Dags'n'Dogs Outback Adventure - week 2 ... The Birdsville Track and beyond

Week 2

Night 8 - The Birdsville track.

Waking to overcast conditions in Marree, we packed up the van, fuelled up the Cruiser and made our way to the beginning of the iconic Birdsville track. As we started our way up the track, our plan was to get as far as Mungerannie, spend the night camped along the creek and enjoy a pub meal with a beer or two in the evening.

The Birdsville Track... Nothing to see

Everything was going fine as we passed the Lake Harry Homestead ruins (The old palm plantation) and on through the dog fence, the track was in good condition and sitting between 60-80 kmph was doing it easy. Looking out over the flat barren landscape which seemed to stretch on forever was a constant reminder of just how remote we were.

Small highlights like a Cattle Station, building Ruins, a small water crossing and even dry creek beds with a few trees helped break the drive and made a welcome change to the flat terrain.

Cruising along just short of Cooper Creek we hit a patch of track with a lot of loose stone. As I backed of the accelerator, a there was a faint pop

(like when an old light bulb goes out), I knew instantly we had a problem and exactly what that problem was. As i looked in the rear-view mirror at the shattered rear windscreen, i cursed the stone guard on the caravan and myself for not putting something over the rear screen to protect it.

I had an old sun visor in the cruiser which would now become our rear windscreen for the next 1000 or so kilometres. Along with half a roll of good ole Gaffa tape, the emergency rear screen was put in place and while most of the shattered screen had been removed, the remaining pieces continued to fill the back cruiser with every bump we hit.

Stopping near the Cooper Creek, we collected a little firewood and being first to arrive in Mungerannie mid afternoon, we had our pick of campsites. We managed to find a nice spot with a little bit of left over firewood and the fire still hot, being set up in less than 10 minutes, we stoked the fire back up, sat back with drink and watched other campers slowly arrive and set up camp. That night we were blessed with a spectacular sunset (the photos don't really do justice) and had a good old T-bone steak dinner at the pub.

Night 9 - The Birdsville track- day 2

The Plan today was to complete the remaining 300km to Birdsville with enough time to head out to Big red and see the sunset. Everything started well, fire going, coffee and tea made, bacon and eggs for breakie and time to roll....... except, the Landcruiser had passenger rear flat tyre.

I caught up with the guys at the hotel who kindly offered the use of their tyre workshop and repair services so we packed up camp and drove around to the tyre workshop. We removed the wheel from the car, pumped it up to 55 psi, sprayed it with soapy solution, and for the next hour, rolled it up, rolled it back, more soapy solution but nothing, not a single bubble or leak. It was agreed that we would put the tyre back on and leave it a 35psi and check it again in one hundred kilometres or so. If all was good, i could reduce the pressure or top it up as required. With the wheel back on and time near 11am we set off for Birdsville. Yesterdays travel had been kind to the fuel economy, 200km travelled and only a quarter of a tank used, at least that's what the fuel gauge read so i figured we had enough fuel to make the remaining 300km.

We set off and covered good ground, the track was in reasonable condition and going was good until i realised that we where using fuel much quicker than anticipated. We stopped for a roadside break and i did a quick check around the car, in the engine bay and under the car but there were no obvious leaks. We had only travelled about 150km with another 150 to go and the guage was now only just over 1/4 of a tank. It was during this check and just to add to my frustration, i discovered the stoneguard mount had broken . With the stone guard off and in the van, we carried on.

With 65km to go the dreaded fuel light came on. The tension in the car rose a little as we carried on. The trip computer was saying the car had enough fuel to do 55 km but for every kilometre we did, the trip computer dropped two and finally with 30km to go to Birdsville, the trip computer in the car reach 0 km remaining. Tension in the car rose even higher and all friendly chatter stopped as we continued nervously towards Birdsville. In our favour, the road had been freshly graded and was like bitumen, the wind completely dropped off and with 15 km to go we picked up mobile phone reception. We ran through some scenarios like dropping the van but none seemed better than pushing on as far as we could. At least we could now call for help if the worst happened.

With 5 km to go, we crossed the QLD border, past the Birdsville race track and finally rolled into town, to a stop at the fuel bowser. The sense of relief is indescribable as I put in the fuel nozzle as started filling the tank.

The cruiser tanks holds 138ltrs, that afternoon I put 129ltrs in the tank and it changed our plans for the rest of our trip.

Feeling like we had just dodged a bullet, we booked into the Birdsville caravan park for two nights, took the dogs for run at the football oval and headed to the pub for dinner and a much needed drink.

Night 10 - Birdsville

It was time to take stock of the damage suffered on the Birdsville Track and like most people pulling into the caravan park, this meant getting under the van and having a good look around. The obvious ones were the Landcruiser rear windscreen, the broken stone guard but at least the tyre held held pressure even after i dropped it back down to 25psi to match the others. New damage included all the electric brake plugs smashed/non-existent and the sullage outlets smashed to a stub. On the plus side, all the PVC pipes underneath had survived due to the insulation installed before we left. Apart from that, the outside of the van had held up ok and inside, nothing major to speak of, a few loose screws and a couple cupboards to repair but the real problem was the amount dust everywhere. Every cupboard, every plate, cup, bowl, every knife and fork was covered in dust.

In under an hour armed with some electrical tape, the brake plugs were fixed and a little bit of gaffa tape was required to hold the sullage hoses on so that was fixed for now. Two big loads of washing hung out to dry and a whole lot of dish washing, sweeping and cleaning and the van was back to liveable again. I managed to pick up a can of gap filler from the hardware store and seal around the water pipes hoping this would fix the dust problem, if not minimise it at least. I took the broken stone guard bracket across to the servo who were kind enough to weld it up for a small fee so we apart from the rear windscreen, we were all good to go. Finally, we were ready to check out Birdsville.

First stop, Big Red.

We headed out about 11am travelling the 30 plus kilometres and arrived being the only ones there which was good for the dogs who enjoyed their off lead run across the top of Big Red. The sun was out and it was a lovely day and the views from the top were spectacular. Heading back into town we stopped at the information centre and had a look around the gallery before heading to the Birdsville Hotel for the must have photo out the front. We then continued to explore town, stopping at the artesian bore, the Birdsville race track and the the Bourke & Wills camp tree along the Diamantina River. With Dinner time getting close, we took the dogs back to the oval for a run before heading back to the van and cooking up some beef Fajita's on the Weber.

Night 11 - Boulia

We had originally planned to travel from Birdsville to Innamincka via Beetoota but almost running out of fuel doing only 500km left me questioning whether or not we could manage the 540+ km journey to Innamincka. Even if we bought an extra jerry can of fuel, there were some reports that the road from Beetoota to Innamincka was not in the best condition and there was no option for any fuel anywhere in between. The solution was to head north instead of east, travelling up to Boulia and across to Winton, Longreach, Charleville, Cunnamulla, Thargomindah and then back to Innamincka, Cameron Corner, Broken Hill etc. This way fuel stops were no more the 300km apart and we would get to see more of this amazing country than originally planned. With the new plan set, we fuelled up the car, stocked up on fresh fruit and veg from travelling fresh fruit and veg truck and stocked up on curried camel pies from the bakery before hitting the road north. Much of the road north is bitumen with only a few sections of unsealed road between Birdsville and Bedourie.

We passed the Alien junk yard, stopped at the Cacoory Ruins for quick look around and made our way in to Bedourie. A swim in the Artesian pool was tempting but collecting and returning the key from the information centre seemed like a little too much effort for just a quick dip so we continued on to Boulia. Around half way between Bedourie and Boulia is the Vaughan Johnson lookout. Despite the warning signs regarding caravans going up the steep climb, we decided to drive up to the top and i'm glad we did. I even got to put the drone up for a quick flight and capture a couple of road trains passing by.

Arriving in Boulia on dusk, we checked in to the local caravan park for the night and immediately went for a walk into town. Thankfully the store was still open and we picked up some sausages, fresh bread and some dog treats before heading back to the van for simple meal of BBQ snags, vege-fritters and a couple of beers.

Night 12 - Winton

Filling up with fuel, we left Boulia behind us and started the 360km journey to Winton. The drive itself was uneventful, we stopped at the old Hamilton Hotel (now just a rest area), we stopped at the Cawnpore Lookout which after all the flat scenery made for a nice change.

We stopped at the Middleton hotel, had a beer and a chat to the publican, catching up on some of the local history before pushing on to Winton.

We arrived in Winton and being Saturday afternoon, not a lot was open. We visited the new visitor centre and took the dogs for a run in the local park and then headed out to the long water hole and set up camp for the night.

The long water hole water hole proved to be a very popular place and was surrounded by other free campers. We found a spot on the edge of the waterhole, got our fire going and enjoyed the evening around the fire chatting with our neighbours over a few drinks.

Night 13, 14 & 15 - Longreach

Sunday, we headed back into Winton but as expected on a Sunday morning, not much was going on so we fuelled up in town and headed out to the Winton Age of Dinosaurs.

Unfortunately we were not able to get on the 10am tour and with the dogs in the car we could not wait for the 11.30 tour plus an hour and half for the actual tour so we had a brief wander around and headed off to Longreach.

As we travelled down the road, waving or acknowledging each van that passed us, it became apparent that there are a lot of other people travelling this country in all types of vans, campers and vehicles so when we pulled into the Longreach caravan park and were given one of the last remaining sites out of 300+ sites, it was no surprise. By 9am the next morning almost half had left only to be slowly replaced later that day.

First thing Monday morning and i was down at Longreach Windscreens O'brien to see if i could get the rear windscreen replaced. As luck would have it, they had not just one but several in stock (apparently very common problem this time of year) but they could not fit it until Tuesday. After contacting our insurance company, we booked the cruiser in for Tuesday morning and set off to spend the rest of Monday exploring Longreach.

Whenever we leave the dogs in the van and go out, we normally give them a treat or chew when we leave and this morning was no exception but today we tried a new treat bought in Boulia, dried Chicken necks. The pack came with 10 pieces, each about 10cm long making them ideal to break in half and give half to each dog.

With the treats issued, our first stop was the Stockmans hall of Fame. It was easy to spend a good hour in the museum wandering around the well presented exhibitions, and we could have probably spent more but we had an outback show to see. The show went for about an hour and was very well done. We learnt a little about stockman life, horsemanship and training cattle dogs. After a little over two and a half hours we decided to check on the dogs not wanting to push our luck and leave them locked up for too long. On our return, we took the dogs for a walk and this is where they learnt about Bindies about for the first time which was obviously painful but funny to those wearing shoes. We headed into town and did a little grocery shopping and a general cruise around town before heading back to the van for dinner and an early night.

which one is the guilty one or did they all work together?

By 8am Tuesday morning, the dogs and i jumped in the car for the 2 km drive to Windscreens O'brien and after dropping the cruiser off, we had a nice walk along the walking track back to the caravan park. Given we were without a vehicle this today, we planned to walk to the QANTAS Founders museum which was only about a kilometre away and with the dogs having already had their morning walk, we gave them their treats and headed off. Once there, i booked in for a wing walk tour, we spent a hour or so in the museum learning about the founders of Qantas and had lunch in the cafe. Denise headed back to the van while i continued on to the 747 wing walk tour which also provided access to the cockpit, tail section and cargo holds generally off limits to the public.

On my return to the caravan i was greeted by a very unhappy Denise and the three dogs were in disgrace. I was questioned about where i left the bag of treats when left this morning as Denise ran me through what she found when she returned earlier today. Turns out I may OR may not have left the treats (in a sealed bag) within easy reach of the dogs when we left this morning. One, two or all of the dogs then proceeded to tear open the bag, eat all the treats which in turn went straight through them and all over the mats in the van. Whilst i found this humorous, i was not allow to laugh and the dogs remained in disgrace for the rest of the day. Around 4 pm, we all went for a walk back down the walking track to pick up the car and all the dogs took the chance to relieve themselves again.

With the car fixed and the dogs walked (and empty again) we decided to head to the local RSL for dinner and a drink feeling confident the dogs would be ok... but we were wrong. The chicken treats continued to work there way through the dogs and when we returned, all three dogs were out of the van as soon as we opened the door. While i tried to round up the dogs who all went in different directions, Denise cleaned up inside the van again.