First leg from Cooper Creek was side tracking to lInnaminka to re-fuel  (we are currently using 1 litre per 6.5km-eeek) and replenish food and water before heading further north. Innaminka is a tiny town (population 21) in far north west SA which consists of a well stocked general store and pub. Being the only town within 300ish km with fuel, it’s a thriving hub by day and  today was no exception. Those that weren’t lined up for fuel were lined up at the shower block, run by  the local  community. The store owner told us they were gearing up for their local races on the weekend and expecting a huge influx o people- it seems all the country towns in this area of the outback time their races so tourists can do a circuit – and hundreds  do.

From Innaminka, we back tracked into Queensland and continued our journey north  along the Queensland SA border.

We are in real desert country now, the road alternating between Gibber rock and sand, and between dips, and crests and long, flat, rocky expanses. The rocks and corrugations made us feel like we’d spent hours on one of those 1970s vibrating weight loss machines.- I‘m expecting my jeans to be looser in the morning.

Arrived at Haddons corner mid-afternoon. It’s the border of the  north east corner of SA  and Queensland- again named after the 1800s surveyor who mapped this part of the border.  Not sure why these corners feel so special but we all agree they do.  This one is literally in the middle of nowhere – and we had to cross a couple of dunes to get here but an absolutely magical camp spot for the night – not another living thing in sight.

From Haddons Corner we headed north. along the outskirts of the Simpson. Aiming for  the  Beetoota Hotel. – only about 120km away but 2.5 hours on these roads. 

The weather  is warming up now- high 20s during the day and cool but mild evenings. It’s a dry heat but it’s easy to imagine how relentless it must be in the hotter months when daily temperatures are  40-50 degrees.

A highlight on the drive was the Deon Brook lookout- established in 1996 in memory of a young local girl who died in a helicopter crash.  Set on the one high point within cooee, it provides an incredible vista of the vastness of the desert- with long veins of treed dry creek beds. Easy to imagine how it would have come alive in the rains last year.

We arrived at the Beetoota hotel just after midday, and were enjoying a beer under the verandah not long after. .

The. Hotel offers free camping and $5 access to hot showers – well worth the investment after a couple of days without.

As it turns out we arrived on the hotels 100th birthday and on the eve of the Beetoota races, so the joint was jumping. 

They served up an amazing all you can eat roast pork dinner-  cooked in camp ovens over one of the biggest fire pits I’ve ever seen- with birthday cake for desert.- delicious! Add a foot tapping mix of ‘beer songs’, Aussie bush songs and country/western made for a fabulous night.

Following the long orange stripe from Cameron Corner  north today. Rows and rows of crests and dips with gorgeous vistas from the top of every crest. Impossible to capture the essence of the huge landscapes  in photos.

After 2.5 hrs with no sign of other humans we stopped for lunch – made our wraps in the middle of nowhere then drove on the further 100ish km to the Bourke & Wills Dig tree.

The dig tree is a coolabah tree on the banks of Coopers Creek. Bourke and Wills and the other members of their expedition reportedly used Coopers Creek as a base and the dig  tree (a gnarled old coolabah) as a communication tool  ‘planting’ (aka burying) ,expedition record books and food supplies around the tree and carving messages on the tree regarding key dates and locations of the  buried items. Fascinating detail on information boards.  At the point of the dig tree the creek forms quite large waterholes (billabong) – so strange to see so much water  after driving through 300k of desert . 

We were intending to travel on to Innaminka , but it was so beautiful here that we decided to free-camp by the creek.

Another day of crossing the treeless plains today. We hit the road round 9.30, planning to go to the Keeping Place but unfortunately it was closed so we turned west towards Cameron Corner.  Open only to 4WD at the moment, the first 75k of the road was recently graded (in fact so recently that the grading machines were still on roadside. The remaining 60k was pretty rough and ready with teeth rattling corrugations. We decided there’s money to be made driving along the road picking up all the bits that fall off peoples rigs. David and I almost parted with our awning poles but noticed just in time – now firmly secured with gaffa tape.

Passed the  Dog Fence en route. The dog fence, traverses the border between NSW and Queensland and SA  and was initially constructed in the 1800s to manage the rabbit plague (ie rabbit proof fence). It is now maintained to keep the SA and Queensland dingoes away from the sheep grazing areas of NSW. The original fence was 8614km and the current fence which is 5614km is the longest man made structure in the world.

We  arrived at Cameron Corner early afternoon. Cameron Corner- named after the explorer/surveyor, is the point at which NSW, Queensland and South Australian borders intersect- so you can stand in three states at one time – and we did.

Had a late lunch at the Cameron Corner store – an outback pub by another name- and we are now staying in their camp behind the pub- 5 bucks per night per person and use of hot showers- score!!!

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.

GETTING THERE:  Early entry started from 8am, but being in no rush we joined the looooong convoy of cars round 9.30 (unlike the eager beavers rolling out round 4.30am!). It took us 10 minutes to do the first 10km out of Broken Hill and a further 4.5 hours the do the remaining 30k to Mundi Plains. A test for all our bladders- one of our party (me) could hold on no longer. With nowhere to hide I opted for loud and proud – opened the two side doors and tried  to position myself so I wouldn’t become you tube fodder. No  internet at the bash so Im yet to find our if I was successful or not.

In the spirit of ‘what happens on tour stays on tour’ the six of us (N, D, J,A, J&J) reflected on the highlights for our ‘bash’. Our thoughts below.

Number one by far- being together with family (Cuz’s and sibs) in this awesome location.- with all the usual ribbing that goes with it.  And yes Hax tribe – we did talk about all of you!!!

Number two:  participating in the world record breaking Nutbush with 6200 plus other souls. I do have to admit sustaining the Nutbush for 5.5 minutes isn’t as easy as it was in  my 20s but we stuck it out to the very last star jump (photographic evidence below)

Equal number 2 – the music. 

Three days straight of live performances and an absolutely fabulous line up. – mostly 80s bands.  Some of the all round favourites  were Icehouse and The Angels (who certainly still have their mojo), Furnace and the Fundamentals (who re-mix iconic hits into amazing medleys –  warning- leads to uncontrollable foot tapping, singing and random dance moves.

Number 3, just the sheer size of the event. Ten thousand people watching a concert under the outback sky is almost a spiritual experience, and the logistics and coordination required to get them there is hard to fathom.

GETTING OUT

For the Hax/Bennet sleeperinerers it only took us about  35 minutes to roll out to the main road (plus the two hours to pack up all our junk). For the super organised dawn risers (Jim and Janet) it took  approximately 5 hours. The moral is- sleep in and never do today what can be put off until tomorrow!

We are now sitting outside our tents at the Mr Gipps sheep station- 7000 sheep (black faced dorpers – a meat sheep that look like goats to us- but we didn’t want to offend the farmer). Just had our first shower in 6 days (or 7 for Andrew) and are now ready for bed (at the very late hour of 8.10!).

Two things  we have learnt along the way are: 1) top up on fuel , food and water whenever you can and 2) plan for a laundry day and least every 4-5 days. And  we did both of these today.

Arrived at the laundrette at 7.30, planning to be in and out quickly, but  alas half of  the Broken Hill campers had the same idea.  Being a laundrette novice I had no idea  of protocols/etiquette., so I politely waited for the person who had loaded up several machines (now finished) to return and retrieve their laundry so I could use the machine. But before I could say ‘Jack Robinson’ my ruthless co-campers  had stepped in, pulled  the offending washing out and taken over the machines – it’s a dog eat dog world in there! In true Darwinian fashion I adapted quickly  pouncing on machines and dryers on their very last rotation, shovelling people’s smalls into their waiting baskets while they were still sipping their lattes down the road. Washing finished 10.00 am- 2.5 hours of my life I’ll never get back.

From a quick trip the supermarket to stock up then off to explore town. The BH people are so welcoming and wholeheartedly embrace the annual influx of people – with a population of  19K ish catering for 8K  bash  must be a huge logistical exercise.

Very excited when we got back to camp to see A, and J’s van had rolled in beside ours- and to be met by Jatz’s waggy tail – although I imagine he wondered what the hell we were doing out here in the middle of nowhere. 

Our afternoon of sightseeing included the Pro Hart gallery (located in his old home and including his studio and part completed works), and a drive up to the Line and Load Memorial. Amazing views over the still operating open cut mine (Zinc and Silver) and Broken Hill. The memorial lists the  names of all recorded deaths in the mine dating back to the late 1800s with the most recent death in 2019- a sober reminder of how dangerous this industry is for its workers.

Left our beautiful riverside retreat very reluctantly this morning, passing out through the front gates at a very tardy 9.30. Much later than we had hoped with a 400km plus drive ahead of us. Destination Broken Hill.

There were 2 roads to choose between which skirted either bank of the Darling. We opted for the road north of the river for no other reason than we were already on that side of the bridge. It was dirt all the way to Wilcannia- quite corrugated in some places- which gave us a chance to practice our vibrato as we blasted the Mundi Mundi playlist.

Stopped briefly at the Tilpa pub on the way through- like all these outback pubs it has its own  rustic character- its claim to fame is the writing/signatures all over the walls and roof. They were only serving schooners and sausage- with a big drive ahead of us we decided neither of those was suitable at  11 am, so headed off quickly to avoid sharing the road with those that had partaken.

Next stop and many a dusty mile later- Wilcannia- sporting some beautiful old sandstone buildings AND  a cafe with great coffee.  Also had the last petrol stations before broken hill the first we went to had  a 250m queue (we estimated more than an hours wait) to refill.  Chasing daylight we opted for the ‘other’ one which had a very short queue but was 25c/litre dearer.

From Wilcannia to Broken Hill was tarmac road – yay- with nothingness as far as the eye could see.

Arrived at Broken Hill Racecourse around 4.30, tired and starving. Like last year the grounds are filling up fast with excited pre-bashers. 

We are camped right in the middle of the course with the first drops of rain of our holiday falling on the tent. We ordered dinner from the Thai food truck (one of the many food vans that have come in)- while our pad Thai was probably no more Thai than I am, it was delicious- especially to two starved travellers.

Now tucked up, heater on (we have power tonight) looking forward to tomorrow when A & J join us (they’re currently camped about 3 hours away).

We were  woken up just before sunrise by gangs of kookaburras along the river calling out to each other (no doubt saying ‘get out of bed you lazy buggers’) . We had a leisurely breakfast  then donned out glad rags (ie put on clean jeans and shirts) and headed into Louth to the races.  

Louth is a tiny town on the opposite bank of the river to where we are camped. It has a population of 40, and the pub is the only non-residential building in town. Once a year people flock to town from all over central NSW (and beyond), for the Louth Races. And we were lucky enough to be in town that day.  Most people camp either at the race track, behind the pub or along the river.

Dress code varied – most wore checked shirts, moleskins and  an akubra.   Others went the whole enchilada and dressed to the 9s. Sadly I’d left my fascinator and heels at home so couldn’t compete in ‘fashions on the field’  (David had also left his heels at home so couldn’t compete for the ‘best dressed bloke’.

It was a hoot of a day.  There’s nothing quite like leaning over the barriers as the horses pound by in a cloud of dust- exhilarating. 

David managed to back 2 winners. I used my usual (random) approach ie back the mare because she was the only ‘woman’ in the race, and managed to get a couple of second places. At $5 a bet both our winnings and losses were modest.

Because race going is such thirsty work we stopped at the pub- Shindy’s  Inn – for a cool one on the way home. 

Got back to camp at 5.30 managing to avoid both cattle and goats on the road, and were tucked up in front of the fire eating dinner by 6.30.

Have an early start tomorrow as we have a 5 hour drive to Broken Hill ahead of us.

Left our little camp site in Brewarrina very reluctantly this morning and headed to Bourke – or the back there of.

Stopped for an hour or so in  Bourke (about an hour down the road). Given its iconic identity I think we were expecting it to be more than it was. The Back ‘o Bourke museum was definitely worth a visit to understand the diverse history.

From Bourke we followed the east side of the Darling Mostly on red dirt but in good condition – no corrugations. We didn’t see the river despite not being more than a few hundred metres away.  National park (scrub) on one side and vast farm land – cattle mostly, on the other.. There were feral goats EVERYWHERE – they thrive on the ‘eat anything’ food supply.   Apparently local farmers herd them up and sell them for meat every now and again but market for goat is poor so it seems they just do this when numbers get high.

We arrived at our camp spot mid afternoon – a bush camp on Dunlop Station and our little spot is right on the bank of the Darling. We are totally alone out here – absolutely  magical. 

The other side of the river and down the way a bit is the town of Louth. Louth races are on tomorrow- a big local event and we can hear the town beginning to buzz (or perhaps roar?) in the distance. We are very glad to be on this side of the river.

Now sitting by campfire, glass of red in hand. Life’s good! I

Left Lightning Ridge round 8.30 after a world record 30 minute pack up and minimalist breakfast. We did stop to pick up a latte and a muffin for ‘Ron  as we passed through town and then we were on our way.

Had to back track through Walgett and then started our Darling River Run.  The road was quite a way from the river system (the Barwon in this section) so it was pretty much flat, treed, yet dry as a chip landscape.  The litany of road kill reminded us of the importance of getting to our  destination before roo hour.

We arrived in Brewarrina n time for a late lunch. It’s a historic town right on the Barwon River – at the highest point where the old paddle steamers used to be able to reach on the Darling. It has strong aboriginal history including the 40,000 plus  year old fish traps constructed by 8 tribes of Aboriginal people.  It remains a significant meeting place.

We did the local Aboriginal cultural tour. A young aboriginal man shared stories about the local aboriginal history, the design and construction of the traps and how they work (they’re still used by locals today) as well as the much more sobering impacts  of colonisation on the local aboriginal people.

Tonight we are camping on a local farm right on the edge of the Barwon River – Beds on the Barwon- only a few campers here and an enormous gang of kookaburras who have been chortling at us for the last half hour. Very tranquil spot – ot it will be once our feathered friends drop off to sleep.

We’re about to light a fire and settle in for the night, and enjoy our first campfire cooked meal for the trip.