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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