2013.2 Western Qld Second Trip - Day 19

Day 19
Tuesday 8 October 2013
Campsite: Ourimperee Waterhole, Paroo River, Currawinya National Park
Campsite Co-ordinates: 144.512039°E, 28.8832660°S
Cost of Camping Site: National Parks fee is $5.45/person/night
Distance travelled: 121km
Weather Forecast: Sunny. Winds southeast to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending northeast to southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h before dawn then tending south to southwesterly in the morning. Overnight temperatures falling to between 14° and 17° with daytime temperatures reaching around 40°.
Amenities: Clean, serviced flushing toilets with toilet paper supplied and hand basin with running water. Simple but functional M/F bush showers. Be prepared to drive from campsite to amenities. Toilets are communal, but lockable doors provide a modicum of privacy, and are located about 75m SW of Woolshed; bush showers are a couple of hundred meters S of Woolshed down track towards camping areas. Longish walk, or quick drive, to both facilities.


Activities: Called in to see the Rangers getting ready to check on the success of their baiting run yesterday. I had heard them earlier(.223 I think), and were about to continue. I then had a look around where the old homestead was located, and other remains as evidence of pastoral occupation for over a century. With the Ranger office unoccupied, I decided to drop into the Caiwarro Ruins just up Hungerford Road a bit - some 30km of the same dirt road on the way to Eulo.

Sharing the disappointment that the original homestead had been bulldozed before the property became part of Currawinya NP, I would shortly see why it is now protected as part of Currawinya. If Ourimperee Waterhole is impressive, Corni Paroo Waterhole on the Paroo River is breathtaking. Still within Currawinya National Park, it is a much bigger Waterhole, and at last, offered a greater variety and number of birds. When I return, this is where I will be camping.


I am told the Lakes to the west of Corni Paroo Waterhole (Lake Numalla - a freshwater lake, and Lake Wyara - a saltwater lake) are more impressive again, and promised myself to spend a day or two there, next trip. Each lake supports different communities of waterbirds. This I have to see. Camping is not permitted at these Lakes, and access by 4WD is highly recommended.

After a bit of sightseeing in the area, occasionally imagining myself as Banjo Patterson's swagman, I headed back later afternoon. Seeing that the Rangers were still out and about, I resigned myself to enjoying my camp in the shade of a favourite coolibah tree at Ourimperee, until the mossies attacked just on dusk. It reminded me of a sign I saw in the Royal Mail Hotel in Hungerford:
"There is not a single mosquito in Hungerford.
They are all married and have large families."
Enough said.

Tomorrow I hope to find out a little bit more from the Rangers about the history of Currawinya.