King Ash Bay/Borroloola

I’m really eeking out the remainder of these trip posts aren’t I!  Ok, so after a last swim and overnight stop at Mataranka we set our sights for a stopover at King Ash Bay in the Gulf of Carpentaria.  We had the tip to camp at King Ash Bay from the resident family Grey Nomads, Aunty Nerida and Uncle Garth, and it was a great little overnight stop!  King Ash Bay is all about the Barramundi fishing!  The campground is huge and there are lots of lovely shady sites right on the river bank.  BUT, there are saltwater crocodiles everywhere so it is very dangerous for kids to go anywhere near the water’s edge, such a bummer as it would be the perfect spot if you could only swim!

King Ash Bay

The shop at King Ash Bay fishing club where you purchase your camping permit

Our setup on the bank of the MacArthur River, King Ash Bay

King Ash Bay gets very, very heavy overnight fog and dew which doesn’t lift until nearly 9am!! Makes it very difficult to have a dry pack up and get away early!

Delicious fish and chips at ‘Gropers Bar & Beer Garden

We had a pretty slow getaway in the morning from King Ash Bay due to the heavy dew, and then after driving only 40km’s down the road we came upon the little township of Borroloola, and what do you know?  The annual rodeo just happens to be on!  None of us had ever been to a rodeo before so we made the unanimous and very spontaneous decision to stop and check it out.  It was an awesome morning!

There was just so much action and excitement and you could tell that it was a major event for the small community!  Have a look at this short video clip and you will get an idea of some of the atmosphere!

There wasn’t really a side show alley as such but the kids did talk us into letting them buy a couple of show bags to share as we realised that they hadn’t yet experienced that ‘rite of passage’.  They thought their show bags were just awesome!

Kids super happy with their first ever show bags!

And we all thought the bull riding was amazing!!

You will be glad to know that the rider in the photos above managed to walk away unscathed after this – it was so hard to watch but the rodeo clown and other helpers were in there very quickly to distract the bull!

The young kids all got in on the action too, attempting to ride some super bucky little ponies!

We honestly could have stayed and watched all day, but for the fact it was stinking hot and the Savannah Way home to Far North Queensland was calling!  They were playing some very fine music throughout the day too – Zac Brown Band all day long at the Borroloola Rodeo – wahooooo!!