An Australian Outback adventure

[rosslr]

Today we left Mt Dare Station and headed sth to Lake Eyre. This is very remote pastoral country and we found a nice water hole to stop at and boil the billy. The ground was fairly rough but clear of obstacles.
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Then we headed to the top of Lake Eyre - Australia's largest salt lake that gets a flood every few years but only fills about 4 times each century. At it's lowest point it is 15m below sea level and you have to be careful to avoid suffering from 'white out'. We flew along the eastern edge so we always had a good horizon. The path of the creeks that drain into the lake can be clearly seen even if they were dry.
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There was still a lot of water at the mouth of the Warburton Ck with hugel flocks of pelicans that took off and swarmed around up to 1500ft - so caution was needed!
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The lake and the creeks that feed it are spectacular and when in flood the lake has its own frequency dedicated to aircraft looking at the spectacle. The bird life is stunning!
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Having successfully dodged all the birds, we headed to the famous Coopers Ck where a friend told us of a possible landing spot up stream ( I should say up sand as there is no water in it!).

We were ahead of Col and Anna in the Super Cub and found it amongst the sand dunes. We landed and cleared a few logs for Col to land - have to make it easy for those Super Cubs!
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Now this spot is VERY remote - a long way from the Birdsville track which is probably the nearest place to find traffic. But what a great feeling to tie down in such a place overlook the creek.
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It was great to walk the dunes and see all the animal tracks - dingos, rabbits, roos, goats, wild donkeys and horses ..... The flies are bad until the sun goes down to fly nets are essential to remain sane!
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The setting sun made for some memorable photos.
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And the evening was magnificent out there with the full sky of stars and the howls of dingos to entertain us. A memorable evening.
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Cheers

[David47]

Fabulous photos Ross. They give a very good perspective of this great country of ours.

I remember driving along the Oodnadatta track beside Lake Eyre South in 2011 when it was "full". It was like driving along the shoreline of parts of Eastern Australia. Awesome sight. And yep, fly nets. Essential kit for parts of Outback Aus at certain times of the year.

[chrisag]

Hey Jim, good to here from you! only thinking about coming over for another Wilsons prom trip with our Super Cub Buddy when we get a nice patch of weather.

Hey Ross, Sounds a great move. Enough beds here for a few and if time permits Flinders Is. is not far either. Cheers..JC

[rosslr]

Leaving Cooper Ck we headed due east for Cameron's Corner which the place where the borders of New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia meet. There are fences that designed to constrain vermin (Dingos and rabbits particularly). We landed on the sand airstrip and then taxied down the road to the gate which we opened and entered in Queensland where the Pub is Nothing else here but it is a great little place that offers basic rooms, fuel, food and beer as well as Tri State Golf! The owners have made a rough 9 hoe golf course with three holes in each state - I mean rough as its all sand and the emus and kangaroos are all over the sand scrapped 'greens'.

Not many photos at this stop but thoroughly recommend it as a stop over.

On the way to Camerons Corner we crossed the Strezleki and Birdsville tracks and found an nice clay pan to stop boil the billy - this is what its all about out here!
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The border fence - we had to open the gate and taxi through to the pub.
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We made ourselves at home in the pub after achieving a brilliant score on the tri state golf course - The hazzards were roos and emus!
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The pub has bowsers for diesel and unleaded - just taxi up an full up!
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[efwd]

That looks like an incredibly good trip with friends.
OK, nobody else asked so I will. I can assume but "Boil the Billy"?
Eddie

[Esser]

Great trip Ross, good motivator

[jiott]

Just curious Ross, do those unleaded fuel pumps in the outback have 91 octane with no alcohol?

[Doc68]

Great trip Ross and Gayle, enjoyed the photo over a couple of red's (bottles) the other night!!, next trip Im there.

Doc

[David47]

Ben, teflon strip or similar on the fairing faying surface ? Only reason I mention a fairing is that the interference drag can be quite large, the bigger the gap. If you can't fair the pod, try and minimise the gap as much as possible.