True Aussie  style!

Up and off early on Friday.   We decided to head back to Bourke for provisions and then take the road to Wilcannia on the other side of the Darling river.  

The new set up!

Chasing Emus

 It was little more than a track, with deep cracks appearing due to the erosion from the sudden storm and the road was muddy and slippery in places.  You really do start to get a feel for how the farmers must be feeling.  It was 41 dgrs with a hot wind.  The cattle were huddled under small trees for what little shade they provided.  We were glad to be in the air conditioned truck and reluctant to stop.  

One of the locals

Woodland campsite by the Darling River

Pelican

Sue on the Darling

 Finally we found a caravan farm stay , and in true Aussie style, although closed for Christmas, they took pity on us and allowed us to camp up for the night.  We headed straight for the river and jumped in!!  What a beaut spot!   It cost us $10 and it was well worth it.  Steve realised he'd forgotten the camera battery charger, I lost Marks flask and Steve got stung by a bee - otherwise a great day😄

Birdlife on Lake Peery

Roos by Lake Peery

Sue in the shade

Steve in the mud!

Red Necked Avocet at Lake Peery

 The Paroo-Darling NP reminded me of The Sturt NP, dusty and barren!  The drive there was so hot with temps reaching 47 dgrs.  Thankfully Lake Peery had water in it so we slowly walked the 500 mtrs.  Steve decided to take a dip and ended up getting so muddy he had to walk another 250 mtrs just so he could get in deep enough, above the knees, to rinse off!!  

Our 'Dug Out' in the underground Motel

 We wanted to check out the underground living accom at White Cliffs so we booked ourselves into the motel for a 'unique' experience!!  The Motel is the largest underground Motel in the World and whilst it is 'unique' I personally didn't enjoy it.  It was claustrophobic.  The wind was absolutely howling and the air vent was almost being ripped off the roof.  Steve had to climb up to the roof, on ground level of course, and put loads of rocks on top of it just so we could get a goods nights sleep.  The alternative was the dry, dusty, totally open, no shade caravan park up the road, with winds doing about 90 k an hour!!  The other benefit at the Motel was the pool, coffee and a cold beer!!!  A no brainer.

Sunset over the lake at Menindee

Sunrise 

Early morning from the kayak

Scary spider - made Sue jump!!!

 Leaving White Sands we headed to the Minindee Lakes where we were hopefully going to keep cool.  We made a short diversion back on the road to Bourke to suss out a camp site in one of the Paroo-Darling NP's.  Again we were able to put the canoes in the river and have a great stop.  The NP held little of interest, just a barren landscape, so we made tracks for Minindee and the sanctuary of the cooling lakes!  We spent 3 days there and it was a great NY!!

The old woolshed

Lake Menindee, almost dry

Thursday 2nd - A drive round the Minindee NP showed us just how dry this part of the Country is with the Minindee Lake mostly empty.