HOW THINGS HAVE GROWN - THE WARREGO RIVERSIDE CARAVAN PARK AND A QUICK WORD ABOUT THE WARREGO ITSELF (23 - 25 MAY 2019)

What an effort Judy has made with this park. How she has achieved all she has one her own is beyond us. As she told us, she had had some help from time to time with major works, but the gardens and surrounds have all been her own doing. 

And the results speak for themselves. Even the dry park roadways (they really would be much better with a good layer of gravel over them, but I know that is not a cheap exercise) do little to detract from the overall 'botanic garden' feel of this delightful oasis.

A great deal of thought has gone into everything. The park office is well positioned to greet those newly arriving, with plenty of nearby parking space. 

The polished wooden floors, galvanised iron reception desk with its wood slab top, and all the wall fittings have been designed to present an 'outback' feel, but a very smart one for all that.

The 'galv' theme is carried around the walls and here, opposite the desk, apart from the tourist information stand, another small room houses the park library. This is one classy park reception office indeed.

The park residence nestles amongst large trees behind the office, not too far from the banks of the Warrego River, looking out over one of the many park rose gardens.......yep, that's right, roses in the outback!

Within minutes of arrival here, the extent of the rose plantings becomes obvious.

Large beds of them welcome all visitors making their way down the site access roads. Their delightful blooms (I am a self-confessed 'rose tragic'...our rose garden is one of the few things I miss in no longer owning a house) stood in real contrast to their brown earth surrounds.

And believe it or not, Judy encourages all who spend time here to make sure that they pick one of two to add some colour and fragrance to their vans. We were more than quick to take up this offer!

As I mentioned in my previous missive, the majority of the sites here are angled drive-thrus. Gravel has been laid on most to ensure that mud is not a problem during the wet periods and all come with their own 'private lawn'.

Large shrubs mark the entrances to all sites and form hedgerows between each, providing both privacy and a real garden feel.

It was interesting to compare the developed sites, which were established some seven years ago, to those which have been more recently laid out and planted. In a few years these too will  be all be an individual green oasis of privacy. 

For those wishing to commune more closely with the nearby river, several sites which allow for the van to be backed up to the edge of the bank, cater for that need.

One thing which did perturb us a little on arrival was the sight which greeted us near the entrance, where a long, shallow puddle was a reminder of the recent rains.

Even from the cabin of the Cruiser we could see that its muddy surface  was teeming with mosquitoes. I am pleased to report that we were not bothered by them in the park itself, although a liberal spray of repellent was the first thing we did each morning when emerging to greet the day.

But back to the park itself. The pathway to the large and very well established and equipped amenities block was lined with trees and shrubs,

the majority of which were more than just decorative. The red orbs of pomegranates contrasted with the smaller yellow fruits of the tree opposite whilst not too far away other trees were laden with lemons and limes......all of which were there for the taking by park guests.

In addition to the fruit trees and decorative shrubs, these gardens are splashed with colour,

presented in places in some very interesting ways.

The large amenities building has been designed with a central park laundry 













and here I discovered that as well as being highly enterprising, Judy had a sense of humour to match. This was just one of several entertaining notices posted on the laundry wall.













The ablution areas run off to each side of the laundry area











and here again the theme of outback tin and wood was continued in a very well designed, functional and spotlessly clean facility which included huge shower areas with a more than adequate hot water supply (something which can be tricky in some of these outback towns). 






Adjacent to the head, where this patch of lawn was undergoing some rejuvenation, 











the large camp kitchen has also been designed to continue the outback theme.
















Its cavernous interior has been st up for large group gatherings















with BBQ cooking facilities to match










even if the old wood stove appeared to have well and truly passed its 'use by' date! But here again, the retention of this piece of equipment was right on message in respect of how this park is set up.











Another large expanse of thick lawn and yet more trees can be found behind the amenities block, 
















and here were more patches of welcome colour.










Some fifty metres or so from the camp kitchen area the outdoor 'happy hour' fire pit has been established right on the banks of the river. 












There was certainly no shortage of fuel!











As I wandered across to snap away in this area, a rustle in the branches overhead and a familiar cry alerted me to the fact that one of our favourite birds of the east coast of Australia was nearby. This determinedly acrobatic Blue-Faced Honeyeater was hard at it. No insect in this tree was safe!

The ash pit on the river bank bore testimony to the fact that the afternoon fires we were about to enjoy would not be the first lit here by any means.












And our luck was in! On the second afternoon of our stay here, as a small but cheerful group gathered fireside, one of our fellow travellers wandered down and asked if anyone would mind if he sang a song or two. "Go ahead good sir", was the unanimous reply.









We had no idea how good this chap was, but as the dropping sun began to tinge the few clouds and colour the brown waters of the Warrego with a splash of pink,










our newly arrived troubadour proved to be more than entertaining, both with his skill and his selection of songs. What a wonderful way this was to end our day.






You will see from this last shot that the river flowing past our park was a far cry from a shallow stream. And, leaving aside the contribution of the recent rains, there is a very good reason for this.





Weir Road is well named. A few kilometres past our park entrance, this substantial cement construction does a great job in holding back the waters of the Warrego downstream of Cunnamulla.

I did take the opportunity to scoot on down to the nearby boat landing pontoon in the hope of being able to better see the build up of water upstream of the weir.














Mission accomplished!









The Warrego is an interesting river. 

The most northerly of the rivers which flow into the Darling, it rises in the Canarvon Range near the little town of Tambo and then flows 900 kilometres, generally south, through the outback Queensland towns of Augathella, Charleville, Wyandra and Cunnamulla before crossing into New South Wales and finally joining the Darling River downstream of Bourke. 

Its catchment covers 7% of the Murray-Darling Basin, but this stream provides only a 1% contribution to the Basin water.

The storage here at Cunnamulla holds just under 5 gigalitres and is critical to the water security of the town and the area which immediately surrounds it (and is pretty useful in providing two kilometres of good river frontage for the park!).

It is what is classed as an 'intermittent' river. Its flows are very seasonal, but even in the driest years, a retained series of water holes provide critical habitat for the fish which inhabit it.

Mind you, when it floods it does not do so by halves. These can normally be expected during 'La Nina' weather events, such as in the years of 1950, 1954 to 56, 1971, 1973, 1998 and 2008, but this is not always the case. Wikipedia notes that:

"Oddly, the most destructive flood ever recorded on the river took place in the absence of La Niña. In April 1990, as a result of two extremely strong troughs in the easterlies, over 400 millimetres (16 in) of rain fell in Cunnamulla in two weeks, being more than the annual rainfall in over 60 percent of years. The river, along with most tributaries of the Darling, reached near-record levels and the towns of Augathella and Charleville were devastated. At Charleville a river height peak of 8.54 metres (28.0 ft) was recorded."

We have experienced the vagaries of the Warrego ourselves, when travelling south three years ago. Although the flooding did not reach anywhere near the levels of the major inundations, you may recall that we just squeaked out of Tambo by the skins of our teeth, galloped through Augathella at the rate of knots, and had to avoid Charleville at all costs as the town was completely isolated by the flooded Warrego River.

As I have noted before, "A land of droughts and flooding rains"!

But I have digressed. As I hope you have now seen, we could not have been happier about our decision to put our travelling feet up here at the Warrego Riverside park, and as I noted in the title of this offering, 'how things have grown' since we first saw it seven years ago.

This establishment is a real credit to the vision and hard graft of its owner, Judy.

BACK OVER FAMILIAR TERRITORY - WILCANNIA TO CUNNAMULLA VIA BOURKE (22 - 23 MAY 2019)

After several failed attempts over past years (for varying reasons), we were finally heading up north to the Channel Country, but to get there we were about to cover old ground. We have stayed in Cobar several times before, and really had no inclination to do so again on this run, ergo today's drive was to be a longish one , just over 400 kms to an overnight stop in Bourke. 

So once again we took to the Barrier Highway for the first leg from Wilcannia to Cobar,  

under a very angry looking early morning sky. Fortunately for us these glowering clouds did nothing more than threaten rain, but I'll bet all the local cockies were wishing differently!

As we had experienced on the run into Wilcannia and up to White Cliffs, the grazing plains were a carpet of green after the recent rains, on the open ground

and under the trees of the stretches of heavily wooded country. This was a good as we had ever seen this part of the world.

By the time we were on the approach into Cobar, some three hours after we had left Wilcannia, the heavy clouds had lifted and we were punching further east in bright sunshine.

Being as familiar with the town as we are, the mid morning traffic of Cobar presented little challenge, 

and we soon found ourselves turning off the Barrier Highway and onto the Kidman Way.

By now we were well over half way for today,

and progressing steadily north on a road we knew all too well (in both directions).

Today's had been the longest haul we had done for some time, so this was a welcome sight as we reduced speed on the outskirts of Bourke, another town with which we are more than familiar and which I've brought to you in detail on several previous occasions.

We had stayed here in the Mitchell Caravan Park before, but not for some time. It was now under the new ownership of a young couple, Daniel and Stephanie, who promise a new look park and an evening meal for all who care to partake. 

Daniel served with the Australian Army special forces for many years, while Steph brought experience working at senior levels in McDonalds to their new venture. Park ownership had been a dream of theirs for some time, and we were looking forward to seeing what new touches they had brought to this park.

As we hove to at the park office

I spotted this sign which did set the scene and suggested that these young folk had a real sense of humour if nothing else, 

something which was all too evident in all the park signage. What a refreshing change this was to the usually blunt and often almost threatening warnings which we find in many parks (not that we disagree with the requirements.....it has always been our view that a notice like this does much to encourage compliance, once you stop chuckling!)

We knew that drive-thru sites here are at a premium and had been wise enough to book ahead. Just as well....we collared that last one available where we were fortunately able to remain hitched.

What a wonderful overnight stay this proved to be, and what an active and charming young couple the new owners are. The camp fire was blazing high by 1630 hours. We were all encouraged to share drinks and tales with our fellow travellers whilst 

Daniel sweated over a hot stove preparing our dinner. The system here revolves around a fixed daily menu. Each meal comes at the ridiculously low cost of $10. This smart couple do make it clear that in the case of any park or family emergencies, we were on our own (entirely realistic and fair), and did request that dinner orders were placed on arrival (again entirely fair given that they needed to cater precisely).

Tonight was steak night. Needless to say that meant only one order from the Mobile Marshies and I have to admit right from the outset that for a charge of $10 for a steak, chips and vegetables, I was not expecting too much. 

How wrong I was. My plate came laden with a large, tender steak of surprisingly good quality, excellent chips and a more than acceptable serve of veggies. I was a very happy chappie. As this enterprising couple make clear, they provide these meals at cost as a service to travellers during the peak season. We applaud you both and wish you well for the furture!

We knew that the amenities were dated, but they were spotlessly clean and dotted with more quirky signs and cartoons. This has become a real fun park which I suspect will be giving the much more established Kidman Camp park in North Bourke a run for its money, particularly given that pets are still not welcome there.

As we pulled out the following morning for our 250 kms run north up to Cunnamulla, we were actually a little disappointed that we had only booked the one night here. We had no need to see the town (been there, done that!) but we have certainly decided that this would now be a great spot for a break of a few days in any future run though this area.

As we made our way out to the Darling River bridge, 

and crossed the river for the second time in the past two days, we were pleased to see that here in Bourke the flow was looking quite reasonable, something which augured well for those downstream.

Once over the bridge we made a sharp right hand turn to travel through North Bourke, or 'Northy' as it is known locally, 

and headed out along the section of the Kidman Way we had not traversed since May 2012.

The small New South Wales highway towns of Enngonia and Barringun did not seem to have changed a jot from what we remembered of seven years ago, and once we had left Barringun behind us, here we were, back into Queensland at last.








From this point on up to Cunnamulla we could not believe our eyes. This is Mitchell grass country and I'm annoyed that on our earlier trip through here we had not taken photos, because the green expanses through which we were now travelling were nothing like the scenes of our memories.

We recalled this country looking more like this (thanks to 'travelling-australia' for the photo), where the long, brown tufted stalks of Mitchell grass extended as far as we could see. What an incredible difference the drought and rains had made.

We had not come across road works for days, but this was Queensland (and not even the Bruce Highway!).















As we drew closer and saw what was going on here I was more than happy to abide by the directions given. I needed no persuasion whatsoever to avoid a patch of newly laid tar! 





Mud is hard enough to remove from the front of the van....tar splatters are nigh on impossible short of dousing them with a good solvent. This highway patching was yet more evidence of the fact that a good dump of rain had swept through this area not too long ago.

An hour and a half after leaving Cobar we came to the junction of the Mitchell and Balonne Highways, alternatively known as the Matilda Way and the Adventure Way. The Balonne rune east-west and connects Cunnamulla and St George, whilst the Mitchell continues north through Cunnamulla to pass through Charleville and end at Augathella (although the Matilda Way travels much further north).

This second sign, just around the curve in the highway, was of more interest to us. On leaving Cunnamulla, we were planning the head west out to Thargomindah for the first time. A road which was open would be a useful start!

The highway junction we had just passed is only a few minutes drive from Cunnamulla, and having turned our faces west, the familiar figure of the statue of 'The Cunnamulla Fella' was soon welcoming us to the town.

A couple of kilometres on, the Mitchell Highway turns off to the north, and it was here that we farewelled this road we have come to know so well as we continued on towards our chosen caravan park.





We have stayed here in Cunnamulla twice previously. The first time seems like eons ago, during our second venture out in our little Coromal poptop van in 2010. We came through here again two years later in the new Roma en route to the Gulf of Carpentaria and beyond. On both occasions we had stayed in the Council owned park in town. 

In 2012 we checked out a newly developed park some short distance out west along the banks of the Warrego River. Despite the fact that in that year recent heavy rains had rendered its dirt roadways virtually impassable and no new customers were being accepted, the layout and the burgeoning gardens looked very promising.






So this year the Warrego Riverside Caravan Park, 322 Weir Road, was our chosen destination and we duly made our way through the CBD











and out onto the said Weir Road.















Several minutes later the sign we had been looking for loomed large in front of us
















and we made our way down the entrance roadway (still dirt but dry) 













to the park office where we were greeted warmly by the effusive and very competent Judy who owns and manages this quite large park on her own. She is a real trouper.










From the office one of the park roadways took us through a group of angled drive-thru sites












to that which had been assigned to us. Although the site themselves are quite narrow, each is bordered by hedges and shrubs and a strip of lawn over which the awning easily extends to provide shade.










We decided our creature comfort would be far better served by parking the Cruiser behind the van,














and as this shot, looking along the road behind our site which we used to drive in shows, we fitted comfortably. 






The angles on which these sites are set, and the hedges which edge each, provide wonderful privacy. Although vans and vehicles are actually quite close to each other on these narrow sites, there is no sense of being crowded or 'living in the neighbour's pocket'. 

A three day break here in Cunnamulla was on our travelling agenda so we felt under no pressure to rush with our set up and making ourselves comfortable. 

Once organized, we did make a quick trip into town for a few supplies, only to discover that the Cunnamulla IGA could well be a contender for the title of worst country supermarket in Australia. It was very poorly stocked, not cheap, and the service we received was less than effusive. We later discovered that a small general store in one of the back streets was a far better bet for 'the basics', and interestingly, in our later travels to small nearby towns, all and sundry commented that Cunnamulla was not their destination of choice when doing 'the big shop'. We knew why!






Fortunately the larder was still well stocked with Liz's favourite chicken snags, which Chef Pierre BBQ'd to perfection (before turning his attention to his own 'real' sausages and hamburger) 









and we settled back to enjoy a few quiet libations and a tasty supper as the setting sun painted the sky pink over the gums lining the nearby banks of the Warrego River.






In my next we'll take a tour of this delightful park, one which I am pleased to say was even better than we had remembered, not least because in the intervening seven years the myriad of trees, shrubs, hedges and flower gardens had absolutely blossomed.