queensland wanderings: Boulia to Bedourie

Boulia to Bedourie - Tues 7 July 2015

COLD overnight & 5 degrees again in morning. We were away at 8.15 after our porridge! We got petrol yesterday ($159.9 lt).

We put the stableriser bars on, thinking they would help on the gravel road today. Only a few stretches of gravel (all grey rounded stones not dirt!) – quite deep groves. The bars didn’t last long & we had to stop & take them off – luckily the road surface allowed Warren to swivel them right around & able to be taken off quite easily!

We stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn marker on the ‘natural treeless plain’. I took a photo of Warren – with a little tree right behind him!

360 degrees of dry country; no cattle until close to Bedourie; no animal life except for flocks of finches & pigeons, few hawks. Trees line to creek & river beds. In a few places beside the road saw lots of (on vines) small paddy melons (like).

One of the huge stations along the way was Marion Downs. We could see a ridge (about 33m high) with picnic table, loos etc ‘off the road’. We drove up (3km) another guy come from Birdsville there. INCREDIBLE view! Cold wind blowing, had to put parkers on. A willy wagtail there! LOTS of traffic passing from Birdsville. The guy said they had had a special Anzac Day service there this year with 100 horsemen riding down the highway & up to it (wide curved road up). It was the Vaughan Johnston Memorial Lookout, he was State MP for area who pushed Govt & insisted outback needed sealed roads – we certainly appreciated him!

Overnight at Bedourie – Oasis CP – AN ENSUITE!!! $35. VERY WINDY & FLIES!!!!! After lunch we walked up town – another great Info Centre (DVD of floods when water channels fill & run to Lake Eyre. Mud Hut from 1880’s. artesian spa pool, historic hotel & shop at the Roadhouse. Petrol $1.78.9 lt)

LOTS traffic coming up from Birdsville – lots staying here – 2 caravan parks.