Pooncarrie To the Police Paddocks and Strathbogie

Sunday 16th October:
We were meant to meet our friends on Wednesday, 19th October, who live in the Strathbogie Ranges east of Euroa in Victoria. We left Pooncarrie and camped at the Euston Caravan Park to replenish our water and do some much-needed washing. We also took time out to watch the Wallabies lose to NZ. Damn!
 
Monday 17th October:
Leaving Euston, we continued east along the Murray Valley Highway before spending the night camped at Lake Barham, which is about thirty-seven kilometres NE of Echuca. Camp #308. The campsite still shows the effects of the floods that occurred earlier in the year, with approximately 75% of the ground remaining underwater.

Tuesday 18th October:

We had a very short drive today. We were heading to camp at the "Police Paddocks" north of Rutherglen. Campsite #292. The "Police Paddocks" is an island of 405 hectares that was used to stable police horses in the 1880s. It was connected to the mainland by a private bridge over Murphy's Creek, which is an anabranch of the Murray River. It is now part of Gooramadda State Forest. The bridge no longer exists. The photo shows the creek and the island in the background.

Wednesday, thursday 19th and 20th October:

We enjoyed two lovely days with our friends at their property. Over these two days, I mowed Les and Kath's five-acre block.

We played croquet in the afternoons on his croquet lawn, which we found to be quite amusing after a couple of drinks.

Everyone had a wonderful time!

Bourke to Pooncarrie

Thursday 13th October: We left Bourke at 10:00, heading to Louth with the plan to stay beside the Darling that night. We stopped at "Shindy's Inn," each bought a very cold Tooheys Old, and inquired about camping along the river.

The publican gave us directions, but neither north nor south of the bridge on the western side suited us, so we moved on to Tilpa on the western side, passing Trilby and Kallara stations, both of which have camping along the Darling. We arrived and had lunch at the pub with another cold "old" to quench our thirst before heading about 6 kilometres north on the eastern bank to camp at the Tilpa Weir. Camp #1066.

Friday 14th October:

Weather forecasts predicted rain for the coming days, so we left the weir heading towards Wilcannia on the eastern side. We found this part of the trip to be the most scenic. We stopped for coffee and a refuel at Wilcannia before taking the western route towards Menindee and our planned camp for the next three days at Lake Pamamaroo, which is sixteen kilometres north-east of Menindee. We set up camp and erected our awning, having to quickly pack it away because of severe winds rushing across the lake towards us. That night, the heavy rain forecast arrived, and the next day we heard that the road to Wilcannia was now closed. Camp #1138

Saturday 15th October: Next morning, the wind was still strong, so we packed up and retreated to Pooncarrie, where we camped beside the Darling River, protected by some river red gums about forty metres away. Camp #1151

And showing the watermark on the gum from the latest floods:

After reading so much about the "Darling River Run," we were surprised that the only times you really see the river are when you cross from west to east or vice versa, or if you camp beside it.

Hungerford to Bourke

Monday 10th October:

We have driven many dirt roads across Australia, but I must say the current condition of Hungerford Road to Bourke was one of the most unpleasant journeys we've had lately. Even with the van tyres at 22 psi and the 4WD front tyres at 25 psi and rear at 28 psi, the road was a bone-jarring experience. The road resembled the Thargomindah road but was just worse, with plenty of corrugations, stony sections, and a hard clay-based surface full of holes and washouts that you can't see until you're right upon them. The 220 kilometres took us 4½ hours. We are staying at Kidman's Camp Caravan Park in North Bourke.

Tuesday 11 October:

This morning, we took the PV Jandra paddleboat cruise, and in the afternoon, we went on the "Back of Bourke" tour in a 20-seater bus. I recommend both tours. The Jandra tour lasts one hour, and the commentary is continuous, providing fascinating information about the Darling River, its history, and the historic North Bourke Bridge, built in 1883. The "Back of Bourke" tour lasted four hours, and Stuart, who has lived here for over thirty years, guided us through the town, then to a cotton gin, and finally to an orchard where we could pick as many mandarins as we wished.

Photo showing the North Bourke Bridge:

Wednesday 12 October:

This morning we visited the Back O' Bourke Exhibition Centre, which I highly recommend. Afterwards, we went into town for some shopping and lunch at the Chinese restaurant at the Bowlo. Tomorrow, we depart south to take in the Darling River run to Menindee.

Thargomindah to Currawinya National Park

Saturday 8th October:
We left Thargomindah at 08:45 on our way to Carrawinya National Park. We arrived at the ranger base at 13:15 after a morning tea stop and several photos taken at the QLD/NSW border which also doubles as the "Dog Fence". The road surface was quite rough with hard based clay, corrugations and stony sections. Total of 221 kilometres.

We paid our camping fees and proceeded another thirty three kilometres passing the old Caiwarro homestead site.

We set up camp at the "Pump Hole" so named because this is where the pump was/is situated.

We spent a lovely night camped here having the whole place to ourselves.

Sunday 9th October:

We then drove south thirty three kilometres and camped at the Ourimperee waterhole. The "Pump Hole" site was more majestic with it's beautiful river red gums while Ourimperee had only scraggy gums lining the waterhole. We also expected there to be more bird life but then we were spoilt after camping at Noccundra waterhole.

The shearing shed at Ourimperee waterhole:

 We also drove the thirty four kilometre track out to the lakes. Lake Wyara (salt) at 3800 sq hectares and Numalla (fresh) at 3000 hectares are both important breeding and refuge sites for inland birds. That's if you can call pelicans inland birds because they were here in their thousands. While it was an easy 500 metre walk to the shore of Lake Numalla it was a different story with Lake Wyara. We gave up trying to walk the several kilometres to the shore to view the birds.
Lake Numalla:

Lake Wyara:

Monday 10th October:

We were now on our way to Bourke. After twenty three kilometres we arrived at the Hungerford Pub just several hundred metres north of the border and "Dingo Fence" We topped up our fuel and took some photos before crossing into NSW.

Sunshine Coast to Thargomindah

We left the Bushtracker factory at 16:00 today after our service and planned modifications to the van. We continued through Beerwah and Peachester, climbing the Great Divide before setting up camp at Cruice Park. It’s listed in the Camps 6 book as camp #512. It's 21 kilometres east of Kilcoy.

Friday and Saturday 30th September, 1st October:
After a leisurely start, we continued further west, passing through Yarraman and Quinalow before stopping at Dalby for lunch and refuelling. We then camped at Lake Broadwater Conservation Park, which is located about 30 kilometres south-east of Dalby. This is our second time camping there. The park has two camping areas, and the on-site caretaker collects fees each afternoon. A small fee covers the cost of showers and flushing toilets. The campsite offers a lovely view of the lake, but unfortunately, there were no Magpie Geese present this time. It may have something to do with the full lake and the water skiing happening nearby. Camp #628.

Sunday 2nd October: 

Today's drive covers 197 kilometres. We are camping at the fishing club in Surat on the Ballone River. Camp #866.

  

Monday 3rd October: 

We travel through Roma and Mitchell before camping at Morven for the night. We are staying at the Morven recreation ground, and a gold coin donation is appreciated for an overnight stay. We typically camp at Neil Turner Weir at Mitchell, but the extra mileage today allows us to explore Quilpie. The distance is 335 kilometres. Camp #664.

Tuesday 4th October:

Leaving Morven, we continued towards Charlivelle. Our only stop was to collect some disused sleepers beside the railway line. They make lovely coals, especially good for camp oven roasting. We ended the day at Lake Houdraman, camp #671. Today's distance: 306 kilometres. 

Wednesday and Thursday, 5th and 6th October. We had planned to drive through Adavale to Blackall and then onto Welford National Park, but some road closures put a stop to that plan, so we went west. We passed through Eromanga, which claims to be the furthest town from the sea. The town has a refinery that handles oil from local oil fields and then ships the oil by tanker to various parts of the country. Diesel was cheap at $1.53 per litre.

Tonight's destination was the Noccundra waterhole on the Wilson River. Spent two lovely days camped here and were amazed by the antics of the several hundred pelicans in residence. Three times a day, they herded fish into the shallows before gorging themselves. The publican said there were normally only a dozen at any one time, but this number of birds was affecting their fishing. Distance for today: 285 kilometres. Camp#842

Noccundra pub, built in 1882 from sandstone quarried at Mount Poole in NSW and transported over 200 kilometres by camel trains.