The plan for the day was to do Cattleman Station track but we were advised that it has been closed by the police, station owners and the council opted to shut the track due to poor conditions. This renders this track impassable. The story we were told was that a family got bogged and nearly perished so that is serious enough to rethink our plans.
We are on our way to a place called Gum Tree - about 211km away - this is really outback, harsh conditions and very hard ground. There has been rain around us and the weather forecast is for showers clearing but we are yet to experience this. Lee's car was getting hot so we took a coffee break at the Mount Swan turn off on the Plenty Highway. It was nice to get out of the car and have a chat, kick the footy and a huge thanks to Robyn who loaned me a mug and Peter K for sharing some water as I really wanted a coffee! Interestingly there were quite a few trucks coming through and when we got going again there were cars both ways, always nice to see other people and wave. Tim tried to radio them and chat but they didn't respond, perhaps they couldn't hear him as his antenna has been broken since the Simpson Desert.
We are now driving beside the Harts Range and the mountains are just spectacular to see after so long on flatter tracks, we are making our way past one very small town with one police station and just a few houses - so remote!
We have now entered Binns track 4km before the Gum Tree caravan park. We are passing mount Johnstone, this area has been a good mining area in the past and we have found a fossicking area. Zircon is a clear diamond like stone - interesting, but no we didn't find any. We did find mica, a hard heavy rock and interesting other things such as a huge red headed spider and a pool where you could explore and fossick. And it was one of the few times I did not take my camera! Will be relying on others to add some images to this post!
There has been a lot of rain around this region and we have had a car change from blue to desert red as we have been travelling on Binns track where we have found ourselves driving through 7 mud holes this afternoon. We passed Mount Johnstone, Mount Scott 1052m and are making our way south where we can see the Narbib Range in front of us on the horizon. As Lee just said we have moved from flat driving to mountainous where it feels similar to Lake Eildon. The grasses here are so much greener. We are travelling on aboriginal land and it is part of the Atatyeye community along the Hale River.
We had lunch beside one of the Rocky Mountains and then a group of us decided to climb it. I got half way up which was good enough to see the beautiful panoramic views. When we were up there we saw a windmill and water tank so needless to say we explored them, found them and discovered that it was a working and operating cattle yard so needed to go immediately. We now have 115km to get to Rub Gap Gorge and so far have gone through some really wet and deep mad puddles. We have lost vision in two bog holes and driving through them is scarey and the car is seriously dirty - no window viewing for me now!
The drive this afternoon took us past the private "The Garden" property where there were lots of cows, flocks of budgerigars and again a very different environment from earlier in the trip. The red earth is so red, so so very red and it goes everywhere. Lee in particular loves getting his car dirty every opportunity he can find, when we go around a puddle you know who will be right there in it! There are just so many bog holes and after another two we are seriously needing a wash. We went past another large station called "Ambalindum" along the Binns Track.
We went into the Arltunga Historical Reserve Property and met Keith and Maggie Silver who have been looking after this property for 14months and have been helping on stations for 9 years travelling, mining and work 6-12months around Australia. This property was originally providing vegetables and sheep for the miners -originally built in 1908 with many added extensions. Drought tolerant cattle farm - a bread with semetel and Brahman - 600 head of cattle sold a month. They buy stores - skinny cows and then feed them up and then sell them off. They have a truck and inspects the cattle, checks teeth, weight and then makes a deal to pick up. It is a gamble and 2-3 months later is the only way to know if the risk pays off. They have Argentinian water - underwater 35-36 bores all needing to be checked. About half of the bores take about 4hours in one day and the other half takes about seven hours. There are not set jobs but you need to have some mechanical ability and the knowledge of the land where you have an eye for looking out for what needs to be done. Keith and Maggie have a brumby foal who's mother was starving and had to be put down when Banjo, the brumby, was only two weeks old. She was hand reared from that day forward and is now a happy and very healthy eight month old brumby foal with a cheeky personality who loved to be pampered. W had a pat and she even had a nibble on my hand, didn't bite and had this cute lip movement that made her very endearing to see. We were officially shown dingo poo and leant that
Dingo poo is so dark because it is full of blood - they kill 33 dingos a month as they don't eat the calves they just kill them and leave them so they travel with a gun and are allowed to kill them as they are considered vermin. The dingoes had pups (1-2) in December and are dreadful because they only eat part of the calf from its bottom - so sad - while it's alive and then leave it to die. We were taken on a great tour of the historical property and all made to feel very welcome. Keith and Maggie are expecting over 36 people over Easter and often have overnight campers stay at their property. What a lifestyle. Thanks Keith and Maggie, for your generous and friendly hospitality.
We have had a great drive and about 14km away from the Ruby Gap site when Lee's radioed that he had broken two studs and now only has three left on his bad wheel that has been causing so much damage and trouble this last few days. The drive has been rough but we will make our way onto the Gap slowly. This will make it a late set up but the views are amazing and we have been stoping to take some great pictures - even Tim has been using the camera.
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