Day 8

This was the day we started heading East again and we left the Caravan Park at Tibooburra and travelled the cut line to Wanaaring then north to the Queensland border at the Hungerford border gate. Tibooburra has the distinction of being the most remote and hottest town in outback New South Wales.

The Granites Caravan Park - Tibooburra

Scaly Backed Lizard

Melons in the Desert Sand

We saw large groups of Emus and Kangaroos on the cut line and some waterholes along with the large numbers of water birds and a very large King Brown Snake that slithered off the road on our approach. The sand was so hot here that we even saw frilly lizards up in the tree branches about 6 feet off the ground. A couple of Scaly Backed Lizards stopped us in our tracks as the "Hurried" across the road.

Through Wanaaring and up to Hungerford where Elizabeth personally opened the border gate to let us through, we enquired at the Royal Mail Hotel as to the caravan park and were direct to the lane way across the road where the local council had just built a brand new caravan park with no fewer than 4 powered sites. "Just pick a site and the council guy will find you eventually to get your money". Pretty easy booking in procedure what?

Mister Emu out walking the "KIDS" "Click to enlarge".

Elizabeth opens the gates from New South Wales to Queensland

Welcome to Hungerford Caravan Park

As it was still early afternoon we decided to unhitch the camper van and get it set up and then "Slip up the Road" to Currawinya National Park. This is only 13 kilometres North of Hungerford and was a grazing property in days gone by but is the home of an amazing system of waterholes and 2 of the largest lakes to found in the region. We got there in quick time and found the Ranger Office deserted, but a young lady fuelling up her 4 wheel drive was at a nearby shed. She was a goat hunter and she and her boyfriend were trapping wild goats. She told me it was 38 kilometres of bush track to the first of the lakes and it was really boggy after the rain. Looks like the rain that stopped us at Innamincka had been through here too. Anyway, we set off to see if we could find the lakes and ...Boggy...nah...we're in a Landcruiser....let's have some fun.

Well we've never seen so many kangaroos and emus and water in one place at one time....every time we saw a big expanse of water we thought we had found the first of the lakes. Well, we were quickly finding that what we were seeing is the rain back up that had flooded into some lower country. We had a whale of a time slip slidin' away and eventually we came to the shore of Lake Numalla...it was like a small sea in this normally semi arid country.

"I wonder if they have a coin operated car wash out here???"

Lake Numalla- See the trees on the far shore?

The best Pub in Hungerford.

In our travel research notes we noticed that travellers could buy fuel at the Royal Mail Hotel at Hungerford. As we had done a lot of miles that day we asked if we could fill up. I hadn't noticed any fuel pumps in the whole town, let alone the pub. Well the publican asked how much fuel we might need and I replied that the main tank holds 95 litres. "Oh dear" said the publican..."I think I might have 30 litres". Well we're pretty well set up for outback travel and our auxiliary fuel tank was still full and it would get us to Eulo.....

We'd travelled a long way this day, so it was a nice hot shower and dinner and.......