Northern Queensland - adventures by the dozen!

Studying geology at Uni, we assumed that our careers would be like one long field trip, maybe with slightly less alcohol consumption so as to survive past thirty. The reality is that most of us end up working in a mine, making sure that the always-hungry processing plant has a steady diet of coal or metal ore. But sometimes we get lucky, and get to go exploring for new deposits. I just spent three months in northern Queensland, and had the sort of adventures geologists dream of.

Because our field area was a couple of hours from the nearest town, we stayed on a cattle station. That meant we had to be self sufficient, and we learned a lot about farming in what is, for nine months of the year, a semi-arid grassland. It's a hard land to make a living off.

Sunrise on the plateau

All quiet except for the Kookaburras

 Sundown from our camp

A farm cat hunting for mice 

A helicopter and a swag. All a bloke needs in the Bush.

Because our field area was so remote, the drill crews flew straight to site.

An abandoned Diamond T truck. The front half, anyway! 

Flathead Ford 

Abandoned farmhouse 

Queensland's a huge state. When I was working in Moranbah, I visited a lot of the National Parks and towns in the centre of the state. We were based a lot further north this time, so I decided to spend my week-long breaks seeing the north of the state.

Trip 1: Cobbold Gorge, Karumba, Blackbraes NP

Copperfield Gorge, Einasleigh

 Termite mounds, Forsayth

Cobbold Gorge - cut through Cretaceous sandstone

Fresh-water crocodile.

The Gulf of Carpentaria

 Gulflander - a tourist train running between Normanton and Croydon

Moonrise over Blackbraes NP

Mist from the lake at Blackbraes.