With time running out to get back we turned our nose towards home for real. We decided on a route through Benalla so we can enter Melbourne via Yea and the east tomorrow,  hopefully avoiding the freeway traffic.

Certainly passed through some pretty little  towns we’d like to pay another visit when we have more time – Darlington Point, with beautiful camping spots right on the Murrimbigee and Jerrildere, which not only has a great bakery, but looks like it’s worthy of a return visit with the bike.

We felt mixed emotions when crossing back over the Murray at Tocomawall – but now just ready to get home. 

It’s amazing the stark comparison of the landscape & vegetation as we have passed from Queensland to NSW to Victoria.

Our last overnighter is in Benalla.  We arrived this drops of rain and black clouds so decided to opt for a motel rather than get our canvas wet.

Haven’t seen one of these for over 3 weeks- to turn on or not to turn on?

Summing up:

• It was a FABULOUS holiday, if a bit short
• We still love the land of red dirt with its big skies and barren landscapes
• Dry heat isn’t that bad but we wouldn’t want it much hotter
• If I had my life again I’d do a stint as a Jillaroo (not sure that David shares this sentiment )
• Favourite towns – hard to pick there were so many. Roma and Longreach stood out for me as they gave such a sense of the working outback. For David looking at the stars in Charleville was hard to beat.
• Next trip? ASAP, for longer and further north.

Over and out for now.

We set south from Bourke at about 9. Pack up was a bit more challenging because of the overnight rain and an inundation of ants. We gave the tent a hefty dose of bug spray as we packed up knowing we’d need to deal with the corpses at the other end. 

Long stretches of tarmac and literally hundreds of wild goats weee the theme of the day.  The goats seemed to be attracted to the road side – not sure why, and we drove past gingerly hoping they wouldn’t dart out in front of us. Fortunately they were streetwise.

Not many stops today. We had intended to lunch in Cobar but didn’t realise it was a public holiday so nothing was open.

We ended up with a roadhouse lunch (unexpectedly with  beautiful fresh sandwiches and coffee).

Afternoon tea stop was in the Mount Hope Pub- the new owners, a  lovely couple , had just taken over 31 days ago.  They were certainly getting lots of business today.

Our final destination for today is in a gem of a campground in a historic school in Merriwagga about an hour south of Hillston. We’re camped in the old school grounds (closed since 2001). The owner is a real card- he and his wife bought the property when the school closed and runs it as a caravan park- and he builds tandem bikes!!! Who would have thought!

Some really cute signs around- there are literally millions of flies around (we’ve had to deploy fly nets), hopefully that means we are more at the bug end of the food chain rather than the snake end.

It’s cloudy and a bit chilly here- am about to put on some long pants and break out the polar fleece for the first time in 3 weeks even though it’s about 23 degrees. Perhaps I’m turning into a Queenslander!

Total km: 3990

Woke up as the other campers started amping up their generators and the kids hit their dirt bikes- most with horses had left late last night- I guess travelling in the cool.

We checked out the flood warnings in Vic before plotting our route- although if I’m being totally honest the thought of being trapped in outback Queensland had just a smidge of  attraction.

We headed out of camp at our usual time, just before 9.

We passed through the wild dog fence out of Queensland at 9 and arrived in New South Wales at 10 – we are time travellers!

We travelled south down the Hungerford Road savouring every last bit of red dirt knowing it’s the last we’ll see for a while.

Caught this guy on video as he ran in front of us- and yes he did make it to the other side!

We stopped at Fords Bridge naively thinking we’d have lunch at the historic Warrego Hotel, only to find the pub was deserted – the owner passed away a while back and nobody has taken it on. While we were there a couple we met in Hungerford pulled in and told us that the pub is going free to anyone who has a liquor license and wants it….. hmm now that sounds like a retirement plan to me!!!!!

Found I had company in the public toilets there….

Just outside Bourke we hit tarmac again, feeling a slight malaise that this meant we really were close to the end of our trip.

Arrived in Bourke just before 2, absolutely ravenous.   However we met our match with ‘The Northy’s’ counter lunch.

We’re camped right in Bourke in a camp ground that meets our key requirements after 3 days of free bush camping- shower and power- yes!!!

Awoke early to light rain ( the first of this trip), the hum of dirt bikes and clatter of horses as all the kids got ready for their events. The Hungerford Sports Association had planned their event day to coincide with the 150th and the flood relief activities so the joint is jumping.

We watched the morning gumkhana (a photo free child sporting event sorry). So much fun- starting with an under 4 event with cute tiny tots riding equally cute tiny ponies, led by their parents trying out junior versions of flag races, barrel races and ‘Apple our of the bucket’ races. Man you have to be fit to be a parent in these parts, those ponies can move.

Was amazing watching the skill of the young riders – going up to 17 and their positively gleaming stock horses- heaven!

The gymkhana was all over by late morning with the 150th celebrations starting with a parade of pretty much everyone who currently living in Hungerford either on foot or horse back followed by the adult events, and finishing the day with novelty events including broom tossing and egg throwing. So much wholesome fun and the entire community got into it wholeheartedly. 

I’d say we were pretty much the only people here who don’t have a connection with the town, but people were very welcoming. I had long chats with an 85+ year old cattle farmer who had travelled with his mate (also 85) from the other side of Roma. His mate was competing in events and his mates wife had asked this fellow to go with him to ‘keep him out of trouble’. I asked him if he was still riding and he said ‘no my grandkids made me shift to the Ute 3 years ago’.

Back at our camp site exhausted and literally coated in red dust. We definitely need a camp site with shower facilities tomorrow night, but in the mean time- baby wipes it is!

There are two types of morning people in campgrounds- this who are up and at ’em at the crack of dawn and those that stay in bed, air conditioners on the blow until well after 9. Our observation is the length of time in bed is proportional to the size of your van.

The sweet spot for us having made and consumed a leisurely breakfast seems to be a 9am departure.

We spent the morning checking out the sights of Cunnamulla – a really pretty historic town, we did a mandatory stop at the bakery (very important to support local businesses….) then headed out of town- backtracking through Eulo before heading south towards Hungerford.

It was a mix of gravel, gibber rock and corrugations as we headed through Currawinya National Park. 

originally part of an old merino station, the woolsheds have been preserved.

We turned on our dust machine and listened to our duco being exfoliated.

Arrived in Hungerford round 2 pm and called into the Royal Mail Hotel (another one on our list) with a hope of getting lunch. The owner informed us the kitchen had closed early to prepare for the town’s 150th birthday party this evening- farmers and travellers alike (over 300 of them) are expected for a weekend on food, family fun, barrel racing, gymcana and motocross racing- along with live music each night. Camping is free as is the pub camo roast tonight. 

We scurried off to secure our camp site in the bush surrounding the sports ground and are now nestled in at our site waiting for 5.30 when the fun begins, and calculating how long it takes to drive to Melbourne should we get parked in until it all ends on Sunday.

Have felt a few big drops of rain but hopefully BOM predictions for minimal rain are correct or we may be at the biggest party in town for quite some time

Joined the masses at the Royal Mail Hotel. The free dinner had been sponsored by the flood relief and resilience program as a way of bringing three remote community together to connect- and it certainly seemed to do the job. . It was easy to spot the tourists – we were the ones not wearing work shirts, jeans and boots. Stayed for dinner, drinks and some live music before heading back to camp, which is very quiet now except for the sound of generators and people’s dogs  barking in their vans. I suspect it will get much noisier later tonight.

Woke to cool but strong winds this morning so made haste to pack up the camper before it became a giant kite.

Once that was done we enjoyed a relaxed breakfast in the camp kitchen chatting and sharing tips with other campers (to be honest their tips are always more valuable than ours).

We left Quilpie just after 9 taking the Quilpie Thargaminda Road – based on morning recommendations first stop was the South Western Hotel in Toonpine – it’s one of the famed iconic bush pubs and reputed to have the best morning teas this side of the black stump, so how could we not? The owners’ daughter served us-    the pub has been in their family since the 1940. The morning tea certainly lived up to expectations.

And where would an outback town be without a rusty vehicle sitting on top of a pile? 

From  there with full bellies, fully caffeinated, and clutching a signed copy of the Australian Bush Pubs we went on n our way. 

Our mission is now clear…..

Again the road was the narrow single lane tarmac road with reasonably wide verges except for the creek bed crossings.  We definitely heeded the signage, pulling over and sucking in our tummies as the big cattle trucks passed us. 

Got off the road for this bad boy- they don’t slow down for anyone.

Lunch stop was in Eulo, an old opal mining town from the 1880s, also famous for its artesian mud baths. Despite their transformative health claims we gave the mud baths a miss given the mercury sitting at 37 and our reluctance to have mud lodged in every nook and cranny. 

Never let it be said we’re ‘unAustralian’ – we stopped for  a hearty Angus sandwich at the Eulo Queen Hotel,. The pub was founded and now named after Isabel Robinson, ‘the Queen of Eulo’ , an early pioneer woman who set up businesses in the town in the late 1800s, trading with the opal miners.

Arrived in Cunnamulla mid afternoon and made the (not too) difficult choice – caravan park with pool or free camp with flies? Let’s just say we were parked up with togs on within 15 minutes. We wallowed until the sun went low and we resembled prunes, chatting to the other late afternoon arrivals doing the same.