Water across the road at Pitchie Ritchie Pass

One of several mound springs

Sunset at Beresford

An abundance of wildflowers

Inside the pub at William Creek

Planes line in the main street of William Creek

One of the many ruins visited on the trip

Our campfire

More desert flora

The old Algebuckina Bridge

Sturt Peas on the roadside

An old wreck at Mount Dare

Yet another ruin

Our bush camp at Purnie Bore

Some blooms amongst the red desert sand

The track along the French Line

The Lone Gum

Crossing a large salt lake

A well camouflaged inabitant

Group shot as we left the Simson Desert National Park

The approach to Big Red

Big Red looking down from the top

Big Red

Ascending Big Red

Another local inhabitant

The famous Birdsville Pub

Cooper Creek from our camp at Cullyamurra Waterhole

Bird life on the Cooper

The Dig Tree

Sunset at Cullyamurra Waterhole

This is Greg

Greg searching for scraps

Pelicans at Coongie Lakes

The Dog Fence at Cameron Corner

Sunset at Fort Grey

The old Silverton Gaol

Camels along the road near Broken Hill

The track through Danggali Conservation Park

View of the Murray from a lookout at Murtho Forest

The old opening bridge at Paringa

The group relaxes at Paruna

However, closer to Port Augusta, the rain started coming down fairly heavily and several creeks through the Pitchie Ritchie Pass were flowing rapidly. It continued to rain pretty solidly all the way to Quorn where we thought we had better check the road conditions further north. A phone call to the Shell Service Station in Hawker confirmed that all roads north from there were closed, including the bitumen to Leigh Creek. So, back to Port Augusta where we then followed the Stuart Highway north.

The first night’s camp was at a place called Oakden Hill, situated along the highway about half an hour before Pimba. It was a pretty cold night with drizzle continuing until early morning. However, the next day we awoke to fairly clear skies and the hope of an improvement in the weather. A check of the road conditions in Pimba confirmed that the Borefield track was open so it was off to Woomera and up the Roxby Downs turnoff.

Soon after hitting the Borefield Track, Kim noticed a front tyre slowly going down, so a quick stop for the first wheel change of the trip. Later that day we arrived at the Curdimurka railway siding, the place where the famous Curdimurka Outback Ball is held as an annual event. It’s hard to imaging that such a small siding can cater for so many thousands of people and hundreds of planes over a single weekend each year. We had the place to ourselves and took the time to have a good look around.

A bit further on, we stopped and checked out some mound springs. These were pretty amazing with hot artesian water bubbling to the surface in large raised mounds of dissolved salt deposits, many metres across. Then, off to Coward Springs for a quick pit stop and off to make camp for the second night at an old railway siding called Beresford.

Our night at Beresford was really enjoyable. The night was cool and a myriad of stars were visible in the clear skies. We had a nice big campfire to cook on and keep us warm, what more could anyone ask for? The following morning, Stuart found an old bore head a short distance from camp, tucked away discreetly behind some bushes. Trying it out, the water was sparkling clear and quite warm – an ideal opportunity for a nice warm shower!

First in was Stuart, followed by Dean. Both emerged looking very clean and refreshed. I was about to go next but since Graeme was ready, I suggested he go first. When Greame returned, it was my turn. I strolled behind the bushes, stripped off, opened the valve and stepped under the slow, steady flow of beautifully clear, warm water. The soap lathered well and it all felt really good. As I was washing my hair, I noticed that the shampoo was not lathering up as well as I expected. Anyway, with eyes closed, as one does when washing one’s hair, I persisted. However, after a while, I sensed something was wrong and when I opened my eyes, to my surprise (and horror) I was absolutely black, covered in mud from head to toe! It then took me some time, splashing around in a couple of cold, clean puddles of water to get most of the mud off before returning to camp. Stuart, on seeing my plight (but only after a lot of laughter and amusing comments) erected his shower tent for me to clean myself up in.

There was certainly a lesson in all this. Old bores have a tendency to silt up once disturbed by opening them up. It may take a while but I would suggest that anyone using them keep a very close eye on the colour of the water and exit as soon as you see any change at all – or suffer the consequences!

Later that morning, we arrived at William Creek. The first thing we noticed as we drove in was a light plane parked in the hotel car park, not something one would expect to see very often. Apparently, this is the norm in William Creek and we soon realised that you need to be on the look out for planes taxiing up and down the main street to and from the landing strip behind the pub and on their way to fill up with fuel or to park. The petrol bowser is in the main street, out in front of the pub, where we actually had to cue up with the planes to fuel up before leaving – a very strange experience. However, William Creek was certainly a place full of character. A few beers in the front bar was well worth the effort and allowed us all to soak up some of the place’s unique character.

Just out of William Creek and the second flat tyre of the trip, courtesy of the Fox’s. The roads around here were certainly very corrugated with sharp gibber rocks covering the track, raising the possibility of tread fractures to fairly high levels.

The third night’s camp was set up at the old Peake Telegraph Station. Here, we spent the following morning having a look around, checking out the old ruins and exploring the old mine, then drove around to the old Mosque and grave sites. The track in and out of Peake was very slow going due to the bad condition of the track and yet more very bad corrugations.

We reached Algebuckina that afternoon and decided to make camp along the creek. It was a really nice spot and seeing we were actually ahead of schedule, decided to stay for a couple of days. Algebuckina is the site of a large railway bridge over the Neales River, built in 1889. At 12 metres high and with a length of 578 metres, it is the longest bridge in South Australia. It is no longer in service but was used regularly, until 1980, by the original Ghan railway service.

The weather here was perfect with cool nights and warm days. We topped up with washing-up water from the waterhole. The water was very salty but quite clear, certainly suitable for showers and the like. The next day was a leisure day and we spent our time washing some clothes and exploring the nearby attractions. We went to check out the old railway bridge which would have been quite a feat of engineering in such a remote part of the country. We certainly enjoyed these couple of days and on the last night here, we prepared a very scrumptious roast dinner over the campfire coals.

Up early the next morning and the weather was looking a bit suspect with a few dark clouds and a humid feeling in the air. Anyway, up and away in record time and on our way to Oodnadatta. We stopped along the way to check out some old ruins at the Mount Dutton Railway Siding and to ponder on the difficult times that people must have experienced in days gone by.

Not far from Oodnadatta we noticed a few spots of rain on the windscreen. About now, Denise and Stuart were beginning to get a little anxious, especially after being stuck in Oodna for 9 days last year, due to heavy rain. They certainly weren’t going to risk a repeat episode this time around! By the time we reached the town, the rain was coming down fairly hard. We all refuelled - only one pump was working at the time so this took a lot longer than we would have liked, grabbed some supplies and were ready to flee. It doesn’t take much up around these parts for the local authorities to close the road with very hefty fines for anyone who disobeys. I must confess that I didn’t help the situation by ordering some hot lunch, which seemed to take them forever to prepare, all this while the local police officer drove up and down between the Road Closed signs at each end of town! Anyway, we managed to escape and set off up the track with some haste and a sense of relief.

That night, we made camp at the Eringa waterhole and at about 7:30 that evening realised that one of my front tyres was almost flat. The following morning it was up early to fix the tyre. We found a small fracture in the tread, due to the very punishing roads, but a patch on the inside of the tyre and the fitting of a tube soon put it back in service again. The weather seemed to be improving with only a small amount of rain overnight. Certainly, back on the track the dust was being stirred up again so it didn’t take very long for all that water to soak away.

Later that day, we arrived at Mount Dare where we topped up with fuel and had a nice cold beer at the bar. Since this would be the last place for fuel and supplies for the next week and for some 700 kilometres, we filled up all tanks and jerry cans – at $1.40 per litre, our convoy would have handed over a tidy little sum before departing!

We reached Dalhousie Springs fairly late in that day and decided to stay there for the night. A few of us took advantage of the hot springs and went for a swim. The water was absolutely beautiful and very warm. A lot of work has been done at Dalhousie and a large amenities block is provided here for the benefit of the many travellers who come this way. Unfortunately, there was no hot water (the hot taps were there, just no hot water!) so taking a shower after coming out of the hot springs was an exercise that only an iceberger could enjoy!

The following morning, we were told that Herma and George spent most of the night chasing a mouse which had decided to make their Troopy its home! As it turned out, this was not to be the last encounter with these pesky rodents – more later!

With the prospect of continuing fine weather, we went and had a look at the old Dalhousie ruins prior to making our way to Purnie Bore. We set up camp at Purnie Bore that afternoon and decided once again on a two day stay. The next day was a fairly lazy day with some exploration of the now, almost non-existent wetlands. The bore, put down in 1963 ran unchecked until 1988 when the flow was controlled in line with government conservation policies. Until recently, the flow was still sufficient to maintain a huge wet land area in which bird life flourished. Currently, the flow is a mere trickle of what it used to be and slowly, the whole wet land area is disappearing. While this is perhaps disappointing in some ways, the conservation of our artesian water sources is also an important issue to be taken into consideration.

The facilities at Purnie were quite good with a toilet, a shower and a big laundry trough supplied with warm water directly from the bore head. While the water leaves the bore at almost boiling point, by the time it reaches the shower, it is at a perfect temperature for bathing and a lovely warm shower was had by all. Later that evening, I discovered a broken engine mount on my car, obviously due to the punishing corrugations experienced most of the way here. A couple of strategically placed hose clamps to make sure the engine didn’t stray too far from under the bonnet would hopefully see us through. Purnie Bore was also the site of our next roast dinner – it seems we eat better, more often, in the bush than we do at home! It was delicious.

Later that night, sitting around the campsite, we spotted some kind of marsupial in amongst the bushes checking us out. The following morning, Herma and George told us that their rodent was still in their car and that they had found a nest under the dashboard, constructed using the carpet underfelt. They also found licorice strewn all over the car, so it had been happily building and feasting all night!

Having listened to all this, Denise and Stuart decided to check their car and lo and behold – they found a nest in exactly the same place! Further investigation revealed that their rodent had actually chewed through the rubber seal of their rear door to gain entry. There was obviously something attractive about Troopies as the rest of our vehicles appeared to be uninhabited.

On the road again, but today the weather had turned, with some spots of rain as we set off. We headed along the French Line and later turned down the Rig Road. We had decided to take a fairly round-about route through the desert and to incorporate several alternate tracks in order to experience as much of the diverse terrain as possible. The rain kept with us most of the day and towards late afternoon we decided to set camp on a side track leading to some oil rig. It was a pretty miserable night but we did manage to get a camp fire going. We were a little concerned that, if this weather set in, we may get stranded for a while. But, with plenty of water and supplies, that shouldn’t be any more than an inconvenience. We all decided to turn in pretty early that night and as Bev and I entered our tent, we realised that some of our sleeping gear had been up against the canvas and was now saturated. Fortunately, we had taken a gas heater with us so the next couple of hours was spent carefully drying things out so we could go to bed.

The following morning of day 11, we got up and fortunately, it had stopped raining. The skies were clear and it looked like a good day ahead. We followed the Rig Road around and then followed the Colson Track back up as far as the French Line again. Here we deflated our tyres in readiness for the dunes ahead. Earlier in the day, I noticed the stainless steel hose clamp holding my broken engine mount had given way and we stopped to replace it with a couple of fairly heavy mild steel clamps to hopefully see us through the trip. The engine certainly hadn’t moved in any direction it shouldn’t have so it was doubtful whether a replacement hose clamp was even necessary, but it made me feel better anyway.

That night, as soon as we made camp, the great mouse hunt began! Denise and Stuart had found more signs of the pesky little rodent so they virtually stripped the whole car bare in an effort to find the little critter! In the meantime, Herma and George had managed to corner their unwanted lodger and forcefully evict it from their Troopy. As Denise and Stuart continued in their efforts to find their furry intruder, they caught a whiff of port. A quick check of the grog container revealed the little bugger had chewed through the bladder of their cask of port in about three places. Now that was the last straw!! Pinching their food and making nests in their car was one thing, but drinking Stuart’s grog – if caught, that would certainly attract a death penalty! Further searching, however, was fruitless and all was put back into the car. Whether the mouse was put back in as well, or whether it was always stayed in there, would remain to be seen. For all we knew, it was probably hiding somewhere trying to shake a bad hangover.

We continued on the next day, planning to make the Lone Gum, along the Erabena Track, for lunch. The Lone Gum is a Coolabah and a real mystery as to how it got there, away from any obvious water source. It is certainly unlike any other trees known to be growing in such an isolated desert environment.

Upon our arrival at the Lone Gum, Denise and Stuart came to realise that the mouse was still with them! It had apparently carried a number of tissues from the front of the car, through to the large drawer in the rear and had started to make yet another nest. Anyway, the obligatory group shots around the tree, a sandwich and some coffee and off we went again.

Because of the rains throughout most of this year, the desert was an absolute carpet of colour. We couldn’t get over the abundance of wild flowers and other desert plants taking full advantage of the warm spring sun. I think we picked an absolutely perfect time to make this trip. I don’t think that many opportunities to see the desert like this would come along too often. Along the way, we stopped at the top of a sand dune to take a few snapshots. One should always remember to look down at the ground before standing still for too long – by the time I realised what was happening, I was covered up to my knees in thousands of nasty black bull ants. Short of dropping my daks, I managed to get most of them off before being bitten too often, but the crazy war dance I performed at the time must have looked rather strange to those watching on.

More bush camping that night. Several of us had taken digital cameras and Graeme and myself had also brought along our laptop computers. The computer not only allowed us to transfer data to and from our GPS’s but also served to store our digital photos whenever our camera’s memory cards filled up. Having taken a few hundred snapshots already, we decided to have a slide night. It seemed a bit strange, sitting out there in the middle of the Simpson Desert, getting close to nature, with everyone sitting around a laptop computer looking at a picture show. Nevertheless, everyone enjoyed it and it certainly made for an interesting evening.

A bit of excitement came our way the next day when we had stopped on the track to check out a fuel problem I was having with my car. I was sitting in the driver’s seat with my legs out the door and my feet on the ground, when Kim suddenly announced that there was a snake under the car. I lifted my feet up out of the way – as one naturally would! – when the snake slowly slid out from underneath the car and into the scrub. We followed it for a short while at a respectable distance and managed to get a couple of photos of it before it disappeared. We weren’t sure what species it was but it was brown and rather large!

We continued on along the WAA Line. The driving was very slow at times, down to around 20 kph due to fairly heavy sand. We then turned up along the Knolls Track which was still fairly sandy but quite a bit faster through some of the flat sections between the dunes. We stopped for morning tea in the middle of a huge salt lake where we took a series of group photos. Today was also Herma’s birthday so we all took this opportunity to surprise her with a hand crafted card and a balloon made from an inflated surgical glove. It was certainly an unexpected event, especially in the middle of a large salt lake, but Herma certainly seemed to enjoy the moment.

As we continued on, we noticed that the sand was beginning to slowly change colour from the deep red we had experienced for most of the way, to a much lighter, yellowish shade. Later that afternoon, we stopped to set up a bush camp for the night at a suitable spot along the side of the track.

Continuing on the next day, we planned to go to Poepel Corner, then as far as we could in order to make it into Birdsville the day after. Traffic so far had been fairly sparse, although we did pass a couple of cars recently coming from the opposite direction. While all of our convoy were sporting good, high sand flags, it does make you wary of the possibility of another vehicle cresting the same dune as you at the same time. Without a good sand flag, one would certainly be taking a stupid risk.

We reached Poepel Corner, the place where the State borders of South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland meet, just before lunch and took some time to have a good look around. There is a visitors book there which we duly filled in. Some of the entries were indeed interesting with lots of 4x4 clubs but also quite a number of entries by overseas travellers. Most of the day was spent travelling through some fairly heavy sand dune country. Nothing too difficult so far, although we did notice that some of the larger dunes now had chicken tracks alongside.

At camp that night we were visited by some camels. They didn’t come too close, but they did get close enough for us to get some reasonable photo shots. Apparently, they came back again the following morning to see if we were still there, but it was a bit early for some of us late risers so we just had to take the other’s word for it.

On the road again and heading in the direction of Big Red. Big Red is reputed to be the biggest sand hill on the track into Birdsville and one article I have read claims it is 90 metres high. We were also hoping to make it into Birdsville today as we were all hanging out for a nice warm shower and a pub tea. Certainly, the going along the QAA line was quite a bit faster, still plenty of soft dunes but in between was quite firm, albeit corrugated. As we came to the Eyre Creek Basin, the wetlands between the dunes were quite dry and very, very green. In some areas, the vegetation would have been at least 2 metres high with just a single track through the middle – spectacular! There were also a large number of Coolabah trees, quite a change from the desert country not too far behind us.

We made pretty good time and finally reached Big Red! A few of us attempted to get over, without success, so it was time to re-evaluate and do some more preparation. Although we were all running on reduced tyre pressures, it was obvious that Big Red demanded maximum flotation or sink!

George had been quietly watching the rest of us and had worked out what was needed. Tyres were let down a little more, a suitable gear selected and away he went. Over on the first go! Well, if George could do it, so could we. It wasn’t long before we had all made it over. Stuart played "We Will Rock You" quite loudly on the way up (those who attended the Association AGM dinner at Burra this year will realise the significance of this), followed by "We Are The Champions" after cresting the mighty dune. In fact, once we all got it right, we all went down for another go just to prove how easy it really was. We stopped for lunch just the other side of Big Red and then continued on our way to Birdsville.

It was now the 15^th day as we arrived in Birdsville in the early afternoon. The caravan park was very dusty and very sparse. It was a very hot day with temperatures somewhere in the mid thirties. The difference in terrain was also very noticeable, this part of the country had obviously not seen anywhere as much rain this year as the desert and the lack of green vegetation and wild flowers were certainly testimony to that. After setting up camp, it was time to hit the showers. After a week in the desert, the showers were certainly most refreshing.

That night, we all went to the Birdsville Pub for tea. We wandered into the Lizard Bar and really let our hair down! Without incriminating ourselves too much, we all came to the conclusion that it would be pretty much impossible to get kicked out of the Birdsville Pub! We certainly had a really good time, probably (?) drank too much, gave the locals and others a good laugh and something to talk about the next day, had a fantastic meal, staggered back home and turned in for the night.

Kim had to leave us the next morning and make his way home, due to work commitments. His plan was to run down the Birdsville Track and be home in a couple of days time. We’d been stirring Kim up a bit the night before with stories about dingos and people sleeping alone in little tents, so some of us were wondering where he finally decided to spend that night and whether he managed to sleep at all.

Most of the day was spent lazing around. It was pretty hot and none of us felt too much like exerting ourselves. After lunch, however, we did do a little bit of local sightseeing and visited the Working Museum. The museum is certainly very interesting and well worth a look. We also checked out the Visitors Centre (air conditioned and cool!), took some pictures of the famous Birdsville Pub, visited the old cemetery, and did a bit of washing back at the park.

Every Sunday night, the Birdsville Pub puts on a BBQ night where you can have all you can eat for $15, so Jan, Dean, Bev and myself decided that this was a good opportunity to avoid cooking. It was a fantastic feed and the atmosphere and character of the place was really unique and enjoyable.

The following morning, it was a bright and early start as we really wanted to make it all the way to Innamincka, 425 kms away. The road out of Birdsville was quite good and we managed to keep a fairly good, steady pace. That is, until we hit the South Australian border where the roads deteriorated quite markedly. Soon afterwards, Graeme suffered another flat tyre so we stopped for a while to change wheels and have a spell. However, we managed to make reasonably good time and arrived at Cullyamurra waterhole, just the other side of Innamincka, shortly before dark.

Our campsite was on the bank of the Cooper Creek with an abundance of bird life. Pelicans abounded in the still waters and dozens of kites flew around overhead. It really was a peaceful little spot and the following morning we took the opportunity to do some fishing. Unfortunately, no-one caught anything worth keeping at this stage.

Jan, Dean, Bev and myself decided to venture out and check out the Dig Tree. It was around 70 kms up the track, a track which turned out to be extremely corrugated with some really rough going. Not only that, but upon arriving there, we were faced with an honesty box and an entry fee of $11! Well, we’d come this far so we paid up and had a good look around. The Dig Tree, as many would recall, is where explorers Burke, Wills, Gray and King planned to return after their journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the mid 1860’s. Unfortunately, the support group stationed at this base left a short while before the party returned and both Burke and Wills died in the Innamincka region. While we were away, the others had a fairly lazy day in camp where George had managed to catch a few reasonably sized fish in the creek. Herma cooked the fish over the campfire that night and treated us all to a lovely feed of fish – delicious.

The following day, we got off to a rather lazy start and spent the day looking around some of the local landmarks and attractions such as Burke’s Memorial, Will’s Memorial and several other spots along the 15 Mile Track which follows the Cooper Creek along the other side of town. Since it was a fairly hot day, it was quite pleasant to be driving around in air conditioned comfort for a while. Later that evening, it was off to the Innamincka Hotel where they hold a weekly ‘Beef and Creek’ night. This turned out to be a very enjoyable and indeed memorable evening. The meal was delicious, but the main attraction was probably the arrival of ‘Greg’. Greg just happens to be a very large, feral pig who quite casually wandered amongst the tables looking for handouts. Interestingly, Greg turned out to be a female and when we questioned her owner, we were advised that Greg was named after a rather large mate of his who he stated, was also a bit of a girl. A great night was had by all, until, on the way back to the camp site, Graeme had yet another flat tyre. This was the third one but fortunately, turned out to be the last.

The next day, Denise, Stuart, Bev and myself decided to make a day trip up to the Coongie Lakes area. The others decided to remain back in camp as they had all been there before and Graeme wanted to go into town to see if he could purchase a replacement tyre. While the Lakes were some 110 kms from the town, the journey was certainly worth it. The lakes were huge and teeming with all kinds of bird life. There was fantastic scenery in all directions – a really interesting place. On the way in, we also stopped to have a look at the Kudriemitchie Outstation which is a facility restored and used by the Toyota Landcruiser Club and used for camping and other club events. Lunch was had down by the water, a meal of hot meat pies which we placed in the pie warmer, under the bonnet of my car, about an hour before.

On the morning of day 21, we all packed our gear and headed off down the Bore Track. This morning we also said our goodbyes to Jan and Dean, who unfortunately had to leave us to head back home because of work commitments. As we travelled further south, we started to see a few more emus and the occasional kangaroo. We also came across a large mob of cattle slowly heading up the track towards us so we took the opportunity to take a coffee break and to let them pass by. The track took us through a place called Bollards Lagoon, a privately owned property, but with access allowed for a charge of $10 per vehicle. It turmed out to be well worth it as the track was very good with interesting scenery most of the way. Eventually we reached Cameron Corner and stopped for a drink and an ice cream. Cameron Corner is, of course, where the borders of South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales meet. It also a good place to check out the Dog Fence, originally completed in 1950 to keep dingos out of the sheep farming areas. Originally, the fence was somewhere between 8000 and 10000 kms long and stretched across three states. While today, it is only 4850 kms long, it is still the longest man made barrier in the world and three times as long as the Great Wall of China.

That evening, we made camp at Fort Grey in the Sturt National Park. Quite a nice camping spot with toilets and free gas BBQ’s. Unfortunately, camp fires were not allowed but with BBQ’s provided, that really wasn’t a problem. When morning arrived George was busy making breakfast and boiling up some eggs in the billy. Since he wanted two soft boiled and two hard boiled, after a few minutes he removed two of the eggs and placed them in a container of cold water under a nearby tap. As he returned to his billy, a rather large black crow seized the opportunity, stole one of the eggs and hurriedly made off with it. Needless to say, George was not happy and any crow within stoning range would have been taking a fairly big risk.

As we continued our travels later that day, we came across quite a number of emus. I don’t know what makes these big birds tick, but they all seem to insist on racing you down the track and then darting in front of you with just inches to spare! Fortunately, we avoided collecting any. The number of kangaroos was also increasing with quite a number of mobs being spotted along the way. We reached Tibooburra in time for lunch and as we were refuelling, we noticed a trickle of green coolant emerging from under Stuart’s car. The radiator had sprung a leak! Luckily, it must have only just happened and a blob of Selleys Kneadit in the offending spot of the radiator core, saw the trusty Troopy back in service once again. I was also able to purchase a new air mattress in the local store here, to replace the one which deflated during the previous night. I did try to find the leak in the morning, but without success, so a replacement was the only option other than sleeping on the ground. The replacement certainly wasn’t cheap, but at least tonight would be spent in relative comfort! Later that afternoon, we set up camp just off the side of the road near a place called Milparinka.

The following day, we decided that we should be able to make Silverton and opted to take some back roads rather than the main highway. We followed the road that runs adjacent to the Dog Fence to Border Downs. We noticed things were becoming decidedly greener the further south we travelled, with some very picturesque scenery as we passed alongside the Barrier Range. Continuing on, we encountered literally dozens of gates, most of them closed, giving the trip leader as well as Tail End Charlie a very thorough workout opening and closing them. Eventually, Silverton was reached and we set up camp at the local caravan park. That night, rather than cook, Bev and I went and had a few drinks and a Super Hot Dog at the pub – most enjoyable.

Well, it was now day 24 and after breaking camp, it was time to check out the attractions around the town. There were numerous galleries about the place and Silverton was obviously a focal point for many an aspiring artist. It was certainly an interesting place and we took the time to check out the old Gaol as well as a couple of other interesting places. Later that day, we travelled into Broken Hill and since the weather had turned windy with a real threat of rain, we all decided to treat ourselves to a cabin at the Lake View Caravan Park. It was certainly a welcome break from the confines of a canvas tent and some of us even had hot pizza delivered to the door! Of course, hot showers were definitely the go and we also took the opportunity to feed some money into the park’s washing machines to get some laundry done.

On our way again the following morning as we headed down the Barrier Highway. When it was time for morning coffee, we stopped at a roadside truck stop where we all presented Jock and Graeme with a card and some flowers to celebrate their 25^th wedding anniversary. I don’t think they expected anything but they were obviously very pleased that we had remembered this special day of theirs.

Soon after crossing back into South Australia again, we turned off onto a small back road to Mutooroo Station. From there we followed a series of very little used station tracks. We had stopped at a station and were told it would be OK to go through as long as we reported in at the other end. Upon reaching Oak Vale Station, we stopped and Stuart went off to chat with the owners. There were certainly no objections to our travelling through their property and they were, in fact, very appreciative that we had taken the time to stop and let them know on our way out. That night, we reached the Danggali Conservation camp, reported in at the Ranger Headquarters at Canopus and made camp at Herbie Dam. It was a really nice camping spot with plenty of fire wood provided by the Ranger, who made a point of calling in later that evening just to make sure that everything was in order. He also handed out several copies of leaflets and brochures detailing the attractions of the area.

Day 26 saw a fairly late start after a very cold night. On the way out, we called in at the Ranger station and were given a guided tour through the renovated shearers quarters and the old wool shed. The shearers quarters were certainly very well maintained and a perfect venue to consider for a future club event. From here we travelled through to Renmark, where we spent a short while to stock up with supplies. We then continued on to Murtho Forest where we set up camp for the next couple of nights.

In the morning, Bev and I decided to drive back into Renmark and have a good look around while the others stayed back to relax in camp. It was only some 20 kms and although we had both travelled through Renmark on several occasions before, we had never really taken the time to have a good look around. We had some lunch in town and returned to camp by mid afternoon.

The following morning, we all headed into Paringa where the old bridge is opened twice a day to allow large boats to travel up and down the River Murray. It was really interesting and the operator allowed us to stand quite close to the section of the bridge that actually lifts up so we could get some good photo shots. From there we travelled up to the old Customs House, which is now the base for a house boat hire company. From here, it was cross country into the Murray Sunset National Park, down part of the Border Track and into Paruna.

We reached Paruna on the Friday afternoon of the October long weekend. Paruna is, of course, the venue for our Club’s Annual Dinner and our reaching this destination, in time for the weekend celebrations marked the end of a very enjoyable expedition.

The Paruna weekend shall be the subject of a separate trip report, but I would like to express my appreciation to Denise and Stuart as trip leaders, as well as the others who joined all or part of our expedition for a fantastic journey and a very unique experience.

Gerry Paay