Day Trip To Lake Julius.

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We are currently camping at the old townsite of Mary Kathleen. Graeme my friend wanted to go on a trip to lake Julius to check it out. I personally don't need to be asked twice as I love exploring.

As we left Mary Kathleen the turn off about 20klms up the road, heading towards My Isa, a brown sign tells you to turn right and you drive over a grid.


The first section of the road is bitumen, then becomes gravel road in good condition as it was being graded at the time of our travel, which leads in about 70 klms North before a turn off to the left which leads into the dam.




The gravel road leads passed many rock mountains crossing the Leichhardt River which is currently dry as a bone. Traveling north we found signs along the way.


Up the road we came to the turn off to the dam, heading west to the dam 14klms up the gravel road.


The gravel road starts, climbing through the rock mountains towards the dam. The gravel road now bitumen heading into the entrance of the dam. Some building's lining the entrance looks like maintenance workers for the dam.



Uphill we are going to the lookout, just to find out, it has been locked out to visitors. So we walked around the side of this house building to get some great pictures of the dam wall. It is like an oasis in the middle of a desert.


The spillway has multiple arch concrete structures and the spillway height being 18.3 metres about 60 feet from the bottom floor of the dam. The current water level 88.29%, Sunwater runs the dam. 

Joh, Bjelke-Petersen, open the dam in October, 8th,1978, the full capacity of 127,000 mega litres, which helps supply water to Mt Isa and surrounding areas. The surface area of the dam takes in 1255 hectares, the depth is 8.9 metres. This dam is also a backup water supply to Lake Moondarra which supplies water to the town of My Isa.


We drove down the road from the lookout heading towards the boat ramp beautiful views on the road down hill.


Heading down to the boat ramp there is a picnic area, public toilets, under cover tables with BBQs all behind a guard rail, not that spacious, but no camping . Great Vista views of the mountains and the lake water. You can boat, fish, water ski and canoe in the lake.

"According to the Sunwater website".

Fishing 


Fish present at Lake Julius include Barramundi, Saratoga, Sooty Grunter, Archerfish, Alligator Gar (Long Tom), Sleepy Cod, Striped Sleepy Cod and Fork-Tailed Catfish. Stocked fish include Barramundi and Northern Saratoga. Sooty Grunter have a self-sustaining population.

This is a very tranquil and peaceful place by the water, along drive out but amazing rocky outcrops along the way. On the way back we thought we would go through the town of Kajambi, which is a small aboriginal community.
 Many hilltops along this road, in the history of this area it is said a great battle on-top of battle mountain a scene of the Kalkadoon people’s last stand against settlers and native police in 1884. The terrain very rough which meant they kept their independence and community alot longer than most other aboriginal communities, but they to also fell before the might of European Snyder weapons was eventually too powerful.


This is a very small town, in a rough terrain area mountains all around, on the way to the Cloncurry-Normaton Road, We just did a big loop around, back through Cloncurry and back to Mary Kathleen.

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