Birdsville track

 

Gidday all,

Headed out for Birdsville, just down the road came across some emus, they ambled along beside us for a while then took off across the plane.

 

 

 

 

A lonely boot tree growing on the planes.

 

 

Nearing Birdsville, a stand of Waddie trees, these trees are very rare and only found in a couple of places and only around this shire. The wood is extremely hard and has been known to break axes and damage saws, almost impossible to drill once dried out.

 

Entering Birdsville, some outback art greeted us. Had a drive around, checked out the whole town, didn’t take long. Then found the bakery and pulled up for lunch, curried camel pie, not to bad.

 

 

Headed out on the track, the landscape changed to clay pan and scrub then sand dune country, the track in not bad shape, some loose sand patches but mostly packed clay. The country changing from clay pan to sand dunes and back again.

 

 

Came to Karrathunka water hole, just a muddy puddle but would be beautiful in the wet. Good enough for us, so camped up for the night.

 

 

Off again in the morning, through the sand dune country, still clay track, traveling between the dunes, then some sand patches crossing small dunes. Going well, not even in 4wd.

 

 

Came to Burt Dam, small amount of muddy water, three pelicans were circling overhead checking out a landing spot. The strong wind let them stay up there effortlessly, we must have worried them cause they circled some more then drifted further away, so we headed on leaving them to it.

 

About 12ks from where the inside track meets the main track the clay pans and sand dunes give way to gibber planes, covered for as far as the eye can see with small rocks or gibbers. Camped at a creek crossing just after joining the main Birdsville track.

 

Off again in the morning, starting to cross Sturts Stony Desert, aptly named, on the main track, or should I say road, it’s now a wide, graded, gravel road. A little rough because of the rocky terrain, but hardly a track. About 70k on we stopped at the lonely Mungerannie road house, out on it’s own in the middle of nowhere. A sign out front says McDonald’s opening soon, the owner assured us it was just a joke. We treated ourselves to a burger each and a beer, (Din had a scotch), because it was our 20^th wedding anniversary.

 

 

Camped on Cooper Creek for two days, nobody about and the weather clear and cool. Will have one more overnight stop before reaching Marree , seven  days to do the Birdsville track, must be unusual in this day and age, but who’s in a hurry.

 

Last camp, Lake Harry ruins, it has an open air shower next to the artisan bore. All the hot water you can use. We took the opportunity to shower and fill up the washing machine.

 

 

Lake Harry was the site of a date palm plantation around 1896. After some years of problems with pests and drought, the venture was abandoned. Hard to imagine the oasis it was in this harsh country.