Another sunny morning
heralding what was to be a 31 degree day, for our trip to Burketown, 110km north
of Gregory. Burketown is the
administrative centre for the Burke Shire.
It is on the Albert River and is 25km from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Burketown is at a point where the savannah
grasslands meet the Gulf wetlands. There
are crocodiles in the Albert River, but we didn’t see any.
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| 010617 On the road to Burketown |
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| 010617 Interesting tall grass at the roadside |
The road to Burketown was
excellent. We crossed the Beames Brooke
on the way. This stream was flowing
strongly and must have a spring fed origin.
The foliage on its banks was luxurious.
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| 010617 The approach to Beames Brooke |
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| 010617 Beames Brooke |
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| 010617 Beames Brooke |
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| 010617 Beames Brooke - the water was flowing strongly |
Burke is a well-established
and modern looking town, with well-kept parks in its centre and a newish
looking pub. It describes itself as the “Barramundi
Capital of Australia”.
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| 010617 The road into Burketown |
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| 010617 The welcome coming from Gregory |
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| 010617 The welcome coming from Normanton |
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| 010617 Burketown on one page |
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| 010617 The Burketown pub |
We drove to the Albert
River 6km from town, where we saw its wharf, a launching ramp and a relatively
new pontoon landing facility.
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| 010617 The Albert River looking downstream |
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| 010617 The Albert River looking upstream |
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| 010617 The ramp and pontoon facility on the Albert River |
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| 010617 Be careful up here |
Nearby were two historic
sites, the remnants of the Old Boiling Down Works, which was originally a meat
processing and rendering plant back in the late 1890’s and the Landsborough
Tree. This tree marked the burial site of some possessions of the captain of a
trading vessel, which were buried after a fight on the site. We photographed faithfully the tree to which
the sign pointed, only to find out later the original tree was struck by
lightning and destroyed.
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010617 What's left of the Boiling Down Works
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| 010617 Explanation of the Boiling Down Works |
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| 010617 The sign |
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| 010617 The tree to which the sign pointed |
Another relic from
the past was the town bore. The
Burketown bore was drilled in 1897.
Sadly the water was suitable only for adult cattle to drink. Over the
decades, vast amounts of artesian water, full of minerals has created an
unusual environment in the flooded surrounding area. The bore was drilled to 703m, produces 707,190
litres per day at a temperature of 68 degrees centigrade. It’s still bubbling away as the following
video and photographs show. The mound is
composed of the various salts remaining after some of the water evaporates.
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| 010617 The town bore - note the wetland in the background |
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| 010617 The story of the town bore |
Our final task today was
to go down to the Gregory River at Gregory and photograph the caravans etc camped on the
river’s banks. Water is laid on, thanks to the Gregory River, but
nothing else.
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| 010617 Camping on the Gregory River |
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| 010617 Camping on the Gregory River |
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| 010617 Camping on the Gregory River |
We watched the State of
Origin game last night at the Gregory Pub along with about another 50
people. Noisy it was then, but today all
was quiet and back to normal.
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010617 Inside the Gregory Pub - tidier than the
night before (State of Origin) |
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| 010617 Inside the Gregory Pub - where we dined |
Tomorrow we leave Gregory
and head south again to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse and then turn northeast
to Normanton.
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