Brissy to Birdsville and back again

[Rumpig]

DAY 1:-

Friday morning the day we leave dawned and guess what, it's raining  :roll:  :roll:  luckily the camper and vehicle was pretty much completely packed, just had to chuck the pillows in the fourby and the camera etc. left home and drove 10 minutes down the road to meet up with Mr Mac who was along for the trip with his family also, meeting place was Maccas at Oxley and they were grabbing some brekky when we arrived, how people eat that rubbish i'll never understand, not for me thanks....lol
leaving Maccas we headed West out of Brissy for Warwick, tonights destination was going to be at the Nindigully Pub, a free camp on the banks of the Moonie River. for those who have no idea where Nindigully is, think St. George but about 44klms South-East of there. the run to Warwick was uneventful, a check of the weather radar along the way showed the rain should stop about a quarter of the way between Warwick and Goondiwindi, but this didn't happen until we were nearly at Gundy itself. pulling into Gundy we found a nice park beside the local football club, it had a playground for the kids to burn some energy off on, so we let them loose and we made some sangas and stretched the legs a touch.

LUNCH STOP AT GUNDY



leaving Gundy we continue West and are soon seeing plenty of cotton by the side of the road, they must have harvested recently as it's everywhere and for quite some distance beside the highway. we are surprised at how much is allowed to fall from the trucks that cart it considering the effort that would go into maximising the yield of the crop by the farmer, it seems strange to us they allow so much to end up on the roadside. it may not look like much in the pic, but considering the distance it went for it'd add up to be a fair bit in the end.

COTTON BY THE ROADSIDE



about 20klms before reaching Nindigully we came to a spot many drivers would just cruise past and never stop at, it doesn't look like much but we'd read of it at our lunch stop on a board in the park so pulled in for a look. Weengallon Rock Wells is literally right by the roadside, there's a sign on the road alerting you to the spot, but if you blink you'll cruise past at 100kph and never know what you missed there (like i intially did before Glen radio'd me to stop...lol).

WEENGALLON ROCK WELLS







a good look around and we hit the road again, it's not long and we are arriving at this evenings destination. pulling into the camp area and it's fairly busy, anywhere by the water is already taken by grey nomads (unless you want to be close to the main highway out front), so we head down the back and look around as we want to get as far away from the pub as possible (it's friday after all) and this will get us further away from the main road also. the main road is probably 200-300 metres away from the pub itself and we're another 200mtrs back again in the camp area, the roads not overly busy but you certainly can hear the traffic as it goes by, so getting as far down the back as possible is a good move when in the camper as it doesn't have the sound proofing a caravan has.

CAMP FOR THE NIGHT



the campground itself is all dirt, there's evidence it gets pretty muddy here at times, so keep this in mind if rain is about the area. there's a concrete walkway that runs down to the back of the camp area, but unless your one of the few people that gets a waterfront site, it's not much use to you. actual waterfront spots are fairly limited, you'll have to be lucky to jag one and the majority of people just set up about the place between the trees.

NINDIGULLY CAMPGROUND ON THE BANKS OF THE MOONIE RIVER



Happy Hour at the pub starts at 5.00 p.m and there's a local musician who plays daily during this period, i've got an hour and a half to kill until this happens so i walk about the place having a look around and take some pics whilst the others sit back at camp and relax. as i walk around i see part of the movie Paperback Hero was filmed here, i check out some of the other travellers set ups aswell and then eventually head back to camp to grab the others so we can go to the pub for Happy Hour.

MONUMENT TO THE MAKING OF PAPERBACK HERO MOVIE



PLENTY OF ROOM IN THESE SET UPS ABOUT CAMP





BEEN A WHILE SINCE THIS ONES SEEN ACTION



FLASH NEW TOILET BLOCK HERE ALSO




heading in for Happy Hour we grab a table and some drinks, the musics good and IMHO Adam has a great voice, don't miss the chance to see him when your there. when Adam finishes up singing we duck next door into the dining area grab a table and order dinner, there's only thing to get when your at Nindigully IMHO, so for us it's a Roadtrain Burger for dinner tonight. the burger here is massive, it takes an hour to cook and will have no problems feeding the 2 Adults and 5 kids that are eating it tonight. the burger comes with chips and really yummy onion rings also, it cost $60 but works out cheaper then ordering individual meals for everyone anyway. the burger tastes great i'll mention, i was worried it'd be average given it's size, but was plesantly surprised at how good it tasted. finishing up dinner we headed back to our campers to go to bed, it was bloody cold outside and we were glad we had the diesel heaters aboard to keep us warm all night. sometime during the night i woke to the sound of a motorbike starting up and doing a burnout, i found out in the morning it was some of the locals playing up, they had a roadbike strapped to the back of a Rodeo ute and were doing burnouts on the back of it. speaking to some people who had a room at the pub itself, they didn't get any sleep as the locals drank all night and we saw them still going when we left that morning, so a spot as far away as possible from the pub is a great idea IMHO.

ADAM SINGING DURING HAPPY HOUR



ASWELL AS THE BURGERS THEY DO A BLOODY BIG STEAK HERE ALSO



DINNER IS SERVED!!!



DAY 2:-

before heading off from Nindigully i pull the vehicle and camper up out front of the pub to grab a pic, one of the local boys utes is still parked out front with the windows down and a heap of gear sitting inside for anyone to take if they were so inclined to do, they are nowhere to be seen so passed out somewhere i'd guess. looking over into the pubs grassed area inside, the other ute with the bike strapped to the back of it is parked there with doors open and country music playing away, the owner of said ute is walking about with a can of Bundy in hand, he's still going from lastnight and not slept yet by the looks of it.

NINDIGULLY HOTEL



leaving Nindigully we drive the 44klms to St George where we both fuel up as we know it'll only get dearer from here on. from St George we keep heading West towards Cunamulla which will be our lunch stop today. we did this same road a couple of years back, i remember seeing heaps of goats out this way and wonder if it'll be the same again on this trip. about 40klms  out of St George i see something that i'll unfortunately see alot of on this trip, normally i haven't seen alot of wild cats, but sadly this trip away i saw them everywhere, here i saw 2 on the highway within about 5klms of each other. i reckon i saw well over a dozen cats on this trip and through much of Western Qld's country side, not just confined in one area.

SADLY PLENTY OF THESE ABOUT



as we pushed on we started seeing goats about the area as we had done so on the previous trip through here, like last time we also saw plenty of emus getting about and the odd kangaroo aswell, but the emus were in the biggest numbers easily, they were everywhere.

THESE WERE EVERYWHERE, LUCKILY NOT NEAR THE ROAD THOUGH



IMHO there's nothing real exciting to see out on the road here, you just need to eat the klms up and get to where your going, spotting the wildlife breaks up the staring at the bitumin as you go along, and before long we were in Cunnamulla having lunch. we stop at the same big park in town we stopped at a few years back, once again the kids get to burn off energy on the playground that's here, and we stroll over and get another pic with the Cunnamulla Fella like we did a few years ago.

PLENTY OF THIS BETWEEN ST GEORGE AND CUNNAMULLA



ANOTHER PIC OF THE CUNNAMULLA FELLA STATUE LIKE LAST VISIT



heading West from Cunnamulla still we see more goats on the outskirts of town, we stop and grab a pic then continue the short distance to tonights destination. tonights stop over is another free camp, this time it's on the banks of the Paroo River about 1klm or so West of the tiny town of Eulo.

LOTS OF GOATS BETWEEN ST GEORGE AND CUNNAMULLA AREA LIKE ON PREVIOUS VISTS



it's only 66klms from Cunnamulla to Eulo, the main thing we notice along this stretch of road is the amount of roadkill you see, you seriously don't go more then a few hundred metres without seeing a dead roo or part there of one. we don't see many live roos here that i can recall, but obviously there are many about the area and night time driving would be a workout on the eyes and your reflexes also i'd say. driving through Eulo there's a handful of buildings and not much more, there's a pub in town with a small grassey camp area out the back that looks ok for those might be needing a powered site, there's a few houses and a small servo and not much else in town. we pass through town and head out to the campsite, crossing over the river we turn right into the camp area and set ourselves up right down the back as far away from the road as we possibly can get once again. it's not a bad spot here, but the downside to this camp area for some is no toilet facilities, so aswell as our campers we set up the toilet tent and portaloo for the night also, and then set about collecting some firewood.
firewood collected and it's still not that late in the afternoon, i grab the camera once again aswell as a can of Bundy and head off to take some pics. i run into old mate with the 5th wheeler who was back at Nindigully yesterday also, before the end of the trip we'll run into him several more times along the way. the local council have done a nice job of chucking some tables and chairs about the camp area, it's very much unexpected considering this is a free area to camp at.

EULO FREE CAMP ON THE PAROO RIVER



i walk up onto the main road and onto the bridge to take a few pics of the river, then return back to the camp area and notice the kids fossicking through some rocks the local council have dumped here for some fun. there's nothing valuable to be found in the pile, but the kids loved picking through it anyhow, as i knew would happen several rocks ended up coming along for the rest of the trip....what is it with kids and bloody rocks  :roll:  :roll:

PAROO RIVER EULO



FOSSICKING IN THE CAMP AREA



Glen and his family decide they'll head into town tonight to have dinner at the pub once again, so as they leave we get the fire going and sit back and relax. looking around the camp area there's about a dozen vans set up here for the night, it's not a bad number as everyone is spread out and not too close to each other. before it gets dark we whip up some chicken wraps for dinner, we then wait for Glen and family to return and we'll get the marshmellows out for the kids to toast on sticks in the fire.

FIRE GOING AND SITTING BACK RELAXING



a touch before 8.00 p.m we give up on Glen and family returning anytime soon so grab the marshmellows out for our kids to cook, the kids have a great time heating them up in the fire and we then put them to bed and sit back and wait for the others to return. around 8.30 p.m i think it was the others eventually rock back at camp, the pub didn't take dinner orders until much later then was expected, and service was fairly slow apparently aswell, i'm kind of glad we cooked our own meal tonight by the sounds of Glens review, we nearly joined them for dinner down there tonight. a couple more cans had around the fire and we were off to bed ourselves, sadly though not before seeing another cat getting about camp :evil:  :evil:

MY KIDS COOKING MARSHMELLOWS OVER THE FIRE

[Rumpig]

DAY 3:-

up fairly early this morning as we have a bit over 450 klms drive infront of us today, from Eulo we plan to drive to the Burke and Wills Dig Tree near Innaminka and camp on the banks of the Cooper Creek for the night. coffee and a quick brekky had we pack the campers up and then the fun starts, remember i said earlier that this campsite has no toilet facilities?....well seeing we had to set up the toilet tent for the night we now needed to pack it up, only problem here is Glen mentioned to me he hasn't used it in quite some time and can't remember how to fold it back up, and he doesn't have the instructions for it either.....geez how hard can it be?
well here's where the fun started.... seeing i had no idea as it wasn't my tent, i stood back and watched Glen as he twisted and folded it one way, then tried another, then another way, then another way again.....it really was funny to watch as he got frustrated, my laughing probably didn't help much though....lol. in the end Glen noticed the fella camped over from us had the same type of pop up tent, so he walked over to ask him how the bloody hell you fold it back up. old mate strolled over and the pop up tent wrestle started once again, he had a rough idea how to fold it up, but really wasn't much better at it then Glen had been, with his guidance of the way it's supposed to fold and twist, eventually Glen jagged it and we quickly wrestled it into the carry bag before it popped open again on us....lol

HOW MANY MEN DOES IT TAKE TO FOLD UP A POP UP TENT?....LOL



with everything finally packed away we hit the road for Thargomindah (about 130klms away) where we planned to fuel up one more time before prices skyrocket. the drive from Eulo to Thargomindah has some pretty scenic views along the way, there's many a time you crest the top of a hill and are greeted with a breath taking view infront of you over the other side of the hill. along the way we spot plenty more emus and have to slow for cattle on the road several times also, we pass by Lake Bindegolly about 50 klms before Thargomindah and like a couple of years back on our last visit through here it has water in it once again, though this time nowhere near as much as on our last visit as it was completely full to overflowing back then.

VIEW FROM CREST OF HILL ALONG THE WAY



GOT TO WATCH FOR THOSE COWS, ESPECIALLY IF TRAVELLING AT NIGHT HERE



pulling into Thargomindah we make straight for the service station, we don't plan to hang around in town long so we'll soon be on our way again.....atleast that's what we thought anyway. standing beside my vehicle fuelling up, Glen walks over to me and says, "your not going to want to hear this, but you've got a big puddle of oil underneath your vehicle"....yep he was right, i didn't want to hear that. walking around the front and looking underneath the engine area there's a decent size pool of fresh oil sitting there, i pop the hood to have a look where it's coming from but there's oil everywhere and it's to hard to see where's it's originated from. i close the hood and finish fuelling up before moving the vehicle out of the way so others can use the bowser, i throw a tarp underneath the vehicle and climb under to see if i can narrow down where it's coming from. looking around it could be coming from anywhere, there's oil sprayed all over the back of the engine, it's covered the gearbox and everything else in the general area. a few months back i had the clutch replaced in the vehicle, i recall the mechanic i use saying there's a small oil leak happening at the back of the engine somewhere (i couldn't recall exactly where he said it was) and it's a job that will require the head to come off the engine if i want it fixed, he suggests to let it be as it's not that big of a deal if it's doesn't bother me at all, which it didn't. a phone call back to my mechanic to see if he can recall where the leak was and he's not much help, i end up going inside of the servo and grabbing a can of degreaser to clean the engine and gearbox down so we can see what's coming from where. the servo here is pretty well stocked with a variety of gear for anyone in need, in town also has a Toyota dealership i noticed which i didn't realize at the time would be a handy thing to know later on down the track (more to come on that later though).
back to the engine oil leak....we get it cleaned down fairly easily and start the engine to see what happens, we let the engine run for a while and eventually notice a slight weep coming from up above the starter motor area on the back of the engine, speaking to my mechanic who's back home on the phone he gives me 2 possibilities of where it's coming from, seeing as though the clutch is still working fine we narrow it down to probably coming from a oil chamber that has a whelch plug type seal that it's most likely coming from. i checked the oil level in the engine earlier and it's down a touch but nothing drastic, not knowing how long it's been leaking or how quickly it's time to make a decision on whether to continue on with the trip or look at heading home instead. my mechanic assures me it's not something to can the trip over, just grab some extra oil before leaving town and keep an eye on the level in the engine and keep cleaning the oil down from everywhere when you get the chance he says. i walk back inside the servo and grab 5 litres of engine oil and decide we'll head for Noccundra to have lunch (about 150klms away) where i'll recheck the engine leak and oil level and assess what we do from there.
the drive to Noccundra is a touch nerve racking, the roads bitumin all the way and easy going, but i spend most of my time watching the engine temperature and oil pressure gauges along the way. before long we arrive in Noccundra (there's basically only a nice old stone Hotel here, no town so to say for those who've not been here before) and order some lunch and grab a few cold beverages of our choosing aswell. after lunch i walk over to my fourby and pop the bonnet to check the oil level, the oil level is fine and very little evidence of the leak happing so far, there's a small puddle under the vehicle but we conclude the mess we saw under the vehicle at Thargomindah was a build up of oil on top of the gearbox from the last however many thousand klms, and the slight angle i parked on must have let it run down and look like it was pouring out at the time. we conclude alls good to continue on, so we load the families back into the vehicles and head for the Dig Tree

OIL PUDDLE UNDER VEHICLE AT NOCCUNDRA AFTER DRIVING 150 KLMS (the puddle at Thargomindah was 10 X bigger then that, and most Landrover drivers are now saying what's the big deal...lol)



PIC OF THE PUB FROM A FEW YEARS BACK (i didn't take one this time around)



MONUMENT IN THE GROUNDS OF THE HOTEL





leaving Noccundra we return back the 20 klms to where we turned off the Adventure Way to get to our lunch stop, we turn left and head for the Dig Tree. about 7klms up the road you need to take a lefthand turn at an intersection, make sure your not day dreaming or you might cruise past your turnoff like i almost did...lol. out here at this intersection in the middle of nowhere there's a lone standing toilet block, so anyone that's in need of a toilet stop might be happy to see this building along their journey. we didn't stop here so can't comment on it's cleanliness or lack there of, either way it might be a welcome sight for some.  pushing on talk between vehicles over the uhf turns to firewood for the evening, we keep our eyes peeled and are soon pulling off the road and getting the chainsaw out. about a half hour or so goes by and we've got timber on the trailers and rejoin the road to get to tonights destination.

COLLECTING FIREWOOD ALONG THE WAY



as you drive along this section of road you'll soon start to see some buildings appearing in the distance, the Jackson Oil Field amongst others is out this way and for the rest of the drive to the Dig Tree turn off you'll see much of these places infrastructure along the way. traffic up until this point has been minimal to say the least, but once you reach these oil fields you'll likely come across trucks and other support vehicles using the road around this area as we did. about 50 klms before reaching the Dig Tree turn off the bitumin disappears and we are on our first section of dirt road for the trip, it's in fairly good condition but after about a kilometer we decide to pull over and air down the tyres a touch.

AIRING DOWN THE TYRES



back on the go again and after about 15klms the dirt changes back to bitumin, we've got roughly another 30 klms until we reach the turn off and in hindsight would have been better off to leave our tyres at the pressures they were earlier. taking it easy we drive the rest of the bitumin with tyres left as they are and stop at the turn off for a quick photo

DIG TREE TURN OFF



as the sign says above, it's 14klms from the turnoff to the Dig Tree and campground area, it's dirt from here in and quite stoney / sharp rocks. seeing we had already aired downed we are right to continue on, but if you have your tyres at road pressures here, nows a good time to deflate them some IMHO. i'd read recently before we left for the trip and spoken to some other recent visitors of this place the track being pretty rough, IMHO with tyres down and towing a decent offroad camper trailer it's pretty easy going, though i can't say i'd like to tow an onroad caravan or trailer along this track, the rocks on the road would give it a good work out i'd say. with the afternoon getting away from us we soon reach the entry gates of the park (actually there's no gate, just posts), there's a self registration point at the front entry so we fill in our details and add the $13 camping fee (i'm pretty sure it was) into the envelope and drop it in the Honesty Box provided.

REGISTRATION / PERMIT BOX AT FRONT ENTRY



there's a toilet block and information hut at the front entry, from here you continue on down to the creek bank following the signs to the camping area, and then just find a suitable spot to set up camp. there's a few people set up already when we arrive, they're all well spaced out so we continue past them all and drive right down the back past everyone until we find a perfect spot with open views of the creek itself (many of the spaces closer to the entry have vegetation blocking views in some areas). a quick set up of the campers and we get a fire going as the sun starts to set, being we are so far down the back of the camp area it's to far to walk up to the toilet block from here, so we set up the pop up toilet tent once again aswell. there's plenty of water in the Cooper, pelicans are swimming back and forth up the creek and we sit back and relax by the fire watching the sun set to one side of us and the moon rise on the other. it's another beautiful night with stars about everywhere and a fullish moon to boot, the evening is once again cool but the fire certainly helps sort that out. dinner is had and a few drinks enjoyed around the fire before we head off to bed for the evening. during the night i get up for a wee walk and once again see another cat, i am surprised at how many i've seen on this trip considering i've not really seen them before on previous trips away.

PELICANS SWIMMING AROUND ON COOPER CREEK



DIG TREE CAMPSITE PIC



TO BE CONTINUED....

[Rumpig]

DAY 4

waking up, i eventually step outside the warmth of inside the camper and am greeted by some nice colour in the sky as the sun rises, out here this time of year (end of June) it's pretty much dark until 7.00 a.m roughly, so you don't need to get up real early to try and get a nice sunrise pic. i grab the camera and try and capture the moment, but as usual struggle to do the view it's real justice.

SUNRISE OVER COOPER CREEK



CAMP BY THE COOPER CREEK AT DIG TREE



Glen and family are already up and huddled around the fire they have gotten going so as to get warm, Glens camper is having battery problems and the diesel heater keeps shutting down during the night leaving them all feeling the cold, this has been happening since our first night away and we think that one or several of the batteries in the camper has dropped cells. the gauges on the camper keep saying it's fully charged at the end of the days driving, but the voltage keeps dropping rapidly during the evening, and after seperating several things over the past few days to work out what's happening, all we can conclude is one or several batteries in the camper is cactus. on an up note, the firewood we collected yesterday is fantastic, you don't need much and it burns hot and creates the most fantastic coals you could hope for, we think it's gidgee going on how it burns but have no idea, either way Glen says it didn't take much work to get the fresh log he threw on the fire going this morning from lastnight coals that were still glowing.
the plan today is that after brekky we'll pack up and go look at the Dig Tree before heading into Innaminka, from there we'll get the permit we require and then head out to Coongie Lake were we'll camp the evening. brekky had and the campers packed up we drive back past the other campers and pull up in the carpark area of the Dig Tree, there's infomation boards about that give the full story of the ill fated Burke and Wills expedition, and i read them to my kids to try and help explain exactly where it was the explorers went. i get my kids to try and remember where it was we visited almost 2 years back when we went up to the Gulf, with a bit of help my eldest daughter recalled our visit to camp 119 when i mentioned the blaze marks we had stopped to look at along the way on that trip, this type of learning is so much better then anything they'll ever do at school, being there and reading about it makes it so much easier for them to try and picture and later recall what it is they've learnt. we walk about the trees for a while and take a few pics, 2 of the 3 original blaze marks have grown over and are not able to be seen anymore, the 3rd blaze showing the camp number aswell as another blaze carved of a likness of Burkes face on another tree are both still visible though. the face carving along with his initials, his wife's initials and the date was done nearly 40 years later in 1899 as a tribute by John Dick. there's a boardwalk around the trees with the blaze marks to help protect them, this also makes it easy to get up close and view the blazes aswell

DIG TREE



OVERGROWN BLAZE MARK AND EXPLANATION PLAQUE AT DIG TREE





BLAZES ON SECOND TREE





with our look around the trees complete we load up the vehicles with passengers and head for Innaminka, the road out has a few spots where dust hangs in the air for the second vehicle due to a lack of wind blowing this morning, but it's nothing serious and we make good time back to the main road to Innaminka. turning right and from here it's about 50 klms roughly to Innaminka, the 1st 30 odd klms is bitumin and once you cross the border into South Australia it turns to dirt from there. a few klms after we turn right we are crossing over a new bridge they have built across the Cooper Creek, there's stop / go lights flashing here from the roadworks and you can see there's still some minor work to do before it's completed. a touch further up the bitumin we come across a dip in the road with roadworks warning signs about, we'd already been warned back at the Dig Tree by another traveller to slow right down for this as there's a big hole in the road here, Glen being first didn't quite slow up enough and launches his vehicle and camper trailer through it, i myself am lucky enough to slow right down and avoid it completely....lol
as we continue along i look in my side mirror and notice a latch has come undone on the camper, i radio to Glen i'm stopping to do it up and he mentions he's stopping up infront also, as he's crossing into South Australia and taking a pic at the border. hopping out of the fourby i smell something i know the smell of instantly, it's diff oil....WTF i think, i'd just had the diff rebuilt the week before we went away  getting down onto the ground i look under the vehicle and there's diff oil everywhere, the pinion seal has failed it's a mess under there. i radio Glen up and give him the bad news, i drive up the road to meet him and discuss what we'll do next. being it's only 20 odd klms into Innaminka, we decide to drive into town to have a look at it and assess the situation, there's no noises comeing from the diff so that's a good thing atleast. the dirt road into Innaminka is just like that going in and out of the Dig Tree, the large rocks on the road make it very unpleasant to drive on if your running road pressures, so if you haven't done so already, i'd be stopping to deflate your tyres now. seeing our tyres were already deflated we drive off towards town, a short distance down the road we pass on the right hand side of the road the turn off to Burkes gravesite, i'd like to have stopped in to have a look, but at the moment i have other things on my mind. a bit further on we reach a T intersection, turning right you can see the tiny town of Innaminka down the hill below, we drive into town and pull up across the road from the Trading Post store. jumping out i look under the vehicle once again and it's like a waterfall of oil coming off the diff, a small leak wouldn't concern so much as i could keep topping the diff up along the way, but this is a show stopper and we aren't going anywhere until it's fixed.

CHECKING OUT THE DIFFS OIL LEAK IN INNAMINKA



checking in at the Trading Post store i ask if there's a mechanic in town at all, there is one but he doesn't do much in the way of mechanics these days i am told, he runs earth moving machinery and i need to call the number she gives me and leave a message of where i am or where i will be, and eventually he'll get back to me when he gets the message. it's about 10.30 a.m by now, i've been on the pay phone to my mechanic back home once again to try and get some ideas from him, there's no mobile reception out here and the pay phone is gobbling gold coins like they are going out of fashion. eventually i get permission from the owners of the Trading Post for my mechanic to ring their store so i can talk more easily to him and not worry about the phone cutting out. i tell him there's a Toyota store in Thargomindah 376 klms away, so he makes a call and checks to see if they have a pinion seal in stock and the nut required that goes with it to suit my vehicle, as luck would have it they do. this may seem like a strange thing to do for some people, why don't you get one shipped out overnight you might think?....well speaking to the lady at the Trading Post it appears that one plane (other then the flying doctor) flies into town once a week with supplies (in a couple of days time), and regular transport trucks are not an option either, we could maybe jag a Mansells Transport truck running out Toowoomba coming through here occasionally if we were lucky, but my conclusion is any spares we need in a hurry we'll have to go get ourselves. i speak to Glen and give him the bad news, i haven't heard from the local mechanic and it's been over an hour now, and the chances of him having the parts we need in his workshop i'm thinking would be slim, so we need to go for a drive. not wanting to leave the women and kids alone for the night camped down at the Town Common (you can't camp in town itself), i arrange a room for them all at Cooper Creek Homestay, it's a nice clean place though nothing overly flashy, but if you need a roof over your head when out this way i'd reccomend it.

TONIGHTS ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS FOR THE FAMILIES



parking my vehicle and trailer out front of the homestay and unhitching Glens camper from his vehicle aswell, we grab some drinks and warm clothes in preperation for the drive back to Thargomindah where we plan on staying the night, i ring Toyota and pay for the new seal, nut and some diff oil (just in case the mechanic didn't have what's needed) and arrange for it to be left at the service station in town that is open until 7.00 p.m, as we don't expect to be there before Toyota closes in the afternoon. we say goodbye to our families and drive back to the Trading Post to fuel up Glens vehicle. we have a slight problem right now, it's nothing major but Glen doesn't have an air compressor in his vehicle, he's still deciding what lockers he'll put in his new rig so hasn't purchased a new compressor until he decides what will suit that purchase, so the plan for this trip was to just use the compressor in my vehicle to inflate both our vehicles tyres, but now it's not here. knowing it's going to be a rough 30 klms back to the bitumin with tyres inflated back to raod pressure, we don't have another option as it needs to be done for the bitumin we need to drive afterwards. bang on 1.30 p.m (Qld time) we leave Innaminka and head for Thargomindah, the first 30 klms is pretty slow going, we pass a Kimberly Karavan broken down on the dirt road about 5 -10 klms out of town, it's broken an axle by the looks of the way the wheel has departed from it and lying underneath it, but there's already 3 other vehicles there and we can't do anything to help them, so we drive on past slowly.
reaching the border we re-enter back into Qld and onto the bitumin once again, we pick up speed and make for Thargomindah, it's a good run and we only have to slow occassionally for the cows on the road and to pull over to grab a cold drink from the freezer before it explodes (we only had a freezer as the fridge is in the camper). you can do the sums, but allowing for the first 30 klms of rough dirt road and slowing for cows etc, we arrive in Thargomindah about 2 minutes after 5.00 p.m...3 1/2 hours to drive 376 klms, not bad going i reckon....lol
we drive straight to the servo where Glen refuels the vehicle once again whilst i go inside and grab the package waiting for me, with the vehicle fueled we drive around to the caravan park to see about accomodation for the evening. enquiring at their front desk i am given the bad news they are full tonight, and don't bother trying the Motel the lady tells me, we have a tour in town and i know they are full also, you can try the pub she says. driving over to the pub i enquire as to the possibility of a bed for the night, the lady is rather blunt and rude IMHO as to her reply, but the good news they have a couple of single rooms at $70 a night each. i go outside and speak to Glen about this option, between the $220 for the room for the wives and kids, the fuel to drive to here and back again and another $140 for rooms for us tonight, it's certainly starting to turn into an expensive day. Glen says why don't we just drive back to Innaminka tonight, there's only been 2 dead kangaroos and 2 dead cows we saw on the way in, so it shouldn't be to bad if we wait till the sun sets so it isn't blinding us on the drive back. decision made we head around the corner back to the servo to grab dinner as the pub doesn't take orders for dinner until after 6.30 p.m, we noticed earlier the servo sells pizzas, so we order a large meatlovers one for the both of us to eat. waiting for the pizza to cook i joke with Glen about the chances of us getting a heated up McCains pizza for dinner handed to us, we look over and see the meat for our pizza getting chopped up infront of us, and are relieved to see it's being freshly made...it wasn't to bad to eat either in the end.
sitting at the table eating dinner i make a call to the mechanic in Innaminka once again on the off chance he'll answer the phone, to my surprise he does, he sounds like i woke him up (he usually starts at 3.00 a.m each morning apparently). i explain my situation and how we have the parts needed for the repair, so he says bring it around at 8.00 a.m tomorrow and he'll fix it for me, finally something is going right for a change. i guess i spoke to soon about that, after making that call i recieve a text message on my phone, it's a message from my mum telling me to call home as soon as i get this message (we haven't had phone reception for nearly 2 days and the message is a day old), i know this isn't going to be good news. i phone mum and am given the news my nanna is in hospital and not looking like she'll survive the night, she's had a massive stroke and the prognosis is that she won't be recovering from here, she'll pass away sometime soon. great... just the news i needed when my vehicles broken down in a town 376 klms away, i explain to mum i can't do anything about it at the moment and i'll call her tomorrow morning to see what's happened overnight.
dinner finished and we pile back into Glens fourby for the drive back to Innaminka, we leave Thargomindah pretty much right on 7.00 p.m and head out of town. we don't get more then a few klms down the road and we have kangaroos bouncing all about the place, for a road with practically no road kill on it, there seems to be plenty of wildlife about out here we say. the reflections back off the road signs are the worst part as we go along, any grids we come to we cross our fingers nothing jumps out on the other side of it, as we can't see a thing due to being blinded by the reflection from the signs. we continue on through the night dodging cows and kangaroos, both passenger and driver are constantly scanning the road out infront and calling out something the minute they see it, it's not much fun really. one thing we work out along the drive back is, there's no road kill because there's no vehicles out here at night, we've driven about 200 klms so far and not seen another vehicle what so ever. it's not until we reach the Jackson Oil Fields that we have a truck come towards us, so we pull right off the road and let him go past, from the Jackson Oil Fields to the Dig Tree turn off we encounter a few more trucks aswell as a few other smaller vehicles aswell. during the day on the way to Thargomindah we'd seen a dingo around the oil fields, and on the run back we see it again along with another dingo eating a dead cow by the side of the road. that's not the only animal we see on the trip back to Innaminka, along with the dingos, cows and kangaroos, we also see a rabbit run across the road infront of us at one stage, crossing over the new bridge at Cooper Creek we also spot yet another cat roaming about also. before long we are back at the Qld / South Australian border, we stop to deflate the tyres of the vehicle and mention how cold it is outside here. jumping back into the fourby we head off again and are soon pulling up at the homestay, it's 11.00 p.m Qld time and the run to get back took 5hrs. we head off to sleep and will see how we go tomorrow morning with the mechanic








.

[Rumpig]

DAY 5

a crap nights sleep lastnight due to the fact i was sleeping on the floor of the room the wife and kids were staying in, being we didn't plan to sleep here the beds were full of sleeping people when we got back, so i opted for the floor instead of putting one of the kids there, wrong option on my part. i was woken about 5.00 a.m by Glens boy whacking me in the head with his arm that dropped from the side of the bed whilst he was sleeping, being it was pretty cold in the room at this stage i didn't really get back to sleep after that much, though i did doze on and off a smidge after moving up into one of the beds once the kids had vacated it. around 7.30 a.m i went out to my fourby and started disconnecting the camper trailer from it and getting ready to take it to the mechanics shop, it's literally right across the corner from where we are, so at 8.00 a.m i see movement over at the workshop and take my vehicle over there.
Kym is the one and only mechanic in Innaminka, speaking to him later on, i find out he closed most of the mechanics business up due to there being no money in it for him, and these days he makes a living from his business of earthmoving machines and water trucks that him and his employees now operate. Kym is fixing something on one of his trucks when i drive in the front gate, he's a no nonsense kind of guy and pretty straight to the point, he comes across as a rough as guts kind of person and at first i'm not entirely sure i trust what his mechanical abilities will be like. on speaking to him a few times later during the day, he then comes across as someone that knows what they're on about, and i start to feel better about his mechanical knowledge, i'd suggest you don't ever try and rush him to get something done though, as your likely not to be one of his priorities. Kym tells me to park my fourby over in front of the roller door and that he has to go away for about an hour or so first up, but when he returns he'll start work on my fourby. i walk back to the Homestay across the road and then watch as he drives off not long afterwards, walking into the camp kitchen area of the Homestay i have a coffee and wait to hear back from him again. whilst waiting i phone back home (on the Homestays phone) to check what's happened with my Nanna overnight, there's been no real change and it's going to be a waiting game now to see what happens. i'm told there's no chance of Nan recovering from this and it's only a matter of time until she passes away, it could be today, it could be a few days or even possibly longer, they don't know. there's no point in rushing home i'm told, there's nothing i can do and whatever happens is going to happen regardless of us not being there. with this in mind i speak to the others and decide that when my vehicle is ready, we'll skip the next part of our planned trip and head straight for Birdsville, we'll have phone reception there and an easy route back home to Brisbane if we need to get back for a funeral. it's a bit disappointing to skip some of our trip, i so wanted to head out to Coongie Lakes and camp there the night, but the lack of phone reception and also the fact i wasn't 100% confident in what my vehicle was like mechanically wise, meant going to an out of the way place like this wasn't a good option IMHO.
it's over 2 hours before Kym eventually returns back to his workshop, being right across the road we get to watch what's going on over there and i notice he's busy doing more work on his trucks whilst my vehicle sits there untouched. i can't be upset at Kym for not making my vehicle a priority, his trucks and earthmoving equipment are what he makes his living from, so i know my vehicle will take a back seat until he sorts out the stuff on the things that make him money, and after that it'll be my vehicle that gets attended to. just before 11.00 a.m he starts work on my fourby, and just before midday i walk over to grab a cold drink from the fridge in the back of it. Kym informs me he just has to chuck some oil back into the diff and he'll be finished, i hand him a cold drink from the fridge in the back of my vehicle and he's pretty appreciative of the jesture. i give Kym a hand to pump the oil into the diff and a touch after midday it's ready to go, "how's $85 sound" Kym says to me when i ask what i owe him?
"sounds good to me" i say in reply to him.
"it'd F'ing want to" Kym then says to me, "i should be charging you $150 for that job" he says.
i'm pretty stoked with that price actually, i may have supplied the new seal and nut, but Kym has supplied the labour and new oil for the diff for that price (even though i bought oil in Thargomidah, he had oil in a 20ltr drum with a hand pump to easily put it in the diff, so we went with the easier option). driving out the driveway i have my fingers crossed this seal does as it's supposed to do, it's something like 350 klms to Birdsville from here (i think from memory) and i hope we can make it there without anymore oil leaks.
back at the homestay i rehook the camper up and we make a quick lunch, pretty much right on 1.00 p.m we leave Innaminka bound for Birdsville. we've been told by people previous to this trip it's a days drive to birdsville from Innaminka, we'll see how we go but hope to make it there today. leaving town we turn right and cross the causeway that leads us past the Town Common camping area, not much further past this spot we turn right at the sign directing us to Birdsville via Walkers Crossing. now don't quote me on this, but i think the start of this track we have turned onto is actually called the 15 Mile Track, further up we will turn right at a T intersection and this then becomes the Walkers Crossing track.

HEADING FOR BIRDSVILLE VIA WALKERS CROSSING....(that's 226 klms to Birdsville track, it's another 120 something klms to Birdsville from there)





the 15 Mile Track track is in excellent condition, there's signs saying to watch out for water trucks and the like and to call them up on channel 40 if you need to do so, you can see they have  been doing heaps of work to maintain the track, it's more of a graded 2 lane road then a track really. we go past the turn offs to Policemans Waterhole camping area and Wills gravesite also, visiting these locations will now have to wait to be done on another trip due to our change of plans, which is a shame. from our first righthand turn onto 15 Mile track earlier, it's about 65 odd klms to the T intersection where we'll turn right onto Walkers Crossing track, i'll be stopping here to climb back under the vehicle again and see how the seal is going, i've already done it once already along the way and will do so again here to gauge what the repair was like.

15 MILE TRACK.....more like a nice graded road then a track



the drive is very easy going, we catch up to a truck and call him on the radio to let us know when it's ok to come past him, it's pretty dry and dusty about the track so trying to come past without radio'ing him isn't an option. the truck driver slows up and moves over to let us past on a windy section of road, we thank him for doing so and push on. not long after passing the truck we find ourselves at the T intersection where we'll turn right for Birdsville, the drive so far has been picturesque and i'm enjoying it, though wishing it was more track like to get the feeling of being somewhere remote. at the intersection we stop for another pic and i climb under the vehicle with fingers crossed to see how things are going, there's no sign of fresh oil or any leak around the seal so i'm happy to continue heading for Birdsville.

TURNING RIGHT ONTO WALKERS CROSSING TRACK



the graded roads continue on once again, watching my GPS we detour from the original track several times where it would seem the Moomba Gas Plant out this way has realigned the roads to suit their operations. we follow the signs we see along the way which are of a many varied nature, so you need to keep a good look out for them as some are like a small street sign and others much larger and just painted on old corrogated iron. at one stage of this drive we eventually end up turning from the graded road and driving the type of track i was expecting to see, it's a nice 2 wheeled track that winds itself through the trees and past cows and along a dry creek, but it doesn't last long and we soon find ourseles turning right onto a large well graded gravel road

WALKERS CROSSING TRACK





ONE OF THE BIGGER SIGNS YOU'LL FIND ALONG THE WAY



once we turn onto this gravel road we drive for a short while and find ourselves at a gas plant, the road goes right through the middle of the plant and we aren't sure whether we are supposed to be here or not. i recall the last small roadsign we saw directed us to head in this direction, so we slowly continue to drive into the plant and a few hundred metres up the road see another small road sign saying Walkers Crossing to the right, so we turn at the intersection and continue on. around this gas plant area there is many side roads running off from the main track, it's all clearly signposted with little street signs like back home in the city, so just keep looking for the Walkers Crossings signs and you'll find your way easily enough. heading past the gas plant tha's now on our left we continue on to another intersection further up where we turn left, the road rises up sharply over a dune and as we crest the top we are greeted with yet another spectacular view of the plainlands out in front of us.

VIEW FROM TOP OF CREST....pic doesn't do it justice though as needed the wide angle lens on instead



pushing on from here we encounter a few large bulldust holes in the road, being it's a road used by the gas plant there's warning signs about the place for anything considered worth worrying about, so keep an eye out for these, though some areas hardly needed warning about IMHO. we come across a dry creek crossing that has us passing down along side a bridge above us, a few hundred metres past here and we turn right at an intersction and road closes in and becomes more of a track from here on until we reach the Birdsville Track. there's many places along the way the shrubs close right in and make the track fairly narrow, the shrubs are over bonnet height in many places and don't allow you to see what's coming around the bends towards you. as exected i eventually i encounter someone coming towards me who is driving way to fast for the conditions, he locks up big time to avoid me and i just shake my head at his stupidity as he drives past. for much of the drive we follow a sand dune that is constantly on our lefthand side, you might veer away from it for a short period, but before long your right back beside it following it's path

SHRUBS ALONG THE TRACK BLOCKING VIEW, AND NOTE THE DUNE ON THE LEFT THE TRACK FOLLOWS



in the middle of nowhere we suddenly find ourselves driving through the middle of an exploration camp of some description, there's a heap of semi trallers and smaller support vehicles parked up here, and we are amazed at where they have managed to get the large trucks. from here the track opens up once again, we are guessing the trucks followed a grader into where they have set up, as the track becomes more road like then track once again.

EXPLORATION CAMP IN MIDDLE OF NOWHERE



just past the camp i see a spot i've been looking for to take a nice pic at, i'm hoping to get a pic of the fourby and camper in the middle of nowhere, so i radio back to Glen i'm stopping to take a pic. jumping out of the fourby i run back behind the vehicle, taking a few shots i notice a dust cloud coming towards me in the distance...great a bloody oncoming vehicle  :roll:  :roll:  i try and take the pic i'm after but have to give up and run back to move my fourby out of the way, we continue on and start to discuss over the uhf with each other whether we think we'll make Birdsville tonight or not.

PIC IN MIDDLE OF NOWHERE ON WALKERS CROSSING TRACK



looking at the map on my GPS the road up infront of us takes a Westerly kick for a short while then kicks north again, the road has started to get a touch stoney now and when the road does break left it has us crossing over the sand dune we have been following alongside for ages. crossing over the dune the road then kicks right and we follow along the other side of the dune for a period of time. the track is no longer closed in, on this Westerly side of the dune it's open plainlands and the track becomes very stoney from here. we are making good time and discussion over the uhf has us thinking we'll likely make Birdsville today after all.

TRACK OPENS RIGHT UP ON THE WESTERLY SIDE OF THE DUNE



picking up speed when the track opens up we soon find ourselves at the T inserction where the Walkers Crossing track meets the Birdsville track, we turn right here and know we have about 120 klms to go befre reaching tonights camp spot. the Birdsville track is in excellent condition, i'm soon cruising along at 100 kph and could easily have gone much faster if i needed to for some reason, it stayed like this for pretty much the entire run into Birdsville which we were very happy with, as the sun was starting to get low and we wanted to get to Birdsville before it got dark. we weren't anywhere near Birdsville at this stage, but seeing a very large sign off in the distance on the opposite side of the road, i radio Glen i'm slowing down for a look and we soon organise another photo opportunity

ALONG THE BIRDSVILLE TRACK




VIEWS FROM THE FOURBY ALONG THE BIRDSVILLE TRACK AS SUN STARTS TO SET





traffic has been non existent for the last 100 klms we haven't seen another vehicle, about 15 klms out of Birdsville we pull off the road to let a semi cruise past us in the opposite direction. he thanks us for doing so and over the uhf asks what condition the road is like ahead, i give him the good news that for the next 100 klms atleast it's great going, and we pull back onto the road and continue our drive into town. with the some light still in the sky we arrive at the Birdsville caravan park right on 6.00 p.m, we check in and grab a powered site (due to Glens camper battery problems) for the next couple of nights, we quickly set up camp and head over to the pub for dinner.
it's here that'll i'll mention camped a few sites down from us is a mate and his family from our 4wd club, we knew they'd be in birdsville around this time so look forward to saying gidday to them and having a drink or 2 with them also. walking into the dining room at the pub our friend and his family are enjoying their dinner, they rave about the meal they are eating and i look forward to ordering similar. the hotel isn't the cheapest place you'll eat out at, but a few years back i really enjoyed the meal i had here and being where it is, it costs what it costs to dine here. it's pretty busty in the pub tonight, we know we'll be waiting atleast an hour to get our meals so we grab a few drinks and relax after a busy days drive. about an hour and a half after ordering our meals they arrive on our table, i ordered a medium rare steak and to say it's well done would be an understatement, it's beyond well done and charcoaled. i cut some of the steak off and give it a try anyhow, it's dry and chewy, and to be honest it's one of the worst steaks i've ever had the displeasure of eating at a restuarant anywhere. my wifes steak isn't much btter and the kids steak my eldest daughter ordered is not much more then 2" x 2" in size and over cooked to buggery aswell. i leave my meal sitting where it is and walk into reception and ask for the manager to please come see me at the tabel we are sitting at. a few mintes later the manager arrives and i explain how disappointed i am at what we've all been served, she apologises and asks if they can cook me another steak or what is it i want them to do to remedy the situation. i'm really not in the mood to eat dinner now i'm that disappointed in the meal we got, i suggest to the manager some sort of partial refund might be in order and i'll leave it up to her to work out how much that is, whilst i'll just continue to eat the meal they have served to me. i eat the chips and veges from the plate and have a few small mouthfuls of the over cooked steak, but in the end i can't eat anymore of the steak so just leave it sitting there on the plate. the manager returns back to our table just after i push the plate aside, she has refunded the cost of my meal and both the kids meals and says she has had a word with the staff working in the kitchen, so i'm happy to leave it at that. we leave the hotel and head back to camp and head off to bed as it's pretty cold outside.


i'll add here, that over the next couple of days i spoke to a few people about their meals they got at the hotel, it seems that those who get in early say they have had really nice meals, and those like us who were disappointed, have arrived when it's pretty busy, so my suggestion is get in early if your going to eat there

[deFuzster]

Awesome write up Mal!

You need to send it in to 4WD Action and get a coin for it!

[Mr Mac GU]

Awesome write up Mal!

You need to send it in to 4WD Action and get a coin for it!

Unfortunately, as much as we like reading articles like this, and IMHO all stories are more interesting told in this manner. But 4wda won't accept articles written like this. The only want the finer details like we went here and the food was good, weather was cold etc.
camper trailer austrailia would more than likely but it though...


Sent from Behind you...BOO

[PajLuv]

Enjoyable read! Sounds like a decent trip! We would like to just make it to birdsville!

[Rumpig]

Awesome write up Mal!

You need to send it in to 4WD Action and get a coin for it!

Unfortunately, as much as we like reading articles like this, and IMHO all stories are more interesting told in this manner. But 4wda won't accept articles written like this. The only want the finer details like we went here and the food was good, weather was cold etc.
camper trailer austrailia would more than likely but it though...


Sent from Behind you...BOO

yep as Glen has mentioned they aren't interested in articles written this way, apparently nobody wants to read about what happened on your trip, they just want to know what it's like there and where the nearest services are  i looked into doing articles for them a few years back after they asked me if i was interested in doing so for them, i didn't bother once i saw the format and type of articles they wanted written. crazy i know, but that's the way the do things at Express Publications, set format and criteria only in every story, it's no wonder they all read the same IMHO.

[deFuzster]

Fair call. It's a shame though. Much more interesting this way.

[jnr chook]

I would definitely read 4wdA
if they had more of this sort of stories, as what they have now is boring.
 i hardly read them now just look at what i want and then give it back to Neil.

cheers mate
well done looked like you all had a great time, on a more private note how is your nanna   

[Rumpig]

well done looked like you all had a great time, on a more private note how is your nanna   

she passed away on Tuesday morning Jeanette. for someone who they didn't think would last a night, she fought on for nearly 2 1/2 weeks. in the end it was a relief when she went (sounds wrong but those who've been there will understand), there was no recovering from the stroke and she just a body laying in a bed for the last few weeks of her life. we got to visit her in the hospital when we returned from the trip, she did sort of open her eyes when my Aunty mentioned we were in the room, but that's all she could do.
cheers for asking
Mal

[Miss Wozzie]

sorry to hear about your nana Mal, glad you made it back in time to see her.

I have enjoyed reading your trip report, great to hear about the different tracks that were an alternative to the tracks we did in the same area and the campsites.

Looking forward to reading more when you write it.

Miss Wozzie

[Rumpig]

DAY 6

Wednesday morning dawns (you start to lose track of the days when on holidays...lol) and we've had a nice sleep in for a change, i think we got up around 8.00 a.m from memory. jumping out of bed i knew what was for breakfast today....BACON!!!!!....yep we aren't going anywhere so it's time for a nice cooked breakfast of bacon,eggs and tomato...Mmmmmm
exiting out of the camper and the first thing i notice is some local grub has graffitied my vehicle overnight, unbloody believable  :evil:  :evil: well when i say local, i mean the fella camped next to me, Glen has found one of his kids pens and set about amusing himself whilst we slept in :roll: i was fine with it, it gave me a laugh actually  :lol:  :lol:

BLOODY LOCAL VANDALS



sitting down having brekky i spotted a nicely convertered 100 series Cruiser drive past the caravan park, i took a bit of notice of it as i have a mate interested in doing similar to his vehicle. i particularly liked how the rear canopy was moulded to cover over the spare tyres on the back instead of just hanging out like an add on as you see on many of the ute canopies. brekky finished and i jumped in the fourby to duck down the to the bakery and grab some bread, Glen gave me some money and asked me to get him a loaf also. pulling out past the van park i noticed old mate wth the converted Cruiser parked just down the road a touch doing some repair work on the springs of his caravn he was towing. i started out asking if he was ok (which he was, all under control) and then asked him a few questions about his conversion on the tow tug. old mate was more then happy to tell me about the conversion, before i knew it he had the rear of the ute open and was giving me a full run down of the set up, he was happy to show it off and i don't blame him after looking through it all. i asked if i could take some pics for my mate back home to see (which he said no worries to) then i jumped back into my fourby and headed for the bakery.

NICELY CONVERTED CRUISER



pulling up outside the bakery i reached for my wallet in the centre console, but it wasn't there. checking my pockets and under the seats etc it's nowhere to be found, where the hell did it go i'm thinking to myself? i knew i left with it as i recalled sticking the money Glen gave me into my wallet, but now it's nowhere to be seen. when i got the camera out of my car to photograph the ute i must have put it on the bonnet of the fourby (right now i vaguely remember doing this, but still not 100% certain that's where i put it), i jump back in my vehicle and start to drive back looking on the road for where my wallets gone, about 80 mtrs up the road i come across a guy who's stopped in the middle of the road and he's reaching down to pick my wallet up. pulling up beside him i call out "that's mine mate", and he walks off around the side of his vehicle saying something i didn't quite hear. thinking to myself what a rude fella this guy is, he suddenly walks back around the vehicle towards me with my mobile phone in other hand aswell that he'd just bent down to pick up off the road also, i knew my wallet was missing but not the phone  :oops:  :oops: the guy opens my wallet to check it's mine before handing it back, he sees my ugly mug on the drivers licence and hands it over saying "geez your lucky mate". a quick thank you to the fella and i turn around and go back to the bakery once again to buy what i went there for. returning back to camp Glen suggests we head down to the information centre to see about organising our surprise for the kids, we hadn't let them in on our secret yet, but the plan was we were going to take the kids (and the wives also, but they about this already) on a scenic flight out of Birdsville over the desert and back again. none of the kids had ever been on a plane of any description before, so this was going to be a real treat for them, finally they'll stop whinging about how all their friends have been on a plane but they never have....lol.
arriving at the information centre (the plane flights are organised here also in another area in the same building) and the pilot is out somewhere, but the lady manning the other desk isn't sure where. we get some info on what to see about town and say we'll check back later, whilst getting this info i grab a sheet of paper that mentions how one of the local aboriginal elders will come down and give a talk to you at the 2 Boys Dreamtime Story Site on the edge of town, if you arrange it with him to do so. you need atleast 4 people to make this worth him doing, so seeing we easily had that between our 2 families i take the info sheet and we head back towards the vehicle to head back to camp. walking back to the vehicle Glen gives the pilot a call on his mobile phone and he mentions he's walking back over to the building right now, we turn around and wait for his arrival where we then arrange the 2 flights for both our families, the first one leaving at 11.00 a.m.
with this all organised we don't have much time to get back and get the the families ready to go. we arrive back at camp and give the kids the surprise news, they're all excited and before long we're in the vehicles and pulling up just across the road on the corner opposite the Birdsville Hotel where the plane leaves from. Glen and his family are first to go on their flight, we take some pics of them flying off and then i move my fourby across the road to get the obligatory pic of the vehicle outside the iconic pub.

GLEN AND FAMILY GOING OFF ON FLIGHT



VEHICLE PIC OUTSIDE THE BIRDSVILLE HOTEL



i move the fourby back across the road again, and then we start looking at the monuments that are here to celebrate the feats of many early explorers desert crossings. it interesting reading how people crossed the desert on foot, and makes me glad i did it a few years back in the comfort of my 4wd...lol

MONUMENTS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM HOTEL







by the time i'd finished reading these monuments and mucking around getting camera gear ready for our flight, it wasn't much longer and Glen and his family were returning from their adventure. switching roles, Glen and family exited the lane and before long we were onboard and taxiing down the runway ourselves. engine revving and we're off down the runway, wheels in the air off the ground and the kids are having their first plane flight ever, the smiles on their faces were great to see and we spend the next half hour being shown the local area by the pilot. as we head out over the desert the variety of colours below us has to be seen to be believed, a few good wet seasons under her belt and the desert below looks spectacular from above.  getting to see all the dunes running parrallel in a North / South direction is fantastic from up here also, you don't get this perspctive of the desert when you drive across it. we circle around Big Red and notice the water has depleted on the Eastern side of the dune quite a bit since we were last here in 2010. zooming in with my camera lense i notice some people playing on Big Red below and realize things certainly look much smaller from up here then i expected, i barely noticed them below beforehand.

BIRDSVILLE FROM THE AIR



A PERSPECTIVE OF THE DUNES YOU DON'T SEE WHEN CROSSING IT



WATER ON EASTERN SIDE OF BIG RED



PEOPLE PLAYING ON BIG RED AS WE FLY OVER



QAA LINE HEADING WEST ACROSS THE DESERT



DIAMANTINA RIVER



we circle back from the desert and start heading South East over Roseberth and Pandi Pandi Stations, the pilot points out a fence line below that was built by the 2 feuding brothers (Lyle and George Morton) who owned each station. in 1974 a flood swept away large sections of the original fence that divided the stations, Lyle told George it was his turn to pay for repairs, but George refused to do so. Lyle ended up building a fence 200 mtrs inside his boundary and then George ending up building one also that ran parrallel with his brothers fence though right on the boundary, there's a no mans land inbetween the 2 fences now.
from here we circle East somemore and head North back up past the racecourse. a short time later we find ourselves circling right back around to the far end of the airport where we make our approach for a landing. a few bumps as we touch down on the runway and a good time was had by all aboard. we pull up and depart the plane and the pilto offers to take a family happy snap to mark the occasion, we do so and thank him for the flight.

BIRDSVILLE RACE TRACK



FAMILY HAPPY SNAP AFTER THE FLIGHT



we head back to camp from here for a bite to eat and i call Don Rowlands (the local aboriginal elder) on his mobile phone, to try and arrange for him to come and give us the talk he does this afternoon down at the Story Site. normally Don does the talks around 2.00 p.m but today he has a doctors appointment happening at that time, we arrange for a later time then normal and look forward to seeing him down there. at the arranged time we head down to the Story Site on the edge of town, standing in the carpark my mobile phone rings and it's Don, he's running a touch late and he'll be down soon. a little while later Don arrives and starts explaining to us the significance of the location we are at, and also of the 2 Boys Dreamtime Story. it's great getting Dons perspective on the story and also hearing how he remembers when he was a young boy, attending a Corroborree at this very location we are standing at. Don answers our questions about aboriginal culture etc, and before he heads off we then thank him for his time, and we then explore the very short walk you can do here. whilst on the walk we see the places Don mentioned earlier, the location the men would get ready at and the location the women would get ready at for the Corroborree. it was great imagining both the men and women coming down from their locations and meeting up on the clay pan below as the Corroborree started, hearing Don give that recount of him being at and seeing such an event just added to the experience so much more.

THURTIRLA PULA (TWO BOYS) DREAMTIME STORY SITE





THE STORY ITSELF AND HOW IT LINKS DALHOUSIE TO BIRDSVILLE... (the circles are water wells in the desert, the story helps aboriginals find this water along the way)



MENS SITE



WOMENS SITE



DON PICTURED BOTTOM LEFT PIC



walking along the short walk we are suddenly greeted with hundreds of cockatoos flying past us, the sky has turned white before our eyes and we now know why this place is called Birdsville. it's a sight you need to see to believe, and the noise of these buggers needs to be heard aswell. i try and take some pics and manage to jag a shot i'm happy with, it's hard to do as they land in the trees and then suddenly take off once again the minute they get spooked.

COCKATOOS FLYING PAST



ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PICS I TOOK FROM THE HOLIDAY



leaving the story site we head back towards camp once again, we take a quick detour to the Northern edge of town and look at where Birdsville gets it's water supply from. a bore was sunk back in 1961 to a depth of 1292 metres deep, water comes to the surface under pressure and is almost 100 degrees celcius when it does so. the water goes into cooling ponds before then being pumped 20 metres up to holding tanks, where it's then distributed to the township.

BIRDSVILLES WATER SUPPLY AND HOLDING TANKS





from here we head back to camp and get ready to watch Qld smash the dirty cockroaches in tonights State of Origin Game, before doing so i wander down the back of the caravan park with my eldest daughter to take some more photos. my daughter has her little point and shoot camera along with her also, i'm pretty impressed with the way she frames some of the shots she takes that she shows me, she seems to have a knack for it IMHO. down the back of the van park here is the unpowered camping area, you can camp where you like and the birdlife about the river abounds, one downside is that when the sun comes up so do the birds, they are loud from where we are up the top of the park, i can only imagine how loud they are for those camped down here by the water.

DIAMANTINA RIVER AT BACK OF CARAVAN PARK



UNPOWERED CAMP AREA AT CARAVAN PARK



POWERED AREA OF CARAVAN PARK



photos taken we both walk back up to our campsite and have some dinner. the plan tonight is watch the game on the small tv screen in Glens 4wd, i reckon the pub will be packed and don't really want to be in there with the kids if this is the case. not long before the game the coverage on Glens telly starts to drop out occasionally, being desperate to watch the game i race over to the pub and see what it's like in there. to my surprise the front bar is busy but not overflowing, i check the dining room and there's still seats available to sit at, so i race back and grab the family and we head up to the pub to watch the game. it's a fantastic result on the night if your a Queenslander, we smash the roaches and even the series up one game all. when the game finishes we head back to camp and invite Taf and Sue around for a few drinks, much cheaper drinking back here then at the pub after all...lol.
we only have a couple and everyone heads off to bed, it's fairly cold sitting outside here and the downside to being in the powered area is no campfire.....oh well, i'll sleep well knowing we smashed NSW tonight anyway     

[Ady88]

Great report and pics as usual Mal . Sorry to hear about your Nanna.

[Rumpig]

Day 7

Another sleep IN this morning and another cooked brekky aswell due to the fact we were staying another night in Birdsville. There'd been no change back home with my Nan, so it was decided we'll just keep on with our holiday until we get the phone call giving us the bad news, and we'll head straight for home when that happens. The plan for today was to explore a bit more around Birdsville, and later on this afternoon we'd head out to Big Red and have a play on the sand dune, and then watch the sunset over the desert. Brekky had we eventually set off out of town towards the race track, crossing over the Diamantina Bridge we took a righthand turn onto a dirt track that leads us down to the Burke and Wills blaze tree. i was a little disappointed with what we found here though, i'm guessing there used to be an information board of some description here to explain the relevance of the tree, but it appears it's fallen victim to the elements or vandals, my guess being the later sad to say. i didn't think of it at the time we were there, but back at camp i jumped on the internet to find the trees relevance, and it appears it was marked by Burke on the return trip from The Gulf, and marks one of their final campsites before they reached the Innamincka area where they both eventually perished (if i have this wrong can someone please tell me). right at this point in time i can't find a photo of the blazing, so i'm guessing it has since grown over and wasn't visible anymore, otherwise i'd  think i'd have a photo of it .

BURKE AND WILLS BLAZE TREE



Leaving the blaze tree we continue on along the dirt track and circle around back towards Birdsville direction, there's a maze of tracks about here with heaps of campsites tucked into the surrounding scrub, and we guess this is where many people camp when the famous Birdsville Races are on. Guessing as we go, we eventually find what we are looking for, it's the Old Diamantina River crossing. We pull up and get a photo or 2 on the crossing before moving on once again.

OLD DIAMANTINA RIVER CROSSING





Back at the bitumin now, we find ourselves on the Birdsville side of the Diamantina Bridge, we've read about and been told by the lady at the info centre the other day of a fresh water croc that supposably has been spotted around this area, so we head the few hundred metres up the road to go see if we can spot it ourselves. We'd been told the croc hangs out about a couple of hundred meters either side of the bridge, we walk the banks either side of the bridge but don't see a thing worth mentioning. As we are about to leave, a fella camped downstream a touch walks up to get water from a tap that is located near us, and i ask if he's seen the croc at all. he's been here a few days and he says he hasn't seen it, so not sure what the go is with the old snapping handbag.

NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT TO READ OUT HERE AT BIRDSVILLE





from here we continue out of town a touch more and turn left off the bitumin into the famous racetrack for a look around. we have the place to ourselves pretty much, other then the flies that are a bit annoying. we line the vehicles up at the front entrance gate and grab the tripods out to set the cameras up on, and get a group families pic to mark the occasion of reaching our destination. you see.... most people like ourselves on previous trips, usually arrive in Birdsville after or just before they cross the desert, they stay for a night and then move on to where ever it is they are goin. the trip for us this time was all about going to Birdsville and staying a few days here, and having a relaxed look around the place, which is exactly what we've been doing and did do. i'm not going to say we saw everything about the area, there's a few places i know we didn't go see, but oh well, that's a reason to head back out here again another time in the future. we had a good look around the race track and even got the kids to line up down the straight and have a foot race to be first past the post, it was good for them to burn off some energy we thought...lol. if you go have a meal or drink at the Birdsville Hotel you'll see some of the past winners names of the famous horse race up on one of the walls, my favourite name is My Face. i can hear the people calling him home now...C'MON MY FACE...C'MON FACE....can't imagine they'd allow a name like that in city horse racing....lol

BIRDSVILLE RACK TRACK





with our look around the race track completed and pics taken we headed back to the caravan park so the misses could take our washing off of the clothes line, you need to get in early in the morning to jag a washing machine here, as they are a sort after item being people have been away from home about a week atleast by the time they get here.

i suppose now is as good a time as any to mention some Birdsville pricing here for those who are interested....
washing machines at the caravan park...$4 a pop (Windorah council park is only $2 if your going that way)
driers at the caravan park...$1 for 8 minutes (you'll need 4 goes to dry a load of washing so Amanda found out)
loaf of white bread at the bakery....$6
diesel fuel at the main servo across from van park at time of our visit....$1.69 a ltr (a pleasant surprise and much cheaper then the $2.09 a ltr Innamincka was. at the time back home in Brisbane was about $1.50 a ltr)

back to the report....with the washing now collected we jumped back in the vehicles and headed North out of town towards Bedourie, the place we were headed for if anyone asks is called the Waddi Trees, but we were actually going there for another reason. the Waddi Trees is a rest area about 14klms out of town on the righthand side as you head for Bedourie (it's a picnic table and a small notice board sign only), the Waddi tree wood is known for it's hardness when dry and supposably is near impossible to drill when it has dried, 100 year old fence post have been know to show little decay i read on the sign that is here. now here's where it gets a touch iffy for some people, also here on private property at this location a few hundred metres off of the highway, is a place known as The Dingo Caves. technically you don't have permission to go on this land, but there isn't anyone about the area to stop you from doing so if you were to chose to do it. looking towards the Waddi Trees on the Northern side of the rest area you'll notice 2 wheel tracks running off towards some breakaways on this property, follow these tracks and you'll find The Dingo Caves, it sort of looks like an open quarry area on first glance. driving down into this quarry like area, you'll soon see the caves dug into the side of the hillsides all around you, if you continue to follow the track you'll then find yourself at a dead end and see a couple of posts stopping you from driving to the top of the breakaways. hop out of your vehicle and walk to the top of this hill, the view is breath taking and it's pretty much 360 degrees as far as you can see. i took some pics but they just don't it justice sadly. the only thing i didn't like here was the fact previous vistors have found the need to collect rocks and lay them out on the hills below to spell out their names, i'm sure they enjoyed doing this, but for me it spoils the look of the area, you just need to look past this mess and enjoy what's out in the distance IMHO.

WADDI TREES NORTH OF BIRDSVILLE



DINGO CAVES AT WADDI TREES LOCATION



SOME OF THE VIEW FROM ATOP THE BREAKAWAYS





as we finished our look around the area and are about to leave, 3 more vehicles showed up to have a look aroun. there's no signs saying no entry anywhere, but i'll leave it up to yourselves if you feel it's ok to visit this area or not. it was now nearly 1.00 p.m so we headed back to town to grab some lunch, Glen and family headed off to the pub and we ourselves headed off to the bakery. we're in Birdsville and i have to have a curried camel pie whilst i'm here, i did it when we last crossed the Simpson Desert, and this time in town was going to be no different. we grabbed some pies and sausage rolls and another loaf of bread and headed back to camp to eat lunch. after lunch i started packing up some of the camper trailer as we'd be leaving tomorrow morning, i packed away the awning and as much else as possible, leaving only the bare minimum to be done in the morning. with this now done it was just about time to head out to Big Red to watch the sunset, but before doing so we stopped in at the Old Birdsville Hotel for a quick look around and another photo opportunity. The Royal Hotel as it was known, was built back in 1883, it operated as a hotel for 40 years until the Australian Inland Mission leased it to use as a hospital for about 14 years, and then it was leased as a private residence after that.

ROYAL HOTEL BIRDSVILLE



pics taken and it's time to head for Big Red, you may recall i mentioned earlier our friends Taf and Sue who are from our 4wd club and staying at the van park also, well they were coming out to watch the sunset with us also. meeting up with Taf outside the Birsdville Hotel we drive West out of town, along the way we stop to photograph some horses and also stopped at a Simpson Desert sign for a group pic. reaching the bottom of Little Red we stop to deflate our tyres and head off into the desert itself. Taf, Sue and family have never been "outback" before and are considering heading out to Poeppel Corner to camp the night in the next few days, so we decide to take them for a short drive out into the desert over the next dune past Big Red so they can see what it's like out here. stopping between Big Red and the next dune West we deflate our tyres even more again for the climb back up Big Red later on, i reduce my tyres to 10 psi rears and 8 psi fronts and we then head West over the next dune into the Simpson Desert. reaching the other side it's only a very short distance into the desert, but atleast they can say they've been here now and have a rough idea of what they could maybe expect to encounter along the way if they decide to head to Poeppel Corner, we turn around and head back East to play on Big Red whilst we wait for the sun to start to set

HORSES ON WAY TO BIG RED



GROUP PIC AT SIGN



THE DESERT STARTS HERE...Little Red straight ahead



LOOKING BACK EAST TOWARDS BIG RED



stopping back just before Big Red i take a pic at the same sign i took a pic at back in 2010, when we were last here after we crossed The Simpson Desert, i'll post both pics up to give you an idea of how different it now looked for us, certainly much drier this time around then on our previous trip through here.

2010 VIEW OF BIG RED



2013 VIEW OF BIG RED



pics taken and we headed over to the dune for a play, with tyres properly deflated i headed for the main track to the left. cruising slowly in 3rd gear lowrange over the many corrogations at the bottom of the dune, i then excelerated and easily drove up and over the top of the dune on my first attempt, we'd learnt back in 2010 that tyre pressures are the key to easily conquoring this dune, speed has practically nothing to do with it. for the next 20 minutes we watched as Taf tried to conquer the dune without any success, time and time again he'd almost make it but run out of puff. eventually he deflated his tyres another 2 psi (i think he was then 8psi alround) and he drove straight up and over the dune to the cheers of all onboard and those outside on the dune aswell. Glen then had his turn, and like myself drove up and over first go, i guess our previous sand driving experience came into play a touch that day, and i think Taf was also running slightly higher pressures at the start aswell, but in the end we all got over and had our moments of glory...lol. we then all parked up on top of the dune and reinflated our tyres back to dirt road driving pressures before it got dark.
with the sun now starting to go down we were joined on the dune by another family who were also out here to watch the sunset, they'd brought boogie boards with them, and all the kids had goes at riding them down the dune, much to the joy of the adults who laughed when they took a tumble and likely filled their Reg Grundies full of sand at the same time....lol. a few quiet drinks had and some more pics taken, and we headed back to town in the dark. arriving back at camp we had some dinner and a couple more drinks before heading off to bed for the evening...another great day in the outback complete .

CONQUORING BIG RED



LOOKING EAST FROM A TOP BIG RED...you don't want these guys having to recover you = $$$$$$$



LOOKING NORTH ON BIG RED



KIDS HAVING FUN



THERE'S STILL WATER ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF BIG RED...though nothing like what was back in 2010, there's no detour and the road goes straight out to Little Red



A COUPLE OF SUNSET PICS ON TOP OF BIG RED