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May 2016
03 May 2016
The wet and windy weather left us so we left Lockington and headed off again, this time to the town of Boort. Arriving in town we made our way to the donation RV camp at the showgrounds/recreation reserve and settled in.
Waking this morning we were headed towards Quambatook and Kerang. So after topping up our water we headed out as the wind from a cold front began to pick up. We were headed right into the wind and it was no fun at all. Not having towed before we have had a couple of lessons in the past few days, first rain and today it was wind.
About 20 km's out of town we came to a local attraction called The Spannerman. A clever man in a motorised wheelchair who has turned his garden into an art garden with large sculptures made from spanners.
So many interesting sculptures with thousands of spanners used to make them.
The wind continued to pick up and the surrounding recently ploughed paddocks were on the move, the topsoil no match for the wind, so with the day weather remaining windy for the day it was an easy decision to turn around, enjoy the tailwind back into town and take up a spot back in the relative calm of the RV camp again.
By the time we went to bed last night we had another three campers in with us, all no doubt glad to be out of the wind.
05 May 2016
Waking to a better day we found the dirt and dust from the wind had joined with the dew and left us with a rather dirty rig. Leaving the other campers to their day and hit the road again, passing where we had stopped at the spanner man and where we had turned around to go back.
Passing through the small town of Quambatook we made our way onto the town of Kerang where we stopped to replenish the larder before heading out of town and headed for Swan Hill, passing through town and over the river into NSW. Taking the back road to Balranald where we stopped in to check out the 24hr self contained RV stop. Finding a spot in the corner with some grass at our door we pulled up stumps for the day.
Two other campers came in for the night at Balranald, and came in after and left before us. Hearing the the road from Ivanhoe to Broken Hill was closed we took a detour on our detour and headed for Mildura and then Wentworth, passing more and more citrus farms along the way and investigating and enjoying morning tea at the Bottle Bend 24hr camp along the way.
We stopped in Wentworth to check the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers before taking on fuel and heading out along the road to Pooncarie, hoping to see plenty of the Darling River as we went.
We were looking for a lunch spot and preferably on the river, so, seeing the sign for River View Road we took it. Arriving at the end where the farmlets have a view of the river there was some tricky reversing done before we headed off again looking for the river and lunch.
Stopping for lunch just 18km's out of town we managed to indeed get ourselves a great little spot on the river where we took some photographs, enjoyed lunch and even contemplated camping there for the night.
Choosing not to stay we headed off once more, leaving the river and heading off in a different direction. We turned off to have a look at Ellerslie which is a small citrus farming community which has a school, a few houses, the river on one side and thousands of citrus trees everywhere else.
Continuing on from Ellerslie and hoping to meet the main road we negotiated some back block dirt roads before actually finding that main road again. Sparse looking country around these parts with a very sandy soil. Kilometre after kilometre went by and we came to the High Darling Road where we found an old steel bridge that crosses the Darling River but it was so far removed from being high, and just up from the bridge you could walk across the river without getting your feet wet.
We checked out the riverbank for a possible camp before heading into Pooncarie itself, looking at another campsite on the edge of town on the way. Once a Port on the Darling River these days it is just a small community held together by a pub. We took a look at the $10 a night camping area down at the river and found all of the powered sites taken and lots of shade in the un-powered section on the riverbank itself and so decided to go back to the campsite we investigated at the start of town.
Arriving to set up we found a local man with a ute full of wild goats waiting for a mate to come and get them from him ($60 a goat). He clears them from the local area and many National Parks around the area and by his reckoning he has plenty of work to do yet.
Set up for the day there was nothing else to do but enjoy the very low river, take some photographs which promised to be better at sunset.
The Pelicans have their spot on the dwindling river, wild goats on the bank.
The sunset was in fact very nice with the colours showing on both sides of the bend. The pelicans are up on the left, our camp to the right.
07 May 2016
Leaving Pooncarie the next morning we were onto the dirt road that would take us over 100km's to Menindee. The corrugations were keeping our speed down and shaking us around so we pulled over and let our tyres (all 8 of them) down to 30psi which made a huge difference to our comfort and of course our speed. We didn't want much speed as we wanted to see where we were traveling but we didn't want to see it at 30km/h either.
We didn't get to see much of the river and what we did see was not really worth seeing. Like much of the Darling this part was just large puddles with many spots dry as a bone.
Arriving in the town of Menindee we noticed a flapping sound and realised that we had a puncture on the ute. Of course it had to be the rear drivers wheel where there is 400kg of pin weight sitting over it and to top it off it was on the road side of the vehicle. So, we limped to a stop opposite the supermarket (and in the shade) and that was going to be it until we swapped the tyre out.
Dropping the landing gear on the 5th wheeler meant we could use it to take the weight off the rear of the ute without unhitching, and also make it a little more stable before we jacked it up and swapped the flat for the spare. Of course that also meant that we were entertaining those going to the store, and there was a few of them.
Tyre changed we went through town and stopped at the garage to get the flat tyre fixed. Seems the culprit was a large nail which not only punctured the tyre it also came back out again ready for the next unlucky driver. The tyre fixer man plugged the tyre and then put it back on the ute and the spare back underneath, and all for $22 - bargain.
Heading back out of town we went down the main weir road and after disappointingly finding that the water that was there in the main Menindee Lake had left town, we found a nice spot near the Burke and Wills camp next to a very small trickle of water that is the Darling River. Out of all the lakes here, the Tandure, the Pamamaroo, Menindee and Cawndilla, Copi Hollow is the only one that has water and that is courtesy of a channel holding it in.
Waking to a fire red sunrise we had decided that the river bank with it's grey channel dirt was not the place to be when the predicted 25-60mm of rain comes through we left our camp and headed back into Menindee to take up a spot at the very nice Copi Hollow Caravan Park. Copi Hollow is the only caravan park with water in the lake and even that is down from the last time we were there.
The last time we were in town we had the motorhome and it was heading down to the Burke and Wills campsite that the timing belt broke and it was at this caravan park that we ended up staying the night before totally breaking down and ending up on the back of a truck to get to Broken Hill, so this time we were going to see the place properly.
Set up in a great spot backing up onto the lake, we unhooked and went off to explore the area. First was look at the rail bridge across the river with the old paddle steamer wharf just beyond it.
The bridge used to open but once the taller Indian Pacific Train started to come through they had to remove the counterweight frames and now it is permanently closed, and there are no paddle steamers any more anyway.
From the Port we drove out to the Kinchega National Park and enjoyed a drive along the river through the beautiful red river gums before stopping to look at the ruins of the Kinchega Homestead. Despite the interpretive signs there is not much to enjoy in the ruins so we moved onto the large Kinchega Woolshed where there was something to see.
Part of the River drive.
The Kinchega Woolshed is quite an impressive structure.
Walking into the shed from near the old steam tractor (which was walked up from Melbourne) there is a display of various shearing shed parts and then the shed proper. As soon as you walk through the door you can smell sheep, courtesy of the slatted floor that allowed the animal urine and faeces to fall through to be soaked up into the ground below.
Sheep from the yards were herded up the ramp into the pen area (left) and then worked through to the stand's which were on both sides of the shed) shorn and then put outside in the smaller pens (right) before being moved back into the paddock.
The Stand.
The outside of the stand where the freshly shorn sheep were held before release or transport.
Woolshed viewing over we went back to our camp but before that went up to the so called lookout to view the channel that links Copi Hollow to the Menindee Lake, and where the floodgates are holding the water back. Interestingly there are acres and acres of dead grapevines around Menindee and what would have been a good grape and wine producing area is no longer because there is no water for them.
10 May 2016
Back on the road again after a few days hunkered down at the Copi Hollow Caravan Park just out of Menindee. The weather front that came through brought plenty of rain and of course exceptionally strong winds. We also managed to catch up with Joanne's brother Paul, and his partner Geoff who are out touring in their caravan. It was great to spend time catching up, talking abut life on the road, learning new things about our respective rigs, having a look around Menindee, enjoying the nice grassy waterfront camping spot on the lake and generally spending time together.
The bad weather cleared out and despite the wind being up, the sunset was pleasant to see out the back of our camp.
So with the worst of the weather out of the way it was time to continue on, but not before a few chores and a little sightseeing in Broken Hill, before going our separate ways once again. We headed out onto the Barrier Highway and off towards South Australia where, subject to the weather and the roads opening again, we will take in some outback and desert country.
Heading towards a setting sun we checked out a few rest areas and even the small caravan park at Cockburn on the NSW/SA Border, eventually spotting and settling on a gravel pit near Wompinie Creek.
Sitting here typing up the journal at 5pm as the sun heads for the horizon (and we don't have a camera handy) the Indian Pacific glides by about 100m away. Not having seen the train out on the track before it was a pleasant experience to end the day.
11 May 2016
Despite being close to the road and near the railway we both slept quite well and awoke to a cool morning with quite a heavy dew on everything. Organising ourselves and heading off it was not long before we were in the small town of Manna Hill. We took a drive over the railway line and found what was once the racecourse. Driving in along the main straight we passed the winners post and turned around to view the members stand before heading back out and inspecting the ornate wrought iron gates with the words J Kenworthy Memorial Park across the top.
Heading back into the main street where there is just a Police Station, Railway Yard, Old Stone Railway Station, RV Stopover, a couple of houses and the Manna Hill Hotel/Museum we stopped for morning tea and then headed off again.
Not long after we were coming into the town of Yunta where we took the turn off towards Arkaroola. The dirt road was heading up into the hills and so were we, looking for the Waukaringa Ruins.
Guess we wont be going to Innamincka just yet.
Passing a large sheep shearing shed we viewed the large number of sheep in the pens ready to go in for their haircut, and a few that had already been through.
The road, although a little rough was nice and wide and crossed a number of dips, some of which still had the remnants of the recent rain in the bottom of them. We, like other traffic took whichever side had the least water and mud in them and continued on, arriving some 35 km's later at the ruins of the gold gold mining town.
Parked next to the ruins of the Waukaringa Hotel.
We stopped for a look at the ruins of the old hotel and then proceeded up the hill to view the large underground, tin roofed water tanks and then the mine area itself.
The Underground Water Tanks.
Looking back towards the hotel ruins from the mine. The roof on the underground water tanks can also be seen.
Low range 4wd was required to get to the top and then we tried and enjoyed the hill downhill control/assist on the car to get back down, then dropping into the rather steep entry and exit of a dry creek bed on the way.
It was here that we decided to return to Yunta, fill up up with fuel and return to camp overnight before heading on towards Arkaroola and beyond. Letting some air out of the tyres we returned to Yunta and filled the tank and a jerry can of insurance before heading back to the ruins. With a cold wind blowing we found ourselves setting up camp next to the hotel so as to use it as a wind break.
Across the road from the old hotel are the ruins of a house, and behind it is the rusting remains of a once shiny new ute, perfect for a sunset photo.
The main road runs right between them and the old ute behind
Once the pride and joy of a proud owner, this old girl see's its days out rusting away behind the ruins of its owners house in the South Flinders Ranges.
We expected not to see much traffic but with the road open again after the recent rain there has been a steady procession of vehicles heading North, many of them B Double trucks carrying fuel, water and other supplies for the mines and probably Arkaroola as well.
12 May 2016
Another great camp overnight with only a couple of trucks going past. We packed up and continued up the road under a cloudy sky. The road was just like yesterday, rough in patches around the dips and corners but other than that it was a hard packed gravel surface and we were able to maintain a comfortable 70km/h.
The Road Ahead
Some large sand dunes running 90 degrees to our path were easily negotiated as we came closer to some small ranges that are the Southern Flinders. Other than the couple of small ranges we crossed the terrain was quite flat and generally no more than small trees and salt bush.
Coming off the gravel and onto hard packed dirt was pleasant and the smoother surface sure helped our fuel economy. Further up the road we could see that the grader had been working on keeping the road in tip top condition and it was only after the deserted road crew camp that the road became a little more interesting.
Looking for a spot to pull over for morning tea and thought we might get a spot at or near the vermin proof fence, but no, it was not to be. A little further on though we spied the turnoff into a large cattle yard South of Frome Station at the Southern end of Lake Frome and so as it looked okay decided to drive in and turn into the entrance coming from the direction we were going, and then the fun started.
No sooner had we got a car and a half length in, we were sinking and then bogged. A look in the mirror showed that the house was only half in and so switching to low range we managed to reverse our way out of the bog onto firmer ground and then to drive back out onto the road, grateful for our 4wd capabilities as something like that in the motorhome would have seen us sitting there until it dried or someone pulled us out.
So morning tea was taken just parked on the road, which, due to the total lack of traffic was no problem. Funny thing is that as we drove off, leaving a trail of mud behind and flinging it all over the place, we were buzzed by six gyro copters from the nearby station. Two came nice and close and gave us a wave in return. What a pity we didn't have the camera ready, and pity we couldn't get a ride.
Eventful morning tea over we passed Frome Station and after chatting to a truckie about the road ahead on the radio we negotiated the water and md in the dips and made good time. The road changed to a narrow track as we passed the entrance to the Beverley Mine and headed for the Wearing Gorge turnoff.
Climbing up through the gorge we thought we might find a camp at either the gorge itself or the ruins that are marked on the map, but the gorge turns out to be the road winding up through the hills as it follows and becomes part of the creek. Continuing on at the top we eventually turned around and returned only to find the ruins just off the road and a campsite nearby with views of the North Flinders Ranges, and so after a scout around we selected spot and settled in.
Our camp for today.
The remains of the Wearing Gorge Homestead, just 50m from our camp.
13 May 2016
Friday the 13th, unlucky for some, adventurous for us. We started the day by waking to a very heavy dew and the range in front of us lighting up as the sun's rays lit the top and then as the sun rose, highlighted further and further down the face of the range until it was lit in brilliant sunshine.
We packed up and headed off towards Arkaroola, dropping back down through the Wearing Gorge and sighting a thin sliver of light on the horizon that was in fact Lake Frome way off in the distance.
Turning towards Arkaroola the road was again easily navigated and a pleasant drive at 70 km/h, cruise control occasionally interrupted so as to slow down for the creek crossings, dips and odd rough bit along the way. Edging closer the horizon ahead was filled with the Northern FLinders Ranges, growing ever larger with each kilometre under the wheels.
Looking for a particular photo of nice gum tree's in a dry creek bed was a good excuse to check out each creek crossing as we came through it and at Big John Creek, we managed to get one shot, not quite what we wanted, but close.
Close, but nice nevertheless.
Taking the turnoff to Arkaroola at the Balconoona Creek where the homestead is now the National Park Ranger HQ, and where, according to the sign, the road continues on ahead to Innamincka for 430 km's, we stopped for a look at a rockface and read the Aboriginal story of Malu the giant Kangaroo carrying out the abduction of a sleeping 14 year old girl.
The road was exceptionally nice through here, smooth and dusty, long white clouds of dust trailing behind us like a damaged fighter jet screaming through the sky. We passed the airport where there are flights across Lake Eye ($1,000 +) or Arkaroola ($175 pp for 30 min's) or Lake Frome ($210 pp for 40 min's) on offer.
Passing the old Arkaroola Homestead we almost stopped for photos but decided to get them on the way out instead. A short distance later we were at Arkaroola WIlderness Village where we booked into the caravan park for one night ($33 for power and bore water) so we could see what else was on offer and what other things there are to see. Selecting a spot which was level and large enough for us (most sites are suited to camper trailers) we set up camp before heading back to reception to find out what was on offer.
Our campsite at Arkaroola with Griselda Hill (400m) in the background.
Leaving the reception building with a mud map in hand we decided to take the road out towards Barraranna Waterhole, hoping to see the waterhole and a few things along the way. Turning off the main road we were almost immediately into a narrow, one vehicle track that has the bushes right up to the mirrors. This is supposed to be a 2wd track but we doubted that.
We stopped for a look at Livelys Gold FInd, a small camp where someone had dug into the hill in search of gold, then it was past the Jasper Twins, two large rocky outcrops on the side of a hill before we passed the Welcome Mine (without even seeing it) and after climbing up to Welcome Pound in 1st gear in low range we stopped for a view of the Pound.
The Welcome Pound with a road in that looks not even half as steep as it actually was.
Dropping down into the Pound using 1st gear, low range and hill descent on we eventually arrived at Stubbs Waterhole where we parked up and explored the dry creek bed and took photo's of the imposing rockface and dry waterfall that feeds into the creek.
The dry creek bed is overlooked by this very large rock, the waterhole is at the base when it has water in it.
Side on view of the rock from further down the creek bed
Driving back out of Stubbs Waterhole we saw the walking track to the Barraranna Gorge, the 3km trip making us re-think our desire to go there and so we elected to drive onto Tillite Gorge, the track in getting narrower and narrower the further we went.
We arrived at the Tillite Gorge parking area to find two other vehicles there. We are not sure who has right of way along that track but meeting someone along it would mean some very interesting reversing for someone. We walked down into the dry creek bed and followed it for the 800m the sign says and found a T intersection with a gorge in both directions, one being from Arkaroola Creek, the other from Kingsmill Creek and neither being very inspiring. Climbing back out of the creek and up to the car we left before the other two and negotiated the narrow track once more and past all of the sights we had seen along the way.
Climbing back up part of the Welcome Pound Track.
The down side off the side track.
Climbing to the top of the side track we had to stop and get out to see what was down the other side before we descended as it was not visible from inside the car.
Back on the wide, smooth main road in we headed away from Arkaroola for a bit before turning off to take the Station Backtrack to our camp, and this was the most challenging 4wd part of the day. Once again the track was very narrow and we were thankful that it was posted as a one way track.
Right from the start we were into some serious fun. 1st gear, low range being required for much of the track and 2nd gear low range being the highest gear we got into for the 6 kilometre trip. The track generally followed a ridge line and we were dropping down into small creeks and rivulets then climbing out again as they came down the hill, we were climbing hills where the bold and brave made it and the rest didn't, wheels spinning and slipping we we climbed and bounced up the grades all the while negotiating the bush on either side and trying hard not to scratch the paintwork. And the sun in our eyes didn't help much either.
Eventually we arrived at the back of the campground and pulled into our campsite after what was a full and interesting day.
14 May 2016
We slept well last night after all the fun and excitement of our 4wd adventures yesterday and this morning we took the gold coin donation to the RFDS ride to the start of the Acacia Ridge Walk, Arkaroola's most spectacular walk according to the brochure. Our lift to the trail head meant we only had to walk one way, 5.2 kilometres walk back to the village.
The climb up to the ridge was fairly easy and being in the shade meant we were keeping cool as we climbed, and our first view was of the Arkaroola Homestead.
Arkaroola Homestead sits about 6 km SE from the Village.
We were stopping to take photographs quite often, ensuring we didn't miss anything and were actually looking back almost as much as we were looking forward, but the best views were of course near and at the top, the summit being 500m which is 100m higher than Griselda Hill at the back of the caravan park.
Looking back toward Arkaroola Homestead from near the top.
Looking East from the Summit
From the Summit the view to the East was quite spectacular, the hills more densely covered than the ridges to the other points of the compass. Starting to descend from the summit we were on the Eastern side now because the sheer cliff face on the Western side prevents any sort of path and is named the Devils Slide.
Looking SE from the Devils Slide
Looking NW and towards Arkaroola Village. Griselda Hill behind the caravan park is just above the white flowers in this shot.
Finally back at the village after a 3 hour expedition we informed reception that we were back safe and sound and then walked up the small hill to the caravan park and grateful to be sitting down to lunch. Then it was time for a shower and to look through and process the photo's before heading out again, but this time in the car.
We took the road to the North East this time and although not as rough or challenging as yesterdays, it was still a bumpy ride. We stopped for a look at The Pinnacles in Mawson Valley (named after Professor, Sir Douglas Mawson), two dome shaped rocks that look slightly out of place in their location.
There are two of these and they are about a kilometre apart, this one being the most impressive and easily photographed .
About 3 km later we were stopped in a dry river bed and looking for the Bollabollana Spring, which Joanne managed to find and get a photo of.
Bollabollana Spring, looking more like a creek.
5 and a bit km later after some wet sloppy mud to get the rig dirty we were negotiating some large rocks as we made our way down into a riverbed and then, after stopping right near some kangaroo's (hoping they were the yellow footed type from around here) we arrived at the Nooldoona Waterhole as the sun was beginning to set and the cool of the gorge began to take over.
Leaving the car and heading off down the riverbed we found the waterhole, or what's left of it in the riverbed and after some shots of it and the area made our way back home again.
No swimming allowed which is just as well because it doesn't look that good for swimming.
Finally back at our camp we were feeling the effects of plenty of activity today and so settled in for the night and a well earned rest.
Our impressions of Arkaroola are fairly favourable. The amenities are a little dated but suitable for everyone' needs. Not all powered sites have water (which is bore water) to them but there is rainwater for drinking and as long as people don't take too much there is enough for everyone. The powered sites are a little on the small size, the best sized ones being closest to the amenities block. The staff are friendly and helpful, the area and things to do are fabulous. There is no mobile phone (but it does have a Telstra Phone Booth) or TV coverage and very scratchy radio reception. At $33 for a powered site it is a little expensive for what it is and most of your money seems to go on the large staff numbers and keeping the diesel generator running 24 hours a day. Did we enjoy our visit? YES!
15 May 2016
Waking to a brilliant red sky after another good sleep we enjoyed a bacon and eggs breakfast before we packed up, hitched the house onto the car, added some fuel ($1.57 per litre) to the tank for insurance purposes and headed out of Arkaroola. Discussing our visit on the way out we were thankful that we spent some time there enjoying the sights but also knew that we there was still much to see and do. Most of it (helicopter ride, plane ride, 4wd ridge tour, astronomical observatory and Echo Camp 4wd tour to name a few) come with large price tags attached but would be most enjoyable.
Turning West at the junction we were headed through some similar countryside, but as the large rock formations dwindled it became less and less inspiring. Stopping for some photo's at another dry creek bed we were passes by a number of other rigs including some people who were camped opposite us.
Stopping for a late morning tea at a small sheep yard allowed us to enjoy a cuppa and time to take some more photo's before continuing on.
Not a bad place for morning tea.
Eventually we arrived at and passed through the seemingly deserted Aboriginal Community of Nepabunna. Well and truly out in the open now we passed a number of cattle stations and another small Aboriginal Community at IGA Warta (www.igawarta.com) and before long came off the dirt and onto the blacktop at Copley.
We turned left onto the highway and headed South for 5 or so kilometres and turned into the small mining town of Leigh Creek. The mining boom has bust here and there are more empty run down houses than there are occupied ones, but the basic things are still here. The main purpose for our coming here was to get fuel for the trip North and to stock up on food from the supermarket, but being Sunday in South Australia only the fuel ($1.395 per litre) was open, so we took up residence in the small caravan park for $20 and will leave tomorrow.
We will be heading North along the Strezlecki Track which we trust will have dried out enough from the recent rain and will not have phone reception etc until Innamincka (that we know of) so that will be a quiet trip. Keeping an eye on the weather forecast and the SA Outback Roads Website will be vital for tomorrow and other than more rain, the worst we might get is having to stay in Innamincka for a bit while the Cordillo Downs Road up to Birdsville dries out, hence our need to stock up on food here in Leigh Creek. Another good source of information is the Qld Road Hazard website.
16 May 2016
The Leigh Creek Caravan PArk is a good one, and a good stop before hitting with the Oodnadatta or Strezlecki Tracks. It was a quiet night and we awoke to good weather. Joanne took the car to the supermarket and located the wash down bay which we used to was both car and 5th wheeler before heading out onto the highway.
5 kilometres after we had left Leigh Creek we were back in Copley where we came to yesterday on the road from Arkaroola. It was getting later by the time we made it here so we stopped for a late morning tea/early lunch (meat pie, pastie and two quondong tarts - $25!) Copley was actually named Leigh Creek until the mine was founded in 1897 and then in about 1927 the name was changed to Copley.
Heading out of town we passed the now closed Leigh Creek Mine and made it to Lyndhurst where we stopped to check the tourist information and then began our trek up the Strezlecki Track.
All the roads we want to travel on are open so that is a good sign.
And so we began our trek up the Strezlecki. Hitting the dirt we found it to be in good condition but quite rough, rocks embedded in the hard surface sticking up and just looking for a tyre to wreck. Speed required for a comfortable journey wile protecting the tyres as much as possible was anything from 40 to 65km/h, and in the softer sections you could see how someone only just made it through, their tracks snaking all over the road. Only one of the creek crossings still had water in it but there was enough of a track on one side to allow us through.
The Strezlecki was the route pioneered in 1870 by Harry Redford, a cattle rustler who stole 1,000 cattle from the Longreach area in QLd and drove them down into South Australia and sold them. He was eventually caught but not convicted for the offence as the Jury was impressed by his feat.
We stopped to look at a memorial to the truck drivers of the Cooper Basin who had died and it was here that we noticed our first (and hopefully the last) casualty on our rig. A stone had managed to smash to pieces the water pipe elbow that comes out of our second water tank and we were losing water at a great rate and requiring some outback plumbing to be carried out. Wedging a small stick into the pipe and taping it up with electrical tape stopped the flow completely and a check of the gauge showed that we had lost about two thirds of a tank. Good job we have two!
Loved the Mack Truck Bulldog encased in the stone memorial.
Tourist stop and plumbing over we headed on up the track through low hills (more like rises) and empty creek crossings and the Flinders Ranges on the horizon on our right hand side.
Passing a couple of stations and an 8 kilometre stretch of bitumen we came to the Wild Dog Fence and another stretch of bitumen and decided to take up residence in the rest area right next to the fence.
The Wild Dog Fence which, until 1980 was 8,614 km long, now shortened to 5,614 km's.
We had stopped early enough to have a good look at that water tank and after draining the remaining 40 litres (out of 140 litres) into whatever containers we could find and after a thorough inspection of the damage we came to the conclusion that there was nothing to do but block up the tank and the pipe so as to stop the dirt and dust getting in and add a 12mm water pipe elbow to the hardware shopping list.
The sun had been quite hot today and so with clouds on the horizon the sunset photography was showing promise, and it didn't let us down.
The sunset was fabulous to watch in the dead quiet of the outback.
Our campsite next to the fence and the last of the Northern Flinders Ranges on the horizon.
17 May 2016
Our campsite on the wild dog fence was very quiet, so quiet that it is noisy. Sometime during the early morning we could hear Dingoes howling but they eventually stopped. Heading off after breakfast we enjoyed the 7km of bitumen (and the three others that followed) before we were back onto dirt and encountering our first water obstacle.
Just enough to get the wheels dirty
Riding the roller coaster road we came to the Koortanyaninna Creek where we just had to stop for some photographs because it looked so good in the morning light.
Such a beautiful spot in such a harsh landscape. Birdlife was prolific.
Stopped at Blanchewater Ruins which was a prominent horse breeding station in its heyday. First leased back in 1858 it saw some good years but then suffered huge losses during the next drought. Re-leased by Thomas Elder in 1872 it became the go to place for strong sturdy horses for use by Cobb and Co, Stockmen the country over and even the Indian Army.
In 1885 though the good run began to fail thanks to the huge rabbit infestation that came and by the 1890's the demand for horses also dwindled and so the Beltana Pastoral Company shut up shop here and move on to a nearby station. With life here no longer permanent Blanchewater became an outpost for boundary riders and then it was finished off by a huge flood in 1940, leaving what we see today, the remains of a once great empire.
Apart from the homestead ruins there are the remains of the horse yards with these posts and steel cables.
Leaving the ruins the road turned into a terribly rutted obstacle course road with only one half open in many spots because of the deep wheel ruts left by the trucks that came up it in the wet, two of which got bogged and took a number of days to get out. Not far from our next stop we noticed a large long thing across the ruts and thinking it was a metal pipe or something slowed to go around it, and only as we passed it did we notice that it was a very large (about as thick as your arm) and long (6-8 feet) snake. It looked like a python but we decided that we would leave it to cross the ruts all by itself.
Turning off the track we stopped for a look at the Montecollina Bore. There is a rest area there and we considered calling it a day and staying there as there was the possibility of some good sunset reflections in the water, but the flies made us reconsider and we moved on, but not before the camera got a work out.
This area gets it's water from a large dam that is fed by the bore itself.
Back into the ruts we could easily have been stuck in a rut, but made it to the Strezlecki Creek Rest Area where we ate lunch and then moved on again. All along the Strezlecki there are tracks off the road and over the sand ridges that we have been driving between, and the tracks appear to be going to the numerous oil and gas deposits throughout this area and every now and then there is a track to a compressor station which helps pass the gas down the underground pipeline to Moomba which sits SW of Innamincka.
We eventually arrived at the turn off to Cameron's Corner where South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales state borders all meet in the desert. The sign said 118 km's so we turned and instead of the road running between the sand ridges it began to climb over them. We started to count them but very soon lost interest in favour of concentrating on the road.
Numerous washouts, bogs and water across the road caused us to take the side tracks around the obstacles and then there were the corrugations which no matter what your speed was just shook the daylights out of everything. The most challenging thing however was figuring out which way the road went as we crested many of the hundreds of sand dunes that the road crossed. Short sharp uphill's and then fresh air before a steep drop down the other side certainly had us feeling like we were on a roller coaster, and then another and another and another, with varying intervals (some 50 some 500m) between them.
One could get sea sick with all of this up and down. Not the best quality shot, but we were moving at the time.
We were looking for the Yellow Bus which is shown on the map and figured that we would camp there for the night, hopefully with some photos of it as the sun went down, or the moon coming up or even some stars, but we never found it, and so continued on, eventually arriving at Cameron's Corner late in the afternoon.
Cameron Corner Selfie
Standing in SA and looking at QLD on the left and NSW on the right with the wild dog fence behind.
Cameron Corner, named after a surveyor for the NSW Lands Dept who surveyed the NSW/Qld Border from 1879-1891 and who left a wooden post inscribed with "Lat 29 - CAMERON" in the same spot the concrete replacement stands.
Leaving the corner post we drove through the gate into Qld and stopped at the Cameron's Corner Store, where for $10 we took up a camp spot. $5 went to the store and the other $5 was thrown at the ceiling with a tack in it by Joanne. Her $5 will be collected along with all of the others once a year and the proceeds donated to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Our camp for the night at The Corner.
There is not much to do here except camp, talk to the bar staff and maybe play around of Tri State Golf, with the course boasting 3 holes in each State and a certificate on completion. Of course there maybe another hazard on the greens at the moment because after having had 30mm of rain recently there might even be some grass on them.
17 May 2016
There is nothing like rain in the desert to get your attention! We awoke before dawn to the sound of rain drops on the roof. Half asleep and trying to concentrate on the intensity of the noise hitting the roof to determine how heavy it was, and how long, maybe, that we might be stranded at the corner of three states.
Thankfully by the time the sun had come up the pitter patter on the roof had disappeared and it looked safe to travel the 120 km back to the big dirt road.
Under grey skies an early morning walk over into NSW showed that it appears to be a very unfriendly place. They have a fence and a large gate to prevent entry, but it is in fact the gate into the State through the Wild Dog Fence.
The official entry point into NSW. It's a wonder they don't have a guard on it.
Wandering back into SA it was just a reverse shot of the gate and nothing too exciting at all, though the Welcome to SA sign was nice.
The corner store and Qld entry point. The actual corner post is about 100m off to the right.
Packed up and ready to go we filled our fuel tank up ($2.00 a litre) and then it was time to tackle that corrugated road again, but this time the trip only took half the time as for some reason the corrugations were very soft, though it might have had something to do with going faster over them.
Pulling back onto the Strezlecki Track we found what appeared to be an old rest area and so we stopped for morning tea and to inspect for damage, which thankfully there was none. In fact, the beating the new rig has taken has been quite hard and apart from a few lose screws and the hot plate cover getting rubbed on the inside, there has been no issues, and hopefully (tough wood) there will be none moving forward.
Further up the track we were coming into the oil and gas fields operated by Santos. Small pipes coming out of the ground and roads off into the desert being the only giveaway's that they were there. Shortly before we arrived at Moomba our mobiles began to ring to the sound of text messages coming in and so we were able to let people know we were still alive and well.
Stopping for lunch and an electronic gadget fix at the lookout we were joined by a few others doing the same thing. Unfortunately the internet speed was too slow for uploading this so it will have to wait until Birdsville.
The lookout allows visitors to view the very large LPG Gas plant that sits in the Cooper Basin and has done since 1959. (phone photo).
Lunch and online fix over we left Moomba behind and headed off in search of a campsite. The road here is wide and generally smooth, running through more gas fields and with nowhere in phone range to camp, so we just kept going.
Turning into the Innamincka Regional Reserve, the scenery began to change away from the grey soil of the Cooper Basin gas fields and back to the red sand dunes and green vegetation. The road running parallel to the sand ridges again was still nice and wide and making it easy to skip along at 80km/h.
We spied this little oasis next to the road and just had to stop for some photographs.
Before long we were out of the dunes and entering a moonscape. Gone were the sand dunes, tree's and anything else that stood more than a few inches above the ground. Long sloping barren hills covered in dark red rocks and because of the recent rain green vegetation, but nothing across the horizon for a very long way.
And then we were in Innamincka, a dot on the map and a dot of a place. Other than what looks to be a cattle station homestead there is a cluster of buildings around the pub and the trading post and that is about it. Surely there is more to this place than that, but no, it is what it is, but at least the road was now bitumen (the same bitumen they move the campers onto when the rain closes the road and the common is unusable).
Stopping into the very well stocked trading post we managed to find out that camping was free on the town common (across the road), there is no mobile phone coverage except one bar if you are lucky as you walk around town, but there are two Telstra phone boxes. Some of the attractions like Burke's initial grave site is just accessible by vehicle (no towing or camping), the showers were $2 for 3 minutes and the toilets were in there was well. In there meaning a cluster of about 4 old large concrete water tanks that each contain two showers and two toilets. Fuel is $1.60 a litre for diesel, there is no drinking water unless you buy it and the flies are thick necessitating a fly net to even contemplate walking around outside. And that, in a nutshell, is Innamincka on this visit.
So with all of the other camping spots around town still washed out we drove across the road, picked a spot on the common near some caravans and settled in for the rest of the day, and even tried the showers out (which were good value for $2). By nightfall we had 4 caravans, six cars/4wd's from the shitbox rally (mates who buy a car for under $1,000 and go on their own sort of rally) and us, all spread about the common camped up for the night. If we had been here the night before instead of at Cameron Corner, we would have run into the Variety Bash all camped up here. Reports are that there were 200 of them in the pub so it might not have been that quiet a night.
18 May 2016
Today is a day off and it seems that it is just as well because all of the roads North of Innamincka are closed. The Cordillo Downs Road to Birdsville is expected to be closed for about a month (because we want to go that way) and it is where they had to fly supplies and medication out to some stranded caravans after the rain hit. Maybe the Planet Arrabury Road to the Birdsville Development Road will open, but that also seems to be wishful thinking.
So after a stroll across the road, the latest road advice posted on the Trading Post window advises there are two ways out of here, back down the Strezlecki Track (the way we have come) or along the Adventure Way past the Burke & Wills Dig Tree towards Noccundra and then onto Quilpie or Thargominda. The third option is to sit and wait a few days to see what happens. So it is a good job we are not on a time limit and that not only the locals are friendly.
Innamincka.
Everyone else left this morning and we have the common all to ourselves so we have put the awning out, caught up on some washing, topped up with fuel after the morning rush and have settled in for the day to await whatever may come, each new arrival being the entertainment for the moment.
Our campsite at the now deserted town common. The signs say open but...maybe tomorrow.
We took a short stroll down to the causeway across the Cooper Creek to see the way we cannot take and then a short stroll back before lunch. The creek at it's recent peak was at 6m which is about halfway up the small tree on the left.
The Cooper Creek.
There are no rubbish bins for campers in Innamincka and the signs tell you to take it to the tip yourself, so just before sunset we did exactly that, then on the way back managed to get this sunset photo over town.
L-R. Sunset, our camp behind a camper trailer, a second and third camper trailer, a truck, Ranger HQ with the toilets and shower tanks in front, the trading post, pub and generator shed, motel.
20 May 2016
Another beautiful day in down town Innamincka. We awoke to find light cloud coming in and the fact that we could get satellite Wi-fi from the hotel (for a price). So after paying for 100mb we looked up the SA and Qld Road website's to find only the way North out of here is still closed, everywhere else is open. So we now have a choice to make. We can 1. Sit here until the road North opens (it is being graded now so maybe Monday they reckon), 2. Leave here and head to Windorah via Eromanga and then take the road to Birdsville or 3. Give up and head off in some other direction - but where?
In the meantime we paid our $10 to get a Desert Parks Pass and headed off to visit Burke's Grave site. Somewhere up along the road we hit a phone signal and got a text but didn't know it, and then resolved to find the signal location on the way back, but couldn't. Anyway, heading off down the gravel road we turned and followed the signs, passing some water hazards and corrugations along the 4 km detour to eventually arrive at the carpark.
Leaving the car we followed the 300m path towards Burke's Grave, reading the interpretive signs along the way, watching the Corella's making nests in the trees and stopping to take in and enjoy a very pretty scene on the bank of the Cooper Creek.
Such a pretty spot as you stand in the shade here with the birds flying around.
A few metres more we located what we had come to see, the place where Robert O'Hara Burke took his last breath.
The site of Burke's Death and Grave.
He would have been a bit smelly by the time the rescue party arrived some 82 days later.
The tree and the marker that mark the tragic end to what should have been a glorious adventure and feat.
Back at the car we had a chat with the ranger (who wanted to see our desert parks pass) about the roads including the road out to WIll's Grave, but that it impassable for some time. We could have taken the road to where King found the aboriginal camp and was saved but decided not to bother and headed back to town.
So after typing this up we will see if we can upload it and check the roads on the web again and take it from there.
21 May 2016
This morning we decided that we are going to move on from Innamincka and head to Quilpie via Eromanga. The wind was up a little and the skies grey with cloud so apart from a side/headwind it was a good day to travel.
Leaving town we headed up the bleak rocky hills that surround Innamincka and then turned down the Bulloo Development road towards Burke's Grave but this time kept going past the turnoff. More and more blank, open countryside with not very much above 6 inches growing for miles, the Cooper Creek flood plain through which we were travelling, a small range on the horizon and the dust of a truck ahead of us were really the only things to look at.
This was actually the evening before but you get the picture. This is the landscape for miles around Innamincka.
About 10 km out along the road we skirted some red sand dunes and then were out into the open again and after about 20 km we came to the bitumen and new bitumen at that. On a previous trip to the area (in the motorhome) we had gone to the Burke and Wills Dig Tree and the river crossing a few kilometres on from that turnoff before the bitumen ran out, so as we were expecting it to be further down the road this was a welcome surprise.
Crossing the Cooper Creek we arrived at the turnoff to the Dig Tree, and, the Planet Arraby Road North where we really wanted to be heading. No signs to say that the road was closed but...at a reported $1,000 per axle penalty if it is, we didn't want to risk it and so, very reluctantly moved on towards Quilpie.
Thinking that the bitumen was going to keep going we remembered that there was a section of about 12km that we covered in the motorhome that was red sand and sure enough we arrived at it and, courtesy of having a 4 wheel drive now, crossed with not even a flinch.
Stopping for morning tea in a gravel pit at the entrance road to the Ballera Oil Field and Plant we also took the opportunity to fully inflate the tyres back up to bitumen pressures using out ARB compressor, the first time in 10 days of dirt road travel, and what a great little bit of kit that compressor is. Plugged into the house batteries the hose stretches to all of the ute and 5th wheeler wheels making inflation a breeze.
With tyres back up for better rolling resistance we moved on some more through the open plains that are littered with oil wells, their nodding donkey heads the only visible sign of anything there, and the gas pipe heads that also litter the area. Crossing the 10 kilometre stretch of small creeks and drains that feed the Naccowlah waterhole to the South we had to slow down to limit the bumps and motion sickness movement and to protect the rig.
Arriving at and passing the Jackson Oil Field and Plant we climbed the small range not far after and came to the junction of the Bulloo and Cooper Development Roads where we camped one year and one day ago, this time without the wet weather. We did head on down towards the Noccundra Hotel but decided not to continue and returned to the road junction to take up a spot in the gravel pit some 252km's after we had left Innamincka. Looks like we will have to stay a few days at the waterhole outside of Quilpie to get our 100km per day average back under control :)
22 May 2016
Not the most salubrious of locations to camp but it did us just fine for the night. Heading off into the morning sun made the driving a little harder until we turned a corner. Arriving in Eromanga we stopped for morning tea and then, passing the IOR Fuel Depot and plant ($1.229 c/l) we continued on the short distance to Quilpie.
Quilpie is a nice little town which welcomes RV's with open arms. The caravan park looks quite nice but at $33 a night it is not somewhere you would want to stay for very long. We picked up some water at the Tourist Information Centre, used the dump point, checked out the free tourist showers and filled up with fuel before heading out to Lake Houdraman about 5 km out of town.
Driving out to the lake we were sure the road to the turn off was mostly dirt but it is now freshly sealed which makes getting out there easier, though the bit out to the lake through the paddock is still that grey dirt that turns to a quagmire the minute any moisture hits it.
Arriving at the lake it was apparent that this is still a very popular site, and by the end of the day there were 19 campers spread along the side of the lake. We selected a spot down the Eastern end where the weed, lilly's and birds were in abundance and near four other campers and settled in.
Having had rain the lake is full again, a far cry from the low water levels of 12 months ago as shown below.
The Lake back in May 2015.
The Lake today.
Panorama View.
An invite to Happy Hour was a great way to meet the neighbours and as darkness fell and a very bright moon rose we all went our separate ways to eat and enjoy a very peaceful night under a moon you could read by.
Sitting under the awning the next day was a delight, the warm sun necessitating as little clothing as possible while we soaked in the silence, which, despite the other campers around was deafening and the only sounds heard were the birds.
Having unhitched the house we took the short drive into town to go shopping and to get some high pressure water hose (for strength) and fittings to fix the connection on our second water tank that was broken as we came up the Strezlecki Track. The rest of the day was then taken up with the actual fixing of the connection, sitting under the awning enjoying the view (and a beer) and then spending some time at Happy Hour again. Guess we might be here for a while with views like this. Don't you just hate Monday's?
24 May 2016
Joanne went into town foe something to do and brought back some more water to go into the tanks. Spent the day sitting around enjoying the view before it was time for Happy Hour, and some photography.
Beautiful pastel colours filled the sky as the sun began to set.
and on the opposite side to the lake.
26 May 2016
Another day in paradise, though it might not be today as the wind from the North has picked up and is trying to blow us into the lake. Yesterday was a fairly quiet day and with most of the happy hour campers leaving there was just Paul and Susan next to us left, so it was a quieter evening enjoyed by the fire over a few drinks.
The Milky Way over the Lake just before the moon rose and wrecked the view.
Looks like tonight will be our last night here and we will be heading off in the morning. We were going to go to Birdsville and then down the bit of the track we haven't done and then take the Oodnadatta Track to the Borefield Road and on to Roxby Downs and Woomera. Then it was to be back to the Oodnadatta Track via Coober Pedy, then Oodnadatta and onto Marla via the bit of the Oodnadatta Track we haven't done yet before arriving in Alice Springs, but...we will do that another time and so we now intend to take a different track and head to the Alice via Windorah, Bedourie, Boulia and then the Donohue and Plenty Highway.
The weather this afternoon changed from hot and windy to hot and wet. Brief showers came through the area and while just enough to get wet in, it did manage to make the dirt we are on rather slippery. One bonus though was the clouds and double rainbow that appeared and stayed for quite some time.
The first glimpse of the rainbows.
Double the luck.
27 May 2016
More showers came and went as the afternoon wore on and the evening began yesterday and we began to think we might be staying another day to let it dry out, but by the time the sun came up the ground was dry enough and we were able to get out along the dirt track, but not before some shots of the sun as it came up, first a red glow on the underside of the clouds. Then, within a few minutes a glimpse of the sun and the sky began to change before the sky lit up in a bright yellow. What a spectacular sunrise for our last one at the lake.
First the red,
Then the sun itself,
and then the Golden end.
Stopping in town we utilised the dump point to empty both the toilet and the grey water tank, and then availed ourselves of one last free shower at the travelers amenities, ate breakfast and filled up a Jerry can with fuel before heading 35km back the way we came in from before heading on towards Windorah, passing a large blue sign with a picture of a mobile phone crosses out and the words "No mobile reception for the next 630km's". Yikes!
The road to Windorah is mainly a narrow strip of bitumen just wide enough to keep the wheels on as it passed through through red dirt and rock country, changing occasionally to open grasslands before returning to bush again. As always there were some parts where the bitumen was wider and we always seemed to meet people going the opposite way on the narrow bits, requiring us to slow down and move over to pass, and to keep the flying rocks to a minimum.
Stopping for morning tea at the Thylungra rest area we almost decided to call it quits there but with grey clouds everywhere and the prospect of more rain we decided to see if the weather was better up ahead.
Plan A was to head for a previous campsite on the Cooper Creek about 10km out of Windorah but the closer we got to it the more rain began to fall requiring windscreen wipers on a fair bit, and we knew that the grey channel boggy dirty would not be kind to us if we ventured off the black top to that "perfect" campsite after this much rain.
Arriving at the Cooper we found a few hardy (or bogged) souls in camper trailers on each bank, dirt trails coming off the dirt onto the bitumen showing the tell tale signs of others leaving just in time. So we activated Plan B which meant trying to get to the Barcoo Council run Caravan Park in Windorah before everyone did and filled the small park up.
Arriving in time to get a spot as the rain kept falling and the wind picked up we set up and settled in for the day. Windorah is a small town of a few streets, a Police Station, Visitors Information Centre and a couple of businesses, but it has no mobile reception, and nor were we able to get TV without putting the wok up. There is however, paid satellite Internet like at Innamincka (100mb - $5, 200mb - $10, 500mb $20 etc).
28 May 2016
Last night we watched the workers opposite the caravan park form up and ready the slab for the caravan park extension, and after finishing late they were back at 6.30 this morning to finish the task, waking the whole caravan park in the process.
We took our time in getting ready and with clear skies decided that maybe we would go back to the Cooper Creek and and enjoy a day or two there. Despite what the lady at the service station said when we filled up, and despite taking the good road in, once we were in and looking for a campsite (where we camped last time was already taken) it was low range 4wd to get in and back out again without stopping where we didn't want to.
So not wanting to slop around in the mud while it dried out we decided to leave town and maybe get a spot out at the sand dunes where we camped last time, so with milky way photo's over the dunes as an inspirational idea we headed West. Leaving town we were passing open grassland lined at times by very red sand dunes which were mostly covered with vegetation but with the odd piece left open and just sand.
On arrival at the dunes however the ground was way to wet to even contemplate staying there, and with a couple of people already there and tramping over the dunes, and the sand being wet with little definition, good photo's of pristine dunes were also out. So we moved on, this time heading for the JC Hotel Ruins. Perhaps the milky way over the ruins would be good?
Heading for the ruins and passing through more large open grassland to the horizon which was only stopped by more low red sand dunes we came upon a piece of road kill and as a result almost gained a wedge tailed eagle as a bonnet ornament. He was quite large and sitting in the middle of the road eating a piece of road kill, and as we slowed he decided to remain on the kill and then launch at the last minute, his weight and lack of airflow over the wings causing him to just miss the bullbar, and as we ducked we heard a "thud" as he hit the 5th wheeler. A look in the mirror showed him still in flight and landing. So figuring he was okay we continued on for about a kilometre where we stopped to take a photo of the scenery.
A scene typical of what we have been seeing as we drive along and over these small sand dunes.
Photo's over we noticed blood smeared across the front of the 5th wheeler and a couple of small dents where the eagle hit and so decided to go back to see if the eagle was in fact okay, all the time wondering how you put an injured wedgetail eagle out of its misery without getting hurt yourself! On arrival however all of our fears were relieved as there was the eagle sitting up in an old dead tree just looking at us and then flying off when we stopped to turn around, a second one circling overhead.
Heading off again we eventually arrived at the ruins some 80km's W of Windorah all we found were the foundations and a sign, so we moved on again, only to stop at the sign saying Native Well, which was two large holes in the rocky ground that actually contained water just near it, and it was near here that we decided to stop for the day on what actually turns out to be a jump up, the descent taking you down into the start of the Georgina River Catchment area.
29 May 2016
So, so quiet out here. The same quiet that makes your own heartbeat sound noisy, or the clock ticking sound like a drum. Once again a beautiful sleep in the outback, made all the better by a cool night.
Before bed last night we went outside to take some more photographs of the night sky and it was just after the camera lens had closed that there was a large long streak in the sky as a meteor streaked across the sky, the bright orange fiery head followed by a thinner but very long white long tail. Oh how we wish we had caught that on the camera. We waited for some more but the heavens only supplied a couple of small shooting stars instead.
Taking it easy this morning we took our time over eggs and bacon for breakfast and then headed off down the road once more, dropping through the gap and down the jump up we had camped on.
We are headed out there somewhere. Looking West from the Gap Jump Up.
Our first stop today came after only 4.5km and was to take a look at the hole in the mountain as indicated by the sign and makeshift arrow attached to one of the signs legs.
The hole in the mountain is just visible on the right hand side at the top.
Leaving Mt Henderson we continued on through flattish terrain, still on the narrow bitumen strip. Passing a gas pipeline compressor facility we came to the turnoff to Birdsville but continued on along the Diamantina Development Road towards Bedourie. Crossing small channels of the Farrah Creek we had to get the wheels wet at two water crossings which at a speed of about 10km per hour put spray up onto the bonnet.
We reached the dirt and stopped to let the tyres down and then continued on along what can only be described as an excellent dirt road. Crossing grid after grid we passed through station after station and then crossing the Diamantina River Channels of which one was flowing nicely. The Diamantina River dry with puddles in comparison.
We eventually stopped at the Monkira Station Rest Area, complete with covered table, waterless toilet and dump point (with a tap) and sitting almost directly across the road from the station entrance. This will be our campsite for today.
30 May 2016
Almost the end of May and we awoke to a coolish morning with a bright yellow sunrise and little cloud. Heading off down the road we were skipping along nicely at 70-80km/h over a fairly good road. The occasional rough patch, bulldust hole or creek crossing kept us on the lookout but other than that it was an easy drive.
Coming to the Nyama Creek we spotted a nice looking waterhole and decided to turn around and investigate it. Driving in and stopping on the best waterside campsite and welcomed by a very friendly and vocal Willy Wagtail we decided that we would stay. So after 70km's since our last campsite and with around 70km to Bedourie, our days travel was done.
The waterhole as the clouds formed.
31 May 2016
Just a few drops on the roof before bed started what was to be a wet and somewhat worrisome night last night, but the sight and sound of two large trucks, one a B-Double going down the road at 3.30 am offered some hope of an escape.
Getting up at 7am and going for the 100m walk out to the road showed that whilst it was wet, both the track to it, and the road looked fairly solid and so it was either stay for how ever long or make a dash for it. So after packing up and getting ready we set off. In 4wd and with the diff locks on we made it through the soft patch and hit the road with a little squirm in the rear end. Diff loks off and then just in 4wd we began our days adventure.
The road was in fact quite good and we were going quite well despite the squishy, dull feeling that the wet road was providing, but we were still able to keep a good 70km/h. After about 5 km's we met the a piece of bitumen that went for about 5km's and then we were back onto the dirt. Generally very good despite the rain we did hit a patch of about 50m where all of a sudden there was mud flying everywhere and a glance backwards in the mirror showed that we had gained a heap of weight compliments of the dirt, and we lost any speed that we might have had as the mud began to drag us down, but thankfully we managed to keep going.
The view out of the window.
A couple more wet boggy spots, some around a corner, that we thought might be interesting but which turned out to be non events thanks to the 4wd underneath us and then we came to a rest area where there was a road crew enjoying the slow start to the morning. And just when we thought it was over and the bitumen was in sight we came to roadwork's! Just what we wanted, a wet boggy road with roadwork's added for good measure, but it too turned out to be a non event and only a few moments of interest before we came to the permanent bitumen that runs for about 40km's into Bedourie, some of which runs parallel to and in between the sand ridges.
Pulling into town looking rather bedraggled and dirty, we almost got bogged at the dump point, but managed to squirm back out onto the road requiring walking the cassette across where we almost got bogged with thongs in 4wd. How embarrassing would that have been - bogged in town! So after topping the tank up with enough fuel to get us to Boulia we went to the council wash down area to remove the rest of the dirt that the puddles on the bitumen hadn't.
Washing the whole lot took us the best part of an hour, underneath being the worst.
The wash down area has nice warm artesian water which helped remove the mud we had collected. Now still with no mobile reception until Boulia we went back into town and to the information centre to ask about the rain and the forecast. The lady there didn't know how much rain they had had but did manage to ring Boulia to ask them and they said a few spits.
So off we went again, heading towards Boulia, cleaner and now on the hard stuff for a while. Passing through long green plains we eventually arrived at the Vaughn Johnson Lookout and despite the sign that says unsuitable for caravans and buses we took the short 3km bitumen road to the top and promptly found a spot for lunch before deciding to call it a day.
Looking North from the lookout which enjoys 270 degree views of the surrounding countryside.
Mark Twain once said "...years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do that by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - and so we will.
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