Australian Car Guide

It was early in the morning of Saturday the 21st of August 1999. I awoke to the phone ringing, It was Tom calling to make sure I was awake. I had a quick tub and off I went. I left the car at Tom's place the night before after we finished packing. We still had to get our other passenger Steve on the way to meeting up with the other travelers. We arrived just ahead of the other vehicle, an early model Pajero. The driver Alan and his passengers Wes and Kevin found us filling the truck up one more time before we left. We left Hexam at 0430 and set our noses westward. Our destination on day one was Coona Coona, a working property seventy kilometers north of Wilcania, NSW.

Figure 1, Coona Coona well, the ruins left from a boiler plant shipped from England late last century.

The day that lay ahead was long after clearing Dubbo we veered off the highway and took in the country side around Rabbit Trap pub, Topenham and Nymagie. All small rural towns that had seen better days and many more people. We arrived at Coona Coona at around 1830 and proceeded to the homestead to meet Bluey Scott. Blue, a third generation Scott to work Coona was a tall chap quite pleasant and made us feel welcome. Considering we interrupted his dinner. All the same the beers were passed round to all and after some catching up and what not our party set about finding the shearers quarters to bed down after we fixed some dinner. The usual yarns were spun prior to turning in. The night was crisp the sky was not without some cloud cover but gave an indication of the enchantment of the heavens above. It has been some time since I have seen so many stars. At dawn the next day we were rudely awaken by the noise of Alan's fox whistle, he reckons he was just getting us back for all the snoring. At 0800 it was off to pick Blue up for a guided tour of some of the historical aspects of Coona. As we found out Coona was once a number of smaller allotments. This is Kidman country, where our King of Cattle once roamed the plains. The first site we encountered was on Baileys Paddock. It was here we found the remains of early settlements. Here the original settlers had built the house underground. This was not so much as a means of escaping the heat but for safety from the local aboriginal population. There are also a couple of wagons left here by the wayside. Long since abandoned these two vehicles lay victim to the sand time and termites with the steel skeleton the only tell tale of what the remains once were.

Figure 2, Coona Coona ruins, all that remains to this early pioneers underground home is the entrance.

Of equal importance was the old well. Complete with the remnants of a boiler imported from England. As Blue would tell it the boilers were brought from England with an engineer to set them to work. They were shipped by boat as far inland as possible then transferred to camel or bullock train to be transported to the final destination. We took in the sights of more of this areas history before heading out just after lunch. We had some distance to travel and by dusk had reached Mannahill, SA. We put in a camp as the sun slipped west toward the horizon. The tranquility was amiss with the sound of the town generator and the passing road trains not to mention the rail movements during the night. But given the chore of driving and a lack of sleep from the early start when we left, I managed to recover a bit. Being a tad on the lofty side I awoke to find my toes protruding out the end of my tent and one serious case of frozen toes.

Figure 3 The picturesque Mannahill Station.

The next day we went roaring off down the highway in search of Alan's mystery ghost town complete with abandoned car lot. It was not to be so we made tracks for Yunta for fuel and a roadhouse breakfast. Not my choice when I'm getting away from it all but we were on a bit of a whirlwind run and time was of the essence on this leg. From Yunta we hit the first of many thousands of Kilometers of dirt road. We turned north and our first port of call was the historic mining town of Waukaringa. Now very much deserted, the mine finally closed in 1929 and now only two buildings are all that remain standing as testimony to those early Australian pioneers that worked this site. We spent a good deal of the morning skirmishing through the surrounding scrub looking for the remains of yesteryear. After a quick run up to the old mine we ventured in one the old shafts for a taste of what the miners endured in that hill.

4wd.sofcom.com/2000/000221-Corner-Country.html Figure 4, Waukaringa, this once proud building would certainly have been the envy of the community. The doorway alone was around 12 feet tall inside you could distinguish the kitchen and a large in ground water storage pit. Quite an impressive piece of architecture for the outback.

We departed Waukaringa and set about locating another deserted mining town. This one being Tooths Knob. After a brief consultation with the local constabulary we discovered that a group of six fingered banjo players had moved into town and we probably wouldn't be all too welcome so we decided to trek from the Erlinda Woolshed over to Froome Downs. We picked up the main track heading north again and proceeded Pauls Bore in anticipation of setting up camp. The bore was in use at the time supplying cattle so we decided to continue further north until found a suitable site. Our tour leader Alan soon to sport the title Major Menace/ Mistake decided on pitching his camp smack in the middle of a dry creek bed. With the hint of dark clouds off to our west I chose a camp on higher ground. The rain did not eventuate and we had a pleasant camp that evening. In the morning we packed up again and headed north adjacent to the Gammon Ranges. Before long we turned into the Arkaroola Sanctuary for a re-supply and a shower. The scenery and escarpment of this wonderful geological formation would warrant a few days in this area. Alas we were on our way again. Slightly cleaner and certainly more the wiser for stopping in at this wonderful place. We were headed for the Strezleki track, for mine road would be a more appropriate definition, more on that later. We traveled for a few hours over countless corrugations un- signposted dips and many tyre-shredding rocks. Eventually we made the Strezleki and our next stop was the oasis of the Monte Collina bore. This pocket of wildlife and vegetation was a welcome sight to our eyes. We continued up the track crossing the Strezleki Creek until we were within around twenty kilometers of Merty Merty. We turned east and crossed the first dune to find a large dry open clay pan. We put in a camp for the night. I awoke at around quarter to six in the morning to answer the call of nature only to find some seriously dark storm clouds in our general vicinity. Being that several hours winching seemed less palatable to me than breaking camp at this ungodly hour, we chose the later. The clouds turned on but only a few sprinkles but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Figure 5 Desert sunrises are always spectacular.

We were on the road early and took the Merty Merty turn off and then the old Strezleki Track. I can live with the definition of track for this section. The Strezleki was for the most more like a gravel highway than a track. Upon our arrival in Innamincka we were up for another re-supply at the Trading post. Our fearless tour leader The Major was deployed to find a camp sight. After fifteen minutes he had returned with news of a great find. We followed the leader down by the river to a campsite for two. But at least he could camp on the grass. My team of intrepid adventures had to settle for dirt but then we expected to be camping in the dessert so we were okay with the situation. What our good friend down by the river or I should say Coopers Creek, did not realize he set up camp under the favourite tree for many a corella. The birds aim was spot on. Major Mistake and his trusty companion awoke covered in the spoils of their last meal. Well that was enough for them. It was time to move on. I didn't see the need to leave Innamincka maybe just move the camp but alas the birds were too much and they left. Prior to leaving Alan and Wes had found out about the Bore Track and made arrangements to pass through this beautiful track. Before the others moved on we convinced them to go out to the dig tree site in Queensland.

Figure 6 The Innamincka Pub and Trading Post.

We were advised to use the Dig Tree Circuit by one of the locals. I reckon he had a vested interest in the tyre repair store as the track was plenty full of tyre shredding sharp rocks. The Goodrichs stood up to the pounding with minor damage but no punctures. The main road back to Innamincka wasn't much better. The bulldust was pretty bad on this section but the patrol had no problems. Our friends left Innamincka at around 2pm we decided on the sunset cruise on the Cooper. It was well worth it, our guide was taken by the antics of one of our group. As our intrepid guide had some interest in alerting us to every whistling kyte nest on the creek our group comedian began to make discreet whistles. On both occasions our guide was quick to tell us of the distinct whistle the kyte made. It was all we could do to stop laughing at the poor bloke.

Figure 7 An example of the rich color found in the dunes along the Bore Track.

We left the Cooper the next morning. Our intention was to follow our friend's path down the bore track. The Bore track passes through some spectacular country, remote and baron the diversity of colours made this place awe inspiring. The track in places is not sign posted too well so the compass and GPS came in handy. We eventually found the end of the track at Bollards Lagoon Homestead. We found out that our friends hadn't made it through. While it was cause for some concern we found it hard to get past the funny side of it. We had arranged to call in at the pub in Tibooburra, NSW, to find out Alan's whereabouts however upon our arrival at the Camerons Corner Store we found they had made it through at about eight o'clock the previous night. We asked Grant behind the bar if he could remember when they came through. He said they said to tell us they made it by five but he said it was more like eight. After a bite to eat we continued our south easterly treck into New South Wales. We arrived at Tibooburra fueled and checked the pub for information on the progress of the others. No news so we continued on. We made camp in the Sturt National Park. It was quite pleasant and the facilities were adequate. The following day we broke camp and traveled to Narabri via Wannaring, Bourke, Walgett and Pillaga. Well big mistake. My expert team of back seat navigators who had been through here four times got us on one seriously bad road. We found ourselves on a black soil plain road and then the rain found us. We were reduced to a crawl to make forward movement. That came to an end when we slid off the road. The winch came out and so did we. Progress was much easier travelling on the grass verge beside the road but that too had to be abandoned when we encountered a deep drain. So back on the black soil and more tediously slow driving. We made Pillaga only to find the locals in shock that we were able to get through and unable to help out with fuel till the next day. We made it through to Narabri via Wee Waa without fuss and decided an on-site cabin in the van park to be the go. Next day we left for home. After an incident free final run three tired dirty men were home. The outback has returned to normal by now and should recover from the 1999 Major Menace Desert Tour. The red dust is still coming off the car every wash and it is time to plan the next sortie with the lads.

Pictures courtesy of Stunning Steve and story by Dashing Dave [2/2000]

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