MEMBER TRIP REPORT
Homeward Bound
While our trip ended in Cairns , Noel , Alan and us kept in regular phone contact and supported each other . Covid 19 was rearing its ugly head again and there were many discussions re lockdowns , boarder closures and entry permits . Hard to keep up with all this craziness on the road . Alan told us that he was slowly heading home via the inland route Mitchell / Kidman way . He apparently got to Cunnamulla and then did the NSW dash ( crossing the state in one day without stopping until he was over the Victorian border ). After spending one night on the border he drove straight home that day . An amazing feat !
We arrived in Cairns along with the rain and then spent a week camping before getting an Air BnB for another week due to midge bites as a result of the wet weather . We had to wait one week for our car to be assessed and another for our car parts to arrive from WA . At the end of two weeks , I was very homesick and just wanted to be back in Melbourne regardless .
Our plan was to follow Alan ’ s footsteps through the outback and home . As the days progressed we realized that that would not work , as NSW was already shutting down and we ran a risk of being stranded in NSW . We talked about this situation with Alan who advised use to go to Windorah ( QLD ) and then the Arrabury way to Innaminka ( SA ) and the Strzelecki Track to Lyndhurst . This avoided NSW totally , which was a red zone at the time . At that stage we still had ongoing car issues , namely we could only use the 2WD and were unable to use any other function . We agreed that this would be the only way and prayed that there was no mud on the track . There was a bit of mud but nothing significant .
As soon as we left Cairns and the tablelands the rain stopped and we were back to blue outback skies . We travelled to Charters Towers , Hughenden , Longreach and Windorah . Many caravans and campers were on the road but the traffic seriously thinned by the time we reached Windorah . On a cool but sunny morning we left Windorah for the Stuart Stony desert . By evening we had reached the Burke and Wills dig tree ( 50km from Innaminka ). Like our famous explorers , we pitched our tent on the banks of the Cooper Creek and contemplated what life must have been like for them . Luckily we did not have problems with supplies . We explored the area in the morning before heading to Innaminka and along the Strzelecki track .
We had started using both the Explore Oz and Wiki Camp apps as advised by a couple we met in Hughenden . As a result we had been able to find the roads and also a beautiful camp at the Strzelecki river crossing where