Roadtrippers - Graham and Shirley Lynn take a trip from Cairns to Broome and Back

remembered for the sense of isolation felt in being there.

Early morning we headed for Kajabbi. Road signs along the stretch of road from Lake Julius through to Kajabbi were the worst for the whole trip. It wouldn’t have been hard to take a wrong turn in that neck of the woods. We took the second access road into Kajabbi, had a quick drive around and found it to be a relatively quiet place with not much happening. While there had been a craft store advertised (may have been the old railway station) – it was not open. Some signage indicated some mining interests in the place.

After Kajabbi we set our sights on getting to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse, we fuelled up and pulled over for lunch with the biggest challenge being able to find a shady tree. We passed through Gregory Downs again and were on our way to Burketown.

Burketown was an isolated town along the Savannah Way located on the Gulf of Carpentaria. A small township with a school, a pub and other local services it was quiet when we passed through. The local museum was not open and so we pushed on to Leichardt Falls where we planned to free camp for the night.

When we arrived at Leichardt Falls about 70 km south of Burketown there were a number of campers already there for the night. With a nice view of the falls we positioned our vehicle for the best aspect. Across the river cockatoos filled the trees. The realisation was setting in that we were on the homeward leg and travelling again along the Savannah Way. We were surprised to find that the road from Burketown to Normanton was dirt and not bitumen. Headed towards Normanton we captured glimpses of many eagles with their magnificent stature. We also came across brolgas, a plain turkey and some wallabies.

Arriving in Normanton we went to the information centre and looked through historical information there about Normanton. I did find mention of my grandmother as a teacher at the Normanton State School. A comment was made there by a past student of hers. Normanton provided information about a town walk and we checked out a number of the items featured on the walk.

We easily found Val and Keith’s place in close proximity to the caravan park.

We enjoyed catching up with them and Lesley and John who were staying there as well. Val introduced us to her Uncle Jack who lived next door. Jack was a Smerdon. He was a nephew of Bessie Smerdon who was married to my great Uncle Jack Shardlow. I had particularly been looking forward to catching up with Val to see what family connections I could put into perspective. Val is a great niece to Bessie Smerdon and I am also a great niece to Bessie Smerdon so we found that we have a common relative. Val shared with me some of the paperwork that she had on the family re: details of brothers and sisters of Bessie etc. and we also went to visit Stella who was at the time in hospital.

The visit was helpful to clarify the Smerdon connection to our family. This information I have been able to pass on to Dad who was Bessie’s nephew.