of the Mangrove trees surrounding their camp, even as it is today, would have taken some serious effort to make headway. And given that these poor souls were undernourished and physically drained makes it all the more poignant an experience. Tragically Burke, Wills and Gray, another member of their team, all died of Beri Beri, a condition brought about, in this case, by a toxin contained in a native plant Pardoo, which if incorrectly prepared can be fatal. At the time of their death, they were all out of provisions and relying on what they had learned from the Aborigines concerning the preparation of this plant. Unfortunately, if prepared incorrectly, Pardoo releases a toxin that can be fatal, which in this case it was. 

It's one thing to read about the exploits of these people and to learn about the circumstances under which they died, but to visit a site such as this, look at the environment - which wouldn't be any different to what it was 150 years ago - and then try and picture what it must have been like - it's a very humbling experience. At least it was for me. 

And as a final and sad note on this subject, the best book written about this shambolic and tragic exercise is, in my humble opinion, “Mr Stuart’s Track” written by Sarah Murgatroyd who herself, sadly passed away only weeks after it was published. Spooky stuff.

The story of "Krys" the Croc ...

At the other end of the Fact scale, ie at the BS end, we visited “Krys the Croc” in the main street in Normanton. Pitched at the tourist, this is an artists impression of what was in reality a 28ft 4” (8.63 Metre) crocodile shot in 1957 by Krystina Pawlowski, a crocodile shooter in the days when crocodile hunting was a legal sport in Australia. It is believed to be the largest crocodile ever caught in the world - and the sculpture you see in Normanton is a life-like representation based on dimensions taken at the time. 

"Krys" the Croc - he's the one on the left .....

Adding to the attraction, the jaws are open for the express purpose one suspects, of enabling tourists to play-act being taken by a croc - something which was happening as we walked away. But that was ok - they were only a couple of Grey Nomads ..... So, I guess you could say, this whole thing is a “croc of croc”.

The Norman River leading to the Gulf of Carpenteria

Next stop was Karumba, about 70 km drive north of Normanton and, from what we could see, a fishing Mecca for those down south. The car parks adjacent to the two boat ramps in town were “chockers” with 4X4‘s with boat trailers attached every state and territory, except WA. The Norman River empties into the Gulf of Carpentaria at this point, but a few hundred metres back up the river there's a prawn trawler fleet. Prawn trawlers heading for the prawning grounds out in the Gulf and beyond make their way through the myriad of “Tinnies” filled with expectant fishermen all trying their luck to catch the very popular Barramundi, Bream or King Salmon lurking in these waters. The shoreline is peppered with Mangrove trees, interspersed with the occasional small sandy beach, but swimming would be off the to-do list because Krys the Croc has family in these parts - lots of the buggers in fact. If fishing from the shoreline or even just wandering along it, you’re reminded not to stand too close to the water such that you cast a shadow on the water - this applies anywhere in the north of Australia. Crocs are known to use shadows to line up their prey and then launch themselves on to the shoreline. 

And as another interesting bit of tourist info .... the Karumba Motel Hotel has a drinking bar referred to as the Animal Bar. I am reliably informed that the Red Hot Chilli Peppers wrote a song called Animal Bar - dedicated to this same bar. I'm now so ready with this fact for anyone who's a "Chilli's" fan .....

On the trip up from Normanton we were struck by the number and size of the wetland areas. Birdlife up this way is prolific, with Cranes, Brolgas and the odd Jabiru wading through wetland areas that seem out of place when you consider, not 200 km south-west, there are areas that look to be in drought. In those areas, you can see the rib cage of the cattle and the landscape appears barren and brown. But all the way up to Karumba, wetlands and salt pans abound, and there is water in the creek beds, something you don’t see further south. But then you'd expect that with an annual rainfall of 1500mm, most of which falls within a 2  to 3 month period.

The next main stop will be Cairns. The original plan was to go as far north as Cooktown, but we’ve decided that will be for another time. Our trip down the east coast will be limited to the trip from Cairns to Townsville, and then back inland.