We continued on making the Dig Tree late in the afternoon, with time to see the famous tree, the
monuments and the tree carved with Burke’s likeness. The ranger was very informative about the
history and advised us to camp at the end of the waterhole as it was a larger space; and work
commenced on Robyn’s car. Between them Laurie, Ralph and Doug produced soldering irons
and the necessary parts, and within the hour all done; much to Robyn’s relief. We enjoyed a
marvellous evening relaxing by Cooper Creek in warm weather with a magnificent moon rising.
Unlike Burke and Wills we had no need to dig for our supplies. Instead, we headed up to a
special Father’s Day BBQ put on by Nappa Merri station. It would go on all day with people flying
in from outlying stations and from the Birdsville races. The head stockman (who looked like he
was all of 12yrs) dressed in his large cowboy hat, boots, jacket and jeans (that he had been
wearing for the last two weeks as he had been out on annual muster) was in charge of taking the
orders (with a can of beer in his hand). We’re sure he was very good at counting cattle but taking
orders for bacon and egg rolls was not his strong point. We all had a good laugh.
At the junction of the Wilson River and Cooper Creek the party made their first depot camp -
camp 63. “During our stay at Camp 63, from which spot we found it necessary to remove for
several reasons, but chiefly because rats attacked our stores in such numbers that we could
keep nothing from them, unless by suspending it in trees”. They moved further downstream
and set up the second Cooper depot camp No 65 the now famous Dig Tree: Dec 6 1860 - 23
April 1861. From the outset the plan had been to set up a depot camp at Cooper Creek. It was
to be the jumping-off point that would take them through country that no Europeans had
traversed before north to the Gulf.
Leaving the Dig Tree, we headed for Innamincka to shower and refuel as our destination was the
Coongie Lakes for a couple of days relaxed camping on the banks of the Cooper. Today was
Robyn’s birthday which was celebrated in style with cake and candles, lolly bags and whistles and
the singing of her own special birthday song. If you ask her she may hum a few bars. Out on the
creek we were treated to a rare and gruesome sight of mother nature at work as we witnessed a
eagle swoop down and take a small duck from the water and proceed to have its lunch on the
bank of the creek with three other raptors waiting their turn to feed on what was left. We drove
out along the track to have a look at the lake and bird life and generally relaxed in the warm
weather. Returning to Innamincka we visited Burke’s grave, the Cullyamurra Waterhole, Wills’
grave and the area in which King was finally found by the search party some five months after
they had returned to the Dig Tree to find the depot abandoned.
Just like Burke and Wills our party was to be divided at this point, some unfortunately had to
return to Melbourne which left Laurie and Chris, Bob and Sheena to continue following the trail
North up to the Gulf, so we enjoyed our last evening together having dinner at the pub.
And so, on Sunday December 16, 1860 Burke split the party once again. His party of four
(Burke, Wills, King, Gray , 6 camels, 1 horse) set off for the Gulf, leaving Brahe in charge of the
four-man Depot Party. When Burke left Depot camp 65, he instructed Brahe to wait three
months for his return, and told him Wright’s supply party should arrive from Menindee before
too long. The depot party constructed a stockade which was referred to as “Fort Wills”, used
as a store for provisions and to protect the firearms. Brahe extended the waiting period to
eighteen weeks, and only left when his rations ran short, as there was no sign of William Wright
arriving with the supply party from Menindee. Previous to leaving he had made a cache of
provisions (50lb flour, 60lb oatmeal, 60lb sugar, 20lb rice and 15lb dried meat in a camel trunk
and buried it about 18 inches deep. He blazed a tree with the word “DIG” and buried a note
with the provisions.
pajeroclub.com.au
Vol 35 No.2 - Mar/Apr 2018
45