We headed north towards Bedourie on quite good roads with just one stretch of 10 km that was very ordinary and consisted of very rough stones protruding through the surface. The remainder of the 185 km consisted of strips of bitumen and dirt.
Our cuppa this morning was at the site of the Carcory Homestead ruins. The homestead was built in 1877 by Hector and Norman Wilson. Years of drought and the loss of over 4000 bullocks led to the property being abandoned by Sidney Kidman in 1906. Carcory is now part of Rosberth Station.
Our cuppa this morning was at the site of the Carcory Homestead ruins. The homestead was built in 1877 by Hector and Norman Wilson. Years of drought and the loss of over 4000 bullocks led to the property being abandoned by Sidney Kidman in 1906. Carcory is now part of Rosberth Station.
We stopped opposite the pub in Bedourie and had our lunch before pumping our tyres up for the remaining 190 km of bitumen to Boulia.
Our campsite tonight is on a tributary of the Georgina River about 60 km south of Boulia. Best of all we had the whole place to ourselves so we backed down as far as we could go without damaging the van. When we arrived at 3:15 the temperature was 31 degrees, so after setting up camp we enjoyed a cold beer sitting in the shade and staring at the water.
A little after 6.00 I lit the fire while we enjoyed a rum and several red wines. After dinner, we sat outside to well after dark then ventured inside for a shower and a coffee with the temperature of the van still at 20 degrees.
There was no need to run the diesel heater this morning with the temperature of the van at 14 degrees. There was also no real rush to head off with just 60 km of bitumen to Boulia. All the important jobs were taken care of when we first arrived like fuel, water and changing our cassette.
Then it was off to the Min Min Centre to have coffee and cake at their café we visited ten years earlier. The coffee and cake were to celebrate my birthday so you can just imagine being told the café was now closed but we could get one from a machine in the next room.
So not to be deterred we headed across the road to a café that sold the most dreadful coffee and cake we have ever experienced.
It's now ten years since we drove west to east along the Plenty and Donohue Highways so we were surprised to be told at the information centre that the bitumen now extended to the border. Our campsite tonight was just above the dry bed of the Georgina River not far from Glenorminston Station and 123 km west of Boulia, so we were surprised to come across 18 km of dirt before we reached the river and we still had 141 km to the border.
We celebrated my birthday dinner with a lovely bottle of red wine and we enjoyed steak, eggs and onions cooked over the fire. What more could anyone wish for....
I asked a fellow camper who I had seen come from the direction of Alice Springs about the remainder of the road to the border and he informed us the vast majority was dirt. So before leaving I reduced all our tyre pressures for what lay ahead. So much for getting the correct information from a visitor centre.
We pulled in briefly at Tobermorey Station which lies just inside the territory border. They have a very nice camping area with beautiful green grass but I think $25 a night is a bit rich.
We have driven all the major dirt roads in Australia and this is our second crossing of the Plenty Highway but we have never experienced road conditions like we had today. The majority of the road from the border to our campsite on the banks of the dry Arthur River which totalled 163 km was very ordinary and very hard-driving where it was impossible for me to see anything but the road surface. The majority of the surface had rocks of all sizes protruding through the surface with the added bonus of corrugations and bulldust holes. Our total trip for the day totalled 276 km and took us over seven hours to complete.
Our meal tonight was simple after such a harrowing day and we enjoyed ham, red onion and cheese jaffles cooked over the fire. It never ceases to amaze me how something so simple to make tastes so good.
Another cold morning where the diesel heater was turned on yet again. We left after 8:30 on our way to fill up at Jervois Station. Fuel was $1.89 Cpl and the property covers over one million acres and runs ten thousand head of cattle. Camping fees are much cheaper than Tobermorey at just $5,00 per night.
The road surface did improve although we did experience similar conditions to yesterday from time to time.
We called into Harts Range now know by its aboriginal name of Atitjera to ask about camping out past the racecourse. As we drove into the community everything was shut and then we realised it was Sunday with only limited trading hours.
I have always wanted to camp in the hills south of the racecourse. The site is known as the Spotted Tiger campground and is used by people fossicking for gemstones. So we headed off for 8 km on an extremely corrugated track where much of the time we were down to almost walking pace.
As we turned a corner we were confronted with an official aboriginal sign stating no entry and penalties apply.
After an eight point turn and feeling very disappointed we returned to the Plenty and continued on for another 32 km and camped in an old gravel pit which is visible from the road but more than 500 metres away so hopefully the evening will be quiet.
On our way to the pit we stopped and chatted to three Bushtrackers who where heading east and then taking their time to reach Echuca for the Bushtracker muster in September.
We enjoyed lamb cutlets and vegetables and then sat outside while the fire died down before moving inside. At 3 am we had our first dingo encounter with one howling outside our van and then we could hear it drinking water from our shower bucket.
Our gravel pit was just 30 km east of Gemtree and we continued into Alice on single lane bitumen until the Stuart Highway intersection.
We are now camped at the Big 4 MacDonnell Range caravan park for the next six nights.
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