NSW, SA, Qld
After collecting firewood on the Bourke road to Tibooburra
(north west NSW),
we discovered
that fires were banned in the Sturt National Park. There are free gas BBQs.
but it's not the magic of a fire.
We loved Dead Horse Gully, the National Park camping area which is just out
of Tibooburra. It's amongst huge boulders and in early August the
wildflowers were beautiful, like a rock garden. The Granites Walk through
the boulders does a loop around and behind the camping area. The Sturt Desert
Pea was blooming everywhere.
Just South of Tibooburra near Milparinka
is Depot Glen where the explorer
Charles Sturt was held up by drought conditions with all his men for 6
months in 1845. Not far from the water hole is a blazed tree with J.P. 1845
carved into it. This is the grave of Sturt's 2nd in command John Poole who
died of scurvy.
Sturt kept his men occupied by erecting a cairn on nearby Red Hill (Mount
Poole.) It's a bit of a scramble up the slope, but the views and the sense
of history make the effort worthwhile. Sturt noted. " I had little thought
when I was engaged in that work that I was erecting Mr Poole's monument,
but so it was."
The Family Hotel in Tibooburra has showers for $3.50 each. We were led out
the back and told to keep the door into the bar closed as the sheep that
was penned up in the back yard area kept butting the door in and invading
the pub! He'd also bashed the bottom half of the shower door in. The shower
itself was in dire need of repair and maintenance. Lynne went back into the
pub and demanded a better ablution solution. We got a shower inside. Later
we found out the Tibooburra Hotel across the road charged $3. no sheep and
they also had laundry facilities!
On the road to Innamincka
with our firewood. The road had only been
re-opened for a couple of days and over the border in S.A. it was boggy in
the dips with deep mud. Fortunately there were lots of side tracks. With
all the weight on board we almost got stuck any way.
 The corner gate, South Australia and the dingo fence, the world's longest fence. The road heads west through rollercoaster dunes until Merty Merty, then north up the Old Strezlecki Track through coolabah floodouts to Innamincka. |
 4wd.sofcom.com/2000/001001a.html |
There's never one around when you want one and now I know why; this one was obviously way off its normal route!
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