July 14

Last night’s Bilby Experience proved to be an interesting and entertaining activity. The introductory talk was presented by a Charleville High School final year (Year 13?) student. We then saw a documentary from Australian Story on the Bilby Brothers, the two guys who were behind the bilby rescue program. The highlight was an opportunity to see some bilbies cavorting around in their enclosure. As they are nocturnal animals the only opportunities to see them are at the two “shows” each night. The whole visit was made more meaningful to us because the bilby enclosure (25 sq km) is in Currawinya NP and we saw information boards about it during our visit. The bilbies are bred here in Charleville and then released into the wild at Currawinya.

Today was relatively low-key – spent the morning cruising the shops looking for a few things. The shopping centre was very busy, especially compared with yesterday when you could have fired a cannon and not hit anyone. Lots of 4WD vehicles – you can pick out the locals – usually a spotlight on top, a swag in the back, two spare tyres and the vehicle covered in red dust.

This afternoon we went out to the Cosmos Centre and had a look at their displays about planets, the universe, meteorites etc. Tonight we go back to use their telescopes to have a look at the night sky (providing it isn’t overcast).

The caravan park isn’t as full tonight but still nearly at capacity. I can’t believe the size of some of the vans – they make ours look quite miniscule (but still nowhere near as big as those we saw in BC last year). There seem to be less vans pulled by Patrols and Landcruisers but more of the smaller variants (eg Pathfinders and Ford Territory). Quite a lot more people towing with cars than previously, probably all a factor of fuel prices.

Pension day tomorrow, yippee! So far all the money has been going in one direction – OUT!

July 13

A slow, steady drive to Charleville. Like most of the countryside since we passed Dubbo it’s just flat, flat, flat! But never boring (at least in my opinion). The amazing thing about the countryside we passed through was the phenomenal grass growth – obviously a legacy of the flooding and rain earlier in the year. Admittedly the grass has died off, but there’s certainly plenty of feed available to stock. The amount of road-kill reinforces the fact that it has probably been a very good season for wildlife too.
Although the population here is about the same as Bourke it’s a much more prosperous looking town – wide streets, minimal aboriginal population, no roller-shuttered shop fronts. The next obvious thing about the town is the number of historic buildings – a couple of really impressive looking hotels. Noticeable is the lack of tall shade trees around town – their absence reinforces the fact that it is normally a very hot place. Even in the middle of winter the town has a hot look about it. In fact today has been quite warm – short sleeve shirts type warm.
After checking in to the caravan park – quite full even when we got her at 11.15 am – we paid a visit to the Visitors’ Centre where we went on a walk which identified the local tree species. It was excellent as we often find ourselves wondering, “What sort of tree is that?” as we drive along.
Tonight we’re booked in for the Bilby Experience. Currawinya NP has a bilby enclosure, which the public are not allowed to visit, and in 2001 it was populated with bilbies bred here in Charleville.
BTW, I forget to mention in my last report that just as we approached Hungerford on Friday we passed a convoy of five road trains – four with 3 trailers and one with 2, a total of 14 trailers all loaded with cattle. They’d stopped to drop dust before passing the 300 m through Hungerford. Imagine being caught behind that convoy – you might as well stop and camp because you’d never get past and the amount of dust they would throw up would be horrific. Another snippet of information I picked up at the Royal Mail was that it costs $8.50 per head per km to transport cattle – the ones we saw were off to agistment somewhere in NSW.

July 11 & 12

What a terrific couple of days! We left here about 8 am and headed west to Eulo. About halfway to Eulo we came across Sean McCulloch. Now who’s Sean McCulloch? Only those who listen to Macca on “Australia All Over” on the ABC, Sunday mornings would know so I probably need to fill you in. A couple of months ago his mother rang Macca saying that her son was walking from Brisbane to Broome with some camels and she hadn’t heard from him – she wanted Macca’s listeners to keep an eye out for him and ask him to ring home. Some weeks back someone rang in and said they’d seen him along the way.

So, we were driving west and I suddenly spotted some camels off the road, did a “U” turn and went back. A hello and a couple of sentences later and we were in discussion with the wayward Sean. His goal is still to walk to Broome but instead of finishing the walk in 2008, it’s going to take a bit longer! He tries to average about 30 km a day but said he keeps getting held up by “bloody terrorists”, pulling up and wanting a chat, photo opportunity etc. His goal on Friday was to reach the Eulo Pub, which we heard later he’d achieved and no, he still hasn’t rung his mum! Nice son, but we did get some photos.

After reaching Eulo we turned south towards Hungerford – 112 km of gravel road away. The road was in three sections so far as quality went – the Paroo Shire was grading the northern end (quite good), the last 35 km in Bulloo Shire was recently graded and in good condition (80 kph – no worries) but the bit in between (about 50 km) was a bone-rattler and rates up there with some of the worst roads I’ve driven on. A steady speed – about 60 kph – smoothed the corrugations out a bit; any slower as when going through a grid and the vertebrae coming down met the vertebrae going up! I figured the road would be an excellent test of South Coast 4WD’s work on the Prado before we left. It performed really well with nothing falling off (YET!).

We stopped at a number of places in Currawinya National Park – homestead ruins, a shearing shed, a collection of huge granite boulders and a couple of lakes. My favourite however was the Corni Paroo waterhole – it was a magnificent stretch of water on the Paroo River – quiet and peaceful. I would have loved to have camped here for a few days. It reminded me very much of the waterhole we camped alongside on Cooper Creek, near Innaminka.

The two lakes were interesting. They are about 30 km off the main road and although only being 6 km apart Lake Numalla is fresh water while Lake Wyara is salty! They are both part of a protected wetlands and birdlife area. The road out was supposed to be 4WD only but was mostly in good condition with a few detours around water-filled claypans.

Although we’d booked accommodation at the Royal Mail Hotel in Hungerford we weren’t too sure what to expect (do a Google search for Royal Mail Hotel Hungerford and you’ll see what I mean)! As a result we left here prepared for anything and were pleasantly surprised. The publican is also the local mailman and does the trip from Hungerford to Cunnamulla most days of the week – did I say he drives a Toyota?

We had a great night at the pub and although some might consider the accommodation a bit primitive (eg bare floor boards) the beds were warm and comfortable and there was a heater in the room to take the edge off the temperature – what else do you need? Dinner (rump steak and lots of vegies) was terrific and we even shouted ourselves breakfast (bacon and eggs). No on-tap beer – everything was bottles and cans, but we’ve found that a lot in outback pubs. Cans of beer were $4.20 – probably a bit steep but then we were in the back of beyond.

The pub was quite a popular spot – the locals came in for a drink and all the accommodation was full.

I chatted for while to a local grazier and Bulloo Shire Councillor – he had a station 60 km west towards Thargomindah. We were discussing the difficulties associated with living in the bush and he said he’d had to travel to Thargomindah earlier in the week to see the Flying Doctor at the regular clinic visit – a round trip of 234 km – just to see the doctor. He filled up with diesel while there at $2 a litre. He had a jillaroo working with him and she came in to “town” for a break – she was probably under 18 but loved the life – except for having to round up sheep on a motor-bike at 6 on cold mornings.

Saturday morning was below freezing so mum and I didn’t surface until about 8! We weren’t in a hurry as we only had to drive back to Cunnamulla. The open fire was going in the dining-room although the publican admitted he’d had to throw a log-seat on the fire as he was a bit short of wood.

Having seen just about all of the National Park we didn’t stop until we reached Eulo. I tell a lie - we slowed down on the crossing over the Paroo River at Hungerford and a kangaroo decided to “lay” up on the bonnet – no damage done (to either us or the roo) as we were almost stationary when the silly thing jumped in front. The joey with her was more distressed because he didn’t know where mum had gone when she fell off. We also had a stop to photograph some very inquisitive emus.

On our way through Eulo we pulled up at the Date Farm and Winery. We sampled the wares, but not being wine drinkers, it didn’t do much for either of us.

We were back in time to do some cleaning up – mum put through a load of washing while I removed the Bourke and Hungerford dust from the tail-gate so that it opened without a grating sound. Tomorrow, off to Charleville for three nights (not two, as originally scheduled) – only a short 200 km run!

July 10

We had a good run to Cunnamulla and arrived here at mid-day. Along the way we had a stop at Barringun (right on the border) to photograph the pub which was the Cobb & Co changeover in the old days. We also paid a visit to the Bush Tucker Inn – walked in and asked for a coffee only to be told, “Help yourself! Unless you want cappuccino.” So we did – to repay ‘mine host’ we bought some carrot cake to go with the coffee. The Bush Tucker Inn was one of those typical outback places with lots of character and was also a hit with the truckies, going by the photos of the drivers and their rigs on the wall.

There was lots of road-hill on the way up – apart from the usual kangaroos we spotted a couple of cattle and even a wild pig. Some serious damage would have been done to those vehicles, although in all probability the culprit was a truck.

The road on the Queensland side of the border must have been built by dole-workers. Instead of the pipes going under the road, the road goes over the pipes! As a result sections of the highway are like travelling on a roller coaster – you certainly need to make sure everything is securely packed. The van did a lot of bouncing around!

The caravan park in Cunnamulla is quite OK – we were told by a traveller in Bourke, “I wouldn’t stay in Cunnamulla if you paid me – everything’s behind bars.” I really don’t know what town she was thinking of as the shops here are nowhere near as protected as in Bourke. No roller shutters at all! Cunnamulla is only a small town (about 1 500 people) but the visitors centre is excellent. They’ve just installed an Artesian Time Tunnel to inform people about the artesian basin. They also have a terrific model of a shearing shed and shearers’ quarters made by a local retiree. For a small town I’ve seen 3 pubs so far!

The park looks like being FULL, so again we’re pleased we got here early. The proprietor was only too happy to take some of our frozen stuff and put in her freezer as I want to use the car fridge as a fridge tomorrow when we go down to Currawinya National Park and Hungerford. We still have a few things which won’t fit in the freezer in the van.

I’ve got to say I admire the people who live in these outback places – even with modern communication it would still get to be pretty isolated and lonely. Some of the properties are huge and a long way apart. The other really noticeable thing is the openness and friendliness of the locals you meet. While waiting to fill up with petrol a young bloke ahead of me had a 200 L drum on a trailer being filled and quite happily told me almost his life story while we waited. The people are just so different from those you meet in the city, it’s a real pleasure to be here!

July 9

Today we visited Gundabooka National Park, about 50 km SW of Bourke. It consists of the Gundabooka Range which rises about 300m above the surrounding plain, so stands out from quite a distance. It was a good day as we achieved everything we set out to do, starting with a visit to an aboriginal art site. I got a bit annoyed here because an elderly gentleman (who should have known better) had actually entered the enclosed area and was lying on his back photographing the art work. This really pissed me off because if everybody did that there would be no art work – I said to him, “Do you really need to be in there?” His reply was, “Probably not, but there was a gap in the fence!” Unbelievable! From the art site we went to Dry Tank picnic area and walked from there to Little Mountain lookout from where we had an excellent view of the main range. The walk was through mulga bush, an interesting plant where the branches and leaves act as a funnel to direct any water which falls to the roots of the plant/shrub/tree. Mum and I were delighted to find some flowering eremophila growing on the side of Little Mountain. Our last stop was at Bennetts Gorge Picnic Area where we went on another short walk to a small hill which gave a close-up view of the Gundabooka Range and a view over the surrounding plain. We had planned to return to Bourke via Louth and the Darling River but time was short so we returned the way we’d come – the round trip was over 200 km. I only put 60 L of petrol (172.9 cpL) in the car as I’m banking on the price being a little lower in Cunnamulla tomorrow!