Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park a tropical oasis in the QLD Gulf

Boodjamulla National Park (formally known as Lawn Hill) is definitely a surprising contrast to the vast expanses of flat dry plains that surrounds it.  Its bright emerald green waters and banks lined with lush pandanus and Livistonia Palms makes it a real oasis in the central gulf region of the QLD outback!

The National Park (340km west of Mt Isa) lies on ancient sandstone of the Constance range.  The Lawn Hill Gorge has been carved out by the Lawn Hill Creek that's fed by other freshwater springs from the the limestone plateau in the west.  To get there we turned off the Savannah Way just after Doomadgee or around 80kms SW of Burketown. The drive takes you along the Bowthorn and Lawn Hill Station tracks.   We were glad we had the 4WD GPS as the tracks were not well signposted.  A couple of creek crossings were interesting on the way in too!
   Tex and Julie coming through...rather than driving across the creek we had to drive along it

Adels Grove campground is the first campsite you come to about 10kms outside of the National Park.  It is quite a large campground on the Lawn Hill Creek, with shady sites, and a restaurant.  We chose to stay in the National Park campground instead also on the creek but closer to where all the walks start from.  Unfortunately the description of 'Oasis' doesn't extend to the campground.  We were unimpressed by the lack of vegetation within the campground and the odd shapes of the sites. This park would get very hot. Actually a fire forced the evacuation of the campsite  3 weeks after we were there!

After a setting up camp in the heat we were keen for a swim, so headed off on the 3.8km return Indarri Falls walk.  The picture at the top of this post is looking down at the falls from the top of the hill.  It really did have that wow factor to it when you reached the top and saw the green water and falls below.  Needless to say we spent the afternoon there.

Tufa formations are a unique result of the lime rich waters of this area.  When the water evaporates as it flows over rocks or vegetation it deposits lime minerals that build up over time to form these stalactite formations made of high levels of calcium carbonate.  The water was a beautiful temperature and the kids loved the natural spa and getting pushed through the narrow gap by the strong surge of water dropping off the ledge.

Scott and Tex got up nice and early one morning and set off on the 4km Constance Range walk.  They were rewarded with these spectacular panoramic views of the sunrise.

A few minutes walk from the campsite takes you down to the creek.  A gold coin donation towards the Royal Flying Doctors gets you a tube to float around on in the water.  We spent hours doing the round trip, carrying the tubes upstream around 100m then floating back down with the gentle current.

We were surprised to discover that 50km from the Lawn Hill National Park is the world heritage listed Riversleigh Fossil site

Apparently this is  one of only a couple of environments on the planet that has preserved fossils that date back to 25 million years ago!  What we liked about it was that you get to see the fossil remains in their natural environment, rather than glass cabinets in an air conditioned museum.  We followed the little sign posted walking track around the hill (in the left picture above) and saw the fossils preserved in the limestone outcrops.  The kids were amazed by the number of different species that once inhabited our country.  Carnivorous kangaroos, the big bird (kind of like an over sized emu), marsupial lions, enormous crocodiles, bats, platypus and huge pythons. Of course you don't get to see the whole fossil but  most have the picture of what the animal looked like, so that's where the imagination sets in.  We even deviated a little and the kids discovered some fossils of their own.

As the Gregory River was close by we thought we'd take a look and have our picnic lunch there.   

                                   Scott must have missed the warning sign..... as he decided to have a bit of fun!

While we were eating lunch we noticed a midden where people had obviously been eating mussels.  Scott had a dig around in the sand and found one.  We ended up filling a container and had to drag the kids away in the end.  Unfortunately no matter how we cooked them they tasted awful...even drenched in garlic!

                       On the way back to camp we popped into Adels Grove Campground for a swim.

There is plenty of wildlife in this area.  We saw an olive python, which fell out of a tree near us.  One man nearly stepped on a huge python in the water where we were swimming. That gave me the creeps.  We watched lots of the cute little arm waving lizards, referred to as "the Ta Ta" lizard. Their unusual way of getting around made us laugh, as they burst into a short sprint, only to stop dead and wave one arm! The creek is home to plenty of freshwater fish (no fishing allowed) and turtles.  We also spotted a couple of freshwater crocodiles while canoeing.

Its definitely worth hiring canoes and doing the 6km return paddle.  Its just so beautiful, with the red walls, lush green vegetation and the gorgeous emerald water.  When you get to Indarri Falls, you can either turn around and drift back with the current or continue on to the upper level of the gorge. We did keep going which means dragging the heavy canoes out of the water and along the track for about 25m. 

Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National park is a bit of a hidden treasure in the QLD outback and definitely worth a visit.  Although obviously the secrets out as you have to book well ahead to get a spot in the campgrounds here.

Bye for now.....until the next post from the coastal town of Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria....