Heading For Home

 After Noccundra, we headed towards Thargomindah along mostly single-lane bitumen, with the occasional double lane in most floodways. We prefer to move onto the dirt on single-lane bitumen and give oncoming traffic the right of way, because at least we are ensuring that we don't end up with a broken windscreen or stone damage to the front of the Chev. It may take us longer to get from A to B, but we aren't in any hurry anyway.
 
Our preference is not to stay in caravan parks, but we booked into the council-run park for three days. Firstly, we had both contracted Influenza A, with Ros much sicker than I was, and secondly, we were still trying to dodge the masses leaving the Big Red Bash in Birdsville.
From here, we took the Quilpie road that bypasses Toompine, where the pub is currently closed. Most of the road is bitumen, with about 20 km of dusty gravel that wasn't bad enough to reduce tyre pressures.
 
We spent three days camping on the western side of Lake Houdraman, where there are no facilities, and the camping cost is $7.50 per person per night. We enjoyed our campsite, which had just two different campers over the three days we were there, and they parked well over 500 metres away, which suited us perfectly. We shopped in town and enjoyed lunch at the local bowling club on one of our days. The eastern side, known as "The Lake," has powered sites, showers, toilets, and even a bar. Sites here are $30 per night or $15 if you camp near the lake using the facilities.

A huge shout-out to the butcher in Quilpie. We had heard he sells lovely meat, and the scotch fillet steaks we bought and cooked over the coals were so tender and juicy.
Our next stop was Charleville, where we camped outside town at the CMCA park. Our Chev and van are insured with Ken Tame, and joining the CMCA is necessary if you are insured with them. At just $3.50 each, it's an easy choice. You must be self-contained, and they have potable water and a dump point on site. Non-members can also stay for $10 per person per night.
We enjoyed lunch at the local RSL club on one of our days. Both of us got haircuts, bought groceries, and I topped up the fuel at $2.55 per litre.
After two days, we moved on to Neil Turner Weir at Mitchell, a free site. We've never seen it so busy, with over 40 vans parked here. We remember visiting 14 years ago, when you could count the vans on one hand.

We headed towards St George, 208 km south-east of Mitchell, before connecting to the Carnarvon Highway towards Thallon. We've camped at the Nindigully Pub numerous times, so we just stopped for a quick photo shoot with the new van and truck before continuing another 34 km to Thallon.

We've previously camped at Thallon, where there is a camp adjacent to the painted silos. There is power available, and there are toilets and showers. Payment for the powered sites can be made at the local pub. It's been a bumper wheat crop this year, which has been attributed to the constant rain that has fallen. When we arrived, they were loading wagons onto a train, and numerous B-double trucks were also transporting grain.

We had a brief drive today as we passed through Mungindi en route to Garah. This 68 km section is the worst bitumen road we've ever travelled on. Fortunately, our Chev has superb suspension, and the Gen Y Hitch protects the van from all the jolts. Afterwards, we moved through Moree and, just 20 km later, turned onto Gum Flat Road, which, after 3 km of dirt, leads to one of our favourite campsites beside the Gwydir River. It was interesting to see that the Wiki Camps community used our drone photo taken in 2019, showcasing our 2016 Bushtracker and our 200 Series Landcruiser for the site.

It was just over an hour later when we arrived in Bingara. We've been coming here since 2008, when we picked up our first Bushtracker and headed home.

 

The area had recently flooded after Copeton Dam released water because its level exceeded 100%, so instead of camping beside the river, we set up on the river stones about 60 metres away. We enjoyed four nights here before moving on to another one of our favourite campsites.

Cangai Bridge crosses the Mann River 20 km west of Jackadgery, just off the Gwydir Highway. It's our preferred camping spot whenever we leave or return from holidays, as it's only 150 km from home. We arrived right at midday, and even though it was a Monday, we were surprised to find that we had the place to ourselves.

The Strezelecki Track

On Monday, 4th July, we travelled south 25 km to Lyndhurst to refuel. The instructions for the automated fuel station required us to download an app called FuelCharge. Although my mobile had 4 bars, it still took nearly 10 minutes to download the file. Unlocking the bowser was reasonably straightforward after entering our Mastercard details. The fuel was priced at $2.59 per litre. I asked at the pub opposite the fuel outlet, as we had been told that the bitumen stretched for a considerable distance, and was surprised to be told that the first 76 km were sealed.

We stopped at the "Dog Fence" rest area to lower tyre pressures before proceeding onto the dirt. The track was quite stony but had few corrugations. We came across two grader drivers working on the track. We've often found that graders tend to bring stones to the surface on their first pass, and over the next 40 km, the track remained quite stony. We initially planned to camp at Blanchwater Ruins. 

But after making good time thanks to the sealed section, we stopped briefly for a photo before heading on to Montecollina Bore for the evening. The bore has now been capped, and the camping area is quite large. Two more groups arrived after us to spend the night. No fires were allowed tonight because the wind was quite strong and cold. The following morning, I launched the drone to capture some sunrise shots, despite the wind beginning to pick up. The camping area and surrounding countryside are quite sandy, and some of the small sand outcrops remind us of the lunar landscapes found in Mungo National Park.

We left at just 9 am and soon passed the turnoff to Merty Merty and the road that eventually leads to Cameron Corner and then onto Tibooburra. With only 40 km to travel to Moomba, we encountered road crews laying bitumen. The lollipop lady had us stopping while trucks ahead were moving back and forth, laying a white sheet before applying the tar.

We paused briefly at the Moomba lookout, catching up on emails and making calls as our phones used the tower at the gas field.

The road for the next 53 km east from Moomba was in the worst condition we'd encountered since we got onto the dirt yesterday. The road was at least 60 metres wide, and the corrugations covered the entire surface, making it difficult to choose the best line whenever no road trains were approaching.
Once we turned north for the final 49 km to Innamincka, the road, although still dirt and recently resurfaced with fresh gravel, was like driving on a highway.

We had planned to camp on the Innamincka town common, but because the Cooper was in flood and the causeway was submerged, the camping area was closed. We found a site without a view of the creek or its stunning river red gums, and camped in the bulldust, which wasn't ideal. So, we decided to leave the next day.
Before leaving home, we had picked up a Tec screw in one of the tyres that we had plugged and then reattached to the van. When we woke the next day, Ros commented that something wasn't quite right with the van, and lo and behold, the very same tyre was flat again.

Luckily, I had all the essential items to change the tyre in the bulldust, such as the large tarp and the jacking plate, to ensure the jack didn't sink into the dirt. Fortunately, we still had 60 litres in jerry cans, which I poured into the Chev, and thankfully, only needed 41 litres to top up the tank, as the fuel was priced at $2.76 PL.

 

I also checked and found out from the fuel outlet that the 57 km stretch to the QLD border is now sealed, since our last visit here in 2019. So, I inflated the tyres to bitumen road pressures before heading into Queensland.

 

We were surprised when we arrived at the Wilson River at Noccundra to find only a few vans present, although more arrived later in the day and even more the following day.

Northern South Australia

Leaving Menindee, we headed towards Broken Hill along a road that could best be described as a rollercoaster. We drove through Broken Hill without stopping and took a break for lunch at Manna Hill before continuing on to Peterborough. The day brought a slight headwind, and I was surprised when I checked my fuel consumption; we'd only used 22 l/100 km.

We are now camped at a new RV stop in Peterborough that wasn't available on our last visit. It's located on the western edge of town, about a 15-minute walk away, and allows a maximum stay of 5 days. The only facilities are rubbish bins and a bottle collection site, with proceeds going to the local youth centre. It's for fully self-contained vans, but during our stay, we've seen slide-outs and camper trailers using the site, as well as people disregarding rules by dropping their water on the ground. 

If this continues, this site will close, just like many others have, because people simply cannot follow the rules. We visited all the attractions during our stay and found the steam train exhibit outstanding. Colin, our tour guide, worked for South Australian Railways for 25 years, and he was full of knowledge, even having been involved in some of the exhibits during his career.

We've been having trouble adding AdBlue to our Chevrolet, and the small amounts we put in do not show up on the vehicle's display. We have a device that fits over the nozzle for use at garages, but it can only dispense a few litres at a time. On one of our days, we drove to Jamestown to pick up a 15-litre container of AdBlue to take with us.

The days here are getting busy, and tonight there will be about thirty vans. The temperatures have also started to drop, with our coldest being -0.3 °C and daytime temperatures around 13 °C, although the wind chill makes it feel about half that.

During our stay, we enjoyed two lunches at the Junction Hotel, following a recommendation from Greg, who owns a Bushtracker and whom we met in Menindee. The meals are huge and very reasonably priced. On our first visit, I thoroughly enjoyed my squid schnitzel, and Ros liked her chicken schnitzel. On the second visit, the seafood basket I ordered was enormous, and Ros enjoyed her spinach fettuccine.

Next Tuesday marks the beginning of the Big Red Bash at Birdsville, and traffic has increased considerably during our stay here.
 
We are also heading north as the traffic grows, but will only drive about 160 km to spend the night camping behind the Craddock Hotel. There is a gin distillery at Quorn that makes four different flavours, and we know the pub here offers tastings and sells the gin, and we plan to enjoy dinner.

Flinders Gin comes in four flavours: butterfly pea flower, Outback Lemon-Lime, Farriers, and Quandong Gin. If they are to our liking, and they were, we purchased a lemon-lime and quandong.

We both ordered and enjoyed the chicken schnitzel, which was quite hearty.

We travelled further north from Cradock, stopping in Hawker to buy fuel at $2.50 per litre before continuing further north. We usually drive into a headwind, but for the past two days after leaving Peterborough, we've experienced a very slight tailwind, which is quite pleasant for a change.
 
We stopped briefly at Parachilna for a photo and noticed that camping is no longer available across from the pub before heading to Leigh Creek and taking a quick drive around the town.
 
It was then just 25 km north to Farina, where we stayed for the next two evenings. The bakery was back in full swing after being closed for the past week due to COVID. On our way in, we bought two sausage rolls for lunch and a loaf of bread before heading to the camping area. The fee is $10 per person per night, and they offer showers and toilets, but as usual, we prefer to use our own.

Lovely, clear days can only mean one thing, and yes, the following morning, it was just 0.8 degrees outside and 2.3 degrees inside the van, until we cranked up the diesel heater. We stayed in bed until the interior reached a comfortable level before getting up and changing.

We had another lunch the next day with chunky meat pies from the bakery and enjoyed a beer with it.

 

This trip has coincided with the Big Red Bash, so we are avoiding the crowds as they head to and from the Bash.

Towards Menindee

We enjoyed a relaxed start this morning as we headed south along the Pacific Highway. We kept a comfortable speed of 100 km/h for most of the journey before stopping briefly in Johns River for a light lunch and coffee. More vans were heading north than in our direction, which makes sense since they are all escaping the cooler weather. After Hexam, we joined John Renshaw Drive and then took the Hunter Expressway to Jerry's Plains Recreation Reserve. It's one of our favourite stopovers whenever we drive along the Golden Highway, and we were surprised to find only three vans there for the evening.

Thank goodness for our diesel heater, as it kept us warm before retiring for the evening and again the following morning, with the internal temperature showing just seven degrees.
Our second night was spent at Bob Christensen Reserve, just outside Warren, and once again, it's one of our favourites. It's a vast area with no facilities at all. We stopped briefly in town to top up one of our tanks before heading towards Nyngan, where we refuelled at $2.249 per litre.

We joined the Barrier Highway heading west towards Cobar, where we stopped for lunch and topped up our AdBlue. Our camp tonight was at Bulla Park rest area, 119 km from Cobar. It's a large area, and we could camp about 200 metres from the road. Although the trucks stopped quite early, we enjoyed a peaceful evening.

We had a late start, with just 140 km to Wilcannia, where we refuelled again at 224.9 cpl. We checked the road conditions and found that the western side of the Darling River was open to traffic, with just one water hazard across the road to contend with. The eastern side of the Darling was closed from Bourke to Menindee.

Our next three nights were spent camping right on the Darling River at Nelia Gaari Station, 90 km south of Wilcannia. Your $20 per couple per night gets you hot showers, toilets, and absolute river frontage.

It was wonderful to see the river so full and flowing, unlike our previous visits along the Darling River, where there were just pools of water here and there. Our next three nights were spent camping beside Lake Pamamaroo, just outside Menindee. Again, it was lovely to see that the lakes surrounding Menindee are all full once more, after many years of being bone dry.

The sunsets here are always truly spectacular, and it's wonderful to observe just how incredible nature truly is.