We were woken by the soothing sound of rain on the tents …… shit, everyone out of bed and let’s get packed up fast. Why, was the reply!! The answer was if there is too much rain then the Birdsville Track would be closed and we would be stuck there until it re-opened. (not all that bad :))
The tents and everything was packed up in record time and we were sitting at the petrol pumps of Mungerannie Hotel at 8:00 am when they opened up. Fuel was $1.65 a litre – how can it be 12c a litre cheaper than Marree??
It was onto the Birdsville Track and heading south to the Ferry. The rain was still falling albeit not too hard and the road was getting muddy and slippery.
We arrived at the Ferry to find one car lined up and the Ferry on the other side with no operators. I got on the CB to the Ferry Operators to find up about the hold-up. They claimed it was too rough but the creek was dead calm. OK, time for some breakfast while we waited. Half an hour later the Ferry arrived and they recognised us from yesterday and told us that they had been sorting out the belongings of the worker that died yesterday.
A quick trip over the Ferry and we went to the spot where the Birdsville Track was cut by the Cooper Creek. There was water everywhere with the camp-site sign and toilets 100 metres out in the water. Located here was the original “boat” (MV Tom Brennan) used when the Track was cut by flood waters.
We continued down the Track, and I started to feel a difference in the steering – yes a flat tyre. This was near Clayton Station. A rock had fractured the tyre. No worries, grabbed the jack, spare tyre, wheel brace but where is the jack handle? Looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. (Of course I found it when I unpacked the car after we got home) Started using a screwdriver when another car stopped who also had an Isuzu so the right jack handle. It ended up that they lived near Mannum and knew Jenny’s Mum and Dad – how small is South Australia!
Back on the way and the road started to get muddy again. There had obviously been more rain here. A quick stop in Marree but not tyre repairs here so moved onto Lyndhurst where I had to get a new tyre as the fracture was to big to repair. A quick drive out on the very muddy Strzlecki Track to grab a cache at Clarrie’s Water Hole and we were back on the way south to Leigh Creek and Hawker.
With wet tents and sleeping backs, it was decided that we would not be camping tonight but the only thing available was a very budget caravan in the Flinders Ranges Caravan Park. It was some dry beds and the caravan park amenities were excellent.
After tea, Jenny and the kids played cards and I headed out to do some night caching (Found 14 caches around the Hawker area). All slept well, sleeping into 9:00 am the next morning. 🙂
