Gold Coast to Thagomindah

31 August 2015 

Hello once again. Welcome to our next bit of travelling.  

This adventure has a plan .... and the plan is as follows: 

Head west from our home on the Gold Coast until we hit central Australia. Wander around this bit of Australia targeting Burke and Wills Dig Tree and Cameron Corner (the border of Queensland/NSW/South Australia). Head south to Broken Hill, then further south to Mungo NP and then north to Kinchega NP (on the Darling River). This will be followed by a journey up the Darling River from Wentworth to Bourke and then head back home.

We will be towing our trusty Roadstar Safari Tamer caravan with our lovely new Land Rover Discovery HSE.

Caravan is on the left

Julie once again will be co-pilot, quartermaster, tidy upperer, controller of all things internal to the caravan, navigator and all around general roustabout and great company. I will do the rest - drive, drink a beer at sunset to make the sun go down and swat flies.

The plans may be subject to change at any time having regard to flood, fires, family, food supplies, flies, famine, plagues, pestilence, pollution, people (too many), breakdowns, bees, Burke and Wills - oops we are back to our plan. So please follow us on our journey as we don't Ask the Leyland Brothers and do our own thing.

Just had to leave this for the dusty west ...

Leaving the Gold Coast around 1pm on Monday 31 August we checked our watches and noticed it was 1pm, a good time to leave the Gold Coast.  Travelling west through Beaudesert, we drove up the steep Main Range to Warwick where we stopped and fuelled up. All was going well. Heading south we turned off the highway at Stanthorpe and headed out of town to one of our favourite van parks, Sommerville CVP, arriving at 4:30pm. 

The park was all but empty, the reception was closed (closes at 4pm), so we selected a great site overlooking Storm King Dam.

Sunset day one over Storm King Dam

It was already starting to feel cold as we set up for a three night stay. Light winds, clear skies and cold nights were the order of the days. Overnight was just -1.6 degrees. Our little heater worked overtime to bring the van temperature up from 2.6 degrees at around 6am. The early morning fog soon burnt away to leave us with a beautiful sunny day. 

Campsite at Storm King Dam

Julie listening to a bit of rap - Yo

Our first day on the road is always a day of sorting things out inside and outside of the van. I updated our drinking water filter, repacked the back of the car, invented a way of storing our 12v TV while travelling, etc while Julie busied herself inside the van putting things away. This took us all morning, so after lunch we went for a walk around the van park and chatted to our nearest neighbours for an hour or so. The sun started to drop in the western sky as did the temperature. Dinner was cooked and eaten outside but by 7:30pm the cold was too much to stay outside. Overnight it was 1.6 degrees.

Underground Creek, Girraween NP

2 September - We did a drive into the wonderful Girraween NP and walked to Dr Roberts Waterhole and Underground Creek. Morning tea was held for all those in attendance (Julie and I) overlooking rockpools and where the creek goes underground for a while. Usually we scramble underground with the creek but there was too much water flowing this time so we had to walk back the way we came.  

Morning tea at Underground Creek

Reflections

We later checked out the campgrounds in the National Park and, as usual, they remain very good and worth a stay if ever we pass this way again although we noticed that they require pre-booked ePermits for each van/camper space.

Our afternoon was filled with the joys of shopping in Stanthorpe. A new electric kettle was the priority as our old one sprung a leak. We found one at Aldi - the only small electrical item they had in store - so we decided to give it a go. We got it home and it worked - first go we got hot water and it's better than our kettle at home. Thanks Mr Aldi.

With a fridge full of food and a tank full of fuel we will be setting off tomorrow to travel west towards Goondiwindi consistent with our plans (see above for details). Rain and storms are forecast overnight but at least it is a little warmer at 6 degrees this morning.

3 September - well the forecast rain and storms hit with a vengeance overnight. We had five separate storms each with spectacular lightning and strong winds as well as a little bit of hail. Fortunately I had packed everything away and rolled the awning up. Our near neighbours hadn't and they could be heard in the height of one of the storms packing everything away wet and rolling up their awning.  Aah! the feeling of rolling over under the doona knowing that I don't have to go outside in the rain and tempest to pack everything away.... zzzzzz!

We set off towards Texas via the backroads at about 9am.  The rain and storms left their mark with great puddles on the roadside, which attracted lots of birdlife, and a few wet crossings in low lying culverts. The roads were quiet, the day cool and clearing to sunshine and the countryside just beautiful.  Aah Australia, you've done it again.

Morning tea stop in Texas

All day we drove into 50klm hour headwinds which did very little for the fuel consumption. In Texas we stopped for morning tea and had a walk around town. Julie cashed in our scratch-it winnings - $25 win from a $15 outlay. She won another $50 so the rate we are going we will be able to retire early - not that we'll be able to cash it in for quite some time.

After Texas (thinking of you, Ros) the landscape flattened out more but the countryside remained heavily wooded. Recent storms had ripped many trees in half, uprooted others while breaking limbs off bigger ones. We were planning to stop at Goondiwindi for a night or two but we arrived at lunch time and were still feeling fresh enough to continue on. After fuelling up we set off on the 215 klm journey to St George to the west. The closer we got to St George the more cotton fields we travelled beside. Soon Cubbie Station AG (largest cotton farm in the southern hemisphere) started filling our view for mile after mile. It's off season so the dead flat, well manicured paddocks are just bare dirt. The magnitude and colossal infrastructure of Cubbie Station is staggering. Huge dams, built above ground, feed an enormous infrastructure of irrigation canals needed to quell the near insatiable thirst of cotton growing. Apparently they use up to 500000 megalitres of water a year!

Around 4:30pm we arrived in St George where we booked into a caravan park for a couple of nights.  

Balonne River walk - St George

The "couple of nights" ended up being two. We had a good site along the side of the van park, not a "drive through" for the reversing wimps that fully book out every day. We were told by reception that some people actually go somewhere else because a drive through site is not available. Next morning we walked into town via the Balonne River Walk which was a walk into town along the Balonne River. 

Shadows of our former selves in St George

St George is a lovely country town - very tidy, clean and relatively vibrant with some really lovely houses overlooking the river. We walked for 10.5 klm and were home for lunch. The afternoon was filled with a drive to nearby Beardmore Dam then through the cotton fields of Cubbie Station to another weir. Returning home late afternoon we readied ourselves for the trip tomorrow further west to Cunnamulla.

Cotton on roadside near Cubbie Station

Below Beardmore Dam

Above Beardmore Dam

Hundreds of birds in trees in Buckinbah Dam near St George

5 September - well tomorrow came the next morning and we set off westwards bound under blue skies and on the occasionally smooth bitumen road towards Cunnamulla. Smooth is somewhat an exaggeration as we had to travel at 80 - 85 kph due to the road conditions. Surprisingly for the whole 300klm travelled we did not have a car in front or behind us at anytime - just amazing. For those interested the roadkill scene out here is spectacular. You could have stew for a year after just one day's travelling. Why Burke and Wills perished out here given the roadkill volume and quality is beyond me. If today is anything to go by never would you hear "Hey Wills, what's for dinner? Hopefully not stewed roo again!" Wills would reply "No you burke, of course not, you have a choice of roo, echidna, fox, wild pig, wallaby, koala, emu, other birds and assorted flat things, what do you feel like?"

The road from St George to Cunnamulla

Morning tea was in the middle of nowhere in the bush on the side of the road. I called out to Julie "What's for morning tea? Not roo again?"  You can probably guess the rest.

Morning tea on the way to Cunnamulla

Warrego River in Cunnamulla

Arriving on the outskirts of Cunnamulla around 12:45pm we stopped for lunch at a roadside stop and toyed whether we should stay or push on to Thargomindah a couple of hours further on. We decided to stay so we checked in to a van park on the edge of town. After setting up we had the afternoon to ourselves so just after 2pm we set off to see all the sights of Cunnamulla and surrounding areas. After seeing everything twice and filling the car up with fuel we arrived home at 2:15pm and settled in to life around camp. 

"Cunnamulla Fella"

We (I) did the washing, we (I) hung up the washing, we (I) then did some improvements to the van ie chocking mechanism, we (I) cleaned up after the chocking work, we (I) cleaned the car etc, we (I) set up the chairs and readied the afternoon drinks for her majesty, then I (not we) waited for her majesty to arrive with nibbles to go with the drinkies we (I) already talked about. We (we) both had a lovely afternoon reflecting on all we (I) had achieved today. Someone (not sure who) made dinner.

6 September - setting off around 8:30am we headed west once again towards Thargomindah.

Road to Thargomindah

The skies were clear, the breeze negligible and the roadkill enough to feed Burke and Wills for a year. (Live) emus were everywhere as were goats and their kids which must be smarter than your average local animal because we hadn't seen any goat roadkill. Speaking of goats and their kids - thanks kids for the Father's Day phone calls, texts and pressies! You'll also enjoy the great shot taken by my in-car photographer of an emu and four chicks sprinting across the road in front of the car!  

Count all the emus.....

Yes, they were still in front of the car when the photo was taken through the side window in anticipation of there arrival - all (photographer and 5 emus) survived.

The little town of Eulo (pop'n 50) loomed out of the desert after about 70 klm. It was here I did some more research on the family tree and came up with what appears to be the missing link the Jeffasnozasaurus (see pic) the largest known mammal.

Jeffasnozasaurus

Eulo has a well known leather shop so I just had to celebrate the latest family tree discovery by buying a belt. Just west we came across a fantastic bush camp right on the banks of the Paroo River and the Great Artesian Basin. We were so close to staying the night but decided to push on to maximise the good weather window we have for tackling the Dig Tree, Innamincka and Cameron Corner.

Bush camp on Paroo River near Eulow where we had morning tea

The remainder of the drive was on good sealed roads albeit that, on Father's Day, every semitrailer driver in the region was either not a father or didn't want to be one because they were all behind the wheel of triple semitrailers filled with cattle and heading towards us. Each time I saw one coming I pulled off onto the gibber verge to let them pass without them having to leave the bitumen.

Around lunch time we pulled into a lovely van park in Thargomindah. The rest of the day was all about getting prepared for the trip west tomorrow.

Bulloo River at Thargomindah on the River Walk

Cobb and Co crossing over Bulloo River at Thargomindah

Main street of Thargomindah

Poddy calves in front yard a must have

We enjoyed the River Walk from the van park that was a walk along the Bulloo River. The opposite bank was the original settlement in the area in 1863 - just three years after Burke and Wills went through the region ignoring all the roadkill opportunities for survival. 

Mr Vincent Dowling was the man at the time who said to his new bride in Melbourne "Follow me to the place where the experienced(?) explorers Burke and Wills recently perished under the most hideous circumstances and lets live among 1000's of indigenous people on their traditional lands where no one enjoys themselves, let alone survives and there are no other white women!"  Fanny said "Sounds great darling! Let's go forth and breed there too. Our first daughter shall be called Lillian!" Now seriously who is nuttier?  However they went on to have 6 children and paved the way for settlement in the area.

Anyway, Thargomindah is a terrific remote little (pop'n 250) town with quite a lot to see. This time of year the temperature is mild and the local bugs are bearable. Day temps are 25 degrees and overnight 10 degrees - perfect.

Fathers Day was celebrated out here too.  The kids gave me a bottle of red and a hat.  The bottle of red I easily worked out how to use but the hat still has me confused.

We spent one night here but could easily do two and see no reason to do three.

And that folks is the end of this exciting chapter. Car and van are going really well as is her majesty and myself.  We hope you all are too.

JeffnJulie