Flinders Ranges Trip August 2010 - Day 1 and 2.

I was up early so that I could have a quick shower and pack the last of the fridge stuff in the car before heading off just after 4 am. It was an easy drive up the motorway to the BP servo at Blacksoil where I had arranged to meet Brett. Arriving a bit early gave me the chance to have my traditional travelling brekkie of a coffee and a sausage roll. As I walked out of the servo at about 5:30 am, I'm greeted by the familiar sight of Brett refuelling the Cruiser. After a bit of a chat and final check we hit the road out of Brissy. 

It was a relatively easy drive out through Toowoomba, Dalby and St George where we refuelled  and had a chat with some of Brett's friends who were on the way home after a couple of weeks away. They told us that the Darling River run was open (previously the web page for the NSW roads suggested it was closed), so we decided to change our plans a bit and come home that way. Then it was on to Cunnamulla where we had a quick stop while Brett topped up his fuel.

We passed through Eulo and decided not to camp on the banks of the river there and pressed onto Lake Bindegolly Nat. Park (about 40 or so Kms short of Thargomindah) where we found a great camping spot beside the lake. The only real problem was that the wind was blowing and we couldn't find anywhere to get out of it, so we didn't light up a campfire that night.  We set up camp, went for a bit of a walk to the lake to take some photos and then settled in with a drink or two to discuss the problems of the world and how at that moment we didn't care.

It was an early night to bed as we had been up early and covered quite a few Kms (1070 for me) during the day.

The next morning we were awake and packing up not long after the sun came up and drove into Thargomindah to refuel the cars and have a bite to eat. They recommended that we stick to the bitumen and go through Noccundra (on the way to Tibooburra) rather than the back roads as they were still pretty rough. We stopped for a quick stretch at Noccundra before we finally hit the dirt roads. Refuelled the cars at Tibooburra and had a great burger at the Pub for lunch. Then it was off down the Silver City Highway to Milparinka. We stopped here and had a wander around the ruins, taking a few photos and wondering about how hard life would have been out here in the old days.

Then it was off to Hawker Gate which is on the NSW/SA border. The road wasn't too bad and was marked as an alternate way to Broken Hill. All along the border is the dog fence which is fairly well maintained and there is a track running along side the fence for the whole length of it. As you are not supposed to drive along this track we kept to the main road which was in easy viewing distance of the fence. As it was getting  late we started to look for a camp site and found a great spot just beside Lake Boolka, so we set up camp and luckily the wind died down as the sun set, so we got the campfire going. After a quick bite to eat and a drink or two we were ready for another early night in bed.