Charleville to Bourke

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

Mallee ring neck parrot

Explosion site and bridgeworks

Lunchtime panorama

Yellow wildflowers

Decisions, decisions

We had a very chilly start to the day – the temperature in Charleville was colder than Hobart! – although the skies were clear.  We were on the road headed south well before 8.30 am and we had only travelled about 25 kms when we came across the site of last year’s truck explosion.  A detour is still in place while the bridges are repaired/replaced; the road bridge looks to be nearing completion, however, a lot of work still needs to be done on the rail bridge.

The countryside today was constantly changing from mulga scrub, to bush areas of wattles in full flower, Mitchell grass plains, grass paddocks, areas of wild flowers, some very green sections and some very dry sections, which were just bare dirt or sand.  The amount of roadkill depended on the type of countryside with more dead kangaroos and pigs in the dry regions, as they come to feed on the road verges.  During the day we saw the odd kangaroo, many emus and feral goats.  Once past Wyandra, the road improved and we had long stretches of flat travelling all the way to Bourke.  We refuelled at Cunnamulla and stopped for a lunch break at the NSW border.

We are staying at the Kidman Camp, which is at North Bourke, between the highway and the Darling River.  This is a lovely caravan park with large sites and green grass, so nice after the dust and gravel of the past week (we seem to have been on the road much longer!).  The amenities are very nice – “normal” and modern – and there is a beautiful swimming pool area (far, far too cold to even think about putting a toe in the water).  We have had beautiful sunny conditions all day, but much cooler now – we are definitely no longer in the tropics!