MONDAY 7 JULY     ADELS GROVE

We had the same jobs as yesterday. The place was frantically busy.

A travelling store came in for a couple of hours – contained in a big semi trailer truck. I was too busy to get a chance to go and have a look at the wares, but some of the other staff bought some nice shirts. John bought a belt and a knife.

In the shop, we could not keep up with the demand for frozen bread, and had run out, well ahead of the next supply truck. It was the same with ice creams.

M caught a ride to the National Park with the canoe truck, and went walking.

SUNDAY 6 JULY     ADELS GROVE

I was on reception/shop. John was on the rubbish run and doing the donkey fires.

M spent the day exploring around the place, some of this with John as he went about his duties. In the morning, she helped strip tent bedding and hang out the washing. She did the walk up the hill just beyond the front entrance, to the viewpoint it gave, over the area.

The search was called off, late morning. Yesterday, they’d raked the area of the now deserted camp. This morning, they found fresh “soft” tracks – meaning he was wearing socks or something similar to attempt to blur signs that he was there. So now they knew he was still alive, still in the area, and did not want to be found. It had been discovered that he had a jail record, so he might have been really scared by the search. It had cost thousands of dollars, to date – and boosted our DBB takings!

Another rumour that went around, later, was that he’d been the subject of something like a bone-pointing, at Doom, and was in hiding.

Some aboriginals from Doom came down in the afternoon, to start a search of their own. They just turned up and expected us to find  accommodation for them. So there was a fast clean and turn around of some donga rooms vacated by the official searchers – M helped with that.

Even though we had M here, by the time the after-dinner clean up was done, it was so late and we were so tired that it was pretty well straight to bed, rather than sitting around talking.

SATURDAY 5 JULY     ADELS GROVE

John was on grounds and amenities cleaning. I was on float to wherever needed. In practice, that was mostly helping out in reception/shop.

M went off to the National Park, with H’s tour group, for his day-long guided tour there. She loved it and said she learned so much.

School holidays had made this place so busy. I could not believe how many people just rocked up here without a booking – or without having phoned ahead to check likely availability of space. I also can’t quite believe how surprised/angry most got when they were told we had no vacant camp sites and they would have to go in the overflow area. Some had already tried the National Park and been turned away; others stormed off saying they would go to the Park – then had to slink back later and take what was on offer. They must realize that they are taking such a chance  – they can’t just go down the road from us and the National Park – that it is 90km back to the next camp area?

We were, in my view, allowing too many campers into the informal camping in the Grove – there were some territorial issues developing!

The search was still on. They planned to use an infra-red device on the chopper tonight and fly over the area searching with that.

Someone passing through from Doomadgee told the boss that the guy who’d eventually towed the group’s broken down car back there, was now dead – possibly a heart attack, possibly a shooting. A bit mysterious, apparently, with some talk that payback was involved. It was hard to know what to believe – if anything – about all that.

M quite cheerfully helped with the rather massive washing up after tea – all the DBB accommodation was bulging at the seams, with the extra search people.

FRIDAY 4 JULY     ADELS GROVE

John on canoes,  another day for me on tents. Now that the tourist season was in full swing, we were both flat out busy, all day.

Friend M arrived, with the company tour group. She was actually lucky to get here. I had, ages ago, arranged with H, the tour guide, to bring her up with this group. Turned out that he was allocated the Troopy for this tour, but when he went around the accommodations  to pick up his passengers, found there were two more than he had vouchers for – or that we had beds allocated for! Some glitch in the Isa office. It was a tight fit, but he managed to squeeze M in, along with the supplies of beer and wine we’d arranged for her to bring up for us.

The prevailing alcohol drought had well and truly broken in our part of the camp!

Couldn’t spare any time when she arrived, but pointed her in the direction of our van. She set up her little tent next to the van – she was quite self-sufficient, with only a small backpack.

Boss had said that M could help out around the place a little, and wash dishes, in return for her keep whilst here. That made her visit much easier to manage. M was quite happy about that.

Managed to finish work at a reasonable hour, and we had a great catch up. M had loved the mail plane flight. She saw so much, especially because the plane did not get very high, between stations. She confirmed that the pilot had flown off his normal route and low over us, to show her where she was going.

She’d enjoyed H’s company on the way up here, and his tour spiel.

It was great to have a friend here, to show the place off to. A couple of weeks ago, I’d had a phone call from a former teaching colleague, now Darwin based, to say he was driving through these parts, along the Gulf Track and would like to come and visit, too. An influx of friends!

The Search and Rescue was still on, and still disrupting our routines. The SES people from Burketown had arrived. There were even more emergency vehicles cluttering up the place. Now, they were keeping a watch out for circling kites and eagles that might indicate the location of a body. Yuk. Some had a theory that he might have hitched a ride with a tourist going southwards.

THURSDAY 3 JULY     ADELS GROVE

Before work, I tidied up the van a little, in preparation for M’s visit.

John was on canoes again, I was on tent housekeeping.

A couple of police from Mt Isa arrived in the morning, to follow up on the knife incident. They eventually established that the man with the knife was still missing.

By mid-afternoon, we were the base for a Search and Rescue operation! Personnel came from all over the Gulf region. We had never seen so many National Park Rangers – there were some there, after all!

It proved hard to get exact facts, but they seemed to conclude that the missing man may have been on a de-tox program, rather off his face from that, possibly ill too. Drinking meths may not have helped!

The mustering helicopter from Lawn Hill Station was roped into the search today. A proper search one would come tomorrow, if he was not found overnight. They had some Waanyi trackers and were talking about getting a tracker dog.

Rugged country in which to be lost……

The Search and Rescue operation took over our office area. We were trying to do business as normal at the reception desk and shop counter, with official people stomping in and out, them monopolizing our phone, and to the constant background noise of their radio communications.

The drive and parking area filled up with police and search vehicles, quad bikes, with the chopper coming and going from the dirt area at the front.

The tourists were obviously really curious, and spectating, and we had to try to answer their questions about what was going on. I think we sold a lot of extra icy poles, as campers found an excuse to come and ask what it was all about.

We then had to provide accommodation for some of the searchers, and feed the whole lot. That meant extra revenue, but cook was definitely not happy.

The pilot that flew the Lawn Hill mustering helicopter was really beaten up and bent. Apparently one of his specialities was  using the skids on the chopper to steer beasts the way he wanted them to go. Not the way to longevity!

B and husband had been to Mt Isa for a couple of days. It was a last minute arrangement. They returned today, with all the staff-ordered beer and wine supplies on board. Happy times for staff again.

TUESDAY JULY 1     ADELS GROVE

John was on amenities and rubbish. I was on reception.

The shop was very busy – to the point of bedlam at times. It must be school holidays somewhere! The campground was very busy. Today was hard work.

Staff compound now quite full – 4 vans and a camper trailer

The bosses had a bad night last night. The police phoned about midnight. Seems some aborigines had rung the police, from the public phone here, to report that one of their group had gone berserk at their camp and had been trying to stab them with a knife.

The  police asked the boss to “just step outside and see what’s going on”!

All but two of the group that had been coming here every day, was there, sitting quietly on the front lawn area. They had walked down from their camp and phoned. The crazy one was back at their camp, they thought. He had the d.t.’s it seemed. The beer they’d had, and the meths  they’d bought, was all long gone.

Boss reported all this to the police. They seemed to feel there was no immediate threat to anyone.