DAY 22

DAY 22

12^th July

Up early to pack up camp. Cheryl gave us the hurry up as there was lightning to the south. We packed up pretty quickly and had breakfast at the camp kitchen. A quick duck into Bourke for petrol and some bread and milk, then it was on the road again, heading to Lightning Ridge. The rain hit us just as we were leaving Bourke. (A wrong turn then took us passed the Fred Hollows memorial). Another wet day of driving ahead.

We stopped briefly at Brewarrina and checked out the Aboriginal fish traps in the river, the oldest known man made tool in the world and still working.

Peter told us that after Walgett they would just keep heading to Tamworth rather than coming to Lightning Ridge. Williams decided to do the same.

We stopped at a park in Walgett and made some lunch.

 We said our goodbyes to Freemans and Williams and then headed on to Lightning Ridge. It was a shame that we didn’t all have our final nights together. L

Once at Lightning Ridge we set up in a caravan park. We had a cabin for all the swag sleepers and Chez and Col slept in their roof top tent. Then we got our swimmers on, had a glass of wine, and walked up the road to relax in the thermal baths.

 The perfect way to end our wonderful holiday. We then went into town for Pizza. A lovely evening J

DAY 21

DAY 21

11^th July

We woke up to a thick fog, but the rain had stopped, a day of rest ahead of us. Everyone seemed quite relaxed and cheerful. I went for a walk with Mike to confirm times for the paddleboat and then we all had nice casual relaxed breakfasts. Jamie and Haley were as thick as thieves exploring the gardens and making a house for a little green tree frog that Bruce had found. It kept them busy for hours.

Some sunshine actually forced its way out and so did the chairs and the books. We enjoyed soaking up some of its warmth. I even managed to get our swag mattress dry!! Freemans and Williams went into Bourke to check it out. Jordan spent some time skyping  Lucy and Brendan (whoo whoo).

At 3pm we all headed off for an educational cruise on the Darling River, aboard the PV Jandra. The kids though this was great. Bruce’s people mover came in handy as he taxied us down to the river bank to avoid the mud track that took us down there.... thanks Casper J

We all had a drink and BBQ dinner at the camp kitchen as the camping ground’s planned camp fire and poet’s night got cancelled due to the wet. We enjoyed talking to Nanny and Pop and Grandma and Grandad on the phone. It was a very enjoyable and relaxed evening.

DAY 20

DAY 20

10^th July

The dry arid lands of the outback are now resembling a delta. Looks like we are going to have rain with us for most of the week. A bit of a downer for the last part of our holiday. With more and more roads closing our options were pretty much limited to the tarred roads.

 After a hearty breakfast at the quaint Noccundra Hotel, we all decided to keep heading towards Bourke via Thargominda and Cunnamulla. A long, rainy drive on tar. A challenging day in the car for the kids. We filled up with petrol at Thargominda. It was too wet to bother trying to see the river.

There was a break in the rain as we arrived at a little town around 2pm called Eulo, a cute little opal town. We made it just in time for the hotel to scrape up some stew, damper and billy tea for lunch, yummo. Just perfect for a rainy day.The population of Eulo is 50 people and 1500 lizards. Still didn’t see a lizard though, other than the one that didn’t make it across the road just before we came in to town.

After lunch I went for a wander up the street with the kids. During my absence the others decided should keep pushing on until Bourke. I would have been happy to camp in Eulo, but the thought of a two night stop at Bourke could be good for some of the group. So it was going to be a late one. Pretty tough for the kids but they handled it quite well. Jamie and Michael have been so good on this trip! We stopped occasionally for wee breaks and to swap drivers only. A long wet drive down the Mitchell Hwy. It looked like the road was built for the purpose of roo culling... Mike finally noticing all the lumps on the side of the road. We did see lots of living emus, kangaroos, goats, dingos, pigs, sheep and cows.

We finally got to Bourke about 7pm. We had to find a spot at the caravan park and set up in the dark. Luckily it wasn’t raining, but it obviously had been as there was plenty of sloshy mud about. Then it was minor melt down night for some people. The wet and mud getting a little too much. Woops. Peter and Anthea decided to head on into town to try to find a room. It was pretty tough for them with Chelsea and all the mud and wet. Chez was also upset, thinking that everyone was blaming her L

In the end we all got set up for a 2 night stay, even managed to get some grass under our swags , so all good J We used a great camp kitchen to heat up our dinner. After the kids went to bed we joined Cheryl and Col at the big camp fire with a drink and chatted with a group of coppers that were staying for a train the trainers camp. Turned out to be a very pleasant evening. (Poor Peter and Anthea couldn’t find a room in town and ended up back at the camping ground with us. The coppers said they’d be better here anyway as it can be pretty rough in town at night. We decided just to leave them and give them some space.)

Whilst at the campfire, Stu and I had all our  bedding in the laundry driers. With the rain a pool of water got into our swag bags whilst on the roof of the car and had soaked right through wetting one side of the swag. We put a tarp over our mattress and then put the dry sheets and blankets back on.

DAY 19

DAY 19

9^th July

A very snug and warm night in the swags. Didn’t wake up to any ice or condensation. We packed up camp, another quick repair job to to the bush on our shocks. Col cut one the mechanic in Birdsville had given us to size. Hopefully this will see us through a bit longer than the rubber we had been using. We headed on down the Cordillo Downs Rd towards Innamincka. It was in much better condition than we were expecting.

Once again, spectacular scenery in the Strzelecki Desert. Reds, greens, sunshine, rainbows and storm clouds. This area was still quite wet from recent floods, and made the road sloshy at times, but generally the driving was very easy. Finally, some of the storm clouds were above us and it was raining on us in the desert!!! And we thought the Morgans had stayed home Lol J We could see the sections of rain scattered around the horizon.

We arrived in Innamincka after crossing Cooper Creek and had some lunch at the hotel and filled up our fuel. Whilst there we found out that the Strzelecki Track was now closed due to the rain and there would be more closures soon. Unfortunately for the Parkes, they were going to miss out for the second time on this section of the outback due to rain and road closures. So it was decision time.

We started to head off to see the ‘Dig Tree’ (Burke and Wills)but realised we would be doubling up our driving as we would now be going down this same road tomorrow. (Our alternative route to Cameron’s Corner). So we decided to leave it to the morning and went to check out Burke’s grave along Cooper Creek and set up camp for the night. It was a lovely area of the river and we enjoyed walking along, watching the birds and seeing some beautiful gum and coolabah trees.

When we arrived at a camping spot by the river the heavens opened up above us. Within minutes the ground tuned into a thick, wet, sticky mud. We went back near Burke’s grave where we thought it was sandier. Once again rain headed our way and we took cover with the kids in the car. We eventually decided to head with Freemans back into Innamincka to see if we could find somewhere dry to stay for the night. We couldn’t believe how wet the track had become in such a short time, it looked more like a creek. The kids loved driving through all the mud and puddles. Back in town we didn’t have much luck with accommodation. The muddy car park about the best option. They had even sand bagged the doorway to the hotel! By this time Parkes and Williams had joined us back in Innamincka after the place they had planned to camp was nearly knee high in running water.

We heard that the road to Cameron’s Corner was now closing as were most other roads. Word was that all roads in and out of Innamincka would be closed during the night. This meant we could have been stranded in muddy Innamincka for days! We decided to make a mad dash and leave on the one remaining road. It meant about 25km of unsealed road before we hit the bitumen. It also meant that we would have to miss out on the Dig Tree and Cameron’s Corner L.

We headed out along Adventure Way in the direction of Thargominda which was not yet officially closed, not really knowing how far we would be driving. It well and truly lived up to its name, especially in the unsealed section... it was dark, muddy and slippery. We slipped all over the road. Cheryl thought the Defender was going to roll around one corner as Col tackled it sideways. Thank goodness for the spots that Stu put on the car! Stuart’s adrenalin was pumping. He was loving the mud driving. His most exciting part of the trip! Our cars all got a thick, red brown coating. Eventually, we made it to the sealed section. We just kept driving, no one really knew where to stop. The swags in this mud was making a bush camp not sound very appealing. Eventually we stopped in a tiny little town called Noccundra. The local hotel had become a bit of a refugee ground. Other people had vans out the front, and some swags had taken cover in the beer garden, even on the tables. Not sure the publican appreciated us arriving at 10pm he was pretty short and grumpy. The four of us took the one remaining room that only had a double bed. It was very squashy but at least we were dry. The older kids set up their swags on the grass alongside the veranda of the hotel, whilst the roof tops and T-Van parked on the road in front of the grass area. There was more rain through the night.

DAY 18

DAY 18

8^th July

We all felt fresh and clean ... hair, body and clothes. Everyone filled their tummies with a big country breakfast at the hotel and ran off in different directions, sightseeing and getting fuel and supplies topped up. This proved to be quite difficult as there were more people in town than the locals were prepared for. Food and bread were in high demand. We took some tourist shots of the hotel and checked out the geothermal power station (which was closed). Stu asked a mechanic about our shocks and he said “they’re working too hard, do you want to buy some new shocks?” Stu decided he was just after a sale. The mechanic gave Stu some new bushes to take with us. They looked a bit like roller skate wheels. There was definitely plenty of work in town for mechanics. One sign read “mechanic wanted for one week, one month or forever”. Another sign at the mechanics kindly told customers to “...” ‘if you stay add 10%, if you watch over my shoulder add 20%, if you offer to help add 40% and if you do the work add 100%’!!

We found out that Cordillo Downs Road was now open (has been a flood area for a few weeks especially the south end) so off we headed. We passed the Birdsville Race Track, I was the only one who got out for a quick run on the track! Don’t think I would have put any money on me though!!

We headed on down through the Sturt Stony Desert. The contrasts of whites, reds, greens, blue and greys (sections of storm clouds around the skies) were fantastic. Spectacular, picturesque scenery. I loved the drive today.

Cordillo Downs Station property started as we crossed back over the South Australian Border. This was once the largest sheep station in Australia, now running cattle. We stopped at the ruins of an old out station for lunch. It was by a full waterhole and the flies were a major battle. We then continued on through the property. We all enjoyed a few muddy water crossings. It was hard to see any original paint colour on our cars now.

We stopped at the homestead and looked at the old wool shed that is now heritage  listed. In 1900, 85000 sheep were sheered in the shed. The station, situated in the Stony Desert looked out over the Strzelecki Desert. Bright red dunes glowing in the sunshine. Spectacular views and scenery. We headed on down the road near the edge of the station by a creek to set up for camp for the night. We had to be careful of cables that had been set out in the area relating to seismic research. There was lots of firewood available and we had a huge campfire and lots of warmth. Mike decided to stay up and read his book by the campfire, he lasted way passed 10pm. He’s becoming a real little bookworm. Off to bed, and no earthquakes that we could feel J

DAY 17

DAY 17

7^th July

We all packed up in record time this morning. Another icy one, makes it hard to get up out of warm beds. We headed off up K1 track and up to the French Line. We were to follow this through to ‘Big Red’ and then on to Birdsville Hotel for a much needed shower and a little luxury. Mike was feeling sad because he didn’t want to leave the desert!

We all travelled well, no problem getting over the dunes. The sand was very red here, but there was also lots of green. Looked like cows could have been grazing! Another quick fix needed on the front shock on our car. Lucky the guys are all so clever.

There was lots of traffic heading east and west. Like a highway. Radios got lots of work. Most drivers were friendly and courteous, a couple of groups however had no manners!! Quite funny when one of these that pushed in front of us then got themselves bogged on the very next dune! Karma J

We had lunch in Eyre Creek which was dry as a bone. The temps today were approaching 30 degrees. Amazing! After lunch we passed a walker/runner crossing the desert fundraising for the RFDS. Good on her! She was wearing white and amazingly clean!!

Then it was on to the “Big Red”. Our final and largest dune to conquer!!

We all opted to give the middle path a go. We were all too loaded to try the extreme track. Stu was first, but didn’t get a good enough run up and just fell short of the top. Pete and Bruce made great efforts but didn’t quite make the crest either. They ended up cruising up on the third track. Up went the Col in the Defender... first go! Well done. Stu then also got over the top on the middle path. Not to be out done Cheryl and I had to prove our girl power and both made it up the middle track first time.

 A quick photo shoot and on to Birdsville, via a detour around the lake that was still on the east side of Big Red. It was very picturesque and a bird haven.

We all enjoyed our showers, dinners and a drink at the hotel. We sent some messages home, heard about Jessie and rang Katie to sing happy birthday to her! The laundry got worked overtime. A great day. Bye Simpson Desert! L

DAY 16

DAY 16

6^th July

Sleep in and rest day!!!!  J

We went for a walk to the ‘Post’ and stood in three different states. (Queensland, South Australia and Northern Territory. Took a stroll into Northern Territory across the salt lake.

 The kids created their own little Coober Pedy in the sand at our camp and enjoyed playing in it ALL DAY. We read, wrote in diaries, some slept, did more mechanical and electrical repairs and checked over cars. More work was needed on our shock absorbers.

We were all out of bread now so lunch saw many options of biscuits, wraps and pancakes.

A nice relaxing day. Alittle windy but nice and warm in the sun. The night ended with a game of charades.