Wylie Adventures; There and Back (Finke Desert Race 4)

7th July,  Wednesday. Lightening Ridge to Dubbo Manly supporter finds a sea eagle! John Murray art. Sonja's guest house had a good set up for attracting local birds, even on a frosty morning. They were pretty shy though. We had a lazy start at Lightning Ridge so we could visit the opal stores that only opened at 9am and have a look around . We returned to an opal shop where we did some window shopping last evening, and found something we liked.  Lucky I have a birthday around then!  Then we moved on to see the sights of Lightening Ridge and have a look at art galleries. We found the Gallery of John Murray whose work we really liked and also the photo art of his wife Viki. The walls of the John Murray Gallery were beautifully graffitied. After making our purchases we took plenty of photos of his graffiti gallery before heading back out onto the road towards Dubbo. Heading home, Dubbo tonight The roadside grasses are lush and beautiful golden and other colours . We spotted...

6 th July, Tuesday Emerald to Lightening Ridge. Springsure Mountains A pre-dawn start out of Emerald. The dawn light on the hills is beautiful. Just North side of Springsure mountains. They were lit up like fire in the morning light and we made a quick stop to take some pictures. There were plenty of others stopped there, in fact camping! Lots of roadwork, and gorgeous cloudscapes What we saw: Big grey kangaroo hopped across the road in early light. Passed the turn to Canarvon Gorge. Looks like it’s worth a future visit. Kites Flocks of pigeons Crops Cattle Kookaburra Pee wees Bumpy old roads but beautiful ranges all the way. Gorgeous cloudscape . Bottle tree Magpies Lots lots of interesting diversions to investigate in future , lakes and gorges. Cattle are no longer Brahman but reds. Great rock formations We planned to stop  at Thallon near Roma for a painted silo but it was a bit off track so skipped it this time. Temp has dropped. Only 12C at 10:30am! Roma, town of the bottle tr...

Monday July 5th Undara to Emerald Queensland Cooking toast at the bush breakfast, Undara 8359km journey from home Homeward bound on the great inland way Up early, we had, without thinking too hard, on arrival booked in a bush breakfast for our departure day. It seemed a good idea to not have to rustle up breakfast while packing, but actually we have a long day's drive and now we have to wait til breakfast starts up! Eating bush breakfast on individual 'tables' Anyway, turned out the Bush Breakfast was a great way to wind up the stay and the holiday. It was a short walk from the main restaurant area, down among the Currawongs and kookaburras. Back on the road, leaving Undara.  What we saw: A couple of circling black kites to say farewell. There were plenty of cattle by the road on the way out and on the road too. Most abundant birds and easily identifiable are the magpies and some galahs. Numerous dead cows and occasional pigs on the road. Flock of about 30 black cockatoos f...

July 4th Sunday Undara Lava Tubes Resort, Queensland Surveying the country from the top of the Bluff. Before the lava tubes tour we went on a short bush walk up to the bluff then back on the pioneer track. Fabulous view from up on the bluff and of course Roy had to climb the highest rock closest to the edge. Termites encasing a small tree Where are we? Undara A relatively recent development, and a very enjoyable visit. Over to the waiting area for the tour and we’re loaded up onto a series of 3 mini buses and taken to the lava tubes. Murray the driver gave us a very interesting history of the place both human and geological. At the drop off place we were assigned to Liz who gave us an engaging and informed tour of the lava tubes. They are only visible from the air as they support some remnant rainforest which was full of bird life and rainforest vegetation including the bottle tree; no relation of the boab. Looks like the lost city through the lava tube entrance First sighting of the l...

Saturday 3rd July Forsayth to Undara Lava Tubes Qld. We packed up our lovely camp and headed back through Forsayth to Cobbold Gorge. Packing up camp                                                                            On the road again! Headed for Cobbold Gorge Detour down to Cobbold Gorge then out again Fuel stop. Cotton bales on a road train. Even though we knew they were booked out for accommodation and tours, we thought we’d go and have a look around Cobbold Gorge. A pretty location and parking for day visitors but apart from a pretty lagoon and coffee shop not much to see from where you could access without a tour. Availability for trips to the gorge was  much later in the day, too late for us to do and make it to Undara in time. Bush walks were loca...