TRIP to CANNING STOCK ROUTE DAYS 54-56 Cannia Gorge

TRIP to CANNING STOCK ROUTE DAYS 54-56

4-6 August 2012

STAGE 5 HEADING SOUTH Days 1-3

CANNIA GORGE

What a delightful place. We pulled into the Cannia Gorge Tourist Retreat at the entry to the national park. What a gem!. We booked in for two nights and stayed for three.

At night a communal fire draws travellers together.

We spent one day doing about a 6 km walk. We climbed to Giant Chair lookout and then did the loop via Fern Pool.

The rocks are gauged out by wind and rain. Staghorns are growing high up on the rocks. Fig trees are precariously perched on the rocks. On our return we stopped at Big Foot.

Next day we walked to the picnic area and then did the Two Story Cave walk. The colours on the rocks were interesting. The walk into the King Orchard Cavern was impressive as rock walls enclosed you on all sides.

We drove out to have a look at Cannia Dam and lunched there by the water. Lovely spot. Interestingly we could get Telstra reception at the dam but not at the camping area.

A lovely respite spot on our way towards home.

TRIP to CANNING STOCK ROUTE DAYS 51-54 Capricorn Highway

TRIP to CANNING STOCK ROUTE DAYS 51-54

1 - 4 August 2012

STAGE 4 West to East Days 7-10

CAPRICORN HIGHWAY

We decided to go along the Capricon Highway to get from west to east. Except for the section Winto to Barcaldine we had not travelled on this road before. This route is also art of the ‚Dig the Tropic‘ route advertised by Queensland Tourism. A train line ran parralel to the road most of the way.

Between Winton and Longreach is the Coper catchment area. We passed the Georgina catchment area whilst travelling along the Plenty. This is truly channel country. I would love to see if after rains but of course the roads would then be closed.

What struck me most travelling along the road between Winton and Longreach was the amount of roadkill. It was shocking. Consequently we saw lot of eagles and kites as they had a ready source of food.

The road to Barcaldine was not as good – somewhat bouncy due to patchwork of repairs that had been done. A new road was under construction besides the current road.

We stopped a Barcaldine for a break. Then past some small little towns like Jericho where there was not a local in sight. Before long we were in the central part of the state. The fragrance of the flowering wattles reached us in the car. We stopped at Drummond Range Lookout and continued to Willows Gemfields for the night.

Next day we explored Rubyvale, Sapphire, Anakie. We tried our hand at fossicking. Not my cup of tea.

We finished the day at Emerald. Lovely pruod town. Public Art is promoted by their Information Centre. The large sunflower picture dominates the park.

We spent an interesting night camped outside the Botanic Gardens with many other travellers. The caravan parks were full so this area was chockers. It is a desgnated free camping area for 20 hour stays. Some were in caravans, others in motorhomes and others in tents. We parked under the rail line. Only two trains went passed so that was okay. However it was Friday night, so many late night revellers passed by. A function at the park started at 7:00am with streams of people coming in. Busy place.

In the morning we walked through the gardens. It was a nice, peaceful place.

From Blackwater the electric train line dominated the landscape. Also there were quite a few coal trains going up and down the track and were they long.

We stopped to visit the International Coal Centre. That was somewhat disappointing as many displays were not operational and the tours had been stopped.

At Blackwater we made the decision to go to Cania Gorge as recommended to us by friends. So we turned off the highway and started to head south.

TRIP to CANNNG STOCK ROUTE Days 48-51 Plenty Highway

TRIP to CANNING STOCK ROUTE DAYS 48-51

29-31 July, 1 August - 2012

STAGE 4 West to East Days 4-6

PLENTY HIGHWAY TO BOULIA, KENNEDY DEVELOPMENTAL RD TO WINTON

Mid morning we left Alice. First stop was to do a grease and oil change. There was a sudden gust of wind as a result of which hubby was splattered with oil. Then we headed east along the Plenty Highway. The highway was a mixture of good road, bitumen, dirt, corrugations (but not too bad) and roughish stony surface. It was much better than we anticipated.

Heading east the Hart Ranges in the south provided a lovely backdrop as travelled. The scenery was interesting and ever changing.

In Queensland there was much more of the large sweeping plains with Marshall grasses.

As we travelled the synchronised flying by huge flocks of budgies was a sight to be seen.

The first night we camped at Marshall River rest area near the start of the Hay River Track across the Simpson.

It was a lovely morning except for that wind. As we travelled we saw the odd termite mound and they were all big.

We crossed several dry river beds and after Arthur River there was a significant change in the landscape. Tarlton Ranges and other jump ups and ranges added interest to the trip.

The soil has changed from the deep rich reds and browns to a yellow creamy sandy soil.

Vast plains of sunburnt country interspersed with grasslands.

The second night we camped at Georgina River rest area. The reinforcements on the bridge work attests to the power of the water in this channel country. The huge tree trunk swept up against the bridge could easily have brought it down if the bridge had not been so strongly erected.

Next morning was warmish and would have been nice except for the strong breeze. We continued on along the Plenty Highway past large open plains of very flat land.

We arrived at Boulia late morning. We did, as instructed by Harry, go to the Information Centre and booked in to see the Min Min Show. Would not have expected something of such high calibre to be put on by a small community such as Boulia. A very interesting and thought provoking show. Thoroughly enjoyed it. After lunch we made our way to the Stone House Museum.

I really enjoyed seeing the fossils that had been discovered in the channel country.

We stopped at a lovely new rest area 76km out of Boulia. The remains of the Hamilton Hotel fireplace had been turned into a memorial to mark the completion of the sealing of the road between Winton and Boulia.

The following morning was cold and we were above the Tropic of Capricorn. The weather is just unbelievable.

The Kennedy Developmental Road is a sealed single lane road. This means that overtaking is an issue as they have to wait until there is an overtaking lane. Sometimes 23km between them. We were in a good place – behind a road train carrying cattle – except for smells eminating from the truck. When we saw a road train coming towards us we wondered who will move over to the side – it was the incoming road train as he was empty. So we were able to just keep going behind ‚our‘ road train.

Cowpole lookout was spectacular.

The colours were rich, the formations interesting.

It was hot inside the cabin but the breeze was too cool to be without a windcheater when outside or to have the windows open whilst travelling. Crazy weather!

TRIP to CANNING STOCK ROUTE DAYS 46-47 - Alice Springs

27-28 July 2012

STAGE 4 West to East Days 2-3

ALICE SPRINGS

It was catch up time in Alice Springs. Calls to the children, washing and other matters taken care of. I spent some time visiting the galleries and we went to a didjeridoo workshop.

We spent several very enjoyable hours at the Desert Park. It is so well set up. We learnt quite a bit about the various habitats as we strolled throught the various sections.

Really enjoyed it.

Finally got on the internet and was able to start uploading my blog of the trip.

TRIP to CANNING STOCK ROUTE DAYS 44-45 - Tanami

24 July 2012

STAGE 3 CSR Day 23 and STAGE 4 West to East Day 1

BILLILUNA, TANAMI

 Hubby had decided that we needed an early start today in order to have enough time on Friday in Alice Springs before certain offices closed for the weekend. So I was expecting to say goodbye and leave before everyone else. To our utter surprise everyone decided to join us for the early start so that we could all drive out together to the Tanami. How magic was that to finish this part of the trip together.

Jenny and Harry

Chris and Gary

 Us

We drove into Billiluna, topped up with fuel and together drove out to the Tanami.

Our last photo shoot together by the sign before we headed east and the other two Oka’s west. It was hard to say goodbye. I am sure we will keep in touch and maybe do another trip together.

The Tanami Track was very different this time round to that we travelled on four years ago. It is in reasonable condition particularly to NT border. After that there were several more corrugated sections but overall it was a ‚highway‘.

The mine seems to have expanded mid way along the track. An airport with several large jets and many road trains going up and down to Alice suggest it is a busy place.

Instead of having two nights on the Tanami we only had one as we made such good time on the track. Before we knew it we were in Alice Springs on Thursday mid afternoon.