Malanda to Jowalbinna, Queensland
We finally find the outback! After a pleasant forest drive on the Atherton Tablelands above Cairns, we head north on the Peninsula Development Road to Jowalbinna, a remote station south of Laura.
The drive along Danbulla Forest Drive was pleasant. First, we stopped to see The Cathedral Fig, a huge Strangler Fig (Ficus virea). Then it was off through mixed radiata and hoop pine plantations to the Peninsula Development Road, which heads to up Cape York.
Once we drove through Mt Molloy, and turned to the northwest towards Lakefield, it hit Chris and I both: we had finally made it to the Outback. It felt remote. No stations. No barbed wire fences on either side of the road. Lots of dusty cars coming the other way. While the road was still paved, it just felt like the only reason you'd be out here is if you were driving 300km today. It's not country where you just drive from here to there. After we left the fields and pastures of the Tablelands behind, the country turned hilly, and covered with a sparse eucalypt woodland with little undergrowth. Occasionally there was a mountain range or two to liven things up, and sometimes the road went through low saddles and gaps, presenting wide vistas of the surrounding countryside.
We stopped for gas and a lunch break at Lakefield, where it was hot and windy and dry. It's also where we left the pavement. About an hour later, we stopped at Split Rock to see the first Quikan art gallery. Quikan is a style of Aboriginal rock painting, characterized by free hand outline drawings of figures. Some of the figures we saw were humans, others were animals, and still others were spirits. The site appeared to be developed by the Parks Service, though now it looks like it's run by the local Aboriginal corporation, with a $5 per adult honesty box entry and signs asking you not to take any pictures in the galleries.
The Split Rock gallery was moderately interesting; it wasn't a style that I had seen before. But there was no interpretation like at the galleries in Carnarvon Gorge, so we just looked at the signs that said "human" and "echidna" and said "yep, that's a human, and that's an echidna".
I actually found the plants growing around there a bit more interesting. There was something that looked like a quandong, as it had a peach tree look to it. One of the trees was blooming large flat yellow blossoms, with fist-sized green fruit. I liked that one. [Later, I found it was a kapok tree]. And the creek beds were lined with some grevillea. I think I'll call it 'honey grevillea' for now. [It's Grevillea pteridifolia].
Split Rock is just out of Laura; we headed towards Laura, then turned off to the south for the 40km drive to Jowalbinna, where we set up our first campsite just as the sun set--it's been a few months since we setup the tent. We're not bothering cooking much for dinner this trip, so we made sandwiches and sat around the campfire in the warm evening.