Kooroorinya Falls Nature Reserve
28 - 29 September 2019
Another adventure awaits. Talking
with my sister one day, she told me of her plans for a trip to Lake Mungo in
far western New South Wales. As this was a destination Mick and I had discussed
a number of times, we invited ourselves to tag along. Fortunately this was
perfectly fine with Bronwyn and John, as well as their other travelling
companions, Michael and Tanya. And so the planning began. The timing was good
for us – we would be back from a quick trip to see the kids in Tassie, with
plenty of time to spare to get organised and packed. We would also have time to
get back home before the weather became too hot to camp in Queensland.
Itineraries were drawn up and a
meeting date was set. We decided on a week to get to our meeting point of
Cobar, and then a couple of weeks as part of the group tour, then a few weeks
to get home again. We wanted to revisit some favourite places as well as travel
some new roads so we chose
Kooroorinya Falls Nature Reserve for our first night away from home.
We set off on Saturday morning
and drove through Charters Towers towards Prairie. We stopped for lunch at one
of the Burra Range rest stops – the one near the entrance to White Mountain
National Park has become a favourite. Turning off at Prairie, we continued on to Kooroorinya. The
campground is on an old property where picnic races are still held annually. It
is well set up with hot showers but no powered sites. The resident caretakers
welcomed us and helped us choose a shady site for the night.
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| No falls when we were there but it would be great to see when the water is flowing. |
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| Upstream. It was a short, pleasant stroll to the creek. |
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| Downstream of Little Bondi Falls. |
Unfortunately there wasn’t much
water in the creek so the falls weren’t flowing but there were still a few
birds around having a drink. Our first problem for the trip (there are always a
few) occurred shortly after our arrival when we discovered a gas leak. One of
the gas bottle hoses had a hole in it. We had checked most things on the camper
trailer, and had it serviced prior to our departure, but we hadn’t thought to
check that. No gas meant no cooking so we were glad we had brought a piece of
home cooked corned beef and some salad with us. We were also able to access a
power point to make a cuppa so all was not lost, but it did mean we would have
to move on in the morning.
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| Young Pale-headed Rosella waiting to drink from a leaking tap in the yards. |
It was a quiet night, in a
peaceful setting, then back on the road. We decided that we would have to stay
in a town where we could get dinner at a pub and then hope we could replace the
gas hose on Monday morning.
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| A bustard melts away into the long grass as we drive out in the morning. |
Tambo
29 - 30 August 2019
We left Kooroorinya and drove to
Muttaburra where we stopped for coffee. From there we it was on to Aramac where we stopped for lunch. There is a very small park adjacent to the council caravan
park which has a covered picnic table and access to toilets.
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| In the middle of the day we stopped to photograph Australian Pratincoles
but the light was harsh and they were very hard to approach. |
We drove on down the Landsborough
Highway and toyed with the idea of stopping in Barcaldine, but it was very hot so we
decided to keep going. A check of Wikicamps showed that there was a caravan
park in Tambo with a swimming pool, and a pub just across the road. We were
sold!
We arrived during the rush hour, just
behind a big group of caravanners – maybe everyone was looking to cool off with
a dip in the pool. We were allocated a site and were set up in now time – the
pool was very inviting and beautifully cool. We ventured over the road for a
meal at the pub and settled in for quiet night. We weren’t expecting to have
the gentle sounds of cattle lowing nearby throughout the night – a bit
different to the constant barking of neighbourhood dogs we are used to at home,
and much more relaxing.
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| Another Pale-headed Rosella in the caravan park. |
We didn’t hang around long in the
morning and set off for somewhere big enough to have a shop that would sell the
required gas hose – maybe Charleville.
Cunnamulla
30 September – 1 October 2019
We left Tambo and continued along
the Landsborough Highway through Augathella and on to the Mitchell Highway into
Charleville. We have visited Charleville a couple of times so we knew where the
best parking for us would be. We found a spot for the car and camper trailer
and headed off in search of a new gas hose. It only took a few minutes to find
the shop we needed – and with the assistance of the friendly and efficient
staff member, the hose was replaced and we were back in business. Thanks
Outback Spares - awesome service!
As it was still early (not even
lunch time) we retired to a café for a coffee and to consider our next move. We
decided it was too early in the day to stop but we were 2 days ahead of our
scheduled stay at Bowra Bird Sanctuary. We called them to arrange to come in a
day early. After lunch and a walk in the lovely Bicentennial Park on the
outskirts of Charleville, we set off again with the idea of staying in a
caravan park in Cunnamulla before heading in to Bowra in the morning.
We settled on the caravan park on
the Warrego River and were pleasantly surprised to see there was some water in the
river, which made it a very nice spot to spend the afternoon. Without far
to go in the morning we had a leisurely pack up and went into town to pick up
some supplies and have a coffee before heading to Bowra.
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| Female Black Honeyeater. |
Bowra
1 – 4 October 2019
Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary is only
about 20km out of Cunnamulla so we were there well before lunch time. It is run
by volunteers on behalf of Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Visitors must call
ahead and check in with the resident wardens. This was our third visit to
Bowra, and as usual the current wardens were friendly, helpful and
knowledgeable. We spent some time chatting with them before making our way to
find a camp spot by the billabong. Most visitors are interested in birds, if
not mad keen birdos, so there is always plenty of opportunity to compare notes.
At this time of year, there
weren’t many visitors so we were able to snag the perfect spot with a view of
the billabong and some shade. The down side was that this time there was a
thick carpet of burrs and spiky vegetation, probably due to good rain early in
the season. We did end up spending quite a bit of time pulling spiky things out
of shoes, socks, clothing, feet and everything else they came into contact with.
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| Our view of the lagoon. |
Bourke
4 – 6 October 2019
We knew it was going to be hot
and we watched the temperature rise as we headed south towards the Queensland –
New South Wales border. We decided to escape the heat with a pub lunch in
Engonnia before making our way to Bourke. With the temperature in the high 30’s
and expected to stay there for the next few days, we chose the caravan park
with a swimming pool, and checked into a cabin for two nights. You just can’t
camp in a camper trailer in that sort of heat – unless you have no other
option.
The pool was cool and the air
conditioned cabin just what we needed for a couple of days of comparative
luxury. We drove the short distance into town on Saturday to restock, refuel
and have a look at what remains of the once mighty Darling River. It is hard to
image, with the current drought conditions and government mismanagement of this
precious resource, that this was once a thriving waterway with river ports
along its length. So sad that it has come to this.
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| Darling River at Bourke. |
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