On The Road

Our trek up the F3 was uneventful except that we thought we might use the new Hunter Expressway - a by-pass of Maitland and most of those other little towns on the New England Highway - except that some inclement weather last year had put back its opening date.  Oh well, we just had to battle the normal highway traffic as we headed for our first overnighter at Cassilis.  It was here that Team Turtle came across the local showground/racecourse and general community sportsground which provided powered campsites and hot showers for a mere $10 night.  A very cost effective start to the trip!

Wildlife At Cassilis

A west north westerly direction was followed the next day - through Gilgandra and then Nyngan where we turned right and headed into a much more northerly direction.  Mulga Creek Roadhouse was next on the list for a big sleep and you could tell that we were definitely back into red soil country - no grass at the campsite!

Waking Up At Mulga Creek

Early Starters

Beautiful Bourke was the next form of civilisation to be reached.  We fuelled up and then went to the local, and well advertised, information centre for a look.  And a look at the outside was all Team Turtle got.  Even though it was the Saturday of the long weekend it was shut.  The reason given was that it wasn't the tourist season.  The lack of cars in the carpark should have given us an indication of what lay ahead!

The Lonely Turtle At The Back O'Bourke

Another small hiccup on life's journey did not deter us.  Team Turtle trucked on through to the Queensland border, where we went back in time (no daylight saving here), and then onto Cunnamulla which was also closed.  Oh dear!!  By the time we reached Wyandra - a very small village on the road north - it was time to rest.  At least this place had a little bit more grass!

Wyandra Caravan Park

As there were no Australia Day celebrations in Wyandra we kept on trekking.  It is quite amazing how much difference in the landscape there is from when we were here nearly three years ago.  Back in 2011, our travels had begun not long after there had been a lot of widespread rain throughout Queensland.  The creeks were flowing, lakes and dams were full and for as far as the eyes could see, the land was a beautiful green.  There doesn't seem to have been any rain since then!

A little town called Tambo has certainly borne the brunt of the drought during this time.  There is a lovely little rest area for the travelling public and a recreation area for the locals on the outskirts of town.  Not quite so green now!!

Lake Tambo - 2011

Dry Lake Bed Tambo 2014

Blackall was our next port of call - not the most favoured spot to stay for a night but adequate.  Most of the towns in the Queensland outback rely on the Great Artesian Basin for their water supplies which is usually not a problem but the water at Blackall - even though it is okay to drink - has quite a pervading odour to it.  The water is also naturally heated to about 25 degrees as it is pumped up.  Wonderful if you want to have a bath but not so great when you need a cold glass of water to drink!  Thank goodness for bottled spring water from the supermarket.

 

After we passed through Winton, Team Turtle was on a new road!  Well, it was a road that we hadn't travelled on before as last time we went the long way to Cloncurry via Hughenden.  Then, after two more long, hot days on the road we made it into Cloncurry, did some grocery shopping and then found a caravan park with a very nice swimming pool!  We languished in that pool for most of the afternoon.  Well, until The Captain and The Deckie became a little more wrinkly than usual!

 

A short trip followed the next day - only 300klms - to our last stop in Queensland for some time at Camooweal.