A Changed Itinerary – Part 1

As we listened to the patter of the rain on the roof of our van, we were aware that it was washing away our immediate plans. We have been caught before by the inability of the Department of Meteorology to predict conditions west of Toowoomba. Its predicted 5 mm of rain became 25 mm a couple of years ago and we were left wallowing in the mud of the Dowling Track. History was repeating its self.

Graeme and his motor home

Graeme and his motor home

The next day, on our way to Windorah, we experienced again firsthand what an inch of rain can do in this area. We had made the acquaintance by two way radio of another traveler, this one in a Winnebago motor home and had agreed to stop for lunch at the same place so that we could have a face to face chat. I chose the site of yesterday’s afternoon tea stop, but when I turned in to the proposed stopping place our wheels started to sink in the mud that had, two days earlier, been a firm parking area. New acquaintance saw what was happening and pulled off to the other side of the road and sank to his axles in even worse mud. A quick selection of 4WD had saved us. He didn’t have that option.

But we were lucky. A couple headed for the Simpson Desert, equipped with a winch, came along, so with them winching and me in the Suzuki that he was towing, giving a push, we got the motor home back into the black top. We moved a bit further along to firm ground and discovered that Graeme is travelling alone while his wife is in England. He asked if he could tag along and he stayed behind us until our paths diverged at lunch time the following day.

From the information center at Windorah and from talking to passing motorists on the two way radio, we learned that the Birdsville Developmental Road was a mess and would not be suitable for us to drive on for several days, so we turned north, spending the night in the caravan park at the Jundah Hotel, and then on to Winton. Graeme left us at Longreach.

Farmed camels near Winton

Farmed camels near Winton

The drive from Winton to Boulia is along the first part of the Min Min Byway. Boulia has built a tourist industry on the phenomenon of the Min Min Lights, unexplained lights that some people claim to have seen at night as they have travelled the road. But since most people travel the road by day, reported sightings are rare.

Our rig beside the long road

Our rig beside the long road just west of Winton

To travel this road at night would be a grave mistake as it is one of the prettiest outback drives in Australia. The first part is fairly ordinary with open grass country on the higher ground and scrubby trees in the gullies, but after crossing the extensive flood plains of the Diamantina River, the road plunges into a series of mountain ranges of the “jump up” or mesa variety.

One of the many channels of the Diamintina

One of the many channels of the Diamintina

These are the hills that are capped with mini precipices of red sandstone from which the slopes covered with rough green grass or stunted vegetation, descend to tree clad lower slopes and gullies. The

A typical jump up or mesa

A typical jump up or mesa

sandstone caps weather into some interesting shapes such as the one that stands above the Castle Hill Rest Area. At the western end of the series of ranges a picnic shelter has been built on hill top that provides panoramic views along the valley through which the road passes.

The isolated Middleton Hotel

The isolated Middleton Hotel

There are other things of interest along the way.  About half way stands the Middleton Hotel, not so named because it is half way but after an explorer who passed the spot many years before this rather elderly building was built. It is a favorite lunch stop. Perhaps that explains the Min Min Lights.

Brolgas by the road

Brolgas by the road

Not far out of Boulia we stopped at a rest stop that marks the site of the long demolished Hamilton Hotel. There we received a tip to look out for brolgas at a creek beside the road. There were dozens of them in clear view. As I walked towards them for a picture they moved away, many of them performing the sort of flying dance for which they are noted.

The start of the Donohue Highway

The start of the Donohue Highway

After a night in Boulia we took on the Donohue Highway that runs west to the Northern Territory border and there becomes the Plenty Highway. These highways are our first long run on dirt roads.

Wheel tracks from recent rain

Wheel tracks from recent rain

Combined they extend a about 750 km across the southern end of the Barkley Tableland. We knew that the road had been affected by the rain and were warned to watch for wheel tracks. The road was quite badly damaged on the west bound side but surprisingly good on the east bound side. So we pretended to be driving in the USA, returning to the correct side for approaching traffic, when we reached crests or when the consensus tracks changed sides.

A waterhole in the Georgia River

A waterhole in the Georgia River

The main feature of this drive through far western Queensland is crossing the Georgia River. When the wet season, often augmented by a cyclone, dumps large quantities of rain south of the Gulf of Carpentaria a large proportion of the water flows down both the Georgia and Diamantina Rivers. In a wet year the flood waters reach, not directly but by various means, the vast expanse of salt pans that is Lake Eyre. The flood plains associated with these rivers are vast. It is probably not possible to visualise the sight of them in full flood without actually having seen them.

The Qld/NT border

The Qld/NT border

Our destination for the day was Tobermorey Station. It is located 250 km west of Boulia and just 4 km past the Queensland /NT border. We parked the van on grass in a camping area that we almost had to ourselves. We wound our watches back by 30 minutes and I prepared myself for a restful couple of hours, but I was wrong!

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the video. It covers this post and the next one too.

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=czHbkrloHVc

Quilpie Number 1 Mail Route

Our tour vehicle at Alaric Station

Our tour vehicle at Alaric Station

In the early 1860’s Patrick “Patsy” Durack, with his brother-in-law John Costello, travelled north in search of land to claim for a cattle station. They found a group of Aborigines camped by a water hole. Somehow they found that the water hole never dried out and chose the site to build their station. They named the water hole Thylungra from the Aboriginal word for permanent water and named their venture Thylungra Station, the name that it retains to this day. This land acquisition was the real beginning of the “Kings in Grass Castles” legend and the grazing industry in the Channel Country.

During our trip around Australia in 2009 we spent a couple of nights at the caravan park at the resort at Lake Argyle, the mega sized lake on the Ord River in Western Australia’s Kimberly Region. One of the attractions was the relocated house from the Durack property, now flooded by the dam, which has been rebuilt below the wall of the dam, as a museum and memorial to the pioneers of the Northern Australian cattle industry.

A very old fridge as a mail box

A very old fridge as a mail box

We had seen the mail run tour advertised when we were in Quilpie previously, so decided to extend our stay in the town to provide time to include it in our itinerary. The tour departs on Tuesdays and Thursdays on a 430 km mail delivery route making deliveries to 10 stations to the north of Quilpie. The delivery vehicle is a 4WD 12 seater bus with a freight compartment at the rear and a trailer in tow if needed.

Alaric Station - now a veteran's retreat

Alaric Station – now a veteran’s retreat

We were picked up at the caravan park at 6.45 am, collected the mail that had just arrived from the east and headed for the Adavale “black” road: black because it crosses the black soil pains of the Bullo River. A little to the east is the “red” road, so named for the soil that it crosses. The Red Road is less affected by rain, but today that was not a problem.

A tapestry on the wall of a room at Alaric Station

A tapestry on the wall of a room at Alaric Station

The first couple of stations were simply mail box drops, a drum and an ancient refrigerator, but the third was our morning tea stop. Alaric Station has become a sort of retreat for war veterans. The homestead was to be demolished but a request was made for the alternative use. Interested parties made renovations and they were open for business. Hospitality is available to veterans, their families and friends.

Modern station communications tower

Modern station communications tower

There are dormitory rooms at reasonable prices and provision for caravan parking. Veterans come from all over Australia, some staying for considerable periods. The house is decorated with war time memorabilia including many historic pictures. An old windmill is decorated with the names of theaters of war and crowded with the red rooster symbol from Vietnam operations. There is a thriving vegetable garden, watered from the permanent billabong onto which the home-stead faces.

We made a quick toilet stop at Trinidad Station, to be our lunch stop, but then went further north to our most northern delivery to Budgerygar Station. To

Transferring freight from bus to shed

Transferring freight from bus to shed

get there we passed through Durack Gap, a flat passage between red rock capped mountains, through which Patsy Durack drove his herd of cattle when he moved his operation to the Kimberly region.

 

Grazing plains with a rocky mountain backdrop

Grazing plains with a rocky mountain backdrop

Budgerygar Station (correct spelling) is very remote with its northerly border not far south of the Welford National Park near the tiny town of Jundah, where I am writing this post. But we were met by a well dressed lady of the station, probably in her early thirties, with a young family who she is home schooling. She made easy work of tossing the large bags of animal feed that we had delivered, onto a quad bike for storage in a shed.

After examining samples of bolder opal found in the area, brought out by a young daughter of the household, we returned to Trinidad Station for lunch. On the way our driver pointed out two places where extensive excavation had taken place on mountain sides in search of bolder opals.

We were greeted by roses at Trinidad Station

We were greeted by roses at Trinidad Station

Trinidad Station was operated by Margaret Pegler and her now late husband. The station is now managed by children, a common situation in the rural scene. Despite the many reports of young people leaving for the cities, a great number of properties are handed on to children. Margaret was away, returning from Brisbane that day, but we were hosted by a daughter who was visiting, from Brisbane, with her husband.

Garden at Trinidad Station.

Garden at Trinidad Station.

Similar to other homesteads that we saw, Trinidad is enveloped by shady trees. Margaret is a keen gardener. We were greeted by vivid reds and yellows of perfect roses at the front gate. At the rear an extensive orchard provided evidence of the productivity of this land, when you add a little water.

And water was the common theme of much of the conversation. The drought is really hurting and the desire for relief is palpable. As we sat in our van the next day, listening to the rain on the roof, we could not help but be glad for these brave people, despite the damage that we knew the rain was doing to the dirt road to Birdsville that we had planned to travel over the next couple of days.

A home at Thylungra Station

A home at Thylungra Station

After our lunch stop we were on our way home. There were a couple of deliveries to make but we were now on the main council road that these stations use to get to Quilpie. But there were two remaining agenda items, a visit to Thylungra Station and afternoon tea beside Thylungra waterhole.

Thylungra wool shed

Thylungra wool shed

At its peak about 80 people lived on Thylungra. Now the permanent residents are much fewer but the place has a certain stateliness about it. The remaining houses, including

Sheep pens inside the wool shed

Sheep pens inside the wool shed

the homestead, are spaced along the creek. We had access to the shearing shed, which is huge, but no longer used, as this station, like so many others, now concentrates on cattle production. But the scope of past operations is obvious.

The never dry Thylungra waterhole

The never dry Thylungra waterhole

Afternoon tea was served by Dave, the mailman, in the picnic shelter of the Main Roads provided rest area by Thylungra billabong. A range of beverages were on offer plus care and biscuits. It was a fitting last activity for a very pleasant and interesting day. The final leg of the journey was on the highway that links Quilpie with Windorah, so the distance sped by bringing us back to Quilpie at just after 4.30 pm. As we walked back to our van the grey clouds of tomorrow’s rain were drifting in from the west.

 

 

 

 

Here is a link to a video of this story.

www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=pXc_cD2OFos

Mount Moffatt National Park

IMG_1829On the trek into Mount Moffatt, the first real point of interest is the Slab Hut, a relic of earlier days of cattle grazing in the area. But it failed to grab our attention when our six vehicle convoy stopped to inspect this example of pioneering residential stamina. Ruth opened the caravan door to find the contents of our refrigerator on the floor with the fridge door underneath. Our consternation was quickly shared by our travelling companions with the Slab Hut fading to insignificance. Some perishables were quickly moved to spare capacity in other refrigerators while we considered what to do.

The Information Center at the Ranger Station

The Information Center at the Ranger Station

Our group leader quickly spied the problem. The door is hinged on a fixed pin at the bottom and a threaded pin at the top. The top pin had worked loose, allowing the door to fall off. Not a very good design in my view. Another member of the group produced a gleaming set of spanners and very soon the door was back in place and the food replaced. Then, following an inspection of the hut we continued on our way to our destination at the Dargonally Rock Pool camping area, within the Park.

The sandstone column known as Lot's Wife.

The sandstone column known as Lot’s Wife.

The area of Central Queensland west of the Great Dividing Range hosts a series of sandstone mountain ranges. A substantial proportion of them are enclosed within the borders of the four areas that make up the Carnarvon Gorge National Park. The best known is the Carnarvon Gorge itself but, although more difficult to access, the Mount Moffat section runs a close second. The area is a plateau at around 700 meters with mountain peaks to more than 1,200 meters. The weather was quite cool at this time of the year.

Suspension bridge on path to the Great Walk

Suspension bridge on path to the Great Walk

Vegetation is open bush land with some areas of denser growth and open grass land. In the north of the park, near the top of Carnarvon Gorge and the source of the Carnarvon Creek, there is an impressive stand of Mahogany trees that brought back memories of my roots in the timber areas of the Central Coast of New South Wales and my timber cutting father. I could almost hear the sound of the fall of the axe and the rasp of the crosscut saw. The Maranoa River also rises in this area.

Marlong Arch

Marlong Arch

The Dargonally Rock Pool camping ground is, unsurprisingly, beside a stream that would have had rock pools with more rain, but only provided a few puddles. Fortunately the National Park authorities had provided a tap and although the water was untreated it was clean and provided a valuable backup for our drinking supply. We set up our vans, camper trailers and one tent in a rough circle around the all important camp fire.

The Chimneys

The Chimneys

The camp fire was the center of social activity, as well as the main cooking medium for some. An experienced camper brought a spike that, when driven into the ground, supported a barbecue plate and a hook from which a camp fire kettle hung over the flames. The fireplace was surrounded by logs sawn in half length wise to provide seating, to which we added comfortable chairs and tables for

Viewing area at the Toombs

Viewing area at the Toombs

meals. Food preparation included use of camp ovens for those with the required skills. Dishes prepared for community consumption in these handy devices included delicious dampers and a huge apple pie.

 

 

Aboriginal Art

Aboriginal Art

The park attracts visitors because of its remoteness, its physical attractions and its history. There are two areas of significant Aboriginal art and historic sites associated with bush ranger activity.

In the late Nineteenth Century the Kenniff Brothers, the last of Queensland’s bush rangers, frequented the area, pursuing their trade of cattle stealing . An offended

Memorial to the murdered police officer

Memorial to the murdered police officer

station owner and a police officer went into the hills to arrest them and were murdered by the brothers. To conceal the crime the Kenniff Brothers attempted to cremate the bodies. The bush rangers were ultimately brought to justice. The murder and cremation sites are marked on the map but we could only find the latter. The site, on flat rocks in the bed or a Creek, is marked by a memorial to the fallen police officer.

The Looking Glass

The Looking Glass

A six kilometer morning walk included the best of the Aboriginal art, which was similar to the art we had seen several years ago in the Carnarvon Gorge section of the park, possibly done by the same group. This walk included The Chimneys, a triple column of rock, a sort of mini Three Sisters and The Looking Glass, a rock formation high on a cliff top and where the center has weathered away forming a mirror like appearance and The Tombs, an Aboriginal burial site decorated with typical art work.

Marlong Plains

Marlong Plains

Lot’s Wife, a solitary pillar of sandstone and Marlong Arch, a narrow bridge of rock spanning a gap between two large rock outcrops were deeper into the park and we had checked them out the day before. On the final day we drove to the high country at the back of the park and while there walked 850 meters to Kookaburra Cave, the other Aboriginal art site.

The very top of Carnarvon Gorge

The very top of Carnarvon Gorge

On the final night we all gathered around the camp fire, discussing all manner of things while we waited for an apple pie to cook in a camp oven. Then with custard and cream provided by others, we finished our meal with a slice of the very delicious pie.

On Monday morning, the Queen’s Birthday holiday, we packed and, now a convoy of seven vehicles, headed out of the Park towards Mitchell, where we said our farewells over a late lunch before going our separate ways. Most turned east towards home, but Ruth and I and a lone traveler have headed west for Birdsville and parts beyond. Or at least that was the intention.

Mount Moffatt is accessed from Injune on the Carnarvon Highway or Mitchell on the Warrego Highway. Both roads are via Womblebank Station that is located where the roads meet. The distance from Injune is about 150 km and it is about 200 km from Mitchell. The last 80 km or so from either starting point is unsealed and a mixture of sand, dirt and gravel.

You ave read the story, now watch the movie.