Monday 23rd August 2021
Well we have had the most amazing day. We have visited our last cave in Chillagoe, travelled west from Chillagoe 580km to Karumba on the Bourke Development Road and seen the most amazing wildlife.

We headed for our Donna Cave tour at 9am. Inside the cave, about half of the 283 steps are steep, including 33 very steep ladder-type steps where most people choose to turn around and descend backwards, and a steep 34-step spiral staircase to climb at the exit that may be challenging to those afraid of heights. There are several low overhangs including a section where you need to walk crouched for about 12 metres (1.1m at the lowest point). This was an amazing cave as well, they all had their own beauty. This one opened out in to a cavern with the most amazing altar in a cathedral. It was spectacular, then it weaved around with many false floors, the higher the false floor the older it is. There were many stalactites and stalacmites, some that meet. Also there was lots of cave coral, a fairy garden and many rimstone pools which are formed by water flowing down a slope. It was another enjoyable tour with Eddy.

Following our cave tour we decided to head west to Karumba. This is a 560km drive north west then south west all the way to the gulf. We were not sure what we would see, it was nearly all the way on a dirt/gravel road and we had no expectations. Would it be the same scenery all the way, would we see any animals, would there be much traffic. Well it was the most exciting day. The scenery was changeable all the way, We saw so much wildlife. Thousands of cows, many of them very skinny, hundreds of brolgas, a few bustards, many eagles of varied size – some really big, a goanna, a cattle muster, a dead cow, many dead kangaroos, a couple of dead wild boar,
flying brolgas, landing brolgas, galahs, an emu, a brumby and many cane toads. Unfortunately we weren’t able to capture many of the wildlife in photos but they are imprinted in my mind for ever more. The most exciting thing for me today was seeing about 6 brolgas descending to land, it was the most incredible sight, it reminded David of the witch on her broomstick in the Wizard of Oz, it was incredible.
We had lunch at Dead Cow lagoon on bourke development road.
We crossed the Walsh River, the Lynd River and the Staaten River, we saw many willy willies or twisters. The road was narrow in some parts and a six lane highway in others and sometimes DB picked the wrong lane and we bumped all over the place. He often weaved from one side of the road to the other avoiding deep ruts and water. It was aa very interesting drive and very challenging to concentrate so hard for so long. We passed only a handful of cars and no more trucks than that as well. For such a big distance it was pleasant not having much traffic.
At one pond we passed there would have been more than 30 brolga lake, we also saw thousands of termite mounds some looked like the castle in the Frozen movie. At dusk the kangaroos came out in huge numbers and we had one sudden stop to avoid a silly one that jumped the wrong way.
We arrived at Karumba at 6pm after travelling 560km. It was a fantastic day.