Saturday 10th July 2021
We apparently had a late night visitor to Einasleigh last night. I heard what I thought was a road train go past the caravan park and thought wow, that is loud. I rolled over and went back to sleep. Apparently it woke David as well and it turned out to have been the Royal Flying Doctor Service that had come to respond to an accident up the street. I didn’t even hear the plane take off again.

We were unable to book Cobbold Gorge accommodation and tour today as they are fully booked until 13th July which was a little disappointing as we were going on a boat tour in Cobbold Gorge. Mind you our bank balance will be happy to the tune of $196 just for the tour. So now we had to check if there was availability at Undara National Park. Another commercial tourist business where accommodation and tours are linked together. Lucky us, they had 1 nights accommodation and space on the tour, so we booked this and moved on.

We drove the first 45km of winding dirt road with many caravans heading in both directions. We then made it out to the Savannah Way which was 2 lanes for all of 30 seconds and then it became one lane with wide dirt side strips. Unfortunately for us, 30 seconds before it became 2 lanes of bitumen, we had a rock hit the windscreen and so scary David ducked and protected his face as he thought the glass was going to shatter. Lucky for us it didn’t but we will need a new windscreen at some stage. Hopefully it won’t crack before we get home.

We continued on through Mt Surprise to the Undara National Park. We managed to secure a second night here so we can have a little rest.

We had a tour booked for 3.30pm so it is the first time since we left home that we have had 90 minutes to put our feet up. David managed 3 repairs – his glasses.

This afternoons tour was The Wind Tunnel Explorer – a lava tube touring in its rawest form. Scrambling over rocks and with less infrastructure, this is adventure guaranteed. We visited up to 3-sections of lava tube. The last time the Undara Volcano erupted, it really went off, with an astonishing 23 billion cubic litres of lava pouring out. That was 190,000 years ago, but you can still follow the path taken by the red-hot lava by walking through the remarkable lava tubes at Undara Volcanic National Park. As the lava flowed downhill, the outer layer cooled more quickly than the fast-moving core. The result was a series of hollow tubes of extraordinary size. The Bayliss Cave, for instance, is 11m high, 22m wide and more than a kilometre long. We visited a couple of the caves and saw this geological wonder. It was quite informative and very interesting. Not only is the tour interesting we always find the people on the tours interesting and somewhat entertaining as well. As usual this one didn’t disappoint.

We headed up to the Bluff after the tour to watch the sunset. Not as red as in the desert but beautiful all the same. We also enjoyed a restaurant dinner in which I had the kangaroo fillets which were very nice and for a change not overpriced.

Tomorrow we are going for a bush walk from the campsite and then we will do a rim crater walk. Hopefully we will have a little rest time as well.

Friday 9th July 2021
Well we got away nice and early this morning on our way to Porcupine Gorge National Park.  Both David and I were really looking forward to a good walk in the bush as we have been a bit light on with exercise so far this trip. On the way we stopped at a lookout which had a couple of amazing boab trees growing out if the rocks. It was also a lovely view.

Then on to Porcupine Gorge National Park. The gorge lookout was fantastic. It was a long and narrow gorge, with beautiful colours and some water which lately has been a rarity. We then headed down into the gorge which was 150m descent over 1.2km in distance which is okay on the way down but climbing back up will be a little tough as our fitness has waned over the last couple of weeks. The views heading down and in the gorge were lovely, I especially love seeing the way the water flow carves through the rocks and the formations that are a result over the millions of years. We explored a little further along the for a while and then headed back up. It was a constant up which we handled okay but we are definitely missing the daily exercise we are used to. We then did the rime walk which reached a lovely viewpoint before walking back to the car for lunch. A total of about 7km walking which was great.

After lunch we headed on our way north again, I had a drive for about 120km as I haven’t driven since we were in the desert. Hopefully it will give David a little rest time and he won’t be as tired tonight. The road was pretty good most of the way even when it went back to dirt road. We made our way to Einasleigh for the night and managed a spot in the local caravan par for a change. Mind you she is fully booked tonight as well. We are hoping to go to Cobbold Gorge tomorrow but it is pretty full so we will check on this tomorrow. It is a big commercial concern so we may give it a miss if they can’t fit us in.

Anyway at least we are moving about. Hope you are okay and stay safe with the new Covid restrictions. Take care and big hugs to you all. Love Fiona and David.

Thursday 8th July 2021
Well the weather is starting to get warmer. We had a lovely night by the fire, a first for us lazy bones. We usually don’t bother but when the firewood is on the side of the road asking to be collected, wee decided well why not. It was lovely. The low for last night was only 8°C and it reached 27° today so we are definitely heading further north.
There was a marked change of scenery as we drove the 200km Hughenden.There was no red in the dirt and at one stage we even had lines on the road. We also had clouds in the sky and a little rain which is the first time since we left the Flinders Ranges over 2 weeks ago. As we saw a huge solar power farm – apparently it is 55,000 solar panels.

We went for a drive up Mt Walker 487m elevation, it didn’t look that high and we found out that Hughenden’s elevation is 324m, so it was only 163m high. There were 6 lookouts in many different directions up there.
After  finding out there was no room in the caravan parks yet again, we booked in to the Showground Overflow with the other 86 vans. Boy is it busy at the moment. We are not sure it will be any better  when school goes back next week but we are hoping, as we are not very good at planning in advance.

We then  went for a loop drive of the Basalt Byway 95km as we didn’t fancy sitting at the showground all afternoon. It was a lovely scenic road on a fairly good 4WD track  most of the  way. Besides  the beautiful valleys we saw kangaroos, an emu, brolgas and many cows but no unfortunately no dingoes. It was basalt rock country which edged some of the roadway. We drove  through some rain  and it was threatening most of the afternoon.

When we arrived  at the showground we were amazed at how many people were here for the 2 showers and not too many more toilets. Might have to shower at midnight.

Hope you are all surviving okay with lockdown. Take care and stay safe.

Wednesday 7th July 2021
Today we have a jam packed day of dinosaur tours. First up we are going to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs on the road to Longreach. Unfortunately we were not abler to get in to the Fossil Preparation Laboratory tour which was of more interest to David but we still managed to do the Dinosaur Canyon Tour. This was viewing the March of the Titanosaurs exhibition featuring a recently discovered 54-metre-long sauropod tracksite showing very large footprints of the dinosaurs found in the canyon nearby, then a walk through the outdoor area which had bronze life size replicas of Pterodactylus, Kunbarrasaurus, Death in the Billabong and the Valley of the Cycads exhibits. Then after lunch we headed to the Lark Quarry, which was back through Winton and on the road we travelled from Diamantina NP on Monday – 110km of mostly dirt road. This exhibition showed a video of the time frame from discovery in 1965 to today and also from 95 million years ago when they believe the dinosaurs stampede occurred.

“A TERRIFYING ENCOUNTER FROZEN IN TIME…Stampede!
95 million years ago Lark Quarry was part of a great river plain, with sandy channels, swamps, and lakes brimming with freshwater mussels, lungfish, and crocodiles. Rainfall was over a metre per year, so the surrounding lowland forest was lush and green.. On the day our drama unfolds, some 95 million years ago, herds of small two-legged dinosaurs came to drink at the lake. There were at least 150 dinosaurs of two different kinds – carnivorous coelurosaurs about the size of chickens, and slightly larger plant-eating ornithopods, some of them as large as emus. A huge meat-eating theropod, smaller than a Tyrannosaurus, approached the lake. It slowed, saw the other dinosaurs gathered at the water’s edge and began to stalk, then turned and charged. The stampeding herd of smaller dinosaurs left a chaotic mass of footprints in the mud as they ran to escape.”

This was a great exhibition where there are 3300 dinosaur prints from about 150 dinosaurs. It is an incredible feat to uncover so many footprints.

Then back to Winton we go for our 3rd nights stay at Mistake Creek. We went to the North Gregory Hotel to listen to a bush poet tell the story of Banjo Paterson and Waltzing Matilda. Then we had a lovely fire by the creek after dinner for a relaxing evening under the stars.

We will move on tomorrow.

Tuesday 6th July 2021
Well we had a lovely night at Mistake Creek overflow comping by the Creek. We had a very slow morning, went into town to replenish our food supply and it was a real struggle. The town had been smashed by people on the way to the Big Red Bash, as the most direct route there the road had been closed so they all travelled through Winton.  It was like old times, I went to 2 small supermarkets, the butcher and the Fruit and Veg shop to sort of re-stock. Well it will just have to do till the next town. We managed a hot shower at the football ground which was fantastic!

We went for a walk around Winton town after we booked our dinosaur tours for tomorrow. We were hoping to do them today but they were booked out. Oh well, it was nice to take it slow and not do so many kms today. We visited Arno’s Wall and the Musical Fence.

We then headed out to the Bladensburg National Park which was only about 10km south of Winton. It was a lovely drive and we visited a few tourist stops along the way – Woolshed, Delia’sd Grave, Scrammy’s Lookout, Scrammy’s Hole and Scrammy’s Gorge. We also called into the Bladensburg Homestaed which is also now the Rangers Station. The scenery was beautiful and welive in the most amazing country. We saw quite a few kangaroos, big reds and some greys, there were also many cows about which were looking a bit fatter and healthier today. We were also lucky to see some Spinifex Pigeons which are quite elusive.

We managed to get to camp about 5pm YEEHAH!!. An early dinner and a yoga session under the stars. Yay! We have an early start tomorrow as our first tour starts at 9.15 followed by our 2nd one at 2pm at Lark Quarry which is about 1.5hrs south. We are both looking forward to the dinosaur tours. Hope you are all well and surviving lockdown. Take care and stay safe!

Only 62km driving today. A good rest day!

Monday 5th July 2021
We had an overnight low of 2°C and it was only 4° at 7.30am. We had a lovely quiet night at Gum Hole camp in the Diamantina National Park until the corellas started squawking at 5ish.
We headed off on our way this morning with our first stop being the Gum Hole stockyards. We were hoping to drive the 90km Warracoota Circuit Drive but unfortunately the Road was closed at both ends. So we continued on our way to Winton through the national park. We drove through beautiful plains with the occasional mesa. (an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain).
We stopped Hunters gorge campground and went for a walk down to the river where we saw a pelican floating down the river. The dried mud was quite amazing as it splits as it dries out, then cracks and as you walk on it, then turns to dust. If it rains they sau you need to run for the hills as the torrents of water fill the river and the plains become water filled. They suggest you have 2 weeks supply of food in case yogurt stuck and can’t get out as the roads become impassable.
David can’t believe how many people are at some of the most obscure camps in Australia .
We pass through the Diamantina Channels which has little tributaries everywhere running off the Diamantina River. Where there is water there is lots of trees and vegetation.
We stopped at the Rangers Station hoping to find out when the circuit drive would be open but he was nowhere to be found. The Rangers station is located at an old station which is setup as a tourist stop. We then headed to Janets leap offering a bird’s-eye view over the braided channels of the Diamantina River.
We then continued driving and came to Mayne peak in the Mayne Range where we also saw the Mayne pub bore, Mayne hotel ruins and underground Cellar.
As we drove along there were some incredible green patched which DB named the turf farm. Even though there was so much green vegetation the cattle we saw were very thin.
We drove through Brighton Downs cattle farm to the Old Cork homestead ruins which we were hoping to stay the night at as it was 3.30pm and we still had a long way to go to the Lark Quarry, unfortunately there was no room here so we continued on. We passed the New cork homestead which was very modern with a Red roof and it appeared to have mains power. We continued on to Lawrence lookout where we passed 2 water tank trucks. We still kept driving and hoped to camp about 20km N of Lark Quarry so we could head back there tomorrow morning but Little Jack campsite that was on Wikicamps appeared to be on someones property and wasn’t really a designated camping spot so we decided to drive the 80km to Winton.
We saw lots of cattle, sheep and kangaroos along the road about 20km out of Winton. When we reached Winton it was so crowded, the motel and one of the caravan parks had no vacancies and the other caravan parks looked really crowded so we headed back out to a roadside camp on Little Mistake Creek. A freebie camp by the creek on the side of the road but at least we weren’t camped on top of someone else. We watched a beautiful sunset as we made dinner and settled in for the night.
“Dinosaur Stampede National Monument at Lark Quarry Conservation Park in Australia is considered to be the site of the world’s only known record of a dinosaur stampede, with fossilised footprints are interpreted as a predator stalking and causing a stampede of around 150 two-legged dinosaurs.”

Sunday 4th July 2021
We started today with a bit of exercise at last. A swim in the Bedourie Aquatic Centre outdoor pool which is heated to about 26°C from the Artesian Bore. This was followed by a soak in the Artesian Spa (40°C). A beautiful way to start the day. Then some washing, a cleanup, some shopping and off on our next adventure.

We had a quick visit to the rodeo and watched a couple of rounds of Gymkhana – which was rounding up a calf around three posts in the shortest amount of time. A bit like swimming around a string of cans at a surf carnival. Just a different form of exercise and entertainment. It was very fast action.

Next was a long drive to the Diamantina National Park north east of Bedourie. It was a beautiful drive through barren, ever-changing countryside. The plains changed frequently from totally barren, to a few trees near the creeks, the road surface quickly changed from bitumen to a dirt track with ever-changing colours. Red, yellow and white dirt, and even pink at one stage. The view was amazing but I struggled to stay awake today and managed a snooze for a while. We saw a few animals along the way – a couple of cows and a few horses. We passed the Coorabulka Homestead which is about 150km from Bedourie, it is so in the middle of nowhere but they have their own airstrip and plane – maybe so they can go shopping in Birdsville, then another 50km to Springvale Homestead. David said it is a bit far away from everything. The landscape was so diverse and there was a myriad of creeks even though most of them were dry now you can always see where they are as there is more vegetation and trees there. David wasn’t expecting it to be so flat and desert like – he was hoping it was going to surprise him. It was a long drive but very scenic. It has been a lovely day and was good to ]get away from all the crowds. Apparently there was a 7km traffic jam of cars waiting to get in to Birdsville and there has been so much through traffic they have run out of petrol in Boulia and look like they will run out in Birdsville today. Some had to fill up at Bedourie at $1.92 per litre. Ouch yet again!

We were hoping to do a 90km loop drive through the National Park with a few things to see on the way but unfortunately the recent rains (32mm about 10 days ago in Bedourie) have closed the road, so it looks like our trip in here was to no avail. Oh well. We are staying in a lovely campsite on Gum Creek with its own corella to keep us company. It is booked out in here  sat gum Hole campsite which is amazing considering the drive we had got get here.

“Channel Country Byway Bore No 3 – a free flowing artesian bore which was sunk in the late 1890’s to provide a vital water supply for stock and early settlers. The steam engine on the site, which was used to drill the bore, was carried here in pieces on bullock drays and assembled on site.It was too costly to transport the steam engine back after the completion of drilling so it was left as it stands today. The water is too hot for use at the forehead and is channelled away to cool.”

Saturday 3rd July 2021
Birdsville’s current population is 325 (+/-7000
We rose early this morning to watch the sunrise over Birdsville billabong and it was spectacular. The bird awakening was deafening and there were so many, many birds. It was a beautiful haven for the birds.

We fluffed around all morning and then left Birdsville after lunch.The  Police had arrived there for traffic control as the Birdsville Big Red Bash starts in a couple of days. Seven thousand people are expected to arrive in the next day. We passed many of them on the way out on our way to Bedourie. There was a constant stream of caravans and camper vans heading to Birdsville, we managed to get 4 stone chips in our windscreen in the first 50km. Ouch!

On the way we stopped at the Cacory Homestead Ruins – The Carcory Homestead was built in 1877 of local limestone by Hector and Norman Wilson. Listed by the National Trust, this attraction is an example of the rich history of the Diamantina Shire. After years of drought and the loss of 4,000 bullocks, Carcory was abandoned by Sir Sydney Kidman in 1906. Today it is part of Roseberth Station, and serves as a reminder of early settlement in the area. This site pays tribute to the significant difficulties faced by early pastoralists – even the Cattle King Sir Sydney Kidman suffered losses at the hands of the fickle outback weather.

On our arrival at Bedourie which was only 196km we headed straight to the Artesian Spa. A lovely bath at about 40°C, then after dinner we headed to the rodeo up the road. The rodeo was supposed to finish at midnight but we sat down and watched one bull riding competition and then the announcer said that was it for the night. Oh well. At least we got to see one ride. Maybe next time.

Friday 2nd July 2021
A very cold night again last night. A low of 1.4°C. Chilly chilly!
Well we have travelled 311km since we left Dalhousie Springs with only about 126km to Birdsville. So a big day of driving is ahead for us today. We still have a fuel range of 784km, and have used an average of 11.7 litres per 100km.

I went for a walk this morning with my little shovel just a little way from our camp, then trailed some kangaroo and camel prints. The next time I looked up I couldn’t see our campsite, so using my fantastic sense of direction I headed diagonally towards where I thought the camp was. I still couldn’t see the camp but ran into the track we drove on to get into our camp last night, then just headed north. I found the camp within about a minute after that. Even though I couldn’t see the camp I knew I was pretty safe as long as I didn’t go past the desert track and stayed between the 2 dunes. A lesson learned – always keep your campsite in sight.

Lizzie sighted our first dingoes in the wild beside the desert track this morning. We have been seeing lots of prints but hadn’t seen any live dingoes since we left Dalhousie. They were very healthy looking dingoes.

David was very comfy driving straight away today as opposed to yesterday which took him a long time to settle. Today he drove a bit faster up the hills therefore avoiding a lot of the bumpity-bump-bump-bump by just scooting over the top. We are not sure if it was different dunes or improved driving. There seemed to be a lot bigger dunes with longer distance in between. It was still a very long day of driving. From 9am until 4pm.

We passed a truck with a caravan on its tray stuck on the hill – moving slowly one maxx track at a time. I think they will be there all day.

We arrived at Big Red which is the biggest sand dune just west of Birdsville. There was a group of 4WDers at the top and we watched many guys trying the steepest track on the left. Some made it the first time, others gave up after the 3rd or 4th attempt. It was very hard on your car. We went up one of the lesser tracks but not the easiest track. Yay for us!

We have travelled 487km from Mt Dare to Big Red in 20:55 hrs of driving time with 655km fuel range left in the tank, using 11.8 litres per 100km. We still have 30km to get to Birdsville.

We have enjoyed a great few days on the French line from Dalhousie springs to Birdsville, getting to know our travelling buddies a little more each day. It was a great Group. Thanks to Shona and Mark, Lizzie and Scotty for a great 4 days.

After pumping up our tyres we headed on our way to Birdsville, we had a new appreciation for bitumen after driving for many, many days on dirt and sand tracks. We arrived at Birdsville at 4.45pm and managed to get a campsite in the overflow of the caravan park, had a fantastic hot shower and then headed to the Birdsville Hotel for dinner. A great end to a fantastic few days. We have driven 522km from Mt Dare in SA to Birdsville QLD via the French Line across the Simpson Desert. 11.7 Litres per 100km fuel usage, 21:31 hours with 637km fuel left.  Yay us!

Tomorrow we will work out where we head next once we read up on all the Covid news.

Distance travelled on the Simpson Desert Track today – 141km

Thursday 1st July 2021
Another great nights sleep. I finally worked out what to wear to bed. My polypropylene thermals plus my pjs. It was a very cold night. Only 2°C when we went to bed at 10pm, so I am sure it got colder.

We headed off at 9am heading east towards Birdsville on our 3rd day on the French Line in the Simpson Desert. We have already travelled 216km from Dalhousie Springs. The fuel range ins now at 11.4 litres per 100km and we have 914km range left in  the tank.

Today was once again varied size dunes, lots of different vegetation and scenic lakes throughout the day. They were  all salt pans but the mirage of water in the lakes as you approached would be so disconcerting and devastating if you were dying of thirst. We saw camel tracks on the lacks. David said there were so many camel tracks on the lake it was like a service station for camels, where they fill up with fuel. I thought it was more like a camel hot, where they meet their buddies for a drink. The first lake we came to I named Little Lake Tamblyn as it was near Lake Tamblyn and was little. It was very pretty and we didn’t have to walk very far to see the salt here.

We then headed to Approdinna Attora Knolls which were two landforms – the gypsum now exposed began as flour gypsum swept up by winds from the bed of a local lake to form dunes which later developed a hard and crusty upper surface. These remnants were once the highest dune crests.Whilst there we saw 2 young guys and 2 girls riding trail bikes across the desert. They had a support crew of 4 cars with them. They were loving it.

We learnt today that the colour of the dunes gives an indication of their age. The ‘new’ sand is paler in colour and will gradually become red with age as the entrapped clay particles weather. Also the gidgee trees in the desert are long lived and slow growing. The trees take hundreds of years to reach their mature size of 5 to 8 metres.

There were a couple of learner drivers on the track today. The amazing desert track weaves 400km in and out, around and over the sand dunes from Dalhousie Springs to Birdsville going bumpity-bump-bump-bump all the way.

We also passed Lake Thomas and a couple of other lakes which made the drive quite scenic. After lunch the sand became much softer. We finally arrived at Poeppel corner which is where QLD, NT and SA meets. We left SA and crossed the QLD border at 3.15pm, then drove in to the NT at 3.32 and then back in to QLD at 3.51. We drove along the edge of the salt pander about 20mins which was smooth, straight and flat which was a pleasant change. Then back we went in to the dunes again. We found camp at about 5pm, setup and then did yoga in the setting sun. It was a beautiful and restful ambience. We had a lovely night again beside the camp fire which is where I am sitting currently writing this note. Hope you are all well at home.

Distance travelled on the Simpson Desert Track today – 94km