Birdsville – Friday

We had breakfast and showers this morning but still managed to be on the road before the flies were up.

Mungerannie sign

We’d been told the road was better further north and I think that was right. Several bores were shown in a brochure we had but we didn’t see any sign of them until we spotted clouds of steam rising up ahead. It was the Mitta Mitta bore and the wetlands fed by it were lovely. We followed the “river” from the outlet for a couple of hundred metres and expected the water to be cool by then but it was still too hot for a bath.

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When we got back to the bore head two couples we met at Mungerannie were there and one of the men was trying to boil eggs. When the eggs had been cooking for about 17 mins they were still only very soft boiled so we left and said we’d find out how it went when we met them again in Birdsville. We drove a little way down the road then noticed a road going into what seemed to be a billabong. It looked like there was blossom in the trees and snowflakes on the ground but it was all little downy feathers, probably from flocks of Corellas that come in to drink. Soil had been banked up to hold back the flow from the bore and a lovely wetland was the result.

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On the western side of the road, according to our map, was the Tirari Desert and on the eastern side the Sturt Stony Desert but quite often both sides looked identical. It’s difficult to understand how cattle are able to survive on the meagre plants available but they all look healthy.

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There were several tracks shown on the map but we didn’t see the roadsigns. There was a big rectangular, white sign completely covered in 4WD club stickers and after a while it became obvious that at some time the sign had marked Walkers Crossing which takes 4WD vehicles to Innaminka….. the hard way!

We are now in Birdsville, Queensland and staying for a couple of nights so we can do some washing. It’s going to be summer clothes from now on if today is anything to go by.

Butcher Bird, Birdsville

Diamantina River, Birdsville

Mungerannie – Thursday

We had a leisurely start to the day because we only intended to travel a couple of hundred kms and figured we had plenty of time. Along with many others we topped up our fuel at the General Store then headed out to the start of the Birdsville Track.

About 60 kms up the road we stopped at the Lake Harry ruins to look for a geocache and stretch my back. The only water we saw was leaking out of a bore pump and it was being appreciated by a flock of Zebra Finches.

We crossed the Dog Fence which I don’t believe would deter any dingo determined to travel south then we entered the Lake Eyre catchment area. We missed two wetlands, one at Dulkaninna the other at Clayton because the only signs we saw were to the homesteads. There is supposed to be an extensive wetlands here at Mungarannie as well as a hot pool but I don’t think the pool has been operating for a while. There is some water in the wetlands but it’s clear that at times there is far more. Our fly nets came out for the first time.

We saw a plane land, and discovered that it was the Flying Doctor coming in for a clinic. The publican was given his flu vaccination and a Vitamin B injection as well as having blood taken for testing. His partner had blood pressure checks. The plane was continuing on to Dulkanina for a clinic there.

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The Mungarannie Hotel is a classic with an amazing array of hats covering the ceiling as well as other purloined and donated memorabilia. There is no power for campers but the facilities are excellent. I appreciated the wonderful shower and even changed my clothes before going to the pub for dinner.

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The stars in at 4:30 in the morning were simply mind blowing!