But there remains one corner of the region I have not explored.

Apart from a couple of trips to the Gregory, I have not spent any time in the north west of the north west.

That means I've yet to visit Doomadgee or Burketown (and was rightly castigated by one of the Burke Shire councillors when I admitted I had not yet been to the land of the morning glory cloud).

It also means that I have yet to visit the magnificent Adels Grove and the Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park, though it remains number one on my bucket list for the region.

I've bumped into the owners and operators of Adels Grove many times in Mount Isa and they have cordially extended an invite, which for one reason or another I've yet to be able to accept.

So my heart sunk when I arrived in the office on Tuesday morning to hear Adels Grove had burned down during the middle of the night.

The main building with the kitchen, reception area and all the site's communication facilities were destroyed in the blaze, though thankfully the accommodation area was spared.

My first thought was relief to hear that none of the 500 or so people crowding the place for school holidays were hurt in the fire.

Then my selfish thoughts intruded, thinking I would now never get the opportunity to go there.

Within 24 hours the wonderful team at Adels had proved me wrong.

The magnificent views and Lawn Hill Gorge were untouched in the fire as was the campsite with its hundreds of self-sufficient campers.

Staff rushed down to Mount Isa to buy emergency provisions, phones were diverted and a field kitchen set up.

Photos emerged of smiling staff and visitors hopping on to the boats to tour the Gorge. It is an astonishing story of dealing with a crisis, rolling up your sleeves and getting on with it.

And now I'm more determined than ever to get up there and experience the magic for myself - Derek Barry