Well 12 was a couple of days stop for us, why rush when you don’t have to. Everything was holding up well, fuel usage was good, plenty of food left, no breakages so far and the wells were providing washing water, so our reserves weren’t being taxed too much.
Back on the track, the dunes kept on coming, some bigger than others, but Ned took them all in his stride. Driving along the swales,(the valley between the dunes), you would make a sharp turn to attack the dune, then at some, just before the crest the track would turn again before hitting the top and pointing down the other side. Making for interesting driving.
Ever changing country kept us entertained, Holly grevilia, in bloom, flashing bursts of red among the orange and green of the desert colors. Other plants were starting to flower as well. The honey grevilia, a spectacular plant, with the flower jutting out, if you touch it the sticky coating gets on your fingers, or anything that brushes past. Sweet tasting, it’s the bush Lolly. Ned was also streaked with the sweet nectar, from scraping past the bushes.
On the way to well 13, we passed another casualty of the track, sitting, rusting in the harsh environment. Well 13 came up, the locals had burnt off around the area, managing the land in their traditional way, lessening the chance of large, hot, fires in the dry season.
The dunes let us have a rest, by being scarce on this section, but the wash outs continued, as did the rocky ground, and long stretches of sandy track. Never boring, keeping you alert.
passing well 14, we reached well 15 in the early afternoon. Having time on our hands, the shower went up and water was sourced from the well and a good time was had by all. This was our camp for the night.
Dawn came, and we readied for more desert exploring. Again, the dunes greeted us not far from camp. Ned scaled them with the ease we had come accustomed to, only struggling when I failed to select the right gear to begin the climb, then only pausing at the near top, then bounding over after a short reverse down to regroup.
As we moved further north, more of the plants were flowering. The grevilia's were in bloom, lots of different ones. Din started her dash garden, brightening up the cab.
Near well 16, on a lonely stretch of track, there stands an abandoned trolley. Murray Rankin’s trolley rests under a gum tree, left by Rankin when he gave up on his attempt to walk the track in 1972. apparently, the sand wore away the bearings in the wheels and rended the trolley useless. His second attempt in 1974 also failed. But, due to his persistence, in 1976, he, with two companions, were successful.
After camping at well 16, we continued along the soft, sandy track, crossing yet more dunes, then coming to some rocky headlands. Negotiating these, we approached the foot of the Durba Plateau.
Rounding the Northern tip, we made our way down the western side, where a track leads you to Biella Spring. Being only a few Ks, we took the track to the spring, a rough, slow drive, but we thought it worth it.
negotiating our way back to the main track, we skirted the rugged, towering cliffs of the plateau, making our way to Durba Springs, our camp for the next few days.
An oasis in a dry, harsh landscape, Durba Springs refreshes, like it has done for thousands of years. Tall gums shade the cool pools at the base of towering stone cliffs stretching up the gorge. Couch grass, soft underfoot, grows naturally around the camp.
Ended up spending a total of four days there. Mainly because on the third day, a party of 15 camper trailers drove in and stayed the night. Wanting to give them time to get ahead of us, we staid an extra day after they left. Not a difficult decision to make.
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