Day 9 Innamincka - Day 2

Coopper Creek - were Bourke passed away

Bourke told Wills let me die here. A day later he did :( 

Coolabah Tree

Camp 65 - where the dig tree is located and the area where Bourke and Wills missed their paty by 9 hrs and as a result passed away.

Road Train - for those that do not know - 1 semi will move all 3 trailers. When you see them on the dirt road, you just move over or stop, as they have right of way. Regardless of law. They can't stop in a hurry. Kings of the road up here and the dust they generate....

Innamincka Hotel

Relaxation day!!! Twice in the night I heard the dingoe's howling. It was aboslutely breath taking. It was like Brocky howling but add another 20 Brocky's doing it at the same time. The second chorus given by the dingo's a few hours later was the best, as you could hear them west and then in the east and then north with all corners of the compass the howls were coming. It was like they were communicating and everyone had something to say. Do miss my boofhead! (Brock)

Late start and headed off to see the site were Bourke died along the banks of Cooper Creek. Whilst it is a sad story, what a place to croke it. Heaven. I took a dip into the Cooper Creek and in the mid 30's degree heat at that stage, it was heaven. I really did not want to get out. When I did, back on with all the heavy and hot motorbike gear :( Why is all motorbike gear in Aus black? This aint Europe, it's fucking hot!! My next jacket will not be black, but I think that will be a struggle to find.

We then ventured to the Dig tree, another 60km's away. It was camp 65 for the Bourke and Wills expedition and what a place. Again along the banks of the Cooper Creek and it looks amazing. A plane load of tourists were next to the tree and we could not get great access to it. And I mean a plane load. There is an airstrip next to the Dig Tree with the plane open awaiting their return. Upon our return at Innamincka, the plane load of ppl rocked up. They are on a 2 day plane tour, Adelaide, (flying over Coober Pedy, Lake Eyre, Simpson Desert), Birdsville  (stay night), Dig Tree, Innamincka (stay night) and then off to Adelaide. Cost is apparently about $2K which is pretty good but I prefer doing it on bikes.

I had planned on staying an extra day in Innamincka, but after today, we will leave a day early. Head to Cameron Corner traversing 220 sand dunes which are clay covered however there are warnings as some of the dunes clay tops have been eroded and filled with bulldust up to a meter deep. That is scary!!!! Can't afford to drop into one of them.

Seriously - if you get a chance to come this way - go!! Chatting to a local, we said we (on bikes doing the full trip) are but a few of people who see the real outback. My ambition or dream was to do Birdsville on bike, but the highlight has been Innamincka and Cordillo Downs .

We are in the pub now relaxing after a few beers and Pete mentioned - hey they have snakes up here :) He knows I hate them and this area has snakes that if they just look at you, you have about 30 min life left.

HOT OFF THE PRESS - Awesome luck for us. A biker just rocked up into the pub and we started to chat. He was the leader of 4 bikes into Innamincka from Newcastle NSW. He had 3 flats and had to fix them on the road so the others went on. He beat his mates here which was not right, so he logged into Spot on my lappie to find out where his mates are. (Isn't modern tech marvelous!!!) Seems they took a wrong turn and are still 60km's away. As a result, we are not going to go the way we planned and go a different way - Innamincka to Epsilon to Santos to Tibooburra.

Chat laters - Richard


Peter's Bit
Yeah the road down from Birdsville to Innamincka via Cordillo Downs was one hell of a lot easier than expected - yes very tiring and the heat just sapped the energy but no real spincter (as in anal) moments.  Yes Peter did have another we bit of a drop - took a line through some deep sand a little too slow and just run out of road into the bank ..... hardly even exciting !!!  Richard has a photo and will no doubt post for evidential proof.
I think we have enjoyed Innamincka somewhat  ... there are public toilets and showers - the later costing $2 for 3 minutes so we pigged out and spent $4 :-)  The last 3 minutes being cold only - I'd probably have paid a premium for the cold !!!  The pub is definitely your typical Outback Experience except that everything is damn expensive ($5 for a Coke Zero), the food is very good quality (with chips of course) and there are three delightful Scottish girls behind the bar !!!  Oh and they serve iced water for free and also have an excellent collection of (very) up to date glossy magazines.  So I'm sitting in the Oz sun, drinking outrageously expensive Coke Zero and catching up on my reading :-)

As Richard has said we rode out to the DIG tree and the site of Bourke's death today.  I have to admit that even for a Kiwi it was at bit of an emotional experience and no matter what your own attitude to Australia's indigneous people, the Aborigines, is one can only marvel at their ability to survive in this challenging environment.  It is stated that Bourke did not relate to them and this inability to understand and learn was probably fairly instrumental in the failure of his return leg and his ultimate death.
However for me the real hero's out here were the Nusing SIsters over the years who provided medical care prior to the Flying Doctor Service.  They drove out and toured the outback in the cars of the period at a time when the environment was hardly tamed .... yes their motovation was God's work and it would be difficult to imagine anyone doing it without that kind of drive.

Talking about the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) it's amazing to see how the locals support this essential service - take a picture in any hotel and it's a gold coin donation, use a mobile phone in the front bar at the Birdsville Hotel and it's another gold coin donation, wear a base ball cap backwards and yes it's another gold coin in the pot ........

Well Richard is starting to plot our course for tomorrow so I have to give up the computer .... no doubt tomorrow will be exciting with another early start :-)

Till next time .... Cheers Peter