Sunday 15 May 2022
Today dawned beautifully clear and sunny. A majestic group of Brolgas performed a low level fly past over camp with the soft whirring of their wings and occasional deep honk to announce their presence. It took my breath away as I looked up and saw them, so sleek and perfect as they glided over. There was no time for photos, just memories that are so vivid.
Although there hasn’t been any further rain for a couple of days, many roads out here are still closed and camp sites beside rivers are not accessible yet because of the very muddy conditions anywhere off the sealed roads. We had hoped to spend a night camping by our camp fire beside the Darr River, where we enjoyed a wonderful evening last year. However the river was way up higher, and we didn’t dare drive onto the track along the river.
The Landsborough Highway (or Matilda Way as the road signs advised) between Longreach and Winton passed through the most beautiful lush green countryside; such a contrast to any of our previous ambling along this road. The stations have started restocking with a mixture of young calves and more mature Brahmans and other hardy cattle that cope with the conditions up here. The tanks, dams and creeks are all full and the land is still waterlogged in many parts.
We only paused in Winton to refuel, as we wanted to see if we could get into the Kanghu Kamu Waterhole in the Ayreshire Hills; another special camp we enjoyed last year. However, deep wheel ruts gouged into the track leading off the Highway told the ominous tale of previous disastrous expeditions.
Our ‘Plan B’ was to continue a further 96 kilometres to the quaint old ‘Blue Heeler Hotel’ at Kyuna encouraged by the latest comment on Wiki Camps, which stated “Great spot, DRY GROUND, Blue Heeler Burger delicious, not to be missed”.
Once we had set up camp, we were able to relax with a book, cooled by the refreshingly cool breeze that wafted through, making what would have been almost an unpleasantly hot experience bearable. Later, In the light of the almost full moon, we ambled across to the pub to test the review of their burgers. YUMMY is the word.
ON THE ROAD 