Tuesday 15 November to Monday 21 November
Blinman to Bourke
Blog 3
After Arkaroola we headed towards the central and southern parts of the Flinders Ranges. Blinman was our first stop where we had morning tea in a coffee shop which used to be the old school house but with a population of 20 the school house has not been needed since 1980. We stopped off at the cemetery to have an explore as we often do and found the grave of the 2nd in command to Stuart the explorer.
From there we headed towards Parachilna Gorge although we were told that it wasn’t that spectacular. It was very pretty with lots of natural pines and quite large red river gums in the river beds. We drove past a geological structure called the “The China Wall”. Then onto the Brachina Gorge which was absolutely spectacular. HUGE red river gums and there was a Geologists trail which explained the rock structures along the way. This was a great idea which we enjoyed very much. The gorge was quite close to the road which travelled along the river which actually had water in it in some sections that became our first river crossings for this trip. Next was Bunyeroo Gorge which was also spectacular and certainly had the steepest roads of the trip so far. There were great lookouts and easily seen geological structures of uplifted sedimentary layers that occurred about 600 million years ago. Again there were lots of Australian pine trees and huge red river gums. We saw lots of emus, some kangaroos and frog-necked lizards.
We walked into Sacred Canyon which is an Aboriginal art site. The river bed started off quite broad and then narrowed as it became rocky and increased in elevation with pools of water. It was a great walk and the Aboriginal Engravings were quite simple and sparse.
We spent the night at Wilpena Pound in the southern end of the Flinders Ranges with lots of birds and magnificent trees in the evening light.
Our next outing was a self drive 4WD journey at a place called Willow Springs Station. The drive is a 63km trek called Skytrek that takes you through fantastic country and to a 920m high lookout as well as other lookouts and takes 5-6 hours to complete. The road was steep up and down MANY stony tracks and the stories in their pamphlet included the flora, fauna and geology of the area.
The Aboriginal Engravings were different from what we had seen so far apart from Sacred Canyon because they were not paintings but engravings in the rocks carved out by hammering with hard rocks. We stopped at the Old Moxans’ Hut which was built at the beginning of the 1900’s and used continuously until 1960’s. Pinnacle Range Lookout was our first lookout showing a structure called Emu Gap. We had to use 4WD mode and low gears for the rest of the journey. We stopped at Murray’s Lookout from where you can see Mt Chambers, the hills of Wilkawillina Gorge and the Minerals Barytes Mine. The mine was discovered in 1940 with large deposits of Barytes. The milled product is used as an oil drilling mud, in the manufacture of paint, brake linings, glass, paper, linoleum and barium meal. It was a steep and stony journey getting to Mount Caernarvon Trig Point at 920m but it was absolutely spectacular. There were painted footsteps there and if you stood on them the chart they supplied gave the names of the surrounding features.
The last stop on the journey was Skull Rock and only a short walk from the car brought us to a huge rock that looked just like a skull. It was worth the trip. We had a most spectacular day.
Our stop for the evening was Parachilna which was on the highway and looked like a nothing stop but had a fantastic pub with the railway line at the back of the caravan park. Every night a 2.8km train passes taking coal from the Leigh Creek coal mine to Port Augusta. It took forever to pass by. We watched a great sunset after we had dinner at the pub. Mike had the “FMG” - feral meat grill special which consisted of a kangaroo steak, an Emu rissole and a Camel sausage!!!!! Like he says you have to do it once.
After Parachilna we drove north to Marree. The outback and dust really gets under your skin and we wanted to see more. It is desolate and beautiful and we learn a little bit more for each bit that we travel and are always amazed how the early explorers and settlers survived as we travel in our air conditioned cars and caravan with all the comforts of home.
On our way to Marree which is the beginning of the Birdsville Track we stopped to see Talc Alf who is an artist situated 2km down the Strzelecki Track. He wasn’t there as he was doing the Strzelecki Track mail run but we had a look around at his artwork. They were beautiful sculptures and he was obviously a very politically minded man who seemed to have an interest in the origin of language and Egyptian Hieroglyphics. We then stopped off at the Red Brown and White Ochre Cliffs that the aborigines used to dig out to use for paintings, ceremonies and to trade with aborigines from other areas.
Blinman to Bourke
Blog 3
After Arkaroola we headed towards the central and southern parts of the Flinders Ranges. Blinman was our first stop where we had morning tea in a coffee shop which used to be the old school house but with a population of 20 the school house has not been needed since 1980. We stopped off at the cemetery to have an explore as we often do and found the grave of the 2nd in command to Stuart the explorer.
From there we headed towards Parachilna Gorge although we were told that it wasn’t that spectacular. It was very pretty with lots of natural pines and quite large red river gums in the river beds. We drove past a geological structure called the “The China Wall”. Then onto the Brachina Gorge which was absolutely spectacular. HUGE red river gums and there was a Geologists trail which explained the rock structures along the way. This was a great idea which we enjoyed very much. The gorge was quite close to the road which travelled along the river which actually had water in it in some sections that became our first river crossings for this trip. Next was Bunyeroo Gorge which was also spectacular and certainly had the steepest roads of the trip so far. There were great lookouts and easily seen geological structures of uplifted sedimentary layers that occurred about 600 million years ago. Again there were lots of Australian pine trees and huge red river gums. We saw lots of emus, some kangaroos and frog-necked lizards.
We walked into Sacred Canyon which is an Aboriginal art site. The river bed started off quite broad and then narrowed as it became rocky and increased in elevation with pools of water. It was a great walk and the Aboriginal Engravings were quite simple and sparse.
We spent the night at Wilpena Pound in the southern end of the Flinders Ranges with lots of birds and magnificent trees in the evening light.
Our next outing was a self drive 4WD journey at a place called Willow Springs Station. The drive is a 63km trek called Skytrek that takes you through fantastic country and to a 920m high lookout as well as other lookouts and takes 5-6 hours to complete. The road was steep up and down MANY stony tracks and the stories in their pamphlet included the flora, fauna and geology of the area.
The Aboriginal Engravings were different from what we had seen so far apart from Sacred Canyon because they were not paintings but engravings in the rocks carved out by hammering with hard rocks. We stopped at the Old Moxans’ Hut which was built at the beginning of the 1900’s and used continuously until 1960’s. Pinnacle Range Lookout was our first lookout showing a structure called Emu Gap. We had to use 4WD mode and low gears for the rest of the journey. We stopped at Murray’s Lookout from where you can see Mt Chambers, the hills of Wilkawillina Gorge and the Minerals Barytes Mine. The mine was discovered in 1940 with large deposits of Barytes. The milled product is used as an oil drilling mud, in the manufacture of paint, brake linings, glass, paper, linoleum and barium meal. It was a steep and stony journey getting to Mount Caernarvon Trig Point at 920m but it was absolutely spectacular. There were painted footsteps there and if you stood on them the chart they supplied gave the names of the surrounding features.
The last stop on the journey was Skull Rock and only a short walk from the car brought us to a huge rock that looked just like a skull. It was worth the trip. We had a most spectacular day.
Our stop for the evening was Parachilna which was on the highway and looked like a nothing stop but had a fantastic pub with the railway line at the back of the caravan park. Every night a 2.8km train passes taking coal from the Leigh Creek coal mine to Port Augusta. It took forever to pass by. We watched a great sunset after we had dinner at the pub. Mike had the “FMG” - feral meat grill special which consisted of a kangaroo steak, an Emu rissole and a Camel sausage!!!!! Like he says you have to do it once.
After Parachilna we drove north to Marree. The outback and dust really gets under your skin and we wanted to see more. It is desolate and beautiful and we learn a little bit more for each bit that we travel and are always amazed how the early explorers and settlers survived as we travel in our air conditioned cars and caravan with all the comforts of home.
On our way to Marree which is the beginning of the Birdsville Track we stopped to see Talc Alf who is an artist situated 2km down the Strzelecki Track. He wasn’t there as he was doing the Strzelecki Track mail run but we had a look around at his artwork. They were beautiful sculptures and he was obviously a very politically minded man who seemed to have an interest in the origin of language and Egyptian Hieroglyphics. We then stopped off at the Red Brown and White Ochre Cliffs that the aborigines used to dig out to use for paintings, ceremonies and to trade with aborigines from other areas.
We drove back to Marree and started our Birdsville Track journey. It was very hot outside, about 40C, but we were cool in our car.
Our first stop was Lake Harry Ruins where 2000 date palms were planted but the plantation failed. We then stopped at the Dog Fence, again, which is an amazing structure both for its length and that it seems so fragile. Our next stop was Clayton Wetlands Campsite which had a hot spa bath, showers, both using water coming from the Great Artesian Basin, and toilets. It is amazing to see these oases in the middle of the desert regions. We stopped at a memorial to the MV Tom Brennan which is a steel barge that was used in the 1949 floods to help assist ferry, people, supplies and cattle. Then we drove through the 4.5km flood plain of the Cooper Creek made famous by Banjo Patterson’s, “Clancy of the Overflow” poem. There were fantastic Coolabah trees in the river bed. We passed through the Natterannie Sand dunes. Thank goodness that there is a road now and we don’t have to actually go over the dunes. We stopped at the Old Mulka Homestead Ruins. These are amazing stories of families who lived in the outback but in the end the drought drove out all the customers of the shop and therefore they struggled. George Aiston was a scientist and did many things, he collected Aboriginal Artifacts and catalogued a major anthropological collection. When he died, his wife donated all his things to the Adelaide and Canberra Museums.
We arrived at the Mungerannie Roadhouse at about 4:00pm in 40C heat. Not a powered site but we used the generator to run the air conditioner while we had dinner in the roadhouse. The roadhouse is situated on the Derwent River and there is a wetland just next to where we parked the caravan for the night. A most amazing site. There is plenty of water with ducks and lots of reeds, trees and all sorts of birds. The water coming out of the bore is too hot to swim in although we were told that in the winter the pool is used for swimming. The road house lies at the junction of 4 deserts, the Sturt’s Stony, Tirari, Simpson and the Strzelecki Deserts. We were exhausted after another spectacular day filled with amazing sites. It certainly isn’t tourist season anymore. We didn’t see another single vehicle for the 203km that we travelled all day!!!! That just added to the feeling of isolation of the countryside.
Mungerannie to Birdsville was the longest journey, 326km, so far without a possible petrol stop.
We stopped at Mirra Mitta Bore, which was another wetland in the middle of the desert but the water was so hot that the signs actually said boiling water, no swimming. There was a lot of green vegetation and birdlife. There were also a lot of big healthy looking cattle and lots of calves in each area where there was water and vegetation. The road was very desolate although we actually saw 2 other cars today that were both heading south. There were lots of sand dunes and the country was really desert with water holes and patches of green. We crossed the SA-QLD border and turned our watches back half an hour and arrived at Birdsville. Everything was shut for the summer except for the Birdsville Pub. We only came across 2 other tourist couples, both from Europe, equally as mad as us here in the summer!!!!
The caravan part was open and we could take our pick of sites in the 30 acres of park. We chatted with some of the locals, walked around town in the 45C heat and then had cool refreshing beers in the pub at even though it was only 4:00pm and watched some cricket. We headed back to the pub for dinner and a chat with the other tourist and the locals. It was a great night.
On Richard’s advice, the guy in charge of the caravan park, we drove the 35km out in the cool of the next morning to see “Big Red” a sand dune on the edge of the Simpson Desert.
We left just after 5:00am to get to Big Red at dawn. The sand was cool, firm and crisp and we drove half way up the dune Big Red which is the biggest sand dune in the Simpson Desert. What a buzz it was.
There were lots of animal tracks including snake tracks and burrows that looked like crab hole but I found out later were probably marsupial mice tracks. The dune was definitely red and beautiful with the beautiful colours it displayed as the sun rose. It was a most spectacular start to the day.
On the way out of Birdsville we stopped at the Coolabah tree that Burke and Wills had carved out in 1860. What an amazing thing to see, to touch something that they had actually touched more than 140 years ago – the tree was still alive and well.
We turned our clocks back as we left Queensland and re-entered South Australia and headed towards Innamincka along a track suggest by Barry at the Birdsville Mobil service station that was only on some of the maps. Our biggest worry was not driving the track but that we would be able to know where it was. We drove to Walkers Crossing checking the km between each of the cattle grids to make sure we were still on the road and then after Walkers Crossing there were signs to follow to Innamincka. We travelled through a range of countryside, initially it was mainly small pebbles and rocks and then sandy. The colours were spectacular, red yellow and every shade in between and there were always patches of green, water, birds and the cattle. We travelled through the Moomba gas and oil fields. Neither of us had heard of them before but they were quite extensive with people and trucks obviously drilling new bores and apparently Sydney gets its gas from here.
Just before we got to Innamincka we went to see where Wills had died on the Cooper River. It was 42C outside the car, 23C inside the car, we understood why Burke and Wills perished!!!
Innamincka is tiny and we camped on the banks of the Cooper River and thanks to our generator we could use the microwave, air conditioner and computers. Not really roughing it!!!
The evening and morning were spectacular by the river.
We then took the Old Strzelecki Track to Merty Merty and the along another road to Tibooburra as was recommended to us in Innamincka. It was a very good road, much better than our drive yesterday. The terrain was sandy with a lot of sand dunes in fact the last stretch before Cameron’s Corner was like a continuous roller coaster ride over the red sand dunes. I was so glad that it was a road and that we didn’t have to negotiate the actual dunes. The countryside was beautiful and it wasn’t as hot as yesterday. The temperature only got to the low 30’s and because it is a dry heat it was very pleasant outside. The only stop we really made was at the pub at Cameron’s corner for lunch. Cameron’s corner is a point that sits on the border of South Australia, Queensland & New South Wales. It is a fantastic spot named after the government surveyor Cameron.
As we crossed over into NSW we had to go through the Dog Fence again but this time we actually had to pass through a gate. This was great stuff. We drove into the Sturt National Park once we were in NSW and saw quite a few grey kangaroos and lots of wedge tail eagles and the usual sand lizards and birds, some falcons, crows white cockatoos and pink gallahs. As we approached Tibooburra for the last 30km or so the ground became very rocky and there was very little vegetation except for a kind of grass covering. Tibooburra is situated on granite and there are granite rocks and boulders everywhere. It is quite a dramatic change of scenery. Apart from being the hottest place in NSW, Tibooburra has “The Family Pub” which is famous for it’s murals including a drawing by Russell Drysdale.
We then headed for Bourke along the dirt roads at the “Back of Bourke” which will probably be the last dirt roads for this trip. Both the car and caravan really need a wash.
