DAY 24: Back on the road again, destination Macquarie
Marshes. This was a bit déjà vu, just in reverse, to Gilgandra. We passed
through the Jerry’s Plains district again with its racehorse studs. What money is tied up there! Someone seemed to be upgrading their
airstrip. Ages ago I renamed this area
Sheiksville after I discovered that much of the area is owned by one Sheik Mohammed. No idea if he still owns it. With the mountains as a backdrop, this section of the drive is so
pretty.
During the drive to Gilgandra, I amused myself with place
names. We passed Poppong Rd, Willy Wally Gully, the road to Blue Biddy
Mountain, Ukebung Creek, and Bearbong Road.
What leads people to name places like these? Do you think someone’s ukulele broke at
Ukebung Creek? Who was the Blue
Biddy? And Bearbong?
Not long after Gilgandra we hit the gravel again, on our way
to a campground on a property near the Macquarie Marshes. We had wanted to go Burrima Boardwalk, the
only public access to the Macquarie Marshes, last year but it was closed due to
the rains. Tomorrow we hope to go.
I drove for one and a half hours, despite feeling coldy, so Pete could put the finishing touches on his TED talk.
Unfortunately, the drive was long and the gravel part was
quite slow – we even had to make a water crossing that was about 30cm deep – so
we ended up driving at kangaroo o’clock.
The last 15 km were slow – avoiding kangaroos.
It is cold tonight!
DAY 25: Went to bed last night with both doonas on, wearing
a beanie, a T-shirt under my winter pyjama top and long-johns under the bottoms. Slept well though. Hard to get out of bed
when it’s that cold though.
Once the sun came up, it didn’t take long to warm up enough
to feel like getting a move on. We packed up and headed 30km up the road to
Burrima (means Black Swan in the local Wailwan language). This is a private property that for 160 years
was used for grazing but that was converted to a conservation area in 2005. It
is beautiful and I wish we could have stayed longer but we had another four
hours driving, so a couple of hours there had to do. Here are a few birds and plants I saw.
The scenery is much like this.
Once we left Burrima, we travelled on bitumen for a bit before once again hitting the gravel for the drive to Bourke. The gravel roads are in some ways better than
the tarmac around here. The bitumen drive from Burrima to Carinda is often only
one lane and in pretty poor condition. The gravel roads heading west on the
other hand were surprisingly good.
While I was busy checking out the road conditions, Pete entertained me by singing a medley of Burt Bacharach songs (oh help me!)
After a late lunch in Bourke and after posting a birthday
card we headed further north to Barringun. Our company on the road this time was sheep. The last 10kms or so was very slow going.
We are staying the night at the Bush Tucker Inn and Caravan Park. Very quiet. At least it was until a cattle transport pulled up and the cattle were stomping around for ages. Strange though, not a moo from them. They didn't stay for long.
Day 26: I have been feeling pretty coldy the last few days so have not felt like doing much. Just as well, as we have needed to do a lot of driving. We drove to Quilpie today via Cunnamulla and Eulo. Morning tea time at Cunnamulla was the perfect time to enjoy the Cunnamulla Bushland, a regenerated area showcasing the local bioregions and their flora. Great to see grasses included. There were plenty of birds around - it would be a wonderful birdwatching area if you had time.
This was Pete, at last allowing himself a five-minute break from his creative genius.
We allowed ourselves a little time for sightseeing after filling up with diesel and buying a treat at the bakery in Cunnamulla. First, the silo art - I rather like this one.
Next we went to look at the statue of Cunnamulla Fella, a fictional bush hero made famous by a Slim Dusty song. The local museum attached to the Visitor Centre was worth the visit, covering a whole range of subjects. In a last drive around town, I found these interesting houses - one had people out the front so I couldn't get a picture of both of them.
Eulo was a tiny hamlet but still looked as if it would have been worth a stop at - we didn't, except for lunch. We did learn that it is a racing town - cockroach and lizard racing!
No time for anything more. Destination Quilpie where we have booked into a caravan park for a couple of nights.
DAY 26: We had a lazy start to the day today, no - I did. Pete reorganised the car (he really did!) ready for our desert tour, in whatever form it takes. After morning tea we saw the sights of Quilpie. The visitor centre again was the site of museums, three to be precise, and all worth visiting. There was also an art gallery with an interesting exhibition of digital art. I also enjoyed some of the metal sculptures outside the centre.
We then enjoyed a slow walk around the Bulloo River Walk, an easy 1.8km stroll beside the river with interpretive signs along the way. Lovely.
While I rested in the afternoon, Pete rewatched the king's coronation.
In time to catch sunset, we drove out to Baldy Top, about 5 km out of town. This is an area of boulder hills that really stand out in an otherwise flat landscape. Millions of years old, the rock is full of crevices and little caves.
It is a perfect sunset/rise and stargazing spot. Let's hope the rainclouds aren't headed towards where we're going ...
DAY 27: Up early to pack up the camper (we had taken it off the truck so we could drive around Quilpie) and head to Windorah via Eromanga and Kybara Waterhole.
The road out of Quilpie to Eromanga is an interesting one. You really notice that you are in 'Channel Country' with umpteen floodway crossings, none of which had any water in them today. The road is often just one lane of bitumen.
It is sooo annoying when you meet a car that doesn't know how to drive on these roads. A couple just put their outside wheels onto the stony verge and continue at a reasonable pace, virtually guaranteeing windscreen damage in any oncoming traffic. Grrr. We've already had that experience and don't need a bust windscreen before we head off on the tour. We were lucky, in any case, and escaped with no damage.
Closer to Eromanga we passed a property with dinosaur sculptures at their roadside entry.
We then passed some beautiful brolgas just grazing on the road verge.
Eromanga is famous for three reasons: opals, oil and gas, and dinosaurs. (4 reasons actually. It is also the Australian town furthest from the ocean.) Our reason for taking the detour to Eromanga before going to Windorah was to go to the Natural History Museum there, in which is displayed dinosaur and megafauna bones found in the Eromanga vicinity. It houses the bones of Australotitan cooperensis, one of the huge sauropods, found by chance when a fourteen year old boy on a property found an interesting 'stone', which turned out to be a dinosaur bone. This was a new species of dinosaur and the type is one of the largest known species. There are bones being dug up regularly and likely to be other new species found. This natural history museum is well worth the visit.
The main building is only a couple of years old and is an excellent piece of architecture, although my photos barely show this.
After meeting with Cooper, Sid, Monty, Ted and other dinosaurs, we headed back on the road, stopping for lunch at Kybara Waterhole, one of the prime birdwatching areas in the Quilpie shire.
Not that we saw many birds but we heard plenty and I certainly didn't have much time for looking around. I did find some dragonflies.
Meanwhile, Pete was foraging for wild mushrooms.
We then crossed one of the main channels of Cooper Creek. I believe we will cross it again on our trip but when I look at a map I cannot quite understand how this Cooper Creek and the one in SA are one and the same. Soooo many channels in this channel country.
Finally, we ended up in Windorah where we are staying at the Western Star Hotel. Here we met with our tour leader, Michael, and the seven other people who will be on our tour. A motel room for the night!
Tonight we found out basically what we will be doing - we will be starting by going down the Birdsville Track, then up the Oodnadatta Track, then up Blood's Creek Track to Mt Dare. From there, 6 days in the Simpson Desert, more than we had dared hope for after all the rain. Still not exactly sure of the route we will take.
Our first ever convoy drive starts tomorrow.
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