Strathalbyn 2023…Our Trip

[Oldman]

Full of nature that you’d expect around water and lots of evidence of yabbies…..Sue wanted to know if she could set up a rig and try her luck….
Not one to dampen her enthusiasm, I suggested she peel off 10’ of yarn from her knitting, tie on a small rock and encase it in a pudding made from dampened bread and cheese…..
I settled into my chair for a daydream in the cool breeze, not expecting anything by way of Yabby Action
and happy that Sue was finally enjoying our surroundings without a thought about work.

   

Not happy with the lack of yabby action, Sue re-located to the most un-yabby like spot on the Reservoir (in my opinion...)

   

“I’ve got one….!” she shrieked , rousing me from my snooze……no way I thought….after all, she was just dangling some wool with a rock tied to it and makeshift bait about two foot into some shallow, cloudy water……
Armed with the iPad to try and record her catch, I wandered over to the water’s edge only to see a good size yabbie disappear in a puff of silt…..well bugger me !

   

   

I shadowed her for the next 1/2 an hour while she coaxed some really good sized crustaceans out of their lairs only to see them disappear with a tail flick, once they saw the surface.
So, no recorded evidence of the monster crays that inhabit Cobar Reservoir, but I can vouch for their existence…… I would not have believed it if you’d told me but I did see them with my own two eyes.
  As we readied to leave, a few caravaners pulled up and setup camp…..looks like it is a free camp destination for travellers……no amenities at all , just a pretty spot.
With a very “pleased with herself” partner now re-Christened, "Cobar Yabby Queen Susan the First",  we packed our chairs up and headed back into town for a bit of last minute food shopping.
Minimal setup tonight as we’re heading to Whitecliffs tomorrow for an underground Opal Hotel experience and less set up means less to pack up in the morning….
Rain has disappeared and the clear skies of the West have returned…..


Red dust, Wedgetails, Emus and Goats…….Cobar to White Cliffs via Wilcannia.

   

Beautiful clear, cold and Star filled night last night made for a great sleep. 
Spoke with another traveller last night and he said the fish kill at Menindee was all but gone…..apparently huge numbers of birds have descended and cleaned up the majority of carcasses. He showed me pics to back up his claim and we might head there in a couple of days….haven’t been to Menindee before…
A couple of good coffees, minimal pack up and we’re leaving Cobar behind

Huge drop in temperature made the first leg out of Cobar really comfortable driving.
We had a nice tail wind which really made the cruise through to Wilcannia enjoyable.
Heaps of feral goats grazing on the side of the road made our first drive through a little nervous….how to goats react to cars ?…easy…they run away !! Took a lot of effort to get used to this , as I’m used to ‘roos going every which way…….but turns out that goats are predictable !!
Terrain really flattened out and the Wedgetails started appearing, soaring high over the red dirt scrub…just glorious. Emus were there as well but not too close to the road which was great……my experience with emus is that they are just unpredictable at the best of times.

Topped up the tank at Wilcannia…fuel prices similar to Sydney !! …. on we pushed to White Cliffs.
Without trucks on the White cliffs road, the road kill ramps up a few notches…..The Barrier Hwy wipes all roadkill off the road, apparently…..but on this road there are noticeably increased carcass numbers.
Definitely would not recommend driving this stretch at dusk or dawn…..

[Wombatventures]

Gotta be happy in White Cliffs. My Uncles cousin ran the pub back in the late 80s. Home of the second best use of beer bottles and birth place of the legendary Bill O'Reilly.

[Oldman]

We’ve just checked into the White Cliffs Underground Motel, staying in a “Dugout” room …and yes, it’s underground. Things out here are  just starting to open for the new Tourist Season and we’re the first guests to check in, having the entire place to ourselves…. 

   

Our Dugout

   

   

   
Maps, diary and where to next......Sue loves an itinerary.

Struck up a conversation with a local opal miner and he’s just dropped some honey to us !! Top fella and loves a chat !! We’ve decided to stay for a couple of nights ‘cause the place just feels so enticing. 
Just about to watch the Outback Sunset on the roof of the Underground Hotel with a couple of refreshing beverages before dinner at the local.

[Oldman]

"Stairway to Heaven" the access to the rooftop plateau....
   

...and where you come out

   

Next day we went out noodling for opal amongst the potch heaps.

   

White Cliffs to Pooncarie via Wilcannia and Menindee…Shake rattle and roll….

We looked at the map and decided to cut the corner and travel to Pooncarie via Wilcannia and Menindee on an unsealed road instead of going via Broken Hill/Silver City Highway.
The map showed a saving of 150 km by using this route....advice is to call a number and check on the local conditions before heading out. 
First problem encountered...there is no Optus service out West....we headed out anyway. 
Unknown to me, we were about to embark on the most bone jarring, kombi rattling, corrugated, potholed, bull dust covered expanse of dirt roads I'd ever experienced.

A better stretch.......still very unpleasant driving 

   

We drove carefully, trying to find that "happy speed" that normally allows you to skip over corrugations......wasn't going to happen on this road. The corrugations have been stretched out by large 4wd's and trucks and then filled in with talc-fine, red, bull dust. At times the best we could manage was 35kph for 1/2 n hour. It seemed never ending as we passed shredded tyres and bits of discarded body panels that had obviously shaken off in transit. Large potholes filled in with bull dust were an unpleasant experience as we dropped into them with a loud thud.

Finally Pooncarrie came into site and we were back on a tar road.....still full of potholes but at least it was sealed. We went into the local pub for a well earned refreshment and asked about campsites. The Bartender told us about a Council run place that had 8 powered sites by the Darling River that they hold the keys for. We paid the minimal fees and headed off to the Pooncarie campground.... a top spot !

   

With only a few others there it was almost totally silent by the river. Sites have power and drinking water with good amenities provided by the local football club had hot showers for $1 (5min.) and clean toilets. Would definitely recommend this as a stopover for anyone.

[Oldman]

Beautiful old, majestic River Gums lined the banks of the Darling River,

   

   

There was even a Housekeeping Tree !

   

Why Housekeeping ?
..because it does its own sweeping !!

   

Some trees were just scary.....imagine this (upside down) just before nightfall out in the middle of nowhere....

   

[Oldman]

Pooncarie to Mungo (more) Red Dust, Corrugations and a Kombi that will not say no……

From Pooncarie we pushed onto Mungo National Park. 
More dirt road that was as bad as the Wilcannia/Menindee/Pooncarie stretch


Sue really wanted to see the ancient remains of what was once a thriving community that surrounded a vast body of water, now long gone.....
We checked into the Mungo National Park Visitors Centre to organise a site for the night. No can do......must be booked online.....but we don't have phone service....download the app....but we don't have phone service.....oh, you're not with Telstra ? ....connect to our WiFi , download the app, create an account, link a credit card to the account and book your site. WTF ?
Eventually sorted it all out and we settled in for the night.

   

I found what I reckon is probably the best picnic table I've seen in ages....

   

Evening Star in the Outback

   

Site was great but everything had to be brought in...water, firewood etc. We were only in for one night and were tempted to gather our own firewood but were reminded by a roving ranger that ,"firewood is also habitat for critters..." OK, no fire. Showers were available back at the Visitor centre but we went without and decided to get on the road early and head to Mildura.

A little hope when some tar came into view......but it was just to identify a cattle grid....

   

[Oldman]

Gol Gol (Mildura) ….. a Day of Rest by the Murray River….

Finally off the dirt and into the busy town of Mildura ....we stopped and re-provisioned, or so I thought, at the local IGA & bottle shop.
After what seemed ages Sue came back to the kombi empty handed.....why? , I asked...
I can't find my wallet......Oh FFS !!
I went in to pay for the groceries that were waiting at a checkout while Sue started tearing the fully packed kombi apart.....getting nowhere fast, we decided to setup at the campsite and look for it properly.

   

An Ensuite site was a welcome luxury and we settled in, determined to find Sue's wallet.
No luck and we figured that the last time we saw it was back at Mungo when we were messing around booking the site.......
No way was I going back on that road on the chance that her wallet would be there, so Sue tried calling the National Parks in an effort to connect to the Visitor's centre at Mungo.
After what seemed like an hour of being switched through to the wrong people (every time), Sue spoke to someone that would look into it for us.......
The dilemma was, do we cancel the c/cards and try and organise replacements?, or do we hold out and hope the old mate would turn up Sue's wallet at the Centre.......
Next morning Sue had a call from National Parks to say that her wallet had been found (at the Visitor's Centre) and would be forwarded to a place of our choice.
At least we could relax a bit more knowing that all her stuff was (hopefully !) intact.

[Oldman]

Mildura to Loxton…….Peace and Quiet.
The drive from Mildura to Loxton, our next chosen destination was easy....being able to drive on sealed roads was a luxury after the dirt that we'd been on for the last few days.
I found a campground at Loxton that had only just re-opened after the floods - Loxton Big 4 - and we were greeted like old friends.
Park was fantastic with everything clean, fresh and getting ready for a busy Easter.

   

We walked around the Murray River bend that the Park is located on and saw water marks several metres up the tree trunks, a reminder of how high the water rose....it was hard to imagine water at that height over such an expanse of land.....must have been really frightening for the locals. 

Mud was still partially damp but cracked and drying by the river side....

   

Next morning was coffee (as usual) and then the last leg to Strathalbyn.

   

[BrianK]

Mildura ….. a Day of Rest by the Murray River….
(Post to follow….)

Catch up with Wattie

[Oldman]

Catch up with Wattie

Thought about it mate….but we’ll see Geoff n Irene at Strath.
We had a 5hitload of washing and organising to do and really didn’t want to move once we’d propped.