Its been over a month since we were on the Birdsville Track but it is still that gift that keeps on giving. Woke up this morning to a flat tyre on the wheel we had the blowout on the Birdsville Track.

Pumped it up enough to get to a tyre repairer. The closest one was Bridgestone but they were too busy to get to it. Next closest was Premier Independent Tyres and they could do the job.

After doing the dunking tank, there was no puncture but there was 2 cracks in the rim opposite each other. and the air was leaking through those cracks.

The guys changed some tyres around on rims and sold me a new rim for the spare and I was on my way.It was a pretty easy day with a stop about every 10 kilometres or so for a geocache. There were a lot of road trains with hay heading east, some of which didnt seem to be tied down too well.

The quarantine check was at Oodla Wirra, 200 kilometres from the border but I didnt have anything for him apart from the stems of the grapes I finished eating.

The plan was to stay at the Burra Caravan Park but due to school holidays, there was no room. There was plenty of room at the Riverton Caravan Park, 55 kilometres further south.

An easy drive home tomorrow morning now.

[Show as slideshow]

The rain continued through the night and by morning 9mm had fallen with more on the way. The wind had dropped away so I hit the road. The original plan was to go through to Wilcannia.

The rain had brought out the wildlife with kangaroos, goats and horses lining the road grabbing the green shoots. Another unusual sight was the huge pools of water flowing away from the road.

There was some evidence of vehicles pulling off onto the shoulder only to sink on the mud. I guess there will be no pulling off to the side of the road today. Luckily I have no geocaches to find until I get the other side of Cobar.

The rain was widespread with it all the way to Broken Hill. Yes I had changed the plan as I got to Wilcannia just after lunch and decided to continue onto the Hill.

There were a few geocaches to grab but luckily they were all in the rest areas which were hard standing.

The wind had picked up again and was mostly a side wind which made it interesting to keep the car and van on the road. It also killed the fuel economy.

By the time I got to Broken Hill there were creeks flowing with the area receiving over 35mm rain overnight. I drove through rain storms on and off all day.The rain certainly isnt a drought breaker but it will go a long way to fill dams and tanks, as well as promote some grass growth.

Digs for the night is the Broken Hill Tourist Park.

Diesel @ Broken Hill $1.599, Wilcannia $1.649, Cobar $1.619

[Show as slideshow]

Well the Harley alarm clock was 722am. I didnt hear them pack up but certainly heard them leave. I guess I am having an early start for the 460km drive to Bourke.

It was a good travel day with warm weather and a slight tail wind.

About a 100km out from Bourke , the skies were getting darker to the west and south. There was a low pressure system heading towards Bourke.

I arrived at the Kidman’s Camp Tourist Park just before 3pm and the skies were still clear, so there was still some time to get in some caching.

The first cache was down behind the caravan park at the PV Jandra paddleboat on the Darling River. The cache was in a hole in a pepper tree but there was something else in there too. I saw what I thought was a rubber snake wrapped around the container but then the tongue flickered. I guess it is not rubber. It saw me then disappeared down into the tree. Looks like it might have been an Inland Taipan. I still got the cache but used a large stick to get it out.

I continued aroundBourke grabbing caches then the dark skies started turning red. There was a huge dust storm in front of the thunderstorms.I managed to just fill the fuel tank before the dust hit. It only lasted about 5-10 minutes before it started to rain. 

[Show as slideshow]

With the Queensland Outback Geocaching Muster now over, it is the 2000 kilometre trek back to South Australia. The weather up here has been great with warm days and warm nights but apparently SA has had warm weather as well. I bet it doesn’t stay that way.

Oh well, time to enjoy the shorts and t-shirt weather while it lasts.

I had a bout of gout in my left ankle overnight so was in no hurry to get on the road.

Eventually left the Barcy area around 11am.

First stop was Blackall to grab a few geocaches that I missed last week. The lunch stop was Tambo.

There was a group of Harleys heading south and I was overtaken by them 3 times during the day. In fact they ended up camping next to me at Charleville.

Arriving intoCharleville just before 5pm, it was restock time at the IGA and refuel at the United. Digs tonight was the Bailey Bar Caravan Park for a change. We normally stay at the Cobb & Co Caravan Park. The Bailey Bar is very tight but there are nice grass sites.

I wonder what time the Harleys will fire up in the morning.

Diesel @ Charleville $1.579, Blackall $1.609, Barcaldine $1.559