Submitted: Tuesday, Jul 29, 2008 at 00:00

Tuesday 29th July, 2008
A few km west of Charlotte Waters NT
025 51 8.49 134 51 33.64


Cattle country indeed and believe me it has been nearly entirely denuded of all grass and vegetation. The ground is a sea of loose dust just waiting to be blown asunder. Thank god for droughts and overgrazing…NOT!.

The day began early with the game plan being an 8.30 pick up of Drew at the Alice Springs Resort. I left the park at 8.10 a.m. and headed for town. It was a Macca’s breakfast and then to Super-Cheap for a ratchet strap. S & G running a little behind time but got Drew and were at the camping store about 9am to get a new globe for their interior light. Scott was yet to refuel so Gaby and I waited down on the highway for he and Drew to arrive. I have Gaby as co-pilot seeing Drew was in the Guppy.

Looking at the map, I decided that there was nothing to be served by going down the bitumen so opted for the Old South Road towards Titjikala and Chambers Pillar intending to continue south on the Old Ghan Track towards Finke. This route saved us nearly 200 km. The road was shocking though and only 2 kilometers down the track and still against the airfield perimeter fence, saw us lowering the tyres from 45 to 22, 35 and 32psi. Shocker of a road due to the amount of traffic. The Finke desert race track parallels the road with white colored car bonnets every 10 km to note the mileage from Alice. We stopped in at the Ewaninga rock engraving site. If these poorly chiseled offerings are significant, then the ones I found in the Calverts must be the equivalent of E=MC2!! Pretty pathetic but at least we saw them.

It was certainly a rough and dusty intro to outback roads for Drew. Corrugations, deep sand and the occasional rock providing a saw backside for the big fellow sitting on the bench seat of the Troopy!

Near the ruins of the Rodinga fettlers camp we turned off onto the Ghan Heritage Way a stock trail that follows the route of the Old Ghan, in fact it is based on the elevations of the Ghan rail lines. You had to watch carefully for all the old dog spikes littering the corrugated and pitted road. We very much enjoyed going through the many cuts and traversing the built up excavations that formed the earth works for the old Ghan. We souvenired a few spikes along the way. We spotted a group of very healthy looking Donkeys and took lunch in the shade of an impressive Desert Oak. The occasional funny sight along the way, the Finke Race providing a yearly distraction for many no doubt. Every now and then a bar would appear in the middle of nowhere, crudely fashioned out of posts but with a bench set at the appropriate height for a drinker to lean on. Usually accompanied by an old fridge carcass lying on its back to use as a large esky. Laugh. Gaby wanted one just like it in her new cellar!

That we were in cattle country was obvious by the bare earth. Once through Finke, the devastation caused to the surrounding country by marauding cattle became obvious. Not a blade of grass and certain trees and shrubs eaten to the height of an outstretched bovines neck. Many of the bushes and trees were eaten back so severely as to be damaged or killed off. The loose earth was churned to dust by myriad hoofs and only needed a stiff breeze to be transformed into an airborne dust storm.

We’ve camped in such country where the jacks are king as the bottom of our boots attest. Not a blade of grass to be seen. A great fire and a lovely dinner of rissoles, snags and vegies. A few reds and a block of chocolate. Not a bad days introduction to the outback for Drew.

Tags: 4WD, Camping, Places/Destinations, Travel Journal
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