My journey to and around the red centre of Australia is now well underway,
having already driven 2,422kms since leaving St George 15 days ago, and a large proportion of those kilometers has been on dusds'.
Fuel and road update
For most travelers Innamincka is an essential stop to refuel before heading on to their next destination.
I was pleased to not only fill up with fuel, but to also refill my water tanks, although it was a little bit of a shock to have to pay $4 per 20 litres, especially when the 20 litres dispensed by the water meter turned out to only be 12litres!!... but hey, I understand why there was a charge for fresh water.
It was at the water dispensing machine that I met Allan who is cycling around Aussie and had already cycled a very impressive number of kilometers. As he was also heading to visit the 'dig tree' and given the strong head wind that day, I offered him a lift which he gladly accepted.
Dig Tree
The further I drive into the outback the more respect I have for the Aboriginal communities that lived in the harsh conditions of these environments.
I also have increasing respect for the fortitude of the early European explorers & with that in mind I decided I really ought to make the 60kms (one way) detour out to see the Burke and Willis 'dig tree'.
I enjoyed reading the history of the early European explorers, and was impressed by the carving of the 'face tree'.
BUT, I have to say the 120 km round trip detour was not time well spent (my opinion of course).
To Birdsville via the Cordillo Downs Road.
Seems funny to have to cross a river in order to drive towards the desert, but that is exactly what you have to do when you head out of Innamincka to drive the Cordillo Downs Road.
The flow over the weir at Coopers Creek in Innamincka was most the way up my tyres the day I crossed it.
A highlight for me in crossing the weir seeing the Pelicans so close at hand - busily fishing in the surging water of the weir.
I enjoyed the Cordillo Downs Road - the station has a stark barren beauty as you will see from the images below.
I have been very surprised by the fact that I haven't been seeing many kangaroo at all on in the past few weeks, but this fellow was magnificent. He was a very large kangaroo!
Needing a spot to stop for the night I actually camped the night next to the information signboard at the junction of the Innamincka Reserve and the beginning of the Cordillo Downs Station.
I was obviously not the 1st person to camp the night there as there were several fire pits in the area. No other traffic, quiet nights sleep, even if the location was a lot more exposed than I would typically choose.
There are some ruins to see along the way, take a closer look at the bird nests built under this door frame in the ruins that is a lot of dedication and long hours to build those!
The road goes through the middle of a working organic cattle station - Cordillo Downs.
I loved this sign - very easy to remember the key message in it: "if you don't moo....."
The road for the most part of the 278kms with not too many corrugations.
Birdsville & Big Red
I timed my arrival into Birdsville perfectly to spend a little bit of time using the free wifi at the library before heading out the 30kms to view Big Red sand dune for sunset!
Along the way I met this magnificent creature (a bearded dragon).
At the dunes
Crossing over Little Red to the Simpson side of the desert and attempting to drive up the steep side of Big Red is FUN.
I made it to within the last 4 feet of the top but no further.... I think I had my tyre pressure too high... Loads of fun though and I enjoyed joining a few other travelers at the top of the dune for sunset.
It is a little surreal to be part of a group of travelers all in 4x4, most with deck chairs, beers in hand all parked on top of a massive red sand dune to watch the sun sink into the Simpson Desert. Friendly group of people the evening I was there, and they invited me to share in their cheese & crackers even, yumbo!
Birdsville Track
Bumpy, bouncy, tedious and not all that enjoyable. That is my opinion.
I intent to never drive the Birdsville Track again,
I did not enjoy it at all!
Damaged tyres
The full length of the Birdsville track is strewn with damaged tyres cast off on the side of the road. The damaged tyres are a stark reminder of how harsh the road surface is on tyres and your vehicle as a whole. I was told by several locals to drive slow to be sure I don't damage my tyres and that is exactly what I did. A lot of vehicles like to drive at quite high speeds hoping to minimise the impact of the corrugations, but there were so many sudden dips, holes in the road and large stones to dodge that I took a more cautious approach.
I had already broken one bike rack several months ago by driving through a dip in a road too fast, I am keen to not repeat that mistake!
There are some nice things to see along the way, watching the terrain changing, but for the most part it's pretty barren and not much else. I did stop several times along the track to view the ruins along the way, take a walk in the surrounding terrain, especially more so as the terrain changed closer to Maree.
I actually camped next to these ruins my 1st night on the road, great spot!
Warburton Track, wild camels??
I really want to see wild camels, so when I learnt that some had been spotted at a waterhole on the Warburton Track I made the 60kms detour (one way) into the Simpson Desert to the junction of The Rig Line/The French Line/Warburton Track looking for wild camels. Lots of camel prints, but sadly no actual camel sightings. Very scenic and lovely to be in the desert. The track however was fun to drive - all apart for a 10kms (more or less) section of the worst track I've even driven on. There was no speed that made it comfortable for me or Lulu - just plain awkward and tedious.
How long did it take to drive the Birdsville Track
It was a full 2 and a bit days driving for me to do the track - not counting a day's detour I did up the Warburton Track.
As you can tell from the little video clip below I got a little bored while driving... I also had time to set up my tripod in the middle of the road an goof around. I tried capturing images of me doing a few kart-wheels in the middle of the road, but none of the pics turned out particularly well (not pointing my toes etc ... hehe).
Corrugations and sharp stones
Imagining having to change a damaged (very expensive) tyre on the side of a dusty road in hot sun while covered in flies was all the motivation I needed to drive cautiously. As it was, I had to tighten my roof rack attachment points and replace one rivet holding an internal storage cabinet at the end of the road - its a rough tough road, even though I apparently travelled in when it "wasn't too bad".
This screen shot of my GPS tracker shows it took me 5 hours to drive 205 kms from Birdsville to the junction where I turned off to head up the Warburton Track.
Slow going!
It is most definitely worth stopping at this hotel even if you don't need fuel.
The proprietor is an absolute character and the décor even more so. I enjoyed a cold gingerbeer and some fun conversation in the hotel.
I loved my stop at this bush-camp, with perfectly hot mineral bore water flowing into a big tub made from a water tank, what's not to love about it. . $10 for the night and worth every cent. I had a hot tub in the morning, ran a cooler hot tub in the middle afternoon and another to watch the stars by at night - I certainly got my $10 worth! See my little video at bottom of page for images...
One of the things I also enjoyed here was my very first chance to see several Brolga up close. They really are quite graceful, more impressive given their tall stature. I stalked these ones for at least half an hour and they never seemed to pay me much attention.
They glide so gracefully through the air for such large birds, its really quite lovely to watch them glide through the air.
Brolga - Wikipedia
Had enough rough track driving!
Arriving in Marree I felt like I had driven on enough bumpy tracks to last me a lifetime and I was hesitant to continue up the Oodnadatta, I wanted bitumen... And believe me that's not something I've ever said before.
However after driving down the bitumen towards the Flinders Ranges I decided after all that I could handle more rough tracks, so I turned around, drove back through Maree and continued my 'round-the-red-centre loop as planned via the Oodnadatta track.
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