TRIP REPORT
• Dig Tree via Santos and Omicron to Cameron ’ s Corner and then via Sturt National Park on the worst roads ever driven on – the “ Scenic Drive ” – to Tibooburra
• Tibooburra to Silverton – largely on blacktop now
• From there , the original plan had been to go via Menindee to Ivanhoe , overnight at Barwonnie Station and return home via the Cobb Hwy and Echuca , but given the earlier rain delays , and we were also delayed at Tibooburra , we fast tracked and went via Mildura , Hattah and the Calder home .
The postscript to these plans was that Simon & Liz had a little more time and managed to call in at the Customs House at the top of the Border Track and with new , and cooperative owners , they took him by boat to the middle of the Murray River , the junction of the NSW / VIC / SA borders , to MacCabes Corner . To add insult to injury , well you couldn ’ t wipe the smile off Simon ’ s face because before joining the West-meets-East trip he managed to also visit the Surveyor Generals Corner . Thus the smile , all 5 corners in the one trip . A truly unique achievement . Well done Simon & Liz J
So the trip itself …..
WEDNESDAY – 4 th October When the sun rose everyone was up and finalising their packing . Not a lot to do as we had arrived early afternoon the previous day and had time to sort out gear for this leg of the trip .
We were ready to head off by 9:00 but Brenton wanted a bit of assistance to mount a gate . Many hands make light work and the “ gate sculpture ” on the wall , as it turned out , was quickly created . Neil & Julie , who had travelled with us back to Marree , delayed their departure and were heading to Adelaide with an overnight stop in the Flinders Ranges . We said our “ good-byes ”.
Our first stop was Farina where we called in to see the restoration works . A new visitor ’ s centre has been constructed but it appears totally out of character with the place , all metal and just does not fit into the stone building environment , and there was plenty of stone available to achieve that outcome . This design was probably the most cost effective and best build option but doesn ’ t reflect the character of Farina .
Now 30⁰ and quite warm .
We wandered around and found a geocache before heading on to Lyndhurst where we fuelled up . This geocache became quite special as Marie left a “ travelbug ” there [ a “ travelbug ” has a trackable dog tag which allows you to track the item ’ s location – I have one , a moose ( Bullwinkle ) which is currently in Utah ( been to Canberra , SA and Darwin before heading NZ then to the USA and travelling to NY , Pennsylvania , Ohio , NJ , Massachusetts , Boston and Mexico ) and has now travelled over 52,000km .
After ice-creams , we headed off along the Strzelecki Track . This was also affected by the rains but was in quite good condition generally , although still a few wet spots .
The Strzelecki Track is quite wide and undulating and like the Oodnadatta and Birdsville Tracks finding a tree with shade for lunch was quite a challenge . Turned out to be a creek bed for lunch .
It was quite a picturesque drive with the Gammon Ranges out to our right . Stunning colours in every direction .
We stopped at the Dog Fence for photos and managed to find a geocache here also . ( Cache “ who let the dogs out ”).
10 © Vol 35 No . 6 - Oct / Nov 2017