Day 30 - Arcadia Valley to Carnarvon Gorge 7320km

Day 30 Arcadia Valley Escape to Carnarvon Gorge 7320kms

Turned left out of the Sunnyholt driveway and headed up to a lookout on a bluff overlooking Arcadia Valley.  An amazing view which can’t be reproduced by camera - the escarpment fell away to the tree topped Valley below and reached out to gorges and mysterious tabletop mountains of all sizes in the distance.

The drive to Carnarvon Gorge took us past fields of Brahman cattle grazing by the roadside and ended up at the Gorge information Centre.  There are lots of different palms in the gorge and we were lucky enough to see the coral flowered batwing tree and some indigenous paintings of hand shadows in a large overhang cave.

Takaraka campsite gave us a platypus in the stream behind the tents.  It’s a busy campsite with small plots.  We caught up on laundry and took it easy.

Day 29 - Arcadia Valley

Day 29 Arcadia Valley Escape 7210km

The full moon was huge last night, the sky cloudless and there was no incentive to go to bed early as the campfire was so cozy.  Needless to say we had a slow morning.

Our adventure today initially took us to Munroes Lookout .. I picked it straight away ..
Two hills, uniform in size, that looked exactly like ... well, Marilyn Munroes busoms 😆

Some one on this farm has a great sense of humour!

Great view from the top all around.  Next visit we’ll be more adventurous and follow Leichardts footsteps- a 12 km circuit walk around the property’s escarpment boundary.

One great big Australian Bustad flew up and gave us quite a shock and we saw
2 of the largest heron or storks we have ever seen. They were more than two foot tall and in the Wetlands.

The cattle yards here are unusual in that they are round and Rowan later explained it was much easier to get cows & bulls into a rounded yard.

Part of the fun staying here was coming across unexpected humour in the clever naming of the places and in the materials used for the buildings... like a water tank which was the toilet and the shower up at the “Outpost” holiday accommodation.  The view from there was incredible with the whole valley laid out before us.  Will definately stay there next time.

Popped in for a quick hello at Rowan and Maddys house and stayed for a cuppa and chat before we were invited to help move cows to another paddock.  It was a great sight to see so many lovely Ladies marching past in an orderly fashion when Rowan called them.  Driving there and back was fun too in an “all terrain vehicle”

The evening was spent around our campfire under the stars again - it’s going to be hard to leave tomorrow.

Day 28 - Arcadia Valley 7210 km

Day 28 Arcadia Valley Escape 7210km

The turnoff yesterday said “ Arcadia Valley Road” & “ Lake “Nuga Nuga” .. well last night we enjoyed birdwatching around our own private lake and it was amazing 👌

You never know what’s beyond the tree lined roads - you see lots of barrels, some painted different colours and most bearing the name of the property.  At Arcadia Valley Escape on “Sunnyholt” Station we were lucky enough to experience some of the magic.

The property lies within a wide, fertile valley bordered with rugged escarpments.  Each evening as the sun went down, the light changed and painted the meadows on the slopes below the cliffs a myriad of colours.  Mesmerising!

Our rural and quirky site showcased the genius of its creator.  Farm accessories had been put to good use.  A large gate latch held the loo rolls down, an oil drum supported the toilet seat and giant cable reels became tables just to name a few!

Quirky because of the rustic “Thunderbox” and bush cinema at our camp 😊
Rowan & Maddie, the Station owners have also created one of the best fire pits we have seen on this trip.  Surrounding boulders are big enough to keep little children away but big enough for adult bums!

After a leisurely start we took a walk to the old homestead and peeped in the shearer’s cottage (both available for holiday stays).  Loved the Shearer’s cottage!  Cute as a button and cozy 😍

Walking back to our camp we saw the Large Turtle we saw in the morning.  She was putting the finishing touches to covering her eggs and looked exhausted.

Rowan & young Hunter came to visit on their Polaris 4WD with 2 dogs and we watched the turtle together before she walked across the track making her way back to the lake for a well earned rest.

The rest of the afternoon we set to collecting wood for the nights campfire, relaxing, reading and then a walk to the boathouse to watch the sunset.

Day 27 - Emerald to Arcadia Valley 7210km

Day 27 Emerald to Arcadia Valley 7110km

Emerald left us with a great impression:  we had a night and morning of much needed torrential rain and the tent gave us a good night sleep with no leaks! Brilliant!

The road out passed a huge paddock with wall to wall cotton bales waiting to be shipped out and another busting at the seams with commercially grown sunflowers. So that’s what goes on here! And fossicking for gemstones.

There were many flocks of birds above us heading out to the dams, lakes and newly filled creeks.  The land sure does need the rain.

Spectacular Minerva Hills National Park on our right as we drove into Springsure. Plummeting cliffs and steep gorges.  Seems like a great place to revisit.

Rolleston was bustling with caravans and trucks fuelling up and one or two watering holes were doing a trade in lunches.  After diesel we kept on driving.
The rain turned to drizzle just after the Carnarvon Gorge turnoff and the clouds have lifted enough to see the distant gorge walls.  The rain has made natures colours pop and it’s all looking very fertile.

Exciting drive into Arcadia - went a bit sideways in 4WD mode a couple of times in the waterlogged clay.  Hope good ole Red Dog gets us there! (Yep!)
Great campsite with our private outback movie screen, fire pit, “Thunderbox” complete with fairy lights and Huntsman on the toilet roll ... couldn’t be happier!

No sooner had we set up in a pristine clearing than a herd of cows came charging through and curious big faces came snuffling and shuffling round our tent.  Now the grassy dell looks like it’s been ploughed - so much for worrying about a few tyre tracks 😂

No-ones here so its perfect 👌 Rowan & Maddy are not open for camping, just the homestead accommodation so we have the bird watching lake and kayaks to ourselves.  Camp oven roast again 😋

Day 26 - Lara Wetlands to Emerald 6821km

Day 26 Barcaldine to Emerald 6821 kms

The 6.30am alarm was set so we could watch the sunrise from the hot pool - a great way to start the day. We shared the space with a couple of The “Lake Eyre Rangers” - their last day of weed control in the creeks at the Station.  They had also set cameras to catch the activities of wild dogs roaming this area. They are commissioned by a lot of the Cattle Stations.

The tour of the old homestead gave us an insight into the intrigue and socially unacceptable marriage of the wealthy landowners daughter Agnes to one of the stockmen.  He had the unfortunate name of Kenny Pumpa 😬.  A true love match which lasted the years although the husband was never allowed back into the family home.

Restoring the property has been the dream of the current owner Jo who lost her husband in a helicopter accident 4 years ago.  She started the tourism side with camping around the lake and has done a great job of cataloguing the paraphernalia of 100 years of items left to rot by their original owners.

A traditional morning tea was served on the balcony and then information about the bore from the “Great Artisian Basin” ... and we are again on the road heading towards Emerald ...

En route .. the most life we saw was in a town called “ Jericho”.  A horse neighing at us from the front yard of an old weatherboard with paint peeling off it was a highlight.

A long, straight boring road up to the Emerald region of low hills, dark soil and cotton plantations.  Greeted by rain, campsite booked and the cotton is sitting in big, round yellow bales waiting for collection.

Rain, a friendly campsite and a communal open fire is on the cards for this evening.

Day 25 - Lara Wetlands

Day 25

Day 24 Lara Station Wetlands, Barcaldine and back to the Wetlands

Thankfully we were woken up early by children or we would have missed a lovely outback sunrise and the calls of so many birds.  Some people were even in the hot pool at this hour - have to say it crossed my mind .. there’s always tomorrow!

Barcaldine today gave us the birth of the Australian Labour Party history and a very clever memorial to the “Wisdom Tree” ... above which hangs the biggest wind chime made of suspended rectangular stakes the size of medium tree trunks. The whole structure surrounds the tree from above and gentle tones resonate on the breeze.

Bought a couple of Aussie hats in a Saddlery, went to an art gallery and then checked out the 4 historic Hotels (pubs) with the balconies overhanging the pavement.

Have to say Barcaldine is a very friendly and appealing country town - next on the agenda are more dips in that glorious artesian hot spring and the anticipation of a roast dinner cooked on our open fire next to the lake.

And probably a moonlight swim 😎

All this with some gutsy little ponies neighing in the background - it’s a cattle station alright!

Day 24 - Bladensburg NP to Lara Station 6385km

Day 24 Bladensburg NP to Lara Station Wetlands 6385kms

Many Green Budgies provided morning entertainment frolicking in one of the local gum trees.  We saw a white faced heron too & plenty of pink & grey Galahs.

Driving in, the park looked really barren, but the campsite was next to a creek flanked by river gums.  Lovely; also breezy which was nice.  A man told us that recent rain had filled the creek which brought a huge variety of birds to the area.  We could have stayed longer here as there was an old homestead and an interesting gorge to visit. Next time.

This visit we left for Longreach and spent a couple of hours in the Stockmans hall of fame.  Pastoral history;  very well set out and interesting, especially as we had visited a lot of the places.

We still had time to drive to Lara Station Wetlands, a cattle property with hot mineral pools filling a spa pool and providing a very special habitat for birds.

Barcaldine en-route was pretty quiet and closed for Sunday but worth a visit tomorrow.  Looking forward to a camp fire and lots of birds.

Day 23 - Mckinnley to Bladensburg NP 6206km

Day 23 McKinlay (Walkabout Creek) to Bladensburg National Park 6026km

Massive cattle stations on never ending plains and lots of road trains starts the adventure today

The land on the NT side of the border was natural and seemed relatively fertile where 150 kms away on this side of the border the plains are quite barren - this has to be one of the areas badly drought affected - very sad.

Just passed a cattle Station called Donald Downs and we have seen a few flocks of vivid green budgies, and a few emus, some lovely highlights and a nice change from the large numbers of scavenging Black Hawks rising above lasts nights fresh carcasses.  Road trains are unable to stop for wildlife wandering on the highway at night.

It’s 28 degrees today & we’re off to see some dinosaur footprints - I wrote that at midday and it was the plan; but it’s a 200 km round trip out of our way .. we might have to settle for the dinosaur museum on the way out of town. (3300 dinosaurs at a riverbank stampeding away from a predator and all now captured as fossils) ... I’m still putting my dinosaur card on the table for a visit 🤞

Meanwhile, the campsite is sublime - under shady gums, in a breeze and by a small creek.  Our neighbour tells us there are no mozzies, if that’s the case when the flies go to bed it will be paradise at Bladensburg National Park.  We drove through salt lakes and very flat plains to get here with the promise of thousands of wild budgies later tonight.

Day 22 - Camooweal to Mckinnley 5760km

Day 22 Camooweal to McKinlay 5760 kms

Hit the road early before 9.30 - easy run into Mount Isa passing vast cattle stations accompanied by the various hawks and eagles.  It’s feeling less remote here with sightings of helicopters servicing the many mines and lots of caravanners migrating north.
George Fisher mine welcomed us into MI. Civilisation 😬
Power lines all around us

Fuelled up & drove straight out to Cloncurry where the Flying Doctor service began - a neat and small Qld town with wide streets and Queenslander houses - a very nice feel to it, and then we drove out ...

Leaving the Overlander Way for the Matilda Highway to Walkabout Creek Hotel - 100kms till we get the Crocodile Dundee experience!

It’s a shared highway with mostly caravanners and road trains of mostly 4 trailers long.  The signs tell us they are 53.5 meters long 😳

Day 21 - Devils Marbles to Camooweal 5341km

Day 21 Devils Marbles to Camooweal Qld 5341km

A quiet night and a nice early start. The overnight desert wind picked up and kept any condensation in the tent away and we shared morning cups of tea & chats with our neighbours.  Stan changed our first tyre and found a small hole which we’ll get fixed soon.

So far it’s a long straight road, red dirt, low bushes and the occasional areas of many termite mounds.  The funny names of the swamps and creek crossings are keeping us amused.  Also love seeing wedge tailed eagles and other hawks hunting above the red plains.

Tennant Creek -  very helpful at Bridgestone where our tyre was fixed and they put it back on too.  They also run “Harden Up Racing Team” ... Love it.
IGA has a roller door grill and the Main Streets biggest establishments are two enormous pubs that look like Jailhouses .... hmmmmmmmm ???

Just turned right at the “Three Ways” a few kms north of T.C and heading beyond Barkly Station Cattle property for tonight.  Sounds very Outback.

There’s some people out here with a sense of humour;  we’ve seen termite mounds wearing Tee-Shirts, dresses and lots wearing bras.  Just passed a tourist one in a Hawaiian shirt with camera around its neck ... you sure do need something to keep you awake when the road is completely straight to QLD.

Camooweal is where we stopped for the night - there’s caves here, but only for the experienced to explore.  A town of 300; large for this area and with some character.  We are camping behind a pub with wrap around verandas in a campsite with grass, a pool and hot showers!

Day 20 - Aileron to Devils Marbles 4761km

Day 20 Aileron to Devils Marbles 4761 kms

A place with a sad history - the campsite groundskeeper related to us a time in the 50’s when a white policeman raped a lady from the people of the land.  He was speared as was the punishment metered out for such a crime, however the whole tribe was rounded up and displaced to Port Peri as a consequence.

One of the young men by the name of Milligan walked all the way back to his land and a giant sculpture of him now stands proud overlooking the land of his people.  The plaque said he only passed away two years ago.

Also a place where 3 to 4 trailer road trains blast along the highway both day and night. A place with a diesel generator which loudly motored on and spotlessly clean showers.  All taps read “cold” - should have read “freezing”

Washing done, Ute packed and we’re on the red flanked road to the UFO place via Barrow Creek (a place famed as the last place Peter Falconio & Joanne Lee’s stopped at and also an historic telegraph station)

Restoration work was happening at the historic site, so we didn’t stop and drove through to Wycliffe Wells where supposedly Aliens landed.  A roadhouse there was dedicated to UFO info but the outside wasn’t convincing enough to entice us in either.

We have settled at The Devils Marbles Conservation area.  It’s a stunning place and very sacred to the Traditional landowners but unfortunately it’s also a cheap camping zone and caravans are jammed in closer than a City housing block.

Having completed the circuits and taken photos, dinner is on.

Day 19 - Ormiston Gorge to Aileron 4492km

Day 19 Ormiston Gorge to Aileron 4492km

Into “Ellery’s Big Hole” - driving in past a creek bed full of ghost gums ends at a lovely campground and the first thing we heard when we opened the Ute doors was “hey Stan!”

Nick from Cradlehuts came over for a yarn - he was on tour with a group and we followed him into the gorge to a stunning view.

The morning light presented a scenic waterhole bathed in a golden glow with abundant birdlife and ghostgums - very photogenic ...

From here we drove to Standley Chasm and saw Callum doing the winter guiding stint here.  The golden glow in the chasm was perfect - there’s a 90 minute window to experience it each day and we were bang on time. A lovely short walk then.

Into Alice Springs to re-supply .... and straight out.  The Stuart Highway north is a flat and boring section.  Red dirt either side of the road with low bushes and a fair few termite mounds of varying sizes .. 100kms to go to our stop for tonight at Aileron, a roadhouse with a good write-up!

When the Ute registered 4444.4kms distance travelled I saw a termite mound wearing a Tee-shirt 😂

Day 18 - Kings Canyon to Ormiston Gorge 4198km

Day 18 4198 kms

The 4am dingo choir woke us early, so after a snooze we did an early pack up and hit the road at 8.30

Before packup we met Maria Coast Fishing charters camped nearby and a Dingo ran off with our compressor hose - cheeky for sure (got it back - no teeth holes).

Lovely view of the last of the Canyon walls in our rear vision mirror as we head to the McDonnel Ranges - we let the tyres down at the gravel road and the days adventure begins
Giant ruts in the red centre slowed us down to a crawl at some points “careful driving techniques” advised on the road signs- that’s true!

Starting to see a few small termite mounds here
A barrel painted with “Lift um foot” - aboriginal for slow down 🙂 feeling very outback today ..

Also saw a washing machine by the side of the road 😳nice place to have one!

Made it to Ormiston Gorge - only 20 camp spots available so very happy to get one. Great Kiosk with the most amazing raspberry and banana cake with maple syrup.

The 7km Pound Walk was incredible - we seem to be doing a tour of the pounds.  This one took us around the outer rim then over and into the “crater”.  We walked across to some soaring cliffs on the other side, crossing some creek beds and rock hopping was fun.  Walking into the gorge flanked by towering vivid orange cliffs not even 20 meters apart, we came across a series of waterholes and a young couple who showed us footage of a rock wallaby - the last waterhole was deep and surrounded by sand.

Camp site is lovely except for a bunch of boys playing battlefields around us (grrrrr)

Day 17 - Kings Canyon 3941 km

Day 17 Kings Canyon 3941 kms

We were so excited yesterday to see the Dingo pack yet here they are wandering around our campground!  They call out to each other in the night - a sound we really enjoyed

Kings Canyon today was spectacular as promised. We enjoyed the rim walk after a nice heart starter of 700 steep steps!  This place is an absolute “must visit”
Up top desert views roll out to a brilliant blue horizon and sheer cliffs into the Canyon below keep the heart rate up!
Rugged giant beehive domes make the plateau look like a lost city and walking amongst them with no people around makes it a very special place.
The domes were formed from erosion of vertical cracks in the sandstone and

A wooden stairwell took us to the bottom of the canyon where we walked along a mysterious pathway to a waterhole reflecting the walls of the gorge.  There were many birds including ducks in “The Garden of Eden” where “secret men’s business” took place many years ago.  Sacred to the Luritja people of this land.

Sundowners back at camp watching the sun set with a myriad of birds from swallows chasing insects, zebra finches, red tailed black cockatoos cawing in a dead tree and a lone peregrine falcon on the hunt for a desert mouse.

Day 16 - Uluru to the Olga’s then Kings Canyon 3941km

Day 16 Uluru to Olga’s (Kata Tjuta) to Kings Canyon 3941km

We made it to the first lookout before the masses and had the serene view of the Olga’s or Kata Tjuta in its traditional name

Minds officially blown

The desert grasses shone silver in the soft morning light and the wind whispered through the delicate fronds of the desert oak trees

From the dune lookout we could see Uluru as well as some less familiar rocks on the horizon

The path amongst the rocks meandered through narrow gorges where we felt a cool tranquility and refreshing winds as we walked over the crests and down into a wider basin or pound.  Surrounded by the smoothed prehistoric forms we were able to savour the uniqueness and raw beauty of the Kata Tjuta.

The road out via Curtain Springs seems to do a giant loop around Uluru and it’s from this viewpoint we can see the giant rectangle which is Mount Conner and it’s salt
Lake plain.

North of here the desert oaks are much bigger, still on the red dunes with soft grasses below
Passing a lot of young tour groups collecting wood beside the road for tonight’s camp fires - looks like Kings Canjon camping could be noisy 😳

5pm Tazzie time a pack of Dingoes crossed the road in front of us and we managed to stop in time to get a photo - 2 of the pack were coloured like kelpies but the other 3 were pure dingo - there was a horrible smell of death but we didn’t see any carcasses
The terrain is also getting a bit Canjon like with cliffs appearing to the right of the road
We booked into Kings Canyon Resort campsite to try and avoid the firewood collecting partybus tours we thought would stay at Kings Creek Station (which did look authentic and had camels) next time.

Day 15 - Curtain Spring to Uluru 3521km

Day 15

Curtain Springs to Uluru 3521km

Camel tours advertised on a billboard just after this mornings first sighting of “The Rock”

The rock looks less like the giant rectangle we viewed on the way in yesterday and we saw our first dingo here too looking for roadkill and looking very healthy- also getting some great views of the Olga’s in The distance.

We walked the 10km around the rock and not up it. Following that we popped into Yulara for a coffee and lunch then back to the viewing spot for a sundowner......awesome day. Off to the Olga’s tomorrow then Kings Canyon.

Day 14 Oodnadatta to Curtain Springs 3365km

Day 14 Oodnadatta to curtain Springs 3365 kms

An easy pack up and goodbye Oodnadatta on a clear big blue sky day
Bye Massive flocks of vivid pink galah
Bye black crows sitting on the tin fence around the desert floor campground
Bye lovely quirky pink roadhouse

Gibbon desert makes way for tightly knit mallee scrubby trees to intense red orange sand as we pass the turn off to the Simpson desert then lots of corrugated road through lighter coloured desert plains with the ribbons of green as we pass over the creek beds.

The creek beds have depth markers to 2m so we know there’s a lot of water when the rains come ... and we know there’s people living out here off the land as the odd star picket anchors down the occasional large rusted out barrel to signify a road leading off the Oodnadatta Track to a homestead or cattle station

You notice the small things out here and this morning we’ve enjoyed seeing zebra finches, wedge tailed eagles, kangaroos lifting their heads to see what all the fuss is about as we rattle past
The gibber desert is fading from an intense red to a paler rust as we head toward the end of the Adventure that was The Oodnadatta Track

The air is still
A road train approached like a giant dementor - a halcyon of doom with headlights blazing & indeed it wS a death truck carrying a sorry load of cattle to their demise
The red dust from its wake outlined the road ahead for many k’s as the dust slowly settled

Welbourn hill is a Station quite close to the track and on the last quarter of The Oodnadatta - a sign attached to a saltbush says “ plenty cows”
Haven’t sent any yet

The land around here looks more prairie than desert but up close, it’s still gibber stones and trees are sparse here

Marla was a huge Servo at the end of the track so fuelled up and kept going to make up some kms to be closer to Uluru

First sighting of the rock at 30km from Curtain Springs.

Free camping at a cattle station (Curtain Springs) - after setup then dinner we wandered over to the bar and got talking to a dodgy looking old fella with one cateract encrusted eye and a raw sense of humour - turns out he was the Owner of the Cattle property and the other dodgy guy was his Grandson: you never know who’s who: 90 years old and full of flirt still

A lovely night! Starry and down to zero degrees overnight

Day 13 Oodnadatta to Painted Desert 2733km

Day 13 Oodnadatta to painted desert

Red rocky dunes leads the way this morning as we convoy out to the painted desert with Joan and Bernie some seasoned travellers heading the same way

Highlights include being swooped firstly by a flock of KTM riders and then a flock of zebra finches

The multicoloured outcrops of painted desert were nothing short of spectacular

Met Kate who lives at the Strathgordon Lodge - just cycled from Farwin, down the West Coast & across the Nullarbor and now up the centre .. we thought we were adventurous and just as we were giving her a re-supply in the creek bed along cake a huge Downunder tours bus full of Grockles

Saw the first little mob of kangaroos on the Gibber plains amongst the saltbush
Closely followed by 2emu and a small group of cows

Back to “Oodnadatta” for the night and the chores of washing

Catchups with Joan and Bernie over nibbles round off the day nicely under a vivid display of stars.

Day 12 William Creek to Oodnadatta 2564km

Day 12 to Oodnadatta

At William Creek water in the showers is salty- 9.43am and no flies yet - they pop out at ten.
Spoke to a local & the population is 3, they are even registered on the electoral roll. While we chatted a number of scenic flights took off:  to see Lake Eyre She said, “A bit of water in the lake and lots of pelicans and other birds to see” At $700 a flight I’m prepared to take her word for it!

The suns up well & truly, there’s a buzz of excitement in the air - there’s a queu at the bowser and the travellers have all packed a sense of adventure

A steady stream of off-road bikes are on the road - some have been across the Simpson desert and some at a big off-road motorbike race called the Fink race.

I wonder if other people have issues with smashed windscreens as some speedy oncoming vehicles spray up a meteorite shower as they go past

It was worth all the corrugations and rough 4WD Track to witness the history of Australia’s most remote telegraph station - the Old Peake Telegraph Station of 1870

Turning off the highway a sign warned us to tak safety equipment- 4WD only and enough food in case we became stranded
The quartzite plains giving way to more undulating red rockiness eventually affording us the soft green wetland.  3 m high reeds opening to a series of ruinsbehind big fluffy palms

A well marked walk took us on an historic journey through a place of toil and expectation from the entrepreneurs and explorers in our grandparents day

A pastoral lease, then another, then the hope of a profitable mine- much investment and the eventual realisation of failure

Remote beauty - fresh water and free flies
Back on the highway the roadworks graded the bright orange mud into a flat swamp which rebounded to the underside of our vehicle with a gurgling sound

Pleased to be away from that with the thought of an Oodnadatta burger ahead

40kms along the Track & No burger yet, there’s a bridge to see

Algebuckina with its gnarled old sleepers and rusting girders reaches across a span of dried river bed and delicate gum leaves from the tree tops below.  The longest bridge we’ve seen so far and a feat of engineering in its day to cover the deep and wide floodwaters that occur

It feels like miles and miles of bikes have passed us zooming out of the bull dust with headlights blazing as the road cuts across a terrain resembling Mars w it’s the occasional rusting railway water tower or windmill
Lots of bull dust and red rocks with a few speed hero’s  - race is over mate! And the Fink Track is further north

Day 11 Farina Ruins to William Creek 2328km

Day 11 Farina Ruins to William Creek 2328 kms
on “ The Explorers Way”

This morning a flock of corellas were our wakeup call and a lone Emu walked past looking for some early shade.  On the way out we saw a couple of magnificent wedge tail eagles only 5 meters from the road feasting on a poor dead lamb - nature can be both harsh and magnificent at the same time.

Morning tea was at Marree Hotel, another classic building with laced iron trimmed balconies where we took in the local history of Tom Kruz.  He was the legendary mailman who ran an old Bedford truck doing desert deliveries for the postal service.

Marree is a corner of the desert area.  A small township consisting 6 - 8 blocks.  Heading straight through is the Oodnadatta Track or right turn before town to the famous Birdsville track. Once upon a time this area was famed for Afghans running Camel trains - sadly, no camels to be seen today.

On the Oodnadatta today (the southern section) there are abandoned old stone homesteads and miles of stony desert ... until....

The Quirky sculpture park - Modern art in the desert, with some quite profound statements being made by an eccentric genius.

The Parks most well known sculpture is of two conjoined spitfire looking planes nosediving into the desert ... and ...

There were flies;  lots of flies ... lots!

A Lake Eyre stop showed a vast expanse of salt lake 12 meters below sea level.
Curdimaka railway siding loomed out of the desert mirage and disappeared as quickly into our trailing bull dust.  Then, onto the hot springs!  From here there were a few delightful oasis pools in small craters forming beautiful wetland microclimates - a series of freshwater springs bubbling from the artisan basin.  We stopped at the “Bubbler”

Coward springs brought the anticipation of a dip in a warm pool - the writings told us there are wooden platforms & we enjoyed a dip which was glorious. Another wetland Oasis complete with palm trees !

There are many subtle differences to be seen along the desert highway in both colour, textures and landscapes.

Prior to William Creek we crossed a flat plain dotted with salt lakes and an ever changing road surface, from rocky to sandy and back to rocky!

The only low scrubby trees in this area are in the sparse dried out creek beds. There seems to be the odd very low dried out bush the height of heather or just rocks and the odd bright orange sand dune. A very rough section of road indeed.

Lastly a quick beer at the William Creek hotel, dinner and stargazing!

Day 10 Trezona Camp to Farina Ruins 2053km

Day 10 Trezona Camp to Farina Ruins 2053km

It was a great and picturesque drive through Bracchina gorge - a geological trail as we looked for yellow tailed wallabies
Lunch @ Prairie hotel for a feral feast and Fargher lager.
On to Farina a busy campground next to an historic ghost town being stabilised by a group of volunteers- the underground bakery was preparing bread and sausage rolls for the next day.

 Day 8 & 9 Willow Springs to Trezona camp ground in the Flinders National Park

1860km

It was just a short drive today to our camp spot in Ikara Flinders NP. Before entering the Park we took in the expansive views of Stokes Hill Lookout on the highway then drove the 4WD Bunyeroo Gorge Road to Trezona Campground.

Following lunch we walked the 8.2km Trezona Circuit. The circuit crossed through several dry river beds and identified many geological formations.

Early evening rain dampened our campfire, so it was an early night. Heavy rain continued through the night.

We spent 2 nights at this bush camp. On the 2nd day we did a 13.4km return walk along the Heysen Trail to Monela Hut and back. We came across numerous Emus, vibrant green Parrots and red robins and passed by enormous gum trees. Today’s geological information centred around glaciation and a number of important sites