MUTTABURRA > MORELLA > WINTON

MUTTABURRA ► MORELLA

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WINTON

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KYNUNA

Departed Muttaburra Sunday
Travelled to Morella, Winton and Kynuna
Camped overnight Sunday at Kynuna

THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT WHILE THE PICTURES LOAD

Day 12

Sunday 21st August 2005

Click on the pictures for larger versions



We woke, had a quick cuppa and after an interaction with an aggressive, whinging Victorian, who verbally abused mum when she went to use the toilet - he obviously wasn't aware dogs were allowed to accompany campers in the Rest Area - we packed up. The young revellers weren't impressed that the other campers were up and about packing up around 7.00am. It woke them up. Bugger!! Not a happy group of campers. We were glad to be leaving. Leaving Muttaburra, we headed towards Morella - located on the highway between Winton and Longreach. The road turned to gravel not far out of Muttaburra but it was reasonable to drive on. Because the terrain changed fairly dramatically as we came up over a rise, we decided to stop and give the dogs a run in the open, plus take some pictures of our surroundings. The shots below are the result.
Judy walked to the top and took in the surroundings as I took a shot of where she was. ( Zoomed in )	Judy walked to the top and took in the surroundings as I took a shot of where she was. ( Zoomed out )		This combination of plant life took Judy's eye enough for her to take the shot below.

10.22am	10.23am		10.24am
The nearest property entry showed we were at Woodleigh Creek. Below are the location details. Latitude: 22° 37' 60 S Longitude : 144° 25' 60 E (Degrees, minutes and seconds)
Looking North

10.26am		10.30am
Looking West

10.31am		10.31am
Again I have no idea of the name of this species and no doubt the farmers will say it's a weed but I thought the colour and overall look of the plant deserved a picture or two.

10.34am	10.35am		10.35am

The entry to Woodleigh Park	Close-up of the hill in the left picture		If you click on this picture you'll see a Kangaroo silhouette in the centre of the picture. He was watching us watching him. A group of them kept a good eye on our dogs. I was very surprised to see any wildlife at all in those hills.

10.37am	10.55am		11.07am

After a relaxing 45 minutes or so we drove on. The condition of the road became worse in various spots with rocks spraying up onto the caravan. As we neared the main highway to Winton the road turned to black soil which had been wet recently - from the same rainband we passed around Cracow. The tracks in the black soil were like railway lines to the vehicle and the caravan. I had to drive slowly as the tracks ducked and dived where previous vehicles had slid around. There would be no way any vehicle would make it through that section if it rained so I was really pleased we had dry weather.

After turning onto the Matilda Highway and heading north west towards Winton, I decided to pull over to check everything after the rock and roll trip from Muttaburra. Just as well, because our next problem had occurred. A bottle of Mint Sauce had rattled out of its spot and emptied out inside the fridge!! Judy was not a happy girl. When she opened the fridge, fluid ran everywhere and had to be soaked and and cleaned up as best we could as it ran into a section of the carpet near the bed. The positive side, the smell of rotten eggs from the disaster near Cracow was masked by the smell of mint for the rest of the trip. The picture below left shows the Matilda Highway leading North to Winton. The right picture is looking east across the railway line to the East. This area was the greenest we would see other than around Ravenshoe. Last time through, in 2002, it was nearly dust from extreme drought conditions. This trip was like a "calendar picture".

2.22pm		2.23pm
Looking North along the barbed wire fence separating the road from the railway line - green as far as the eye could see.		Looking across the road to the west- north west. From my map, the range seems to be the Forsyth Range.

2.24pm		2.25pm
We refuelled in Winton at the caravan park on the northern outskirts and continued on. Next stop was the Kynuna Service Station where we set up camp. The facilities were reasonable but then the price for the night was brilliant, only $5.00. A lovely young girl around 11 years old took a fancy to us and chatted on about the dogs while we set the caravan up. Her parents kept an eye on her and eventually called her over. They were on their way home to Melbourne after travelling around far north Queensland. Around 7.00pm I decided to close the side window in the table area of the caravan. It wouldn't budge. No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to budge. So started a long process which ended in the glass cracking and me having to remove the whole window in the dark and cold. After I finally had it removed and on the kitchen table in bright light I found the culprit. An aluminium rivet had wriggled loose and become jammed in between the window and the track. With a pair of long nosed pliers which luckily I carried in my tools, I dragged it out like pulling a tooth. The glass was cracked but held solidly, so I replaced the frame and it gave no troubles for the whole of the trip, allowing me to have it replaced once we arrived home. The worst part of the effort was the residue left on my arms and hands from the sticky caulking compound used to seal it. Around 9.30pm after refitting the window, trying not to make noise and stir the campers' dogs, I wandered over to the facilities and had a long HOT shower to thaw out. Jude had a lovely cuppa ready when I arrived back. All was well again.