Savannah Way to Cairns

So we wanted to go to the east to Cairns. There were 2 options for us: the well-developed but otherwise visually boring highway or the gravel road highway that runs further north with varied landscapes. We discussed for a long time and then decided on the boring but safe highway. We had no idea about the road conditions on the adventure route, whether there would be gas stations, and whether our old tank would even survive it, because almost 2,000 km on a gravel road with bumps and potholes is really a extreme load for the suspension. Then we took off and the exit for the Savannah Way came. A few kilometers later I started to sulk a bit, because actually we came for the adventure... so the discussion started again! Then it turned out that there was a Hell's Gate Roadhouse on the adventure route. I really wanted to see that too! At some point Andi said: ok, forget it, let's go on an adventure. We're well insured :D! I was then very excited, turned around and off we went! 

For the first few hundred kilometers, the road was still paved with a narrow strip in the middle and quite a few cars and even road trains were coming towards us. The next morning after our first overnight stay, the road turned into a gravel road. But it was still pretty easy to drive. The condition then partly deteriorated really badly, so sometimes we could only drive 20 km/h because of the bumps. I wasn't soooo bothered by it, Andi almost freaked out and thought something on the car would break through :D 

Sometimes the road was interrupted by a river and we had to drive through it! Great!!!!

We saw quite a few animals on the way, especially cows, wallabies and kangaroos. Most dead kangaroos were missing their heads. Seems to be a thing for Australians to take a kangaroo head home.

There were also strange running birds standing in the middle of the road and huge eagles. But they never wanted to be photographed. We also saw a boar, but fortunately it wasn't that lively anymore.

In Burketown there was a hot spring and in the evenings a lot of wallabies gathered there because the grass was so beautifully green.

Approximately 300 km before Cairns, we visited the Undara Volcanic Park and saw the largest lava tube system in the world. And after that, the Atherton Tablelands became suddenly green and hilly. It looked like home (except for the palm trees).

It took us about 1 week for the Savannah Way and I bet this post wouldn't have been so long if we had just taken the boring highway!!