Barre's trip to the outback

Andre and Barre set out for a two-week collecting trip through the outback of northern Australia in seach of waterlilies as part of an on-going project. The trip took us from Daintree, Qld. on the northeast coast to central Australia as far west as Darwin, Northern Territory and Kakadu National Park. We travelled in Andre's 19 year old Suburu. We headed to Normanton and Burketown to previously collected sites. We had only limited success there due to the floods that had scoured out waterways. We then headed south to Camooweel, Qld via Gregory Downs. We were told that the Gregory Downs road was open but not recommended for cars. We decided to go that way anyway. The above empty road train had stopped for coffee at Gregory Downs. This is the typical length of road trains on rural roads of western Queensland and Northern Territory. The maximum length allowed is 155 meters. Thankfully we did not meet any road trains on the Gregory Downs/Camooweel Road. Off we went down the dirt/rock track, over an extremely rough road. About half way down the road, the car started to sway. We stopped and found that we had two back flat tires. Now the"fun" began. We had only one spare. We were approximately 60 km from any help. We changed the one tire and started limping down the road. Luck was with us. About a km. down the road was a family that had stopped for a toilet break. We asked if they had a compressor with them. They did and helped pump up the tires. They sold us the small compressor and we started off again, stopping twice to change tires. We arrived at Camooweel on Easter Sunday and were lucky enough to get help and buy two tubes for the tires. They had numerous punctures from the rocks.

We stopped to collect waterlilies at the Georgina River in Camoweel and then on to the Northern Territory for the next stop at the James River (above). This is one of the better sites for Nymphaea georginae, one of the species Surrey Jacobs and I named. We found two new sites near the James River. Then we were off down the Highway at 130 km/hr (75 mph). This is the speed limit in the Northern Territory. About 100 kms. from Camooweel, the back right tire blew again. Now all we could hope is that we could make it to civilization to get a new tire.

That night we stopped at Barkly Homestead (above). We arrived around 7:00 pm. We had to change our clock back 1/2 hour to Northern Territory time. This is the only stop from Camooweel to Three Way (jct. of Stuart Highway) just north of Tennent Creek. We inquired at Barkly if they repaired tires. They did not, so in the morning it was off to Tennent Creek. The only problem was it was Anzac Day (Fed. Holiday) and everything was closed. The tire store had a number in case of emergency, so we got help and a new tire for an additional $50. It was then north on the Stuart Highway toward Darwin.

We ended up spending the night at a very nice motel and caravan park in the Town of Mataranka. This is the town where Elsey Station is located. This was made famous as the Cattle Station where the book and movie "We of the Never Never" was written about. That morning there must have been at least 50 wallabies (above) hopping around the pasture.

We then headed off on a side trip to Roper Bar (above) to hopefully relocate some plants seen on previous trips along the road. We did not have any luck. The road is mainly a one-laned paved road that you had to get off on the shoulder when another vehicle approached. The last 30 km. was dirt. On the way back we were pulled over by an unmarked vehicle with flashing blue and red lights, then a second vehicle joined us. We had no idea what was up. They were dressed in tee shirts that said Everlast, USA. This was really strange. They finally identified themselves as drug enforcment officers. They gave Andre a breathalizer test, and took our names. We guessed they were in search of people supplying drugs to the Aboriginal Settlements along the road and at Roper Bar. Our old car was out of place on the road, so we must have be suspicous.

We got back onto the Stuart Highway and headed north to the City of Darwin. We stayed there two nights. We had hoped that Dave Wilson, a friend and plant collector, would be available to join us. Unfortunately, he was busy. We did get out to some known and other new sites in the area. We stopped at Fogg Dam (above), an abandoned rice project to do some collecting. This is now basically a wildlife refuge for many bird species such as the egrets and spoonbills (above). It is also a region with a heavy concentration of crocodiles and water pythons. We saw neither.

The next day we headed east to Kakadu National Park. This is a large park that has extensive wetlands, much dry scrub and a large escarpment known for its large waterfalls. I had to check into the administative offices to get my final collecting permit. We were able to get assistance from the Jim Jim Ranger Station Rangers. They provided boats and accompanied us on our collecting. Kakadu National Park is known for one of the highest concentrations of waterlilies and crocodiles in Australia. We felt particularly safe as one of the rangers had a rifle with them at all times and stood guard as we waded in the water. Fortunately no crocs were seen. Two waterlilies were of interest in the park and may eventually be described. We stayed in the Town of Jabiru. This is mainly a tourist town and the home for many from the Ranger Uranium Mining Company. They have a lease for a portion of the Park. The Park is also the filming site for the movie "Crocodile Dundee".

After Kakadu we then back-tracked to Camooweel and then on to Charter's Towers, Qld. We spent the evening at Julia Creek, Qld. along the way. The next morning we stopped for gas along the way and about 5 km further on we had flat-tire, number 4. In the afternoon we arrived at Powlathanga Station west of Charter's Towers. This is the site where Nymphaea jacobsii (in honor of Surrey Jacobs) was described. I presented the Lawrie's (owners) with a puzzle with a picture of Lake Powlathanga and its waterlilies. I was able to collect seed of N. jacobsii. After our night in Charter's Towers we headed off to Toomba Station to stay with Ernest and and Robin Bassingthwaighte. I had stayed at Toomba with Surrey on two previous collecting trips. They also received a puzzle. As always, they were particularly gracious, taking us out to collection sites providing a room and meals for us for two nights. On the way out of Toomba we saw numerous gray kangaroos (above, picture through windshield). We had one more stop, the Town of Greenvale. Here we previously had found two waterlily populations of what may be a new species. We had no luck here, but did find a population further north.

Overall, the trip was a success.We collected 34 different plants at 21 sites. On the way I got to again see many Australian wildlife including: many wallibies, euro, gray, and red kangaroos, a few snakes including the very toxic taipan (crossing the road), two crocdiles (long distance from a bridge) and many birds including: brolgas, (cranes), jabiru storks, bustards, wedge-tailed eagles, sea eagles, hundreds of kites, numerous parrot species including: sulfur-crested kockatoos, yell0w-tailed black cockatoos, correllas, king parrots, and numerous species of rosellas. The total trip covered approximately 110332 km or 6840 miles.

We will be back home in Adams, Monday night, May 16.

a