Mon 6th we reluctantly packed up and headed south- we couldnt delay the inevitable any longer. We were aiming for Bladensburg NP, near Winton where we have stayed previously. This was a fairly long and uneventful drive and we arrived there just before dark, which was good as we needed daylight to recall where we camped last time. Luckily for us this had, just a few days before, been reopened since all of the floods and so we were conscious of taking it easy to consider the road conditions. After a short drive in, we found a beautiful spot, on the open red dirt plain, adjacent a gully and dotted with stunning lush mulga vegetation. This open space, vast landscape camping was the sort we really loved. It would have been even beter if the northern warmth with us, but alas that wasnt the case and as we soon found out, the worst was yet to come.
We awoke the next morning to a spectacular sunrise and heard the calls of the Chestnut breasted quail thrush, so although we didnt have long we to go out in search of this bird, and several others of his
mates!! After a lot of searching and stalking we came across them, and their friends- Spinifexbird, Bellbirds, Spinycheeked Honeyeaters. As is our dilemma, time is always against us- we would have loved to stay and camp a few more nights here. Again dragging our heels, we headed off later than planned. To make matters worse, on the drive out of the park of course there were Australian Pratincoles 1 m off the side of the road who were begging to be photographed- arghh what were we to do??? We couldnt disappoint and so took the time to get the shot. This of course, made us very late. We needed to get down to Blackall, as the day after was going to be a huge day of driving and we had camped in Blackall before, along the Barcoo river. The daylight was quickly fading and we still had another 30km to go so the driving was even slower to ensure we avoided stray animals crossing. We pulled into Blackall in the dark and although the camp area was quite full, we managed to get a spot down the back. We were very tired, so after a quick setup,the Barcoo hotel was
calling us for dinner. It was terrific- we walked there, enjoyed a yummy Barra, chips and salad and then briskly walked back in the cool night air. We couldnt believe the temprature change- we were in for a cold one!!!
Next morning, Wed 8th, we heard the sound of people stoking their campfires and the noticeable dew on the campo- the air was crisp to say the least. Chris and Merlin went for a run while i started the pack up and got breaky ready. Although they had a great run, they were almost ill with the cold- we were not aclimatised to this at all!! After getting warm clothes on and putting hands on the boiling billy, we eventually thawed enough to fold up the campo. Today was a huge drive- close to 600km so we couldnt dilly dally. We headed off and warmed up along the way in the car. As we were bush camping these final few nights, and didnt have the luxury of warm weather to enjoy bucket bush showers, we thought a shower might be in order. We found a fantastic free shower at the Charleville showgrounds and each had the best warm shower- i
even got to wash my hair- it was such a treat. We made some lunch and then quickly headed on our way towards Eulo, just north of the qld/nsw border. Here Chris was aiming across Bourkes Parrot, Blue Bonnets and Mulga Parrots. We got into camp late in the day but with plenty of daylight to find a great spot, tucked away. This was a generally open mulga landscape, with red dirt, and plenty of eremophilias. We set up and for only the second time on our trip- got a fire going. We couldnt believe it- we were definitely on our way south!! The fire became another photo opportunity for Merlin. During the trip, apart from taking photos of birds, reptiles mammals and frogs, he started dabbling in photos of landscapes and other subjects but with an artistic and sometimes abstract edge- which look amazing.
