It was to be a trip of only 247 kilometres, but I was about to tick off one of my longest held bucket list items....to cross Cooper's Creek. As regular readers will know, we were severely stymied in our efforts to do so in September 2016 but now the ducks were all in a very straight line and we were off to Windorah.
The morning could best be described as 'crisp' as we made our way out of camp in Quilpie
and onto the Diamantina Developmental Road which would lead us to Windorah.
As we did so we passed more than one of these warning signs, but we had no need of this advice.....we were now well versed with having to scuttle swiftly onto the verge when approached by one of these monsters.
The section of the Diamantina Road we were about to travel is but a short stretch of this interesting outback 'highway', one which links Charleville to Mount Isa over a distance of 1,368 kilometres.
It has been rightly described as:
"a long and lonely drive on a mostly sealed (often single-lane) road. The few towns along the way are welcome stopping points and to discover local attractions. From the tree-lined channels to vast plains with rocky jump-ups, the landscapes vary while you travel north. This is true Outback country with stunning vistas".
Travellers are encouraged to be on the lookout for cattle on the road, discover bird life in the waterholes and enjoy a trip through some of the most remote spots in outback Queensland. I will happily confess that this morning was one of those when the flame of a new adventure and discovery was burning brightly in both of us. This was a day which answered the question we are so often asked....."why do you live the way you do?"
We had barely left the houses on the western edge of Quilpie when the road narrowed as expected and we found ourselves yet again on a ribbon of bitumen which was only just wider than our rig.
One of the real challenges of these roads is to maintain a lookout sufficiently far ahead to be able to safely slow and edge off onto the verge when a road train looms. We were constantly grateful when the edges looked like these......flat, firm and unobstructed. This is not always the case.
Thirty five kms out of Quilpie we came to our first highway junction. Here we turned right to head north-west towards Windorah, whilst the 'dinosaur' town of Eromanga could be reached along the Cooper Developmental Road off to the left.
We had already passed several herds of cattle grazing on the low green pick of the rocky plains
but as we headed further north we began to see much more grass on the edges of the road. We were hoping against hope that the recent floodwaters which had run into the Channel Country would have produced the lush grazing for which this country is famous, but only time will tell.
As the countryside became greener and greener, the numbers of cattle were on the increase, and as predicted, mobs were straying onto the road,
but not all of them. Some had the good sense to keep off the bitumen, wandering through the scrub munching away on the fine feed which had sprouted after the floods and the recent rains.
Cattle were not the only creatures roaming the plains. This was the first
of several pairs of stately brolgas we passed
and, of course, what's a remote Australian country road without a roo or two?
By the time we were a couple of hours out of Quilpie, our hopes began to be realised.....the grass as far as we could see on both sides of the road was lush and green
and we were soon to see the first of another feature to be seen in of much of the Channel Country, a long, low, red sand hill.
This is probably as good a time as any to have a quick look at the area of Australia we were about to enter in earnest.
I am sure that most who live in this country have heard of the name given to the vast tracts of land which cover a deal of south-western Queensland but extend beyond that into parts of South Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. The Channel Country covers an estimated 280,000 square kilometres but how many really know this unique area of Australia?
Known also as 'Corner Country' and 'Kidman Country' (Kidman was one of the first to recognise and successfully exploit the seasonal bounty of this area), the flat alluvial terrain of which it is mostly composed, is criss-crossed by innumerable channels and rivers which cut their way across the landscape at times of high water.
As this graphic supplied by 'beefcentral' shows, the Channel Country is drained by three major rivers, the Georgina, Diamantina and Cooper ('s?) Creek. You will also see that the Cooper is fed by the Thomson and the Barcoo and I'll have much more to say about this later.
When the rains fall and the waterways flood, the change to this usually arid land is nothing short of spectacular.
In times of floods the various watercourses overflow into channels and distributaries, sometimes spreading out to 80 kms across. It is really only from the air that the staggering spread of these floodwaters can be properly appreciated. My thanks to 'Kirkhope Air' for this shot,
and to 'Dick Lang Adventures' for this of floodwaters near Birdsville.
When the water subsides into the defined channels and the grasses have shot up, the results almost defy the imagination.
Here (thanks to 'The Australian') we can see the beginning of the transformation,
which can go on to produce a landscape like this (my thanks to the 'Betoota Advocate' for this incredible shot), where the network of intertwined channels can cover a staggering total distance of up to 150,000 kms. In years of serious flooding these waters eventually make their way into Lake Eyre, and doesn't that start a stampede.......of tourists!
When this transformation takes place, the resultant grasses provide first class feed for cattle and the development of beef roads into this area has allowed it to develop as a cattle fattening area. It has been estimated that in Queensland alone these grazing lands will often support between half and one million head of cattle.
Birdsville and Windorah are recognised as the two 'most prominent' towns in the area. That probably says as much about the remoteness of the Channel Country as anything else, but lined up against Betoota, Bedourie and Haddon Corner, tiny Windorah is a virtual metropolis.
As an interesting side note, in 2013 the Queensland Government introduced a cap on the extraction of water from the region's rivers. This effectively prevented any plans to introduce cotton as a crop and has prevented the area being mired in the type of controversy created by the establishment of the notorious Cubbie Station (about which I had much to say some time ago!).
But enough of all this. You may have guessed by now that I have become an absolute fan of the Channel Country and all it has to offer, an area of this great country of ours about which so little is known by so many, including yours truly until we embarked on this segment of our adventures.
As we came to the first of the numerous filled channels and waterways we passed over on the last section of our journey for today,
the suggestion we had read that birds can be found near the waterholes became a reality,
in this instance in the form of a flock of Wood Swallows, some fluttering about,
others quite content to sit on the moist muddy ground between the shooting stalks of sprouting grasses.
After a brief stop to admire the swallows we pushed on further northwards, eyes peeled for dots on the road ahead,
a tell tale sign of the need to slow down, particularly where the meandering mob included flighty and unpredictable calves.
This sign confirmed we were on the right track,
and with over two thirds of today's trip under our belts,
we came across something with which we are quite familiar but had not seen for some time. As the road unexpectedly widened, we saw the tell tale threshold and compass heading markings which indicate that this section of the highway has been established as an emergency landing point for the aircraft of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (and any others who need to use it I suppose)
The luxury of a wide pavement did not last long before we were again hugging the centre of the sealed section and then........
........we were almost there. The Cooper was within sight (almost). Let me use this sign as the introduction to a nomenclature nonsense, one of continuing controversy.
Just what is the correct name of the creek were were approaching...Cooper Creek or Cooper's Creek? And why is this quite major inland Australian waterway a 'creek' rather than a river like its two counterparts the Georgina and the Diamantina. This was about to become clearer to us, but firstly we had to negotiate the channels.
This was far from challenging. The floodwaters had receded, the causeway style crossings were high and dry, and just look at the grass. We could barely believe what we were seeing.
It was true. Once the water come through the grass just rockets up...cattle would be knee deep in the stuff here. No wonder they fatten quickly when left to munch on this bovine bounty.
With still some 25 kms to go before we reached Windorah, we were even treated to a carpet of
wildflowers backed by a long, low sand hill. This was the stuff of outback magic!
A few of the channels were still flowing. Here the trees were taking in their fill and the grass was growing at a supercharged rate.
Amidst all this outback splendour the thundering approach of a road train soon jolted me back into reality as I scuttled to safety on the thankfully wide verge. I shudder to think what we would have done had we met one of these monsters unexpectedly on a channel crossing, but fortunately this was not put to the test.
By now we had negotiated the ten kilometres of channel crossings and were but one kilometre from the big one...over Cooper's Creek. But hang on a minute, here the road sign includes an apostrophe in the name. It would seem that even varying authorities cannot agree.
And here we were at last, pulled into the spot where I suspect all but the most travel worn tarry for at least one photograph.
By now the apostrophes are in the ascendancy by two to one! Next to the toilets on the opposite side of the road, this information board provided me with the answers to the two riddles which had vexed me thus far.
The colourful map beside the text shows that Cooper's Creek (I have sided with the apostrophe clan!) begins some 35 kms north-east of Windorah at the confluence of two rivers, the Thomson and the Barcoo. Having now read what Charles Sturt said so many years ago, I finally understood why 'two rivers joined to form a creek'. I did wonder what Sturt would have done had he been here at the time of a flood. There would have been current aplenty and we may well have been now about to cross the Cooper's River!
After this obligatory and informative stop the narrow bridge beckoned,
and with nothing to challenge our right of way, across we went.....very carefully!
Liz did snap away from the window as we made the crossing, but needless to say I was too busy making sure we didn't actually go over the edge to have time to appreciate the view. I gained my first really good look at the waters of Cooper's Creek two days later when, unencumbered by the van, we returned to drive the riverside trail.
But I was nevertheless genuinely excited about the fact that we were here at last and can happily report at this stage that all my long held expectations about this famous waterway were more than met, now and later.
The final run into Windorah took us across another long causeway and up a rise into the town.
With one last junction behind us
we were soon given a reminder of just where we were....seriously outback! We were more than pleased that our next fuel stop was a mere four kms distant.....
...and then two! I've included this sign for the fact that it displays yet another marvellous photo of the Channel Country at its best.
As we made the final run into town, even the local pub was cashing in on the fact that the next watering hole was more than a couple of tinnies away!
Windorah may be short on some things, but these do not include the public welcome visitors receive, including us
as we made our way onto the wide divided carriageway of Maryborough Street
and thence on into Victoria Street and the back entrance of what was to be our home for the next few days.
We were here at last, in the heart of the Channel Country. We had seen some of this area at its very best and I had now fulfilled a long held ambition and crossed Cooper's Creek. Would Windorah live up to all else we had heard about it?
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