Our Trip
Day Fourteen
Up again, bright and early on Day Fourteen.
Dave decided to tackle the broken step treads
again, but this time with tie down straps and
small tree branches. It did the trick!
For the first time since they broke,
Dave and I could actually hold a conversation
in the old girl without shouting above the racket.
Cold morning once again, some clothes drying
over the fire for our friends, some more
lingering over the warmth of the coals, before
packing up and heading south once more.
We met 4 more vehicles headed north
and travelled over more sand dunes and
some rocky terrain.
We passed the scenic Diebel Hills
and more beautiful scenery, which
kept me happily clicking away
out the window or thru the dirty
windscreen whenever I could hold the camera
steady enough or even if I couldn't.
We saw an emu and his? her?
chicks, but we were too far away
for a close up shot.
We wove our way around the hills, over
soft sand, little jump ups, dunes and rocky terrain
which at times was quite steep and slow going.
(ok so it's all slow going, but all the better for taking
photos don't you think? I mean, we could easily have
taken an extra 2 weeks on this track if we had had the time)
Soon enough, we arrived at the picturesque
Durba Springs. Now this is a place that would be
wonderful to camp for a couple of days,
but due to our time pressure, we were unable to
stop the night, and we just explored around
and had a snack. It is a shady, green campsite
with a drop dunny and it's surrounded by a spring
and tall red cliffs.
Durba Springs is an oasis in the desert.
With it's towering red cliffs, date palms
and red river gums, it's the perfect
campsite for a couple days unwind.
Maybe next time we pass through, we'll be able
to stop there!
The girls and I did a bit of exploring
and they climbed up a little into the crevasses.
I managed to get them to stay
still long enough to take a group shot.
(and yes, we were all in red once again!)
I enjoyed watching a swarm of
bees going in and out of an opening in
a big gum tree. Thankfully, they weren't interested
in me.
All too soon, our hour of exploring
was over, and we hit the track again.
I never tired of these red rocks
and the rugged landscape.
Leaving Durba Springs we headed onto
the Well 16 ruins.
Some more rocky terrain and then sand dunes once more.
Well 16 was very green and seemed
really strange compared to most
of the other wells.
It was beautiful tho, and I can imagine
travellers in years gone by enjoyed the
refreshment of this well.
Because of the recent wet season,
the track presented a lot of washed out areas
that you had to manoeuvre around.
But it just added to the excitement.
There were some bumpy rocky
ledges to climb slowly up and over,
and then more sand.
No, Emilee. Not that way!
Ah, too late. Yep, put it in
4WD and get yourself out.
Righto, on our way again.
Up the track further, we came
across Murray Rankine's Trolley.
An interesting piece of history.
Here is a snippet on the story of this trolley.
"In 1972, before the route was regularly negotiated in four-wheel drives, ambitious attempts to complete it on foot took place. A New Zealander, Murray Rankin, and two English brothers, John and Peter Waterfall, fashioned homemade trolleys from bicycle wheels and metal tubing, and began their attempt starting from Wiluna in early June 1972. First John and then Peter turned back, but Rankin continued to Lake Disappointment before being forced to abandon the attempt.
The remains of one of their trolleys lie 19 km north of Well 15.
In 1973 Rankin tried again, this time starting from Old Halls Creek with Englishman John Foulsham. This time they had professionally built trolleys with motor-cycle wheels. The walk began on 1 June. Soon after reaching Godfrey's Tank they were unable to pull the trolleys over the high sand hills. They left them and walked on to Lake Tobin and there abandoned
the attempt and returned to Halls Creek.
Three years later,in 1976, Rankin achieved his ambition to walk the stock route. After driving the route in a Land Rover and establishing food depots along the way, he set out from Halls Creek on 12 July 1976 with three other bushwalkers, Ralph Barraclough, Kathy Burman and Rex Shaw. Barraclough turned back after becoming ill, but the others completed
the journey in just under three months"
If you'd like to read more of it's history,
click on the link below.
When you're crossing sand dune
after sand dune, you don't expect to come
upon a sign that says, "Hump"???
Yeah. Weird. But funny too!
Well 15 was a nice restored well
and was really green too.
Then, because we hadn't had many
that day, we were in need of some
corrugates to shake us all up a bit.
Hmmm?
We came upon a panoramic lookout
that we spent a bit of time clambering over.
Adding our rock to the pile,
Dave looks like some sort of giant.
Photographic perspective.
The rim of our friends' vehicle was severely
bent? rippled? corrugated? from the rocky terrain.
Their vehicle was a newish Land Rover
with all the mod cons.
So far they had fared pretty well,
with only their sand flag coming off,
a loose aerial, a roof rack mount disappearing
and the park brake making horrendous noises
when in use (maybe sand in the workings somewhere?)
More corrugates, more washouts,
more wildflowers, then time to make
camp for the night.
This was the first day I had had to wear
an extra layer of clothing as it was getting
pretty cold out there!
We stopped just short of Well 13 and
made camp in some dry spindly trees.
It was freezing!
We fuelled up the cars and left our
leaking 44 gallon drum there
(as other travellers have done before).
I guess, evidence of our having been there
(although I didn't know until we'd left, so
I didn't get a photo of our lonely drum
fading into the distance as we drove away)
Some fun with the lens ball
and the sunset, complete with
the moon and stars showing up
in the crystal sphere.
We were also treated to a fox
coming into camp as we sat by the fire.
Maybe he was cold too?
I made some damper to use for
bread in morning and we enjoyed a
piping hot sausage and vege casserole
to warm our insides.
And another amazing day of travel
had ended.
I know this was an extremely
long post, but I'm not sorry.
I couldn't stop.
I was reliving the moments.
To be continued...………….
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