Destination South West Queensland

For our first day, Monday, the 25th of June, there was no real rush to hit the road, so a late departure was planned. The reason for starting late was that we were only travelling 152 km. I haven't towed the van for several months, so we decided that this distance would be suitable for our first day's journey, allowing us to ease back into travelling. 

In early June, we began testing all of our vans' equipment to ensure everything was functioning correctly. Aside from bearings and wheel alignment, the next two most important items were our hot water system and diesel heater. Both will definitely be used daily once we depart, with the diesel heater probably being used each morning and evening for at least the next three weeks. I also added several cups of kerosene to the diesel tank to protect it from freezing. 

Water tanks were drained and flushed, with only two being refilled for the first few days of travel. The remaining tanks will be filled before we head to the drier inland areas. We have been monitoring the daily temperatures in the regions we will be travelling through. For the first three weeks, minimum temperatures are expected to be below five degrees, with some even in the minus range, while daily highs are around the mid-to-high teens. That should be quite pleasant. 

Tonight, we are camping beside the Mann River at Cangai, 61 km west of Grafton. We were surprised when we arrived to find only three other vans here for the night. However, I suppose the cold weather in June has something to do with the limited number of campers. It's a lovely free camp — even though it's on private property — very picturesque with views of the river and mountains. In the afternoon, the site is shared with cows, which come down to drink from the river.

Ros always prepares and packages meals that we place in the van's deep freeze before any trip. These include different types of curries and her special spaghetti bolognese. These meals are ideal as a backup when it's too cold to cook outside, it's raining and windy, or I simply don't feel like cooking outside — which, of course, isn't very often, especially when we're away camping.
 
On our first evening, we enjoyed one of those curries along with a lovely bottle of Henschke Henry's Seven Shiraz blend, to celebrate our first night on the road. The diesel heater purred softly in the background, just enough to take the chill off.
 
We love camping — or, should I say, glamping — considering that our van is well-equipped for extended travel with all the latest modern conveniences. Our lithium battery system and solar panels power all our accessories, including the 12-volt fridge, washing machine, and satellite TV. Visits to caravan parks are as rare as hen's teeth for us.
 
It was a rather cool morning for our second day on the road, with the outside temperature at 7am just 3.1 degrees. The fog was so thick that we could barely see the trees twenty metres away.
 
A lovely hot brewed coffee, followed by breakfast, was next on the agenda while we waited to see if the fog would lift. It was still thick as pea soup at 8:30 am, so we decided to set off anyway. As soon as we climbed out of the valley, we were bathed in sunshine.
 
Today's drive is just over 300 km, so it’s not a long day. We climbed the Gibraltar Range, which peaks at 1089 metres above sea level. I’m happy we spent the money on having the torque converter and engine remapped. The auto transmission temperature never rose beyond 74 degrees during such a long, winding climb.
 
As soon as we passed the national parks at the range’s summit, the scenery changed from lush green to paddocks with nothing but dead grass. The landscape remained unchanged for the rest of the day.
 
Our campsite for tonight was 23 km east of Moree — another spot beside a river, but this time on the banks of the Gwydir.
 
Gum Flat Reserve is a camping area accessed via a dirt road north of the Gwydir Highway. There are two spots here, one 2.4 km and the other 3.1 km from the highway.
A drop toilet, along with a BBQ and shelter, has now been built at the first site, and both sites offer ample space. There were only three other campers when we arrived, with two more showing up just at sunset.
Another cool evening had us indoors quite early, as we showered before sitting down for a few drinks, followed by another of our pre-made meals.
 
Overcast skies kept the overnight temperature at 10.4 degrees. Our weather app predicts a 70% chance of rain today — and it was right. An hour after leaving, we encountered rain that continued to St George. Fuel here costs 1.57.9 cents per litre, followed by a visit to the bakery for a pie and sausage roll to fend off the cold — or perhaps just an excuse.
 
Tonight’s campsite is in the small town of Bollon, situated 111 km west of St George on the Balonne Highway. Today's 373 km drive will be the longest day of driving on this entire holiday.
 
This lovely campsite, situated beside Wallam Creek, offers toilets, showers, and a walking path leading into town. A donation is greatly appreciated; please consider leaving something to support the community. We’re happy to contribute, even though we usually use our own facilities. The pub serves excellent meals, and the beers are certainly cold.
 
Our fourth day on the road was a mixed bag. We left Bollon just after 9am, heading further west towards Cunnamulla. A close encounter with an emu crossing the road nearly ended in disaster for both of us. I'd forgotten just how rough the roads were in western Queensland. How do road builders manage to lay down corrugations after just retarring 150 km of road?
 
Apart from the road surface, we experienced light nuisance rain throughout the journey. Then, as we approached Cunnamulla, we encountered very thick fog, with visibility dropping to about 400 metres for the last 20 km.
 
A lunch stop in Eulo before heading further west to camp in the sand dunes on the shores of Lake Bindegolly National Park. Unfortunately, the part of the lake we saw was bone dry, even though many creeks we passed today contained water. It’s estimated that nearly 200 bird species rely on this lake.
 
We followed a sandy, winding track south of the highway and found ourselves a suitable spot to camp for the night. There were already two other vans here, but we continued past them for several hundred metres.

We have been monitoring the road closures around Innamincka, especially the two roads heading north towards Birdsville. After visiting the information centre in Thargomindah and learning that the road closures were still in place and could remain for some time, we decided on plan B. Our alternative involved heading north towards Quilpie, which is just 193 km away. The road consisted of a single-lane bitumen with approximately 30 km of good-quality dirt. We camped just east of town in a large area along a dry creek that joins the Bulloo River south of the town.

 

After setting up camp, Ros attempted to light our hot water service but was unsuccessful. It had been working up to this point. Gas isn’t the issue, as all the stove burners light without any problems. I've briefly looked online for possible causes but haven't yet determined the best way to fix the problem. These sorts of issues tend to happen when you’re away from civilisation. So, we are resorting to boiling water on the stove and having a sponge bath each night.

 

The next morning, the sky was more overcast with the hint of rain, so we packed up and headed north towards Windorah. It has been many years since we last travelled this section of road, and I'm pleased to say that the road surface has vastly improved since our last trip. It is still a single-lane bitumen road, with the occasional passing lane included.

 

Our camp for tonight is located just south of Cooper Creek, about 12 km from Windorah. We refuelled here at 171.0 cents per litre, and once back at our campsite, I fitted our "Stone Stomper" net for when we hit the dirt tomorrow.

 

The single-lane strip of bitumen ended at 118 km west of Windorah, where we stopped for coffee while I aired down our tyres for the Birdsville Development Road.

 

The road was in good condition, and we passed road crews grading some of the rougher patches.

 

Tonight, our camp is beside the waterhole at Betoota. It’s fantastic to find lovely campsites with water views out in the middle of nowhere. A beautiful end to the day, highlighted by a stunning sunset.

After being closed for many years, the Pub reopens in August for the Betoota and Birdsville races. 

  
Arrived in Birdsville just before lunch on Monday, 2nd July, and set up camp on the town common just south of town.

Towards Home

Leaving Dubbo just after 8 am, we took the most direct route along the Newell Highway, passing through Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, and Narrabri before turning northeast towards Bingara.
 
The drive through Mount Kaputar National Park with its steep and winding roads really tested the torque converter. At times, we had to downshift into third gear, but the auto transmission temperature never rose above 80 degrees, so we are very happy with those figures.
 
Bingara is one of our favourite spots to camp, and we have been visiting here for the past ten years. Unfortunately, the rise of Wiki Camps and Camps Australia means that more people have discovered just how wonderful it is to camp along the banks of the Gwydir River. In the early days, we almost had the place to ourselves.
 
We have always camped east of the bridge, with campsites stretching for many kilometres, but this is the first time we have camped north of the bridge and within the town area.
 
Camping is now permitted in three locations, all of which border the river. We camped in the largest area, just across the river from the golf course. It was the biggest of the three, and we were fortunate to find a great spot surrounded by trees and shrubs that provided us with some privacy.

Most of the other sites along the river offered no relief from the heat and were described by one of the campers as very hot, similar to camping in a caravan park.
 
Bingara is well known for experiencing poor weather, particularly storms with hail. One only needs to look at the roofs of all the houses to realise they are all new, even in the oldest homes.
 
On our second night, we thought we might experience one of their storms, given the dark sky to the northeast, but then it seemed we had missed it. Early the following morning, we were awakened by the most incredible thunder and lightning show, followed by heavy rain. Our thoughts turned to several years ago when our van needed a complete reskin after a hailstorm. Fortunately, this time we escaped, although areas further north did experience hail.

We had planned to stay four days, but with the pleasant weather and our lovely campsite, we extended our stay to the permitted seven days. We spent around $400 in town on diesel, groceries, visiting the bakery most days, and dining at the pub one evening while friends Deb and Hank were passing through on their way home.
 
After heading northeast along the road to Delungra, we joined the Gwydir Highway as we made our way towards Inverell and then on to Glen Innes, before descending the range between Washpool and Gibraltar Range National Parks.

Our campsite tonight is located at the base of the mountain, near the Cangai Bridge. As you cross the grid, you'll see a sign warning that the road ahead is unsuitable for caravans, but this only applies to the section after crossing the two bridges and reaching the camping area.
 
The area is quite expansive, offering views up the valley and along the Mann River. Unfortunately, once again, there were already eleven vans here when we arrived. However, it didn't really matter as we were just stopping for the evening before heading home. There are no facilities here apart from clean river water that can be used to fill your non-potable tanks. The nearest dump point is located at the caravan park in Jackadgery, where a fee of $5 is charged to empty your cassette.

Heading to Dubbo

Before reaching Burra, we had arranged to have our V8 twin-turbo 200 Series Landcruiser booked in with Stephan Richards in Murray Bridge, South Australia, to have a torque lock-up kit fitted.
 
While I was dropping off the car, another Landcruiser owner was having the same work done, along with an ECU and transmission remap. Of course, I had heard about having this done, but wasn't entirely sure about the benefits.
 
Stephan explained in simple terms what these involved and said that if I was interested in having both done together, we would get a $400 discount on the transmission remap. This was only possible because we had already installed a larger aftermarket exhaust. The rest is history.....

After the installation, Stephan took us for a test run, during which he explained the use of the switches. 

The auto lockup master switch on the left remains on at all times, and the right switch locks the torque converter at around 75 km/h. The converter remains locked until the vehicle slows below the unlock speed of just under 75 km/h. Consequently, our new fourth gear is now fifth, which reduces RPM and results in a slight decrease in fuel consumption of around 3 L/100 km.
 
To activate the low-speed lockup, press the right button, which will illuminate to show that it is active. The torque converter will automatically lock at 35 km/h and unlock below 30 km/h. When the low-speed lockup is active, the gears are also reduced, as if you were driving a manual transmission. 
 
This will be very helpful when towing our van over dirt roads with corrugations, where we previously saw our auto transmission temperatures increase considerably, sometimes reaching as much as 120 degrees.
 
Since completing the work, our auto transmission temperatures have stayed around the 66-degree mark, and the 4WD is now a completely different vehicle to drive. 
 
We are currently camped at Frog's Hollow, Lake Cargelligo. It is a ten-minute walk from town, but space here is quite limited. There is an area for three vans where they could park right by the lake, but after recent rains, it has become very muddy. The rest of the foreshore has large gum trees lining the lake, and one would have to be either very brave or rather reckless to camp under these. We are camped against the fence, but still have a view of the lake.

After spending three days camping here and purchasing food and alcohol at the local IGA to support the town that provides this free camp, we headed north.

 

Today's 92 km drive will take us to Condobolin. We found the road to be quite rough, narrow, and with broken edges on the bitumen, making some parts even narrower. I pulled over multiple times to avoid being showered with stones as the B doubles approached.

 

We are just over 3 km west of town, camped at Gum Bend Lake. It's a man-made lake built to commemorate Australia's bicentenary, and when full, it has a depth of 1.75 metres. A gold coin donation is appreciated for camping here, and we were more than happy to make a donation as we filled our tanks with their water.

 

There are hot showers and flushing toilets, but we prefer using our own. Unlike Lake Cargelligo, there are no lake views from the camping area. We enjoyed a few beers and lunch at the local RSL yesterday after buying some groceries at the IGA. It's a relatively large town, with a population of approximately 3,800 people. We planned to stay for three days, but no matter what repellent we used, we couldn't keep the flies away. 

As we headed towards Dubbo, we thought we might break up the drive, so we checked Wiki Camps and found Bogan Weir, 6 km west of Peak Hill. When we arrived, there were five other vans already camped there, and another arrived after dark. It's a large area, probably the size of two football fields, with only rubbish bins and phone coverage.

Just a short 75 km drive today towards Dubbo. We are staying at the Red Earth Winery, just south of town and near the southern border of the Western Plains Zoo. 

Camping fees are $15 per night with power and water, or just $5 without power, although you can still fill your tanks.

On our second day, we visited the zoo and spent the day cycling around the various enclosures. No trip to any zoo would be complete without spending a good amount of time with the incredible meerkats.

Historic Burra - South Australia

We have passed through Burra many times on our way to somewhere else, but we have never taken the time to truly enjoy it. On our trip south from the Flinders Ranges, we decided to stop and spend three days here, exploring the town and its surrounding area.
 
We camped at the showground for $15 per night. This fee included power, water, and a dump point and was located just 2 km north of the town.

It was the first surveyed mining town in Australia, and by 1851, it became Australia's largest inland town due to the discovery of the world's largest copper deposit.
 
Many of its historic buildings remain intact, offering visitors a glimpse into the past.
 
The information centre has a heritage passport. It cost us $50 with our senior concessions, along with a refundable $50 bond for a key that grants access to eight locked sites. Included is a booklet listing another 38 sites around town. It took us two full days to visit all the sites listed.
 
The open-cut mine produced 50,000 tonnes of copper, which in the early years was transported to Port Adelaide before being shipped to Wales for smelting and refining. In 1894, smelters were built near Burra to reduce the huge transport costs.

Some of the sites that require a passport and key include:
 
With the influx of people and the shortage of accommodation, the Miners' Dugouts were carved into the banks of Burra Creek, with an estimated 600 dugouts. A flood devastated the area, and by 1860, they were virtually deserted.

The Police Lockup and Stables were built in 1847, with the cells in use until the Redruth Gaol was constructed in 1856.

Redruth Gaol was built in 1856 and housed 30 prisoners, both male and female. It was later renovated after the prisoners were moved to another gaol and reopened to house girls, before finally closing in 1922. The 1997 film, Breaker Morant, was filmed there.

Located in Paxton Square, the row of 33 cottages was built from 1849 onwards. Malowen Lowarth Cottage has been furnished in the period.

Unicorn Brewery Cellars were constructed in 1873 and remained in operation until 1902. 

Hampton Township, built from 1857, housed up to 30 miners' cottages. The township also contained quarries that supplied the stone for many of the buildings in Burra. It was finally abandoned in the 1960s.

The town caters to travellers with numerous cafes and restaurants. We enjoyed a lovely Sunday lunch at La Pecora Nera (The Black Sheep) and can highly recommend their wood-fired pizzas.

On the outskirts of town, this old homestead served as the cover for the Midnight Oils 'Diesel and Dust' album.