Trip 4: August 13, Part 2

Cleaned up after lunch, and then headed off on the Gorge Loop Road, heading for South Myers Tank. In the outback, a tank is essentially, a large, manmade pool or pond, that captures water during rare rains—water that would otherwise simply run out into the surrounding desert and dry up. This tank is a birding “hot spot.” More than 100 species of bird have been spotted here. Among the many we saw, most abundant were pied and black cormorants, pelicans, and a variety of ducks. Plus there were gorgeous butterflies.

Continuing on, we crossed gibber plains, surrounded by sampfire plants, gidgee trees (a type of acacia), dry river courses lined with river red gums, coolibahs, emus, and rocks—lots of rocks. Stopped at Horton Park, an old sheep station now in ruins but used as recently as the 1950s. Passed the South Torrens Bore, which marks the southern edge of the Artesian Bore. Miles and miles of rocks—it amazes me that this area ever got explored, let alone settled. Kangaroos—reds. Actually, the males are red, but the females, called blue flyers, are blue/gray. And more emus. Males incubate the eggs and raise the young. (I’ve seen more emus in the last two days than I’ve seen in my three previous trips combined.)

Richard noted that these gibber plains are known as Mitchell grass plans in the spring, when they are green.

Stop at Mt. Wood Station, a historic site begun around 1890. Still standing are the homestead, shearers’ quarters, shearing shed, and wool scouring shed.

Continuing on, headed for Tibooburra, Richard commented that the road to Tibooburra used to be considered one of the worst roads in Australia. Hard to imagine how much worse it could be and still be passable. Lots of rocks.

In Tibooburra, stopped at the Charles Sturt memorial at the Pioneer Park. Sturt came through Tibooburra as he searched for a route north—and for an inland sea that he felt must exist. The memorial includes a copy of a boat that Sturt brought along on his exploration, just in case he found that sea, which he never did. (If you’ve read my book, Waltzing Australia, you may remember the poem I wrote titled “Sturt’s Revenge,” when I got trapped in an outback flood.) Took a few photos around town and then back to our camp site.

It’s a beautiful evening. The sky is cloudless. Galahs and magpies keep flashing through camp. The sun is setting, making the already beautiful spot absolutely magical. I’m so glad we spent a couple of days here.

Richard has the maps out and we’re planning tomorrow’s journey up the Strzlecki Track toward Innaminka. Before he became a bush guide, Richard was a history and geography teacher, so he shares more information than just directions. Then it was time to fix dinner.

Euros are feeding nearby, a magpie is begging for handouts, galahs are chattering in the trees. Wonderful. One young euro was right at the edge of our camp and didn’t seem to even notice when Nikki turned the flashlight on it. Must be used to campers.

The Milky Way is unbelievable—so dramatic in this hemisphere. But now it’s time to go to bed, as we have an early start tomorrow.

Trip 4: August 13, Part 1

Wild wind last night, so not a great night for sleeping—but the wind has at least swept the sky clean, and there are no clouds in sight.

Richard was up a bit earlier than Nikki and I, and he made tea and brought it to us in our tents. Such service. This is the life—room service, fresh air, warm sleeping bag, great view. Galahs, kites, rocks, trees, wild flowers, BLUE sky. This place, Sturt National Park, like other National Park properties on which I’ve camped, is beautiful and well-tended. Camp sites are arranged in areas that don’t affect the surrounding land forms. There are just enough facilities (dunnies/outhouses, grills, rainwater tanks) to make camping a bit easier, colored to match the foliage, and well-spaced so they don’t block the view. Plus there are walking trails through the area nearby. Ideal.

And speaking of trails, we were soon hiking about, following the Granites, a 4-kilometer walking track. “The Granites” for which the track is named are giant boulders formed by magma that pushed up through the earth when the volcano here never quite managed to really erupt. The granite boulders are estimated to be 450 million years old. The name of this area, Tibooburra, is actually an Aboriginal word that means “heap of rocks,” so this trail was living up to the area’s name.

Trees (mostly desert bloodwoods) and flowers (including some of the lovely Sturt desert peas) decorated the landscape. Copper-burrs were not blooming, but Richard pointed out the fruiting bodies covered with white hairs. Lizards basked on rocks and wallabies grazed on patches of grass.

The terrain changed dramatically and often as we continued. Granite boulder outcrops gave way to quartzite and granite, and then shales, ironstone, and other layered rocks. This was a big area for gold mining, and everything sparkles with gold dust.

The track was a loop, and it eventually took us back to our camp site. From there, Richard drove us to the nearby Golden Gully Mining site. As the name suggests, this was a site where gold was mined, but it was also processed here, and the site was littered with aging equipment used for all stages of the process: steam engine, whip and mine shaft, stamper battery, windlass, sluicing tower (called a whim), with a wheel for turning the crank to lift the water, drill press (with a tree growing around it), wagon bellows, grinding stone, and an old miner’s cottage, with the roof collapsing but the chimney still intact. Definitely hinted at stories and dreams and hard work. Remarkable to even think of working here.

Exploring done, we headed into town, to get some beverages and petrol, then ran back to camp for lunch.