CAPE YORK TRIP DAY 8

23 June 2014

21km North of Dig Tree – 130km East of Birdsville (306 km)

There was a bit of a cold wind in the morning as the beautiful rosy pinks of dawn emerged over the horizon.  After a nice cooked breakfast a flocks of galahs and cockatoos greeted us.

Jump ups greeted us as we made our wayin what is known as Channel Country.  

Before long we encountered a groups of camels including what appeared to be a family – mum, dad and little one between them.  A little further we saw an old camel on its own.

As we made towards Birdsville the road surface was ever changing and generally was very good as it had been gradeds.  At one stage we were driving in the swales between two sand dunes.  Morning tea as always gave us time to explore a new area.  Little pockets of flowers continued to astound us.

My GPS decided to go crazy in the afternoon and suddenly told me it was 1298km to Birdsville whilst Min’s GPS on the other side of the car said it was 320km to go.  Funny that both were the same brand.

As we were in Channel Country the road had quite a few gentle dips. In places the road snaked through the landscape with sweeping curves.  In places, closer to Birdsville there was water on the road and we even came across a pair of emus.  

The grader had obviously been at work but that did not stop the dust.

On one of our stops we came across an amazing tree with unusual bark.

As we continued we came across a lookout.  We were hesitant of going there due to two of our party watching their fuel consumption very closely.  We were glad we decided to go there.  The view across the vast lands reinforced how far from everywhere you were.

Near Beetuta  there was an amazing sculpture on the side of a hill.  It is one of three dreamtime sculptures in the Diamantina Shire.

We camped near a sand dune to protect us from the wind.  It was a  strong cold wind so no campfire again tonight. 

The sunset was just spectacular.  I climbed the dune to get a different view and it was well worth it.  We were all out with our cameras trying to catch the amazing sunset. 

We decided to eat dinner in Bob and Žydre’s van.  Another magic evening in the bush with no one else about.