Given how hot it is we have a really good sleep, it is a nice reminder how effective a fan can be and maybe we don’t need AC all the time.
As we don’t have a spare tyre and we wasted a fair bit of time yesterday trying to get to the other camp site, we decide it’s not really wise to try and travel the extra 80km (160+ km return) on dirt into Lawn Hill, with or without the van. So that’s been a 400km detour for not a lot. Remarkably I’m OK with it, this is something that could have really pissed me off. I think maybe I understand things could have been worse yesterday.
We have a great morning swim in the river which we later find out is spring feed. Swimming in fresh water rivers is just the best.
Back to the Burke and Wills road house and it’s been 24hrs and we’re back in the same spot.
We head onto Cloncurry, with a brief stop at Terry Smith Lookout for lunch. After a dropping into the info centre at Cloncurry, we head towards Mt Isa and stop at a freecamp called Corella Dam about halfway between Cloncurry and Mt Isa.
The landscape as we approach Cloncurry changes heaps, on the way in it is mostly grass plains with the odd rocky outcrop now it rolling rocky hills. The traffic is noticeably heavier as we get on the road to Mt Isa too. We realise that there are really only two tar roads that connect the East coast to NT/WA. The road via Port Augusta, and the road we’re now on. That’s pretty amazing, only two tar road connect the east with the west.
Most of the day there has been storm clouds around. We’re treated to one of the most amazing purple sunsets, and as we’re cooking dinner it rains not heaps and it’s quite refreshing, unfortunately for the locals not enough to do any real good.
