Across the Gulf to the East Coast

More long drives followed after we left Lawn Hill. We had a stop at Burke and Wills Roadhouse (in the middle of nowhere) where we watched a muster and Isla finally got the cowboy hat she had been wanting. We stopped at Normanton, at the bottom of the Gulf, for a night and saw a model of Krys, the largest crocodile ever caught (nearly 6 meters long!!!!!!!!). It was more like a dinosaur than a croc really.

Next stop in the middle of nowhere was Mt Surprise, a place that is really only noted for its gem fossicking. We felt that we should have the whole Mt Surprise experience, so went along and did some fossicking. The kids loved using their pans to find a little collection of topaz, quartz and aquamarine.

Photos below are-
1: cows crossing are a regular feature of outback roads
2: Krys the monster crocodile in Normanton
3-6: learning to use the pans and fossicking for gems at Mt Surprise