Julia Creek, Qld

Road to Julia Creek

After leaving the Mary Kathleen town site where we stayed for a couple of nights, we headed off to Julia Creek.  Our first stop was Cloncurry for fuel and replace a gas bottle.  We drove out to Chinamans Dam, not far out to see what it was like as the last time we were there in 2013 it was almost dry.

Road to Cloncurry

Chinamans Dam, Cloncurry

Chinamans Dam, Cloncurry

We were pleasantly surprised to see the dam looking much fuller than in 2013.  It was a lovely place to visit and after so much dry countryside it was great to see the water which is the water supply for the town.  There are some areas where you could have a picnic so it is a popular spot.

Julie Creek

Julia Creek main street

 We were hoping to get into the caravan park in Julia Creek but it was booked out and we were told we could camp in a Free Camping area just out of town so we headed there.  It was a huge area  but very full as well but we had no choice so we registered with the volunteers at the entrance, and found a spot to set up.  It was very dry and not many sites with  trees for shade, but we made the most of it and by later in the afternoon the whole area was pretty full. We decided to book into the caravan park for the next few nights or whenever we could so rang the caravan park who told us to arrive at 10 am and we would have to wait and see what was available.

Julia Creek free camping area - very dry

Next morning we arrived at the caravan park at 10 am and waited for a while  before we were allocated a site.  We quickly got organised and I got some washing done in the laundry and hung on the line.  We had a chat to our neighbours who were full-time caravanners and sat outside for lunch.
I brought the washing in as it dried very quickly and then we went into town, had a look around and a milkshake at a nice little cafe.  There was a sign to visit the Opera House so we just had to see what it was.  Its only connection to The Opera House in Sydney was the opening date, but it was a very interesting little museum.

Not quite the Sydney Opera House

  

There isn't a lot to do in Julia Creek so when we were told about a BBQ tea put on by the local Pony Club for $15 pp as a fundraiser for the flood in 2019 we were more than happy to attend and it was nice to not have to think about cooking for a night.   It was a great night with some music from a local group and good food and a chance to meet a few campers as well as raising money for the locals.

In  March  2019 Julia Creek received 233 millimetres of rain in 24 hours.

A greast night by the camp fire

Next morning we packed up and set off again, and headed for Richmond, another town we had not been to on our previous trip.  About 50km from ichmond we had to slow down for about 1700 head of  cattle being driven along the road.  I really love seeing the cattle as we slowly pass but this time there were trucks coming towards us and behind us so it was a slow few kms.  There were a few drovers on horseback keeping watch on everything.