Mallacoota, Victoria

Every time we travel south along the coast and stay at Genoa Rest Area, we only a stay a night - for various reasons - but this time we decided to stay the 72 hours allowed, and head to Mallacoota. The Coastline of the Croajingolong National Park is classed as a true wilderness coastline, and the Croajingolong National Park surrounds Mallacoota. Located on the Genoa and Wallagaraugh Rivers, with approximately 320 km of coastline around beautiful lakes, rocky coastline and secret beaches, it is certainly beautiful.

Post 2019/20 horrific bush fires, the trees are looking both eerie and magical on the way to Mallacoota. 

First impressions were Mallacoota is one large caravan park. It is actually about four or five caravan parks. There are a number of cafes -all seem to close at or before 2pm. There are two supermarkets - Foodworks and IGA, a pub and a few service establishments. But the coast is absolutely beautiful.

Home to the Bidwal people, first Europeans came in the 1830's when whalers Ben Boy and the Imlay Brothers established Mallacoota Inlet as their major whaling station south of Two Fold Bay.

One of the first pastoralists was Captain John Stevenson, a whaler who was given a grazing licence in 1841, and he set up his residence at what is now known as Captain Stevenson's Point. 

Nearby is a memorial dedicated to poet and friend of Henry Lawson, Edwin James Brady. He established a writers camp at Captain Stevenson's Point in 1909.

The first town in the area was Lakeview, on the eastern section of the river. The first dwelling was built in 1882 by John Augustus Dorron. He built a home and a hotel from the local timbers, and the hotel became popular with tourists, particularly during the gold rush of the 1890's. The only way into the town was by sea until the 1890's when people would horse ride from Gipsy Point, the closest main trading centre. The hotel became the social centre of the area, and included a post office. Lakeview had a small gold rush in the 1890's with over 50 claims established, but only one  - The Spotted Dog Mine - was successful. There is a pioneer cemetery where the old town use to be, and also an old gold mine.

A site for a town was reserved at the western entrance of the bay in 1897, and in 1909 a national park was set aside. It wasn't until 1918 that a township was surveyed, I assume on land from Captain Stevenson's lease. Hotels and guesthouses were established by the 1920's and tourists continued to come to the area. Originally known as West Mallacoota, Mallacoota is a Krauaetunglung Aboriginal word meaning 'the place of many waters' as the lake and the ocean provided plentiful food. In 1921 a road was built from Gipsy Point to Mallacoota and more shops and businesses were developed.

The airport was built in the 1940's by the Royal Australian Air Force. We visited an old WW2 bunker located next to the airfield.

There were two bunkers established during the war as part of a chain of bases were used for surveillance of the south eastern waters and Bass Strait. One of the bunkers has been restored by the local RSL and historical society. 

It is only open Tuesday and Sunday mornings. There are information boards around the bunker that tell of the history of not only the bunker, but also Mallacoota.

We had a look at many beaches along the coast south of Mallacoota and had a picnic lunch at Quarry Beach.

One first notices the wavy rock layers cut into the hill at the car park, like ribbons of colour, believed to be formed about 500 millions years ago.

PetalliTravellers: The Big Lap - Week 3

Week three started in Julia Creek. The camp in Julia Creek is a free RV camp on the river and is hosted by happy campers. We were surprised to see only three vans there – another place that we have always found full.I guess with Covid less people are now travelling. We haven’t seen many caravans on the road – or road kill or live native animals either.

Julia Creek was very hot, very hot – reaching 37 degrees C with little breeze. The camp hosts were great, they had us check in with the Covid app, and we had the best happy hour(s) we have had for a while. Also the most beautiful sunsets.

We had planned 3-4 days here but after showing Jonnie around town:- the Mosaic chair, way too hot to sit on.

 

the wonderful Light Brigade War Memorial;

and visiting the WW2 communication bunkers,

and although there was more to show Jonnie, we decided to head off after only two nights as it was so hot at night.Our first stop was at Cloncurry to buy bread for lunch and then we went up to the Cloncurry Museum and Information Centre for lunch. We wanted to show Jonnie the old buildings that had been moved from Mary Kathleen mining town – our next stop. We have been to Mary Kathleen before, but we have never stayed over, nor have we gone to the old uranium mine to see the beautiful blue water.This time we camped in the town centre (free camp) and unhitched and drove down to the mine site. This is an open cut mine that now has a pool of water at the bottom. The road out was very rough and confusing, and once we got to the mine it was a 10 minute walk to the mine view. The water was not as blue as any of the photos we have seen, and the road was very rough, but we have done it now.

The area was first settled in the 1860's and it wasn't until 1954 that Clem Walton and Norm McConachy found a significant amount of uranium, that the town was formed. The mining rights were called Mary Kathleen Uranium Ltd, after McConachy's late wife Mary Kathleen. The company produced Uranium-oxide for the United Kingdon Atomic Energy Authority. The town, the mine, Corella Dam and the treatment centre were all completed between 1956-58. The rights to mine were sold to Rio Tinto and the town grew quickly. The mine closed in 1963, and people started to move out. It re-opened in 1974 when new contracts were obtained. It closed for the second time at the end of 1982, and the last inhabitants left in 1984. The entire town was dismantled and sent to Cloncurry and Mount Isa. 

The town of Mary Kathleen was located 6 kms from the mine site and had all the amenities: post office, school, shops, canteen, pub, and even a cinema. Up the road across the river were sporting facilities and a officers club.Mary Kathleen is well worth a visit. Take a photo of the informative notice boards to help as you walk around the foundations of what was there. 

It was a short drive to Mount Isa and we decided to stay in a caravan park with power and a pool. The park was nice, big sites and free laundry and a sort of restaurant. The park also caters for the miners so the restaurant has a different 3 course dinner each night for a set price. Cost per night was $30, and we thought that was good value, especially being on power and able to use the air-conditioner and a pool.

The original inhabitants of Mount Isa were the Kalkatungu peoples. The area was famous for stone axes that the local peoples made. In 1923 John Campbell Miles picked up some rocks and knew because of their weight they were something important. The rocks turned out to be 78% lead-silver. He had discovered the world's richest zinc-lead seams. He named his mining rights land Mount Isa, and the Mount Isa Mines Ltd was established in 1924. It was sold to Glencore in 2013. Today Mount Isa Mines has 4 mine sites, a mixture of open cut and underground mines.

We went to the Outback at Isa Information Centre, and were a little disappointed. The two staff were uninterested in helping anyone and we ended up walking away from the info desk. I remember our first visit here and how helpful the staff were. Shame it was not this time.

Jonnie wanted to go to the Underground Hospital so we did and it was really informative. We learnt so much about the threat of Japanese invasion as far inland as Mount Isa, and the reason for the underground hospital.

The hospital was build by civilians and off duty miners in a matter of weeks. It consists of three parallel tunnels connected by a long tunnel. 

We drove out to the beautiful Lake Moondarra, 19 kms from Mount Isa and about 10km from our caravan park for a picnic lunch. This an artificial recreation lake on the Leichhardt River established in 1956. The Aboriginal name means 'plenty of rain and thunder'.

We stocked up on groceries again and we were off for our last stop in Queensland – Camoonweal on the NT/Qld border.

We stopped at the free camp just north west of Mt Isa where we stayed at last time we were here. We wanted to show Jonnie some of the history of Australia during WWII.

At Camooweal Billabongs, another spot we have stayed in before, we camped right beside the second billabong. This free camp is about 10kms from the main highway and situated on the Georgina River, it is peaceful and full of birdlife.

Peter and Jonnie went to look for Camooweal Caves, but couldn’t find them.Camooweal is technically a suburb of Mount Isa,even though it is 189 kms away.

 

Just so peaceful here.

 

Remembering WW2 and Home of the Drovers Camp

Leaving Mt Isa about 5pm, late I know, and headed along the Barkley Highway to the WWII Memorial Site. This site is situated on the road built in 1941 to replace the track from Mt Isa to Tennant Creek. In 1940 the war moved to the Pacific and this road was part of the defense of the northern Australia. This site was established in 1995, and remembers the 50^th Anniversary of the end of World War II.

The next town was Camoonweal. It is the last town before the Northern Territory border. There were so many caravans around. There are two petrol stations, a no-name one just as you enter town from the east @175.9/l and a Puma on the west side of town @177.9/l. A Post Office which also houses the grocery shop, we brought bread @$5. A pub which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner – prices were reasonable. Peter said coffee was ok @$5.50. Bore water is available at a park on the east side of town and public toilets and a dump point are also on the east side. It was interesting to see “No school – no shop” sign in the grocery shop. I'm not sure how the shop would know? When we had a drive around on Tuesday – a school day – we saw only a few kids in the playground, yet saw more kids walking the streets and playing in their yards. Interesting.

Camooweal was originally inhabited by the Indjilandji Indigenous Australians and the name is from surveyor G.T. Weale, who some believe was the first person to bring camels into the area. The first lease in the area was in 1865, when John Sutherland settled and tried to run stock. The problem of dingoes, wedge-tailed eagles, and lack of water lead to many abandoning their leases. The town was established in 1884 and very slowly grew until a town bore was drilled in 1897. The Barkly Highway was the main road from the Northern Territory and was the defence route for WWII. This road was built by the army and carried over 1000 vehicles a day during that period. There are two caravan parks and three free camps along the Georgia River. We chose the second billabong and decided to spend two nights before heading to the Territory.

There was so much bird life and it was so quiet. We had a fire the first afternoon – bring your own wood – it was sad to see others before us had been cutting down young trees.

We met up with Jenny and Phil who we met at Longreach, and again at Long Waterhole. We had happy hour with them on the second afternoon. It rained a lot in town, only about 4 km away, yet we had no rain here at the billabong. After two wonderful nights, we headed for the border, 15km away, and the Northern Territory.