Historic places – Tabers Travels

Tabers Travels Go West

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Western Australia.

It had been over 36 years since we had travelled over there (except for a brief stop in Perth airport on our way to Broome for a Kimberley Cruise) and we had a few places on the list that we had never been to, so we packed up Roxy (the motorhome) and took off.

Rain once again had impacted on our initial travel plans: we had intended driving up into the Northern Territory and across to WA on the (dirt/gravel) Great Central Road, but as we began our trip, that road was closed due to rains, as were several others. We even managed to get stranded for a few nights in a couple of places where the rains came after we travelled in and so we had to wait till roads dried a bit and opened again before we were able to get out again. No drama – all part of travelling the outback during winter.

So instead of heading north, we took the “easy” option and drove across the Nullarbor, which was great as we hadn’t done that for 36 years either.

Along the way, we stopped in at a number of places to vary the route and make it a little more interesting.

Starting with a couple of nights camping on the Murray just out of Robinvale, we headed up through Mildura to take a back road (dirt of course) across to Renmark, thus avoiding the main highways and traffic. Pulled up for the night at a free camp on the Rufus River Road at Lake Victoria, and true to form, the rain came which kept us there for the next three nights as the road was closed to all traffic. We managed to fill in those days quite easily by exploring the local area, although we couldn’t venture too far as we had to go on foot – even then we found ourselves getting taller with the sticky mud clinging to our shoes. So we checked out Lake Victoria with its resident populations of pelicans and cormorants and other water birds, and its sad history of the Rufus River Massacre of 1841. We also took a longer walk out to the Lock 7, one of the 13 Locks along the Murray River which maintain flow, water levels and navigation of the river. No boats coming through that day, so we turned around and walked the long sticky walk back to our campsite.

After three days we heard the road was open again, so rather than continuing through to Renmark, we thought it was wiser to backtrack the shorter distance to the bitumen and stay on bitumen for a while. In doing this we still had to navigate about 60km of sticky gluey road and we quickly concluded that this road should NOT have been open to traffic yet!! However, we made it back to Wentworth, with Roxy weighing a whole lot more than when we went in, due to the mud that had collected in every wheel well and on the mud guards and bumpers. We even had to stop at one point to clean off the manual step that had dropped down with the weight of the mud it had collected as we drove along.

Staying on bitumen till we got through Port Augusta, we turned onto a dirt road to spend a few nights in the Gawler Ranges at Mt Ive Station, a working sheep station that offers camping, accommodation and a bar, along with its unique tourist sites including Lake Gairdner, a huge salt lake where annual Speed Week events occur and Land Speed Records are attempted. Four-wheel drive tracks around the property take you to other sites of interest, including the Organ Pipes, a large stand of rhyolite pillars, and The Embankment, a dry-stone wall dam built in the late 1800s for water catchment. This dam wall does have a small leak and although he tried (and unlike the little Dutch boy) Gary was unable to stem the flow by plugging it with his finger!

Leaving Mt Ive, we passed through the Gawler Ranges National Park – spotting a Mallee Fowl on the roadside – and down to meet the Eyre highway at Minnipa, to continue on our way out west, with a couple of overnight roadside stops.

After crossing into WA and driving about 300 km, we detoured off the main highway and crossed the plains northwards on a pretty rough “road” (120 kilometres took us 6 hours!!), through 11 farm gates of varying styles, till we hit the Trans Australian Railway line at Haig, one of the original “towns” along the Line. From there, we followed the railway line on the Trans Access Road, a very well-maintained dirt road, the rest of the way into Kalgoorlie and the Goldfields. Stopping in at Rawlinna (population 30) another of the towns along the line, we had lunch and a cuppa on the huge tables at the station, where passengers on the Indian Pacific train trip across the country are treated to an “Outback Experience” of dinner under the stars.

Kalgoorlie has a great FREE (in our price range) Museum of the Goldfields, and lots of grand buildings dating back to the height of the gold rushes there. The town is dominated by the “Superpit”, the huge hole in the earth formed by dredging for gold. If you do nothing else in Kalgoorlie, it is well and truly worth going up to the Lookout which overlooks this massive operation, where, since gold was first discovered in 1893, over 60 million ounces of gold has been produced, making it one of the richest gold producers in the world.

North of Kalgoorlie, we called in at the Two Up Shed, one of only two venues in Australia where Two-up, the gambling game popularized by WW1 Australian soldiers, is legally played any time, happening here most weekends and public holidays. Elsewhere playing the game is illegal except on Anzac Day.

After lunching on the biggest hamburgers I’ve ever seen at Broad Arrow Tavern, we followed the Golden Quest Discovery Trail along some minor trails and backroads to places steeped in goldfield history, including: Ora Banda, Copperfield, Goongarrie, Davyhurst and Mount Morgans, most of which are now just sites of former towns; and Kookynie, a stop on the rail line that still boasts an open pub – but getting a drink can take a while as feeding the local horse at the front door takes precedence! And the quaint old town of Gwalia, home of the 1.6 kilometre-deep, 1897-established Sons of Gwalia Mine, once managed by (future US President) Herbert Hoover, and where old miners’ cottages and “camps” (shacks) have been preserved and restored by volunteers. Goldfields towns that still have decent (and friendly) populations and include Leonora, Menzies, Laverton and Sandstone, are surrounded by some amazing country and natural features, notably The Granites, and Ularring Rocks, both of which are piles of large red boulders and rocks that resemble a mini version of the Devils Marbles of NT; and the impressive London Bridge, a weathered basalt archway believed to be around 350 million years old.

Lake Ballard, a huge (mostly) dry salt lake has an outdoor art gallery featuring 51 life-sized metal statues representing people from the nearby town and spaced out across the surface of the lake, so you need to walk several kilometres to see them all. Gary managed to find about 32 of them but I only got to about 10!

From the goldfields we headed south through Meckering, site of the 1968 earthquake that was felt over a 700 km radius, virtually destroying the township and leaving a 37 km-long fault marking the quake’s vertical lift of 1.98 metres.

After a couple of days in Mandurah to visit Gary’s sister and brother-in-law, and checking out the Mandurah Giants, massive giants sculpted from timber offcuts – well we only managed to get to one – we continued southwards to visit the giant trees of the Southern Forests. These Karri, Red Tingle and Jarrah trees are amongst Australia’s tallest trees growing to heights between 45 and 80 metres and girths up to 20 metres at the base. Famous among these giants are the fire lookout trees, where the fire-spotters used to climb the peg-ladders to the top of the trees to spend their days on the lookout for fires in the forests. In the past you could climb several of these trees as a tourist thing, but (luckily!!) they were closed for climbing when we were there and due to safety concerns have now been closed indefinitely. We got the tall tree experience by walking the Tree Top Walk in the Valley of the Giants, where you walk along suspension platforms 40 metres above the forest floor, which sway as you walk, simulating the movement of the top sections of these giant trees. Pretty impressive.

Starting to head eastward again, following the south coast of WA took us through some amazing places, mainly National Parks of the south coast.

The D’Entrecasteaux NP ‘s two sections are vastly different from each other but both well worth visiting. The coastal section near Windy Harbour showcases the wild rugged beauty of the coastline bordering the Southern Ocean here and features several lookout points with the highlight being the amazing “Windows” rock formation. Further inland, the NP’s Mount Chudalup section features (oddly enough!!) Mt Chudalup where we walked the 1.5-kilometre trail and scrambled over some steep sections of rocks to the summit of this great granite outcrop for amazing 360° views across the surrounding country all the way to the coast. This section is a botanical treasure trove hosting 42 native moss species, 28 lichens and 6 liverworts, as well as trees, bushes, grasses and grasstrees.

Passing through a number of other National Parks – Boorara Gardner with its spectacular Lane Poole Falls; Shannon NP, site of former timber-workers’ town but now a large camping area; Mount Frankland South NP with the thunderous Fernhook Falls; Mount Frankland NP with its steep trail, over 300 steps and several vertical ladders (and a warning NOT to proceed if “faint of heart or foolhardy” -ha ha!) to reach the summit, where we were nearly blown away by the gale like wind! – we finally came back out to the coast.

Torndirrup NP near Albany, is home to spectacular coastal sites that demonstrate the awesome power of the sea, namely: The Gap, where waves rush into a narrow chasm in the cliff, gradually wearing away the rock over millions of years; The Natural Bridge, where the waves have worn away the rock leaving an arch; and the Blowholes, where a small plaque on the rocks near some small cracks warn you to “Stand Clear – Heavy Swells force air and spray through cracks with great pressure!” which indeed they do! Standing near the cracks, we were suddenly BLASTED with a huge rush of air which had us in hysterics at the unexpectedness of it!!

Albany is also home to the Historic Whaling Station, and a visit here is well worth it. There are several relics from the days of whale hunting including a whaling boat complete with harpoons, the cutting floor, several skeletons and LOTS of information. You leave this place wondering how the hunters could have continued hunting these beautiful, amazing creatures, and thankful that it has been banned.

Near Hopetoun on the south coast, Fitzgerald River NP’s skyline is dominated by East Mt Barren rising high above the pristine white sandy beaches and turquoise bays, including Hamersley Inlet and Beach, where the inlet is closed off from the beach by a large sandbar that apparently only opens every ten years or so. Beyond the bar, the beach is filled with hundreds of large, sharp, jagged, shale- or slate-like rock formations sticking up vertically from the sand and the water. AND…. Sooo many coastal wildflowers!

Not far from Esperance is Cape Le Grand NP, where we were treated to the most amazing coastal scenery with rocky ridges, pure white sand and the most perfectly turquoise waters I think I’ve ever seen! A 3 km walk along the fine white squeaky sands of Lucky Bay – the Jewel in the Crown of this NP – takes you to the far end of the Bay where the turquoise waters break against red granite boulders on which several green copper plaques commemorate Matthew Flinders’ landing here in 1802 in HMS Investigator using the bay as safe anchorage during his circumnavigation of Australia. From the campground, we walked the opposite direction, passing another plaque honoring Flinders, over the headland on the Coastal Walking Trail to Thistle Cove, named in memory of John Thistle, Master of HMS Investigator, and where the huge “Whistling Rock” makes whistling, ocean-like sounds as wind passes through. Further afield more stunning beaches include Hellfire Bay with the same white sand, red granite and turquoise waters, Cape LeGrand Beach where you can drive 22km along the beach to Wylie Bay, and Rossiter Bay where seaweed has washed up and dried creating a carpet about a metre thick! And once again, we were treated to a wondrous display of native wildflowers, including lots of different native orchids in bloom. Magic!

Traversing back across the Nullarbor, we paused to visit the remnants of the Eucla Telegraph Station that are slowly being consumed by the sand dunes, and had to do a U-turn to stop along the highway and take some pics of the only “garden” of the exquisite Sturt’s Desert Pea we saw on our entire trip. Further eastward, we stopped to view the awe-inspiring Bunda Cliffs of the Great Australian Bight, planning to spend the night there like stacks of others. However during the night the wind blew up to such a force that not only kept us awake, but also had us fearful of Roxy being flipped over, so at 3 in the morning, we got up and drove about ten kilometres further along the highway till we found a little spot that was more sheltered from the wind – and THEN we managed to sleep!

Heading inland, north off the highway, into Nullarbor NP we checked out the historic Koonalda Homestead, where several of the old buildings, built from old railway sleepers from the Trans Australia Railway and recycled materials from the old Eucla Telegraph Station, remain in remarkably good condition, surprisingly with no vandalism or graffiti. What struck us most about this place was the number of “dead” cars – hundreds of them – parked everywhere. Turns out the Homestead was also a roadhouse or service point for travellers along the Old Eyre Highway, and over the years it became a graveyard for the vehicles that broke down! Some 8 kilometres beyond the homestead lies the Koonalda Cave, a huge sinkhole with underground water supplies from which water was pumped to service the homestead and for their stock.

As a conclusion to this trip away, we had decided to spend a few nights and take in a tour of Maralinga, the site of Atomic testing in the 1950s. Camping at the village and then a bus tour out to ground zero of the multiple atomic tests is fascinating but also sobering when you realise the impact these tests had on the local people, their future generations and on the landscape. Our guide was a wealth of information about the building of the town, the test sites and the aftermath and cleanups. There are still lots of radioactive fragments lying around on the ground in the ground zero precinct, although our guide assured us that they were at very minor and safe levels of radioactivity. Hope he’s right!!

In our last few weeks of this trip, we made the decision to sell Roxy, as our plans for the next couple of years included a trip to New Zealand and hopefully an extended time in Europe, which would mean Roxy would sit unused for a couple of years – not good for the vehicle and too much money tied up in her to have her sitting around. So we advertised and due to there being none available and a 2-year-plus wait for a new one, we sold her within a couple of weeks of first advertising, which was great (although a little sad to see her go!). It’s great to know, however, that she is continuing her duties and taking her new owners (who continue to call her Roxy!) to many of the special places this great country has to offer.

WTF or Ha Ha!!

Camp at a free camp, go across to the pub for dinner and couple of drinks – AND end up winning the meat raffle!!
Roadside camp, not free but gets a few in. We tuck up the back to not be in anyone’s way. Then 2 cars with vans come in and virtually block us in. The wife seems a little embarrassed, but HE says, “If he (obviously referring to Gary) can’t get out of there, he’s a shit driver!”
We’re about 100 kilometres short of Kalgoorlie, still on the Trans Access Road (following the Trans Australia rail line) and there on the side of the road is a chest freezer!
At Kookynie Pub, Charlie the horse gets hand-fed in the front doorway, then proceeds to “wash” the windows with his tongue!
Laverton Lookout has a big tower with water tank on top – and underneath the framework, a picnic table held in place with a big chain!

Road signs near Gwalia – “Road Subject to Closure for Blasting”!
Caravanning etiquette – apparently, it’s ok to park your coaster camper right across the front of someone’s car, essentially blocking them in, just so you can get better satellite TV reception!
Big tourist site at the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk in Walpole Nornalup NP – and there’s NO café!!!
WHY are 4WD vehicles allowed to drive all along the pristine beach at Lucky Bay in Cape LeGrand NP??
WHY do so many National Parks only take camping bookings online ……BUT rarely, if ever, have phone service or Wi-Fi capability to do so??????
Old Mate with his dog in a little white van with a surfboard on top in an off-the-highway free camp area, drives around and around EVERY SINGLE track for at least 20 minutes, before he finally settles on a spot. FFS – it’s a FREE camp for ONE night!!
Maralinga town, test sites, and airstrip – which is the world’s ONLY other designated landing site for the space shuttle – was all built within 16 months by 2000 service personnel. AND the 270 km of sealed and 2500 km unsealed roads were made to last, having never been upgraded or resealed. Maybe those roadbuilders need to come and work for VicRoads!!!
What is wrong with people crossing State borders?? Coming through Ceduna (Fruit and Vegie) Quarantine Station, we had nothing to get rid of or declare and the officer was most appreciative of our being “so well organized,” telling us that they had already seized over 80 kilograms of restricted product THAT DAY!!

Outback 2022 – Part 2

Continuing our 2022 journey into the red dust of the outback, we leave Oodnadatta and cross into Queensland on the Plenty Highway.

From Alice to Currawinya and home.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Leaving the Oodnadatta and heading back towards the Stuart Highway, the Painted Desert is a fine example of art in nature. With its hills and mesas of different colored sands against a wide desert and gibber plain backdrop, it’s almost impossible to take a bad photo here!

North of Alice Springs, we turned off onto the Plenty Highway for the 700-plus kilometre drive back into Queensland. As with many of our outback roads, this is a “highway” in name only, as only the first 75 or so kilometres are sealed, with the rest of the road being dirt, red sand or gravel and ranging from smooth to quite corrugated. But again, it is a trip worth doing, and for us more appealing as it is a “road less travelled.” Three cattle stations along the way offer camping with amenities -including a bar at two of them! – so, it’s not as remote as it might seem.

Once into Queensland, we headed through the three Bs – Boulia, Bedourie and Birdsville, passing through fairly quickly aiming to avoid the ten thousand or so music fans heading to Birdsville for the Big Red Bash music festival – too many people for us!! Stopped in at Carcory Ruins and Carcory Bore for a look – love this spot where water from the Great Artesian Basin deep below ground comes to the surface in a constant steaming hot stream flowing into several pretty pools. Tempting for a hot bath but I think the water is still too hot at 85°C, although several hundred metres downstream it’s supposed to be cooler.

After quick stops at the iconic Betoota Hotel and Deon’s Lookout, we turned down the Arrabury Road heading for Innamincka, and took a side trip to visit Haddon Corner, where Queensland and South Australian borders meet. Taking this side track is a 30-kilometre round trip on a relatively formed track over several red sand dunes, but in the end its quite a long drive to go and see a POST!

From the Arrabury road we took another detour and drove up to Cordillo Downs Shearing Shed with its unusual sandstone buttress walls and curved roof. Dating back to 1883, this shed once boasted 88 stands (up to 120 stands in 1890) with a record number of 82000 sheep shorn in the 1888 season – all with hand shears!!

Innamincka is Burke and Wills country so of course we visited the famous Dig Tree, made famous through the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition of 1861-2, then down into Innamincka “township”, where the Cooper and Strzelecki Creeks had well and truly broken their banks and had cut all roads except for the main one in and out of town. After all the rain that had been around it wasn’t surprising, but it was certainly a sight to see the Cooper Creek covering the causeway for several hundred metres, and the resulting greenery and wildflowers that had sprung up everywhere.

Taking the Strzelecki Track out of Innamincka, we were somewhat surprised at the extent and number of bitumen sections, but even more surprised when we came to a “Stop & Go” man with his sign to hold up the traffic for roadworks!

Cameron Corner marks the meeting point of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia and also the northern entry to Sturt NP, which is home to the Wild Deserts program. This is a partnership between the NSW Government, UNSW, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service and Ecological Horizons aiming to understand, promote and manage desert ecosystems through experiments, fieldwork, monitoring and management of feral species, and reintroduction of endangered species within their specialised feral-proof enclosures.

Sturt NP also encompasses several former pastoral stations and therefore several homesteads, shearing sheds, shearers’ quarters and water bores remain to be explored. Some have been restored whilst others have been left to slowly deteriorate and succumb to the elements, but even with that thought in mind, I couldn’t help but think that the original pastoralists at Olive Downs didn’t value their shearers too highly – the shearers’ quarters were made of metal sheeting with no windows except for wire grills and would have been as hot as hell out there!

The Corner Country townships of Tibooburra and Milparinka date back to the gold era and as such boast some historic buildings, with the original stone ones in Milparinka being systematically restored by the “Friends of Milparinka”. These feature lots of information on the town’s history and include the courthouse, police station – with two holding cells out back – and the old pub, a very friendly and welcoming place to stop for a drink and a meal.

Took us 6 weeks of travelling before we finally saw these beauties!

Narriearra Caryapundy Swamp National Park is one of the newest NPs in NSW and not too far from Sturt NP, so we headed there not quite knowing what to expect. Well, as it’s so new, there’s not a whole lot! A brand new camp area is situated on an embankment above the surrounding floodplains, with clearly defined sites and brand-spanking new long drop toilets – I think we were the first to use them!! It’s 20 kilometres from the turnoff to the Park gate and then another 30 or so kilometres till you reach the campground, with NOTHING in between except a turnoff to the original homestead! But …. the 360° views from the campsites overlooking the floodplains and the very distant horizons are a sight to behold! AND…. I think we had the official welcoming committee to greet us on our way in …. a group of 40 or more emus strolling along the road not particularly perturbed by us driving through.

Welcoming Committee, Narriearra Caryapundy Swamp NP

Crossing back into Queensland at Hungerford, we headed into Currawinya NP. Once again, this Park resulted from the acquisition of several pastoral stations dating back to the 1860s and features a variety of infrastructures associated with the shearing and wool industry of the past. So once again we visited several woolsheds, shearers’ quarters and so on – it seems that this trip has mainly focused on woolsheds and the like. But it’s amazing how different from each other they all are – different “board” setup, different building design, different outbuildings and state of repair or deterioration – but all of them so interesting!

Currawinya, despite its semi-arid landscape, is home to a diversity of waterways and wetlands, and in 1992, it was designated a Ramsar Wetlands Site of international importance. While the Paroo River runs through it, the park also features several mound springs that bring water to the surface from far below, and two huge lakes: Freshwater Lake Numalla which is periodically flushed and refilled by Paroo River floodwaters, and saltwater Lake Wyara which dries to a vast salt-pan in times of drought. During years of good rains and floodwaters when water is abundant, as it was last year, the salt waters of Lake Wyara attract hundreds of thousands of waterbirds, which come to feed and breed, and we were fortunate enough to witness the spectacle of thousands of pelicans that jostled for space around the lake’s edge. Unfortunately though, this huge influx of birds has its downside, and the waters can’t sustain all the new hatchlings through to adulthood and many thousands are left to die there as well. Not a pretty sight, but that’s nature….

So, that was it. We had filled in the gaps of places we missed in the previous trip and added some extras, and after 53 nights, 8200-odd kilometres, 4 States, 1 Territory, and 7 National Parks, it was time to start heading home….. to start thinking and planning for the next trip.

WTF?? Or HaHa!!

In Alice Springs – Victorian registered car: that’s normal, but his registration plates are Club Car plates…. thought you were only allowed to drive certain amounts or distances under Club Car rego?
Why is it that campers next door packing up at 7 am can only put one thing into the car at a time and then slam the door shut after Every Single Thing?! Wouldn’t it be easier – and less aggravating for the neighbours – to leave all the doors open, get everything packed into the car and then shut the door JUST ONCE?
Why is it that groups of more than one vehicle travelling together on outback (dirt) roads have to travel right up each other’s bums? It’s not like they can’t see them – well, actually they can’t! But they can follow the dust trail without having to eat it, surely??!!
We are the only ones camped in a camp area that stretches for about a kilometre amongst the dunes, and Old Mate with his caravan pulls in about 20 metres away from us!
About 50 km north of Birdsville, came across one of the BEST sights we’ve seen – a concrete garden setting sitting out in the middle of the gibber plains!

Outback 2022 – Part 1

Home to Oodnadatta.

Most years when we head off in Roxy, we head “north for the winter,” generally up into Queensland to absorb some warmer weather, but last year we had a different idea, namely, to travel a loop incorporating some of the National Parks we had missed the year before. However, the weather impacted on our travel plans, and our route of travel changed several times, due to closed roads or closed National Parks, but in the end, we did manage to get into a couple of parks from our list and even a couple of new ones.

For the first few weeks, we stuck to the bitumen and headed across to South Australia, visiting a few of the older and smaller towns along the way.

Burra is a quaint little town that we have passed through on several previous occasions, but never really stopped to have a good look at what it has to offer – aside from its yummy Cornish pasties – so we chose to spend a couple of nights there. After checking in to the campground, we set off walking around the town. Following the disused rail line we found the old Railway Station, which has been restored and maintained in a lovely condition. From there we made our way up the hill to the town lookout and found that we were just near the old open-cut Burra Burra copper mine, so we spent the next few hours in the mining precinct exploring the heritage listed buildings and remnants of the mine’s former glorious past. This mine was one of the first in Australia to employ the revolutionary open cut method, and between 1845 and 1877 produced 50 000 tonnes of copper metal from 700 000 tonnes of ore and was deemed unprofitable, but when it reopened and operated from 1971 to 1981, it produced 24 000 tonnes of copper metal from two million tonnes of ore. Personally, I can’t see how the figures from the first operation deemed it unprofitable when looking at those from the second?? Anyway, we filled in our afternoon checking it all out, so I guess it was kind of profitable for us!

Leaving Burra we stopped just out of town for the must-do photo of the Burra Homestead or Cobb and Co Coach House Hotel (ruins), the humble little stone house on its own in a paddock, which became famous after it featured on the cover of Midnight Oil’s Diesel and Dust album. It’s probably now one of the most photographed little houses of its type and although it’s on private property, there’s a gravel carpark just off the road so you can stop to take your own version of this classic photo.

Carrieton, a tiny, charming town in the southern Flinders Ranges, is well worth a visit, if only to check out the old buildings. Surveyed and proclaimed a town in the 1870s, its population had grown to over 200 by the 1890s and, with the railway coming through, the town prospered and added some 40 or so buildings, some of which are still there today. The school which opened in 1882 and at one stage grew to over a hundred students – with just one teacher!! – finally closed in 1997, and it, along with the community store and memorial hall and clubrooms, were taken over by the Progress Association, which also leases the local swimming pool from the council. The Association converted the school into the town’s caravan park, where we were greeted with a friendly welcome and some tourist advice as well. Although the town’s population is now only about 23, I think every one of them, along with many from elsewhere, crowded into the historic pub, The Carrieton Hotel, on the Friday night when we went in for dinner, and the atmosphere was again most hospitable and pleasant.

Taking the tourist advice offered in Carrieton, we drove the 80-kilometre Johnburgh loop, which took us out of town, through the Oladdie Range and down into Johnburgh historic township, where we spent several hours exploring the remnants of the town’s buildings. Built of local stone, like most of South Australia’s old towns, many of the buildings are in reasonable condition, and offer plenty of photo opportunities.

Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park is always worth a visit. With its stunning and ancient mountain backdrops, its pioneering history and the amazing Wilpena Pound, we were quite happy to re-visit this Park, and as per usual, we discovered something we hadn’t seen there before. Taking a walk along part of the Heysen Trail following Wilpena Creek, we found the Old Wilpena Station complex, comprising the original homestead dating back to 1860, and outbuildings such as the Store, Blacksmithy, Stables, and several houses, all built from local stone and all nestled in the valley amongst the huge river redgums.

The Oodnadatta Track is an iconic road route that follows the route of the original Old Ghan Railway that linked Adelaide and Alice Springs. Having travelled the Track in the past we knew what to expect, but this time we slowed down and really explored the many sites it offers along the way. Many of these sites, such as Curdimurka, Beresford, and Edward Creek, are the old railway sidings that incorporate fettlers cottages, huge water tanks and Kennicott water softeners and remnants of the old railway tracks. Historic railway bridges occur as frequent reminders of how quickly waterways can fill after a downpour, with some of these bridges being over 300 metres long.

Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park with its active mound springs bringing water from the Great Artesian Basin to the surface, is worth the short drive off the main track. The Bubbler lives up to its name with water continuously bubbling up from the depths creating lovely patterns in the colored sands, while the Blanche Cup sits atop a fairly high mound with its hot water pool surrounded by a thick growth of reeds.

Strangways Springs and The Peake were historic pastoral leases and Overland Telegraph Repeater Stations dating back to the 1870s. While Strangways is a short two kilometres off the Track, The Peake ruins are found at the end of a slow 20-kilometre 4WD track, but both are well and truly worth the effort of getting there. Both of these State Heritage Listed locations feature a number of buildings in varying stages of disrepair and include some very interesting and photo-worthy structures.

Just out of William Creek “township” is the turnoff to Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre National Park, and the 60-odd kilometre road, which passes through varying landscapes, ranging from dry cattle grazing to gibber plains to a most unexpected “moonscape” of dark rock and mesas, and finally takes you out to Halligan Bay Campground, at the edge of Lake Eyre. Not sure what to expect out there as there had been varying reports of water in the lake after all the rain up north, but on arrival we found the lake to be much as it usually is – a dry crusted salt pan, and walking out onto it for a couple of hundred metres convinced us that we would not get to see any water there except by turning our feet back and forth in the salt and sand to bring some to the surface. This did not however take away from our experience of Lake Eyre, as it simply must be seen to be appreciated. It is just MASSIVE! At no point could we see the other side, and maybe, just maybe, we were able to see reflections of rocks on distant water – or it may have been reflected on the endless white of the salt.

Overnight campsites along the Oodnadatta generally consist of pulling up at the old railway sidings, but the best spot in my view, was the Algebuckina Waterhole, across the track from the historic 527-metre-long railway bridge – the longest on the Track and at one time the longest in SA. The waterhole is well off the main track, and we spent a lovely night there watching a variety of birds coming and going, including lots of yellow green “swarms” of budgies – just amazing to see!

WTF?? Or HaHa!!

Getting back to our site in Mildura after several hours out, we found our outside doormats, which, being very wet, we had left on site to keep our spot, were no longer there. But, new neighbours right next to us had, funnily enough, exactly same ones, even placed in same positions as we had left them. So I knocked on their door and politely said, “You don’t mind if I take our mats back now, do you?” to which he sheepishly replied, “Well, it was very wet when we got in here!” -no attempt to deny he’d taken them…and from then on, no eye contact or greetings offered!
Burra Burra mine site is part of a Tourist Passport where you need a key to access some of the sites. As it turns out, the mine site is one that needs a key. Being on foot wasn’t an issue for us, but a carload of visitors who had driven into the site after finding the gate open, found themselves locked in after their drive around the site. Last we saw of them, they were parked inside the locked gate, trying to ring for help to get them out!
Halligan Bay-Lake Eyre – just on sunset a car drives into the campground, round the loop without even stopping and back out again. Why?? It’s a 61-kilometre 4WD-recommended road to get out there and they didn’t even stop!!
Algebuckina Bridge -527 metres long, iconic photo-op. so why does this idiot park right under the bridge meaning no one can get a good shot of the bridge without getting his rig in it too?
Pink Roadhouse in Oodnadatta – iconic, great hamburgers you can’t jump over, but diesel at $2.999 per litre did hurt a bit!

Destination Cape York

Part 1 – Home to Hungerford, Qld.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Back in May last year, (2021) we seized a window of opportunity and took off, heading northwards towards warmer weather. The week after we left home, Victoria closed under lock down, so we’d made it out just in time, and although NSW closed borders to Victorians coming in, we were able to travel in NSW quite freely because we were already there and in outback areas, so not a real problem.

After spending the first two nights away visiting our daughter and then friends across the border in Finley, we set off in earnest, travelling up through Hay along the Long Paddock. Our first stop or point of interest was the One Tree Plain, home of the One Tree Hotel, a lovely rustic old building constructed in 1862 of wood and corrugated iron and taking its name from the single large gum tree that grew in the centre of the 200 000-hectare sheep station there at the time. The area surrounding the hotel also claims to have been Australia’s smallest forestry-timber reserve, (gazetted for its single tree in 1864) and is completely devoid of any major vegetation, making the hotel a standout feature on the barren horizon.

Our next stop, Willandra National Park is a wonderful window into the history of the “Big Willandra” of shearing folklore. First purchased in 1863, Willandra Station was developed as a sheep station, established as a merino stud in 1886, and after enduring recurring bouts of drought and flood, it was finally proclaimed a National Park in the 1970s and cleared of livestock – although the Willandra Bloodlines still produce merino wool today. Restoration work was carried out on all the major buildings, namely the homestead and the shearing precinct and it was great to wander inside and around these buildings getting a glimpse into how the place was run and how their lives were lived back then. A walk around the property took us through the old dump area which we found to be a treasure trove of odd bits and pieces including hundreds of rusted fuel drums, a large boiler engine, a mechanised butter churn, an old truck, and several derelict wagons. We were especially pleased to note that of all these restored buildings, not one was marred by any signs of vandalism or graffiti- hopefully this is a trend that continues!

After having several nights in a row on rustic sites (= non powered), we were alerted by an alarm that our solar power supply was letting us down and our battery storage seemed to be running low, so a quick change of itinerary had us foregoing our plans of going up to Ivanhoe (AGAIN- several times we have planned to go to Ivanhoe but still haven’t managed to get there!) and instead we travelled back to Griffith to get a replacement battery.. Once that was sorted, we continued up the Kidman Way, through Cobar, stopping for a look at the big hole at Fort Bourke Mine Lookout, and then up to Gundabooka National Park, about 50 km south of Bourke, to spend the night at Dry Tank Campground.

Starting the day with a walk on the Little Mountain walk up to Mt Gunderbooka Lookout, we enjoyed the variety of trees along the way -wilga, mulga, eucalyptus, and one lovely Karrajung tree- and once up to the lookout, the view of the mountain range and the surrounding floodplains was breathtaking. A quick stop in Bourke had us at the Percy Hobson Park with Silo Art honouring (oddly enough!) Percy Hobson, the first Indigenous Australian to win gold at a Commonwealth Games -for high jump at Perth in 1962. From there we turned Southwest, following the Darling River down to Louth. After a look around the sprawling metropolis of Louth – took about 5 minutes – and lunch in the pub, we crossed the Darling, which incidentally had more water in it than we’ve ever seen in it before, and continued down the west side to Dunlop Station, a very welcoming Station-stay on the banks of the river.

Dunlop Station, in the hands of a private owner rather than National Parks, is a work in progress and similarly to Willandra, features the main homestead and a large shearing shed and shearers’ quarters. Unlike Willandra however, Dunlop has been a labour of love in its restoration by one determined and passionate lady over the last ten years, and to assist in funding her work, she invites campers to enjoy a station-stay, and gives guided tours of the property, which are most informative with a delicious morning tea as a bonus. Having spent the night camping within the shearing precinct, we had already had a good wander through and look at the shearing shed which had not yet received the hand of restoration but is apparently next on the list. Thus, it was in pretty rundown condition with several sections of floorboards either full of gaps or totally missing, and in other parts the floor supports had sunk creating a wavy effect. The original shearing stands remain as a proud reminder of days gone by and the whole woolshed, though decrepit, has a real character and charm.

Back at Roxy, we were treated to our first sights of flocks of Red-tailed black cockatoos, landing in the trees just near us, and later that evening we shared stories and a great fire with four motor bikers who were staying in the shearers’ quarters, and who also recommended we go up to the homestead for the morning tea tomorrow. Keeping in mind that these guys had already done the tour and had the morning tea, and that there seemed to be hardly anyone else camped here at the station, we were flabbergasted on arriving at the homestead next morning, to find at least thirty people lining up to join in. Bearing in mind that Dunlop Station is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere and well over a hundred kilometres from a town of any note, we couldn’t help but wonder where all these people came from?? So we all enjoyed a fabulous morning tea with homemade sponges and cakes (good for our brekkie!) before Kim, the owner, regaled us with stories of the history of the station, and how she came to be the current owner. Very interesting stories.

The original homestead was built in 1880s by a single man, so heaven only knows why he needed nine bedrooms (including servants’ rooms), but he kept adding neighbouring properties until he had over a million acres. After he had sold it in 1912 and died in 1916, by 1935 the property had been reduced to around 80 000 acres. Its 40-stand shearing shed was the first to use machinery shears to shear up to 400 000 sheep a year. By the time Kim bought it, the homestead had been largely destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1932 to its original glory, but her predecessors had gone broke and allowed the entire property to run down till the bank sold off 78 000 acres to recoup the debt. So Kim bought the remaining 2000 acres and started working and over the last ten years has restored the homestead, and the station store building. As I said a real labour of love, and we wished her well for the future of the place.

Following the Darling further south-west took us to Tilpa, home of the only Boer War memorial to commemorate Harry Breaker Morant, and Australia’s shortest Heritage Trail consisting of just two signs, one either side of the main road. Further on in Wilcannia, we had a couple of nights to restock and do some washing. Well, why wouldn’t we? The caravan park washing machines were right in our price range: FREE! Wilcannia is a town that has had a bit of a bad name in the past, but locals have worked really hard to clean it up and improve its image and we found it to be quite a nice little town with lots of lovely historical buildings. Worth a look!

Roughly a hundred kilometres north of Wilcannia, White Cliffs is an opal mining town where, like the more well-known Coober Pedy, many buildings are partially or fully underground, and many of the locals spend much of their time underground hoping to find that elusive opal that will make them rich and set them up for life – which of course generally won’t happen! After checking into the caravan park, we set off to walk the town Heritage Trail – this one has more than two signs and is about seven kilometres, taking us all around the opal fields which surround the town. The fields are a real eye-opener with their thousands of holes and mounds where innumerable claims have been dug, but not fenced so you really must watch your step lest you fall in an open hole! Amongst all these dugouts is the most assorted collection of old and rusted machinery, trucks and cars, most of which, by all appearances, are probably in non-working condition. With 28 years having passed since we last visited White Cliffs, I think I can honestly say that NOTHING has changed in that time – well, not much anyway, except perhaps that now there are MORE mounds and MORE holes to fall in!

Travelling on a ‘dry-weather only’ dirt road from White Cliffs towards Wanaaring, keeping an eye on the ominous grey clouds that were gathering, we called in at Peery Lake (day use area) in Paroo Darling National Park. The lake is not a permanent feature of the landscape here, but once it fills, it can remain for three years, becoming a haven for over 50 000 birds. On this day it wasn’t full and only a few emus wandered along the lakeshore in the far distance. It was a large expanse of water nevertheless and from our distant viewpoint, it seemed more of a mirage than a lake.

Closer to Wanaaring, we drove off the road again, into Nocoleche Nature Reserve to check out the King Charlie Waterhole. What a beautiful spot! Here the Paroo River opens out to a wide, calm waterhole which perfectly reflected the surrounding redgums and eucalypts on its tranquil surface. It seemed to attract lots of birds too, going by the noise, and we were able to catch sight of a few zebra finches, some sacred kingfishers, lots of white browed woodswallows and a single budgerigar.

King Charlie Waterhole, Nocoleche Nature Reserve

We were now getting closer to the Queensland border, aiming to cross at Hungerford, so from Wanaaring, not trusting Google maps route directions to be accurate (which they often are NOT when travelling these outback roads), we took the Glen Hope Road which, according to signs from Wanaaring and by our trusty travel bible – our Hema map book – was the main road to take. After passing through several cattle/sheep stations AND at least 12 gates, ALL of which I had to get out to open and close, we crossed the Paroo River and about 5 kilometres further on came to a large crossroad. From this point I had estimated it was about 30 kilometres to Hungerford, so after about 45, we decided we were going the wrong way, so did a Uey and headed back to that crossroad. Only when we got to it did we see the signpost, now facing us, that pointed north to Hungerford and South to Wanaaring. So it appeared that in this case we could have trusted the directions given by Google maps as a more direct route, and would have saved us a lot of time – and a lot of gate-opening!

And so, we crossed the border (yep – another gate!) into the township of Hungerford and Queensland.

WTF?? OR Ha Ha!!

Coming out of Willandra NP, along a wide dirt road we passed a car parked right on the road and its driver appeared to be asleep but didn’t stir as we drove past. Feeling a bit concerned, we turned back to make sure he was ok, and despite us pulling right alongside his open window, he still didn’t stir until Gary called out to him. He replied that he was ok, just having a snooze. So we drove off again only to have him overtake us within minutes. An hour or so later, after we had had a stop for lunch, as we were heading towards Griffith, there on the side of the road was the SAME car with the SAME man, fast asleep AGAIN!! No, we didn’t stop this time!
Is it Gund-A-booka as in the National Park or Gund-ER-booka as in the mountain range here??
In Louth, an old woman was sitting near her gate as if waiting for the mail. She was there when we first got to Louth, still there after we looked around the town, and STILL there after we’d had a counter lunch at the pub. Not so unusual – Except she was sitting in EXACTLY the same position the WHOLE time, leading us to wonder if she was even alive!
Wilcannia Golf Club – nice quiet club for a nice quiet drink, but on the first night there was an hour wait for dinner and the next night, the kitchen was closed! We weren’t destined to get a meal there!
Also Wilcannia Golf Club – the barmaid overheard us talking to a couple of others about their intentions to head up to Burketown and we happened to mention Gregory and how our daughter had worked there. So she asked when Blair had been there and turns out she is the mother of a friend of ours -and Blair’s- who had been the cook in the pub at Gregory at the same time and who has also cooked us many a burger there over the years! Small world indeed!
Lake Peery in Paroo Darling NP – signs encourage you to stop for a picnic or BBQ. Unfortunately, the BBQ was out of gas!
At Lake Peery, from the lookout we could see a car driving into the day use area but were astounded to see it just turn around and drive right back out again! The picnic area is 3 km off the road, and over 50 km from the nearest town, so WHY would you just drive in and out again??

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