Woke up at 5.30 this morning to the sound of munching, mooing and shuffling around our tent . A bull  and a couple of his girls had come up to graze- they took off when we got up but did leave a few deposits.

The thing about these magical camp sites is it’s almost impossible to pack up and leave in the morning. So despite getting up early we didn’t get on the road until about 9.30.  

Today we headed north up the Silver City Highway, following  Sturt’s Steps route the path Charles Sturt  took when searching for the ‘inland sea’.

Again vast uninhabited landscapes,  but with. vegetation changing all the time from sparse and  flat to trees and rocky outcrops. No water in sight but surprisingly green..  Quite a few cattle and sheep grazing along the roads.  This is very much emu territory- the flocks of emus on the run are an amazing site.

Did a half way  stop at the Packsaddle Roadhouse- a  little oasis in the middle of nowhere – being the only fuel/food stop almost all travellers stop there for a quintessential pub meal. Great vibe and lovely people.

Our end point today is Tibooburra, the gateway to Cameron Corner, Sturt National Park and Birdsville in the north.  It’s a small town rich in Aboriginal history and home to the Aboriginal Keeping Place Museum (which we hope do visit tomorrow).
We’re camped on the Tibooburra Aboriginal Land Council Canpground, an absolutely tranquil setting on a bone dry creek bed.  Quite a few people here tonight but plenty of room to spread out and all  pretty quiet around their campfires.

As we sit under the night sky sharp eyed David jut noticed a perfect line of 10 ‘stars’ moving across the sky. After much googling (gotta love 5G) we were relieved to see we weren’t having an intergalactic experience it seems – they were 10 of Elan Musks 4000 plus Starlink satellites- but we still like to imagine we’ve seen UFOs.