I was greeted at the top of the hill by a series of cairns, built by past visitors. They have almost been as industrious as the termites.

Adels Grove was far below, under the trees. There was also an airstrip that you can just glimpse.

Airstrips are the lifelines of the outback, especially in an emergency. Speaking of emergencies, the Royal Flying Doctor Service are the heroes of the outback, and the focus of a lot of fundraising. During our stay the local mine invited Ernie Dingo (of Getaway and other things) to do a fundraising show for the service. I was glad to see that it was well attended by locals and visitors alike, and that the audience made a significant donation.

The creek might have been a peaceful place at Adels in the dry, however downstream, I saw plenty of evidence of recent destruction in the wet. The rains were so persistent that it brought the water level up to five metres or more above dry season levels.

It meant that banks were severely eroded to expose tree roots, and twenty metre trees seemed like play things, many being uprooted and swept away downstream.

At Adels Grove, Lawn Hill Creek flowed both swiftly, along the man made channels…

And more placidly along its wider stretches.

Either way, it made for a delightful twlight stroll.

Our home away from home while in the field was at Adels Grove, about 40km north east from Riversleigh. It’s a sizeable accommodation complex by Lawn Hill Creek, with camp sites, permanent tents and motel rooms. To take advantage of the good, dry season weather, they have a large deck, where meals and entertainment are held.

The property itself was first established by Frenchman Albert de Lestrange in 1920 (‘Adels’ are his initials). He dreamed of planting a botanical garden in the Savannah, and by the late 1930’s had planted over 1000 different varieties of both exotic and native plants. Unfortunately, the locals were very suspicious of Albert, and in the early 1950’s a fire destroyed his dwelling and much of the property (some say it was deliberately lit). Albert was forced away to Charters Towers, where he lived in a nursing home until his death in 1959. Fortunately, some of his plants survived him, and the beautiful, shady grove is his legacy.