Saturday 31/7/2010 Cooper Creek at Windorah to Yowah

(Cooper Creek at Windorah to Yowah)
It poured overnight.
Up at 0700hrs, leaving by 0900hrs.
I am wet, covered in mud, all our gear is covered in mud, and the last part of our adventure washed out!! Great way to end the trip.
There is no escape from the mud. I got as much off my boots as I could and am now sitting in the car with a plastic bag on each boot to protect my gear.

Yes I lost it this morning. Strange. I usually love playing in mud. Either it's hormonal, or the dreading of our trip finishing and having to go back to work.
Hmm. I think we should head north from here. Sooo hard to go back home!!
We're aiming for Yowah today, near Cunnamulla, via Quilpie. About 400km.
It's a single lane tar road. It's all swampy with water lying everywhere. There are a lot of dead kangaroos, 3 dead cows and a dead boar. Roadkill from the roadtrains. Several powered through yesterday evening. The kites are having a feast!
I can't believe there is still the occasional red sand dune ridge.

Almost hit a flock of galahs.
Just passed our Birdsville neighbours.
Only just left the Simpson desert for real at Quilpie where the ridge is now rock and covered in trees.
Stopped at Quilpie for lunch where we had the rudest person serving us!
It is a town of cattle, opals and famous for a dinosaur dig site. Col says Peter was here for training in the army as well.
Apparently they discovered bones to a new species of dinosaur: Titanosaurs (26m) discovered on a property near here in 2006. Cool! The pictures in the brochure show red desert fields. Looks a bit greener and wetter at the moment.

Crossed the flooded Bulloo River, heading south to Toompine (only half a metre above the road but flowing strongly). It was blue sky from Toompine onwards.
Lots of emus and kangaroos, 2 frilled neck lizards, 1 wedgetailed eagle and 1 ferral cat (ginger with a big head).
At 1600hrs we ended up at a strange hicklety picklety town called Yowah with falling down shacks. We're staying the night at the "campground" for the night for $10.

First we borrowed a sieve and pick from the very funny and friendly guy from where we are staying, and went fossicking for opals. We have a bucket of rocks we are cracking open and are getting rich (just kidding) with a little bag full of opally rock pieces.

Then we had a nice long soak in the baths.
There are concrete cubicles with no roof and two bath tubs in each, with hot artesian water piped to them. It is 58 degrees celcius, bored from 850m bellow ground, with 1 million L/day pouring out into the town.
There is a warm creek running past our campsite that Jordan and I had a little walk along before sharing one cubicle while the boys shared another. What a beautiful relaxing soak while looking at the stars! The minerals really do a great job of relaxing those muscles.
Even better. I'm now sitting here writing my diary with a glass of wine, while Col's cooking tea. Aahh!