Leaving Parkes that morning, my first impression was one of cold – the central west of NSW is not pleasant during winter, and there was an icy wind blowing all day. Thank god for heated hand grips! The cold weather…
Day 41 – Telescopes and Volcanoes
Leaving Coonabarabran in the morning, I headed west into the Warrumbungle National Park. This is a mountain range formed as the remnants of an ancient extinct volcano – with the hard igneous rock jutting out sharply in strange eroded patterns.…
Day 40 – Back in NSW
Almost immediately after hitting the road, I came to my final State border crossing, back into New South Wales. Very close to the border is the fascinating town of Lightning Ridge. It’s the centre of opal mining in Australia, and…
Day 39 – Mechanical Mishaps
While in Roma, I decided to get a last set of fresh tyres – the rear is toast, and the front has worked itself out of balance so badly one side is literally down to nothing while the rest is…
Day 38 – Southward Bound
Early start this morning, after a burst water main caused a panic among my grey nomad neighbours at the rest area. A little ways down the road, the traffic had stopped for no apparent reason. I waited around 10 minutes…
Day 37 – On the Sheep’s Back
Before leaving Yaraka pub in the morning, I had a cup of coffee with the owners. They’ve just bought the place a few weeks ago and were incredibly friendly and generous – typical country hospitality. If anyone is in the…
Day 36 – Outback Queensland
Leaving Birdsville early in the morning, I passed the racecourse. During the race weekend, the population of Birdsville grows from around 120 permanent residents to over 7000, as it’s an iconic outback event. Quiet today, though. Heading east, there’s a…
Day 32-35 – The Simpson Desert
The first obstacle was to get back out of Mt Dare station, through the mud ringing the property. Fortunately by now we’d been worded up on the best route. Then once out on the open road, there was a huge…
Day 30-31 – To the Desert’s Edge
Having joined forces with my folks in their four wheel drive in Alice Springs, we took the old Ghan Railway route, well away from the modern highway, heading towards Finke. There’s actually two tracks that run parallel – the main…
Day 28-29 – The West MacDonnell Ranges
The West MacDonnell Ranges, like many others in Central Australia, is made up of sandstone that has eroded and weathered into an ever-changing display of colour and texture. There’s still a lot of water in the area, this was…