Day 50: Sat 11 Jul 26 - Dinosaur Creek to Cloncurry

July 11, 2026

Sat 11 Jul 26 - Dinosaur Creek to Cloncurry (279km)

11 Deg overnight to 29 Degrees at Cloncurry, clear with light winds.

It was very quiet last night and we had a very good sleep. After a slow start, we eventually pulled away from a wonderful overnight stay, and first stop was a little over 100km away at Kynuna. My only interest here was the Blue Heeler hotel, but the hotel didn't open till 11:00, and the grumpy old woman inside wasn't having anyone take a look inside any earlier, even though the 'ricketty old shack' was wide open. It didn't look that interesting anyway, so we continued on our way to our next stop McKinlay. The Walkabout Hotel at McKinlay, was a very different story to the Blue Heeler, buzzing with activity, and the lady behind the bar was very friendly. Noel and I had a soft drink on the front verandah, took a few photos then continued on our way to Cloncurry. The road today was very rough and bumpy for 2/3 of the way to McKinlay, then although a little uneven in places, it was very good to Cloncurry. Unfortunately I had to sit behind a road train for 50km from Kynuna to McKinlay - he was towing 4 trailers and they were swinging around wildly across the road. I was more than happy to cruise along at 85km/h and not take any chances. There were a lot of road trains travelling in both directions today, but none caused any concern. We arrived at Cloncurry, and had intended to free camp, but decided to stop in at the Discovery Park Caravan Park on the way into town because it was so hot. After setting up on a nice shady site, we had a late lunch then I went for a short ride around town. At this point I decided that we would only stay one night, and when I returned, I took the car into town to refuel while Noel did some washing. Tomorrow we will continue towards Mount Isa, stopping in at Corella Dam for a night or two. It's only about 60km away, and 12 km from the abandoned township of Mary Kathleen which we also plan to visit. Never a day goes by without an issue in the van - unfortunately my ESC Anderson Plug disconnected while driving yesterday, and now needs replacing. When we went to cook our dinner in the oven tonight, the oven decided to stop working - I suspect the thermocouple is kapput, just like the electric hotplate element. Both will probably have to wait until we return home for repair.