Day 6 Currawinya NP to Mt Wood Homestead (Sturt NP)
Well we packed up camp and set off for the 400+ km drive via Hungerford. Filled up the petrol there and then opened the gate at the border to cross over to NSW (yes they had a bolted gate - the bloke told us in the border closures they had to padlock it shut as did loads of farmers along the border). Then headed off on the Hungerford - Wanaaring road. Lovely coffee and ice cream stop in Wanaaring where the shop keeper there was just covering for their friends who had gone for a weeks holiday - which necessitated them learning how to run the shop, the post office, the petrol bowser, the airport (for the flying doctor service - got to run up the runway and clear it off kangaroos when the plane comes in!). Wow.
Stopped on the side of the Cut Line for a break and a bit of lunch before heading into Tibooburra to stock up on supplies. Our waeco has completely packed it in so we are quite limited on what we can take - thus our planned menu has seriously had to change!
Heading off now to Mt Wood homestead for the next few nights…
Day 7 Mt Wood Homestead, Sturt NP
Another top day today.
After a very refreshing nights sleep (gotta love a real bed as opposed to a stretcher bed!) Russell enjoyed an early morning bird watch and I attempted a run. I say attempted because it was actually quite cool, and with the colder air combined with being effectively 2 weeks post covid, it was really very challenging for me. So I kind of ran-walked it.
Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast then we all set off to drive the Gorge loop. We saw some interesting birds including a Bourke’s parrot that Russell had been looking for, as well as what we thought was either an eastern or western grey kangaroo - but luckily Russell has his Australian mammals book as well as his Australian bird book so he can check for us!! 🤣 His verdict was female Australian red kangaroo - you be the judge. Also saw the usual emus. We enjoyed the view at the gorge lookout before heading on a 4km (just shy of) hike up Mt Wood.
Continued driving the loop then headed into Tibooburra for some more supplies.
Now having a bit of a relax at the homestead. This is really turning into a magnificent adventure. I’m really enjoying the time away in the outback - I’ve never seen this sort of landscape before and it’s magnificent.
Day 8 Mt Wood Homestead, Sturt NP
Today we did a bit of a drive around the local area. We did the Jump Up Loop and the Middle Road, which was about a 300km round trip. It was so interesting to see how the landscape changes - from the “Jump Up Mesas” to the very flat plains, not a tree to be seen (except for one). We stopped off at South Myers Tank where there was a bird hide (oh joy) and drove around to the Jump Up trail which was a 4km walk. Geez it was hot though! If this is what allegedly Autumn temperatures are like then I would hate to be here in Summer - apparently it was 35.2 degrees today!
After that we headed out to the Middle road and enjoyed the drive back to the homestead. We stopped off at the Fort Grey homestead and did a walk out to Lake Pinaroo. That was especially interesting as this lake only has water every 15 years on average. When it fills it takes 7 years to empty. The trees in the lake are dead because in the 1974 floods they were underwater for such a long time so they effectively drowned!
The drive back to the homestead was pleasant - I had a go driving Mike’s truck (so now I want one!).
We’ve enjoyed our stay at this homestead - its been absolutely lovely…
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