The Birdsville Track

Today marks our second trip along the Birdsville Track. 

 

We took a relaxed start this morning, with about 240 km to travel today. 

Another surprise awaited us, as the remaining section of the road to Marree has now been upgraded to bitumen. You can now drive the 77 km from Lyndhurst to Marree in any weather conditions. We crossed it many years ago after a light shower, and it was quite an experience trying to keep ourselves and our van on the wet surface.

 

We have camped in Marree before and passed through numerous times, so today's visit is just a quick stop for a photo. Afterwards, we will spend some time reducing the tyre pressures on our 4WD and van for the upcoming 517 km journey towards Birdsville. 

The track passes through one of the driest parts of Australia and cuts across parts of the Strzelecki, Sturt Stony and the Tirari Deserts. Much of the road surface is made up of gibber stones, and although the trip is not terribly demanding, it still requires care to be taken.

A 4WD and quality all-terrain tyres with lower pressures and reduced speed can help minimise the risk of tyre punctures and potential breakdowns. 
 
We have travelled extensively across Australia and along nearly every dirt road available. Always reducing our tyre pressures, we have not experienced any tyre damage in over thirty years.
 
On our previous journey, we camped at  Mungerannie before reaching Birdsville.  Last time, we towed a camper trailer, but thankfully, now we have more creature comforts to look forward to at the end of the day.
 
We stopped to explore the Lake Harry Ruins, 31 km from Marree, where in the early years there was hope to grow date palms. The water from a bore was enough for the palms to thrive, but issues with pollination eventually ended this project.

We came across the 'Dog Fence' just 12 km later. We have seen parts of it on many of our travels around Australia. It's a 5600 km fence that was built in the 1800s to keep dingoes to the north and help protect the flocks of sheep in the south.

We passed by Clayton's Wetland Campground. It's $10 per vehicle fee includes access to facilities such as showers, toilets, and even a spa powered by a nearby bore. Of course, it was far too early in the day for a stop, and besides, why pay to camp when we have our own facilities—minus the spa, of course—so we continued on.
 
A further 90 km along the track brought us to the Cooper Creek crossing. Luckily for us, the rain in late April, which had caused the track to be closed due to significant flooding, has now dissipated. We are now confronted with a dry plain; otherwise, we could be stranded here indefinitely.

Just 15 km later, we arrived at the Mulka Ruins, where we paused briefly to take some photos and 

explore the remaining site. Most of the structure has crumbled to the ground, with only part of the fireplace still standing.

 

A store was established here in the early 1900s to serve the drovers transporting stock to Marree.

Originally, we planned to camp overnight near the ruins, but it was still relatively early in the day and there was a strong eastward gale, so we decided to head to Mungerannie instead, where we knew we could find shelter among the bushes and be protected from the constant wind. 

Mungerannie Roadhouse is nearly halfway along the track and is the only permanent establishment. Facilities include cabin accommodation, a campground with amenities, tyres, basic repairs, fuel, as well as meals and a cold beer. The current diesel fuel price is $1.95 a litre, but with our long-range tank, we can reach Birdsville without needing to top up. Campground charges are $10 per person with all facilities available, but we weren't interested in staying there. We simply visited the pub for a few beers and dinner before retiring.

The rest of our trip to Birdsville was quite uneventful, although there was a bypass installed to go around part of the track that is still under water. Water was also covering the track in other areas.

It's incredible how a little bit of rain brings the desert back to life.

We did pass the Birdsville inside track 140 km after leaving Mungerannie. Although it's a shorter distance of about 40 km, it's typically closed as part of the track crosses Warburton Creek. 

Just 58 km later, we passed by the Walkers Crossing track, which comes in from Innamincka.

Arriving in Birdsville, we set up on the town common south of town.

Farina - Ghost Town

Only 169 km to drive today after our night at Edeowie Station. As soon as we reached the bitumen, we headed north towards Parachilna and the Prairie Hotel, made famous by its 'Feral Mixed Grill' menu, which includes kangaroo, emu, and camel. It was far too early in the day for a beer, so instead, we just took some photos before continuing on.

Not long after, we stopped beside the road to photograph one of the railway sidings built alongside the old Ghan railway line. Many of these can be seen further north along the Oodnadatta Track.

Continuing further north, we passed Leigh Creek. The town was established to support a nearby large coal mine. Sadly, the mine has now closed, and the population has decreased from 2500 to just 200 today. It's disheartening to see how this once-thriving town, which we fondly remember from our first visit in 1994, has changed.
 
There is talk of a company wanting to extract gas from the old mine site, so hopefully, this will help rejuvenate this once-busy town.
 
Oh dear, unfortunately, it was morning tea time when we stopped 6 km later at the famous Copley Bush Bakery, where we shared a quondong pie with our coffees.

It wasn't long before we arrived at Lyndhurst, where the Strzelecki Track begins its journey towards Innamincka. Here, we refuelled before making a brief stop at the Ochre Pits just north of the town. 

 

This site was an important gathering and trading location for Aboriginal people, with ochre colours utilised in ceremonies, art, and medicine.

There is simply no stopping progress, as it was quite a shock to realise that the dirt road just north of Lyndhurst is now bitumen all the way through to the Farina turnoff.

This may be our sixth visit to Farina, in the far north of South Australia.

You might wonder why we have been here so many times. Well, there are many reasons for our visits.

Marree is just north of Farina and serves as the starting point for those seeking to drive along either the Oodnadatta or Birdsville Tracks. Over the past 25 years, we have driven the Oodnadatta Track on numerous occasions, in both directions, and once previously along the Birdsville Track.

Another reason for our continued visits is to observe the progress of the restoration of this once-thriving town. In 2008, a restoration group was formed, and over the past eleven years, the number of volunteers has steadily increased from 30 to over 150. 

These dedicated volunteers make themselves available during the winter months to restore these beautiful stone buildings so they no longer deteriorate further.

Steve, the project manager, explained that it's not a complete restoration due to the amount of red tape, hurdles, and bureaucratic requirements they would need to navigate for a full rebuild. 

When we first visited in 1994, only one building was still intact—the bakery. Its survival against the harsh conditions surrounding this once-bustling town, where everything else had crumbled and fallen, was because it was an underground bakery.

In 1878, Farina was first settled, and by the late 1890s, more than 600 people were living there. During the early years, the rains were constant, but after many years of poor rainfall, the hopes of growing wheat crops began to fade.

Fortunately, the alignment of the Ghan railway kept the town alive, but when the line was relocated further west in 1980, that was the final blow.
Apart from the history linked to this once-thriving town, we truly love the surrounding countryside, with its gibber plains and red dirt, which has continually drawn us to the outback for the past 25 years.

In recent years, the bakery has operated from late May until the end of July, producing freshly baked bread, pies, pasties, and buns from its wood-fired oven.

And each year, a substantial amount of money is raised through the bakery, with all the proceeds going back into the restoration of the town.

 

All our previous visits have been much later in the year, so we have yet to experience the joy of buying freshly baked goods in almost the middle of nowhere.

Thanks, Ros, a finger bun for me, and a matchstick for her. When we lived in Canberra and travelled to the coast, we would always stop in Nimmitabel, and Ros would always buy a matchstick. She said the ones here at Farina are as good as the ones she used to buy all those years ago.

Camping is available, complete with showers and toilets, but please note that there is no drinking water. Fees are $5.00 per person per night, and firewood is available to purchase.

Talk about 'boot hill' as portrayed in the many Western movies from years ago. 

I could only imagine how difficult it would be to dig graves when the surface at the cemetery is made up of gibber stones.

A must-visit is the town's cemetery, perched on a rise a few kilometres from the former township. Records indicate that several hundred people are buried here, including many Afghans who ferried goods further north, using camels before the railway was extended beyond Farina.

Edeowie Station in the Flinders Ranges

Our evening in Peterborough was spent at the rest area just east of town. There are no facilities here, and after yesterday's and last night's rain, the whole area is a large muddy puddle.

Peterborough, in its prime, was a key hub for trains carrying iron ore from Broken Hill to Port Pirie, with around one hundred trains passing through each day.
Just over an hour later, we stopped in Orroroo. The main street is arguably one of the widest you will ever drive down.

Several years ago, we spent a few days camping in Peterborough to escape some very unseasonable and stormy weather, and we drove up to Orroroo to help pass the time. There, we discovered a café that served the best hot chocolate we have ever tasted. Luckily, it was morning tea time, so we couldn't resist stopping at Maggie's Rendezvous again.

We then continued north along the B80, also known as RM Williams Way, passing through the small rural settlements of Carrieton and Craddock.

From there, we joined the Flinders Ranges Way before arriving in Hawker. It was a brief stop to refuel before heading further north along the Outback Highway.

After refuelling and calculating our trip from Wilcannia against the strong northwesterly winds, we found our fuel consumption was 29 litres per 100 kilometres, compared to 19.6 litres the previous day. Ouch.

Our campsite for the night was on Edeowie Station, 58 km north of Hawker. Access is via a 3 km dirt track from the highway. The station is on the western side of the Wilpena Pound formation.

The station is family-owned and operated, running sheep and cattle, and now also caters for travellers. They are listed on WikiCamps and the Youcamp website. Edeowie-station

In addition to the three camping areas, various other types of accommodations are available. Our site, called Malloga, was large enough to accommodate our 20-foot Bushtracker. Each of the campsites features the cleanest drop toilet we have ever seen, and each site has a fire ring with plenty of firewood available.
 
The campsites are well-spaced apart, and the scenery is particularly striking, from the beautiful, prominent red gums to the imposing walls of the pound, which look even more impressive during the golden hour as the sun sets.

And at just $10 per person per night, this is extremely reasonable given the excellent outlook.
 
This is the fourth time we have camped near the Flinders Ranges. These sites include Wilpena Pound and Aroona Ruins within the national park, as well as Rawnsley Park and Edeowie Station, located outside the park boundary.
 
We've enjoyed cooking dinner over the coals for the first time on this holiday, before adding extra wood and then sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying some butterscotch schnapps to help ward off the cold while waiting for the fire to die down. Well, at least that's our excuse........

The best part of all is knowing that when we eventually retire for the evening, the interior of the van will be nice and toasty thanks to our wonderful diesel heater. 

Bound for South Australia

Just 20 km after leaving Warren, we joined the Mitchell Highway at Nevertire, where they are constructing the most extensive solar array alongside the Mitchell Highway. There must be over a hundred people working on this project, judging by the number of cars parked there.
 
We refuelled in Nyngan at $1.49.7 after covering 976 km, with still another 60 litres remaining in the tank. We also purchased some technical screws to replace the rivets that had come loose on the strap securing the grey water tank tap to the van's chassis.
 
From here, we joined the Barrier Highway as we continued further west. We stopped briefly near the Florida Rest Area to gather some disused wooden railway sleepers lying beside the track. They make the most incredible coals, so we carved some up with the chainsaw.
 
Our plan before leaving home was to ensure we were parked for the evening by about lunchtime or soon afterwards each day. Today was no different, with a total of just 273 km.
 
Our drive took us further west towards Cobar, where we stopped briefly to stretch our legs before continuing for another 63 km to spend the evening at the Meadow Glen Rest Area. It's a large area, and being the first to arrive, we managed to get the best spot away from the highway and behind some trees.

By 5:30, another seven vans had arrived to spend the evening, and the road noise from passing trucks also diminished just after dusk.
 
Another relatively short day's drive today for our fifth day on the road, covering just 196 km to spend the night at the Victory Caravan Park in Wilcannia, where powered sites cost only $25 or $15 for unpowered. It's a very popular park, with over fifteen vans staying the night here.

So sad to see the level of water currently in the Darling River just behind the caravan park.

We have previously stayed at Warrawong on the Darling, but I find their fee of $28 for an unpowered site quite excessive, especially since we use all our own onboard facilities. We could have stayed at the rest area 15 km west of here, but it's relatively small and very close to the highway, and I imagine it would be pretty noisy with trucks passing throughout the night.
 
There has been considerable negative publicity circulating about spending time in Wilcannia, but based on our experience last night and on recent occasions, this criticism is unjustified.
 
Two of the lovely stone buildings in town.

Before leaving, we refuelled at the BP service station located in one of the back streets of town. It's usually fifteen cents a litre cheaper than the Liberty station on the highway in the centre of town.
 
We were now on our way towards Broken Hill. From here, the only thrill was where the road climbs over the Thackaringa Hills. Of course, there are no passing lanes here, but then again, there isn’t much traffic to contend with.
 
It wasn't long before we crossed into South Australia. Cockburn is situated almost directly on the border and is just inside South Australia. In its heyday, in the late 1890s, the population grew to over 2000, but today only 25 people live here. This once bustling railway town was where locomotives and crews would change.
 
The rest of our drive today was quite dull and featureless apart from the lovely railway station at Manahill. 

The countryside mainly consists of saltbush, with occasional trees lining some of the dry creeks.
 
Throughout our entire journey today, we have fought against severe north-westerly winds since leaving Wilcannia. The weather bureau predicted winds of 37 kph with gusts reaching 51 kph, and we can confirm that.
 
As we neared Peterborough, the heavens opened, and the temperature dropped to just 6 degrees by 3 pm.

Western New South Wales

Another trip to Birdsville to attend the Big Red Bash, just like we did last year.
 
Due to recent weather events, our planning for this year's trip involved four different options. And just like last year, this trip will be a relaxed drive, taking just over a fortnight to reach Birdsville.
 
Our preferred choice was to go via the Birdsville Track. We've driven the track before, but that was over twenty-five years ago, and we wanted to revisit Farina. Our last visit there was in 2013, on one of our many trips along the Oodnadatta Track.
 
With all that in mind, we have been patiently waiting for the South Australian outback roads to open. Thankfully, the Birdsville Track opened cautiously, with towing just shy of two weeks before we left home. Provided there is no more rain, we won't need to revert to plans B, C, or D.
 
Over the past month, the van has been receiving some TLC, including a wheel alignment and the installation of our Maxtrax on the rear of the van. Apart from that, bearings were checked only 5,000 km ago, so they should be fine until we return home.
 
Our Landcruiser has just undergone its 80,000 km service along with a wheel alignment, and we have recently purchased a set of Staun tyre deflators, which will speed up reducing tyre pressures on all eight of our tyres.
 
Ros has been much busier than I have, attending to shopping and preparing slow cooker meals that she freezes for backup or when we just want a quick meal.
 
We must be jinxed, because on most occasions when we head away on a trip, it usually rains, just like it did this morning. Thankfully, we hooked the van up yesterday afternoon; otherwise, it wouldn't have been much fun.
 
Our late start had nothing to do with this morning's weather, or like having to call the NRMA to replace our 4WD's battery, as we had to do on one of our previous holidays. We don't have far to travel today. Our route will take us south past Kempsey, Port Macquarie, and Taree.
 
The rain continued on and off throughout our trip today, sometimes coming down quite heavily. It's not the ideal weather when out and about, especially towing the van.
 
Tonight's camp is at Lions Park in Bulahdelah, beside the Myall River on the southern outskirts of town. It’s far enough from the highway to ensure a peaceful night’s sleep. We are also happy to make a donation to help with the park's maintenance.  

Weather-wise, we experienced much the same conditions as yesterday when we left home: a damp, cold, and grey morning, while our van's diesel heater kept us warm and toasty. There was no real rush to hit the road early for our second day of travel, as our drive today was just over 320 km, mostly along the Pacific Highway.
 
After a pleasant and peaceful evening, we rejoined the highway, happily staying in the left lane as we continued south towards Raymond Terrace. The traffic congestion increased at this point, as did the rain, especially while crossing the Hunter River at Hexham and continuing until we reached the Golden Highway.
 
We again took John Renshaw Drive and the Hunter Expressway before joining the Golden Highway to head westward. We planned a coffee stop at Jerry's Plains, approximately 40 km west of Singleton, where we often camp.
 
Our route then led us to Denman and through Merriwa. While we can't begrudge the farmers the rain, it does make towing a caravan more challenging, especially with the current state of the roads.
 
An hour later, we arrived in Cassilis, where we spent the night. The local bowling club offers powered sites with all the necessary facilities for $12 per two adults; however, we chose to park on the adjacent oval and still donated some money while enjoying a few beers at the club.

Tonight, we ate one of the meals that Ros prepares in the slow cooker before we leave home. She prepares a variety of meals that we store in the takeaway packs available from Woolworths and Coles. Tonight's curried chicken meal is one of our favourites. We also keep them as backups, just in case the weather turns nasty and we can't cook over the fire, which to us is one of the pleasures of going away camping in our van.
 
The same weather conditions prevailed again this morning, so the diesel heater was turned on before we dressed and had breakfast.
 
Today, we travelled to Dunedoo, where we joined the Castlereagh Highway on our way to Gilgandra. From there, we joined the Oxley Highway to spend the evening camped on the outskirts of Warren.
We have previously camped at Bob Christensen Reserve, so we have decided to stay here again. It’s quite a large area, with no facilities apart from several covered tables and benches, and it sits beside the Macquarie River.
 
On our last visit, we camped on green grass. Unfortunately, the drought has really taken hold here, and it’s very sad to see the effects on the surrounding countryside.