Boulia to Cloncurry Map
330klm today on Day 12 will find us leaving Boulia and passing through Dajarra, Duchess and Kuridala on our way to Cloncurry. The road is almost all dirt except for the last 60klm, and there are some interesting sites along the way.
Dajarra
Our first stop is 149klm away in the small town of Dajarra. It turns out that this tiny town was once the biggest Cattle depot where drovers would bring cattle from as far away as WA, to be put on a train out of Dajarra. History tells us that this little town once moved more cattle than Texas, making Dajarra the biggest Cattle movers in the world. Now with a population of 179 locals, the town prides itself as one of the few to have a school that teaches an Aboriginal language to its students as well as classes on how to make a boomerang. Now I’m SURE you have noticed our legless friend in the picture above. That is the famous DAJARRA DEATH ADDER. This cute unassuming guy doesn’t hunt, he kind of waits to ambush his prey. Located everywhere in this area of Australia, he’s proud to hold the title of ONE OF THE MOST VENOMOUSE snakes in THE WORLD. So camping here might not be a good idea, and why would we? We have Duchess to get to next.
Duchess
Heading into Duchess I can’t seem to locate any accurate pictures of road condition, but I can confirm using Google maps that it is a dirt road. However some time outside of Duchess the dirt becomes bitumen however I’m not sure where it starts… BUT I can tell you that the last 60klm between Duchess and Cloncurry is bitumen road as pictured in the last photo above.
Kuridala
Not much is left of this little stop called Kuridala. However very close by is the cemetery and it’s an interesting stop. Some of the dates on these old headstones go back more than 130 years back. But equally interesting is a number of abandoned mines scatted all over the place. Amethyst crystals can still be found by visitors and campers in vein deposits about 8km from the ruins of Kuridala town site and smelter. The one and only “Land Owner” has given all tourists, campers and amateur fossicker “General Permission” according to Exploreoz.com. So.. maybe its worth stopping and taking some crystal home to sell to some smelly dirty hairy armpit hippies who use the crystals for mystical energy or some bullshit.
Chinamans Creek
As always there is no rush to get to our destination, but if we get to Cloncurry, it might be worth camping here at Chinamans Creek. It's located on the south side of Cloncurry as we ride in. From what I see I'm don't think camping is allowed, but who's going to turn away a couple of tired bike riders who have served their nation proudly in both World Wars ( OK I'm over doing it I know )..
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