We got up and had a leisurely breakfast before packing up camp and leaving around 9:30 to 10:00 am. It was then on the road north to Lake Nuga Nuga for a look. The road into the lake had been badly damaged by an enormous land slide, luckily it had been repaired sufficiently to continue driving. When we got to where the camp site should be there was a metre or so of water lapping against the camping sign. We had thought we may stay the night but not now. Back to the road and we headed for Rolleston for lunch but it was mostly shut so after a quick toilet stop we headed off to Springsure. The road was pretty good and we made good time. About the only thing open was the BP service station so we fuelled up and had lunch. They make the best burgers I had tasted in awhile. It was then off to Salvatora Rosa and for awhile the road was good but then it became a gravel road with a few bumps. Once we turned off the main road to the national park it became worse but it just meant we had to go a bit slower. We got to the camp site a bit after 5'ish and set up camp and cooked dinner. We then set up the first camp fire of the trip and sat around with a few drinks and chatted about where to go next day. Off to bed between 9 and 10 pm.
Day 5 - Tuesday 26/4/11.
After a lazy breakfast and a chat we decided to head off on the 4WD track into the park. The family in a Patrol said the track was a bit sloppy but they had no problems, so we headed off over the river with Kemsley in the lead. We found the boggy patch pretty quickly and I had to snatch him backwards twice before he found the right line through the bog. We had three snatch straps joined so I didn't sink into the bog. Then after we reduced tyre pressure to about 24 the rest of us got through the bog OK but the cars were filthy. There were a few other smaller bogs but nothing that gave us any problems. We stopped and had a look at several of the signed points of interest including Spyglass lookout, Louisa springs, Major Mitchell walk ?. We then headed back to camp for a late lunch and a lazy afternoon. The creek wasn't deep but it had a nice clean sandy bottom so I had a swim to wash off some of the mud. Then we soaked and cleaned the snatch straps in the creek to get of the mud. Another fire was lit and a few drinks had after dinner.
Day 6 - Wednesday 27/4/11
We packed up and got ready to leave by 10 am and headed out of Salvatora Rosa towards Ka Ka Mundi via the back road. The dirt road wasn't too flash so the trip was slowish. When we got to the park boundary it got even worse. The sign said the road was not maintained and it certainly wasn't, with many trees down across the road which led to some severe off track excursions to get around them. When we got to the camp site we found the Patrol family having lunch, so we set up camp and had some lunch as well. They went down for a walk to the Spring/creek while we were doing this. We then had a spot of afternoon tea and looked around the camp area and had a very lazy afternoon. Another camp fire in the evening after dinner but everyone was pretty tired and we were in bed by around nine'ish.
Day 7 - Thursday 28/4/11
We slept in a bit had breakfast and then headed off for a walk to the Creek and to look for Aboriginal art about 11'ish. We ended up walking along the creek for a bit but it was hard work getting through the undergrowth so we climbed up the south side of the creek to the ridge for a look. Lisa spotted some red paint on the other side of the creek so we made our way across there and found quite a good site under a rock outcrop facing south. We had a rest and took some photos before going to look for some more art. We found a small site that looked like kids had done it as the hands were quite small. Then we were going to return home to camp by going up and over the hill behind the camp site as we thought this would be easier than tracking back along the creek. It probably wasn't but we got to see some more countryside and Josh and Debbie both survived a couple of small falls. I got back to the camp and took a few preventative ibuprofins to help the knees settle down. After lunch we had a lazy afternoon, I finished reading my book on the iPod Touch. Greg, Lisa and Kemsley went and did a bit of track clearing to make the drive out easier. Once again we had a fire and used up the last of the Bunnings fire wood. A plan was made to have an early start, head to Springsure to shop and have another burger at the BP and then head onto Takarakka at Carnarvon Gorge if we can get in. Once again we were in bed by about 9:30pm.
