Currawinya
Day 1
Lithgow to Byrock
After failing to get to Currawinya National Park twice previously , David thought he would try for third time lucky. After many months of preparation he had his itinerary together, advertised in Marque, and before we knew it the day had arrived and we were on our way at last!
We departed from Lithgow, heading for Byrock on a cold clear morning. We stopped briefly at Luknow to stock
up on supplies of moccasins, Dryzabones and warm hats to wear around the campfire at night (these were packed away and not seen again for the rest of the trip, as David had ordered fine weather for the next 10 days). Morning tea was had at Orange, then we were off again for lunch at Dubbo.
We arrived at Byrock late in the afternoon, to be greeted by Julie & Warren who had arrived earlier in the evening. David, Gerda, Lucille Peter, Bianca & Tim all camped for the evening in the great campground behind the Pub. The campgrounds are very flat and have showers toilets and, if you’re lucky, even some frogs who will visit you in the little room!!!! The rest of the group had varied accommodation, some opted for the motel accommodation, and the remainder stayed in the tinnies.
Happy hour was spent in the beer garden, to be followed by dinner, which the pub cooked for us. After a long day, we all headed off to bed eagerly awaiting the morning so we could once again hit the road on our way to Currawinya.
Mulga Creek Hotel, Byrok to Currawinya National Park
We left our first pub stop, the Mulga Creek Hotel, on time at 8:00am. Our destination was morning tea in Bourke. Luckily for us, it was market day in town so we were able to see some of the local produce and craft items.
After we all had a chance to have a look around town we had morning tea in the local bakery and then we were on our way again, back on the Hungerford Road.
As Currawinya is a National Park, it was BYO firewood…and for this, it was all hands on deck. As the men “hunted and gathered” the best timber for the fire, the ladies perched them selves in the shade to basque in the serenity of John Dean’s chain saw!
We all loaded up our cars (and ute) and were on our way again, all now looking forward to getting to camp and starting up our first campfire for the trip.
On our way to Currawinya another pit stop was in order – this time the Hungerford Pub, sitting just on the border of NSW and QLD. I soon got to learn that for every pub we visited, there was a not only nice clean toilet there were animals! I think I managed to pat a dog at every town!
Once we entered the national park we visited the ranger’s station, paid our fees and headed to camp. This was an amazing spot. We were lucky enough to secure a position within the Woolshed Campsite. This was a truly lovely spot to spend 2 nights. There was plenty of room for everyone to spread out and it was close to the Paroo River, which we were surprised to see had water in it.
I think the most memorable experience for us all while in at the Woolshed Campsite would have been the showers! Tin shed, no roof, and room for three…very liberating indeed!
After a long day driving everyone enjoyed their first night around the camp fire, challenging ourselves with a round the group memory game, coordinated by D3 Games, a subsidury of D3 HR!!
DAY 3
Currawinya National Park
Easter Sunday dawned as yet another cloudless blue-sky day. After the necessary early morning tasks - swatting the night's last mozzies, applying copious amounts of Aeroguard, looking in vain for the fly nets - the convoy departed for the high point of the trip, a visit to the unique lakes that are the focal point of this Queensland National Park.
The seven-vehicle convoy, now minus the trailers, was highly representative of the Range Rover pantheon, with a Classic, P38A (2 thereof) and current model Vogue, Series II Disco (2 thereof) and a Series III. We only needed a Series I to complete the m
arque's model range of the last 37 years.
Currawinya National Park, in Queensland's remote and semi-arid southwest was declared in 1991 to conserve representative samples of mulga vegetation, but primarily the unusual combination of large freshwater and saltwater lakes separated by only a few kilometres of sand dunes.
After a brief morning tea on the dry bed of Lake Kaponyee we headed to the saline Lake Wyara, only to be disappointed by a dry lakebed. We still held some expectations of water in its freshwater companion lake because of some recent rains, only to find the same sad situation. Many bleached tortoise shells on the cracked lakebed told a poignant story.
The only good news is that we can now anticipate a return visit when the rains finally arrive and the dozens of varieties of birds return to this interesting lake system.
Also absent from the National Park was the ranger. We had hoped to find out if we could visit the park's Bilby sanctuary - the product of some dedicated and inspirational efforts by Peter McRae and Frank Manthey. Another task for next time.
At least The Granites were present and correct, and after a quick visit to these interesting rocks - home to some wild goats - it was off to refreshments at Ten Mile Bore, a pleasant oasis in this semi-arid and 30 degree plus landscape.
Thanks to John Dean's work with the chainsaw the previous day in NSW, plenty of firewood remained on our return to camp for an impromptu camp oven competition and another evening of pleasant company and contemplation of burning coals under blazing stars.
Day 4Currawinya National Park to Toompine
The group departed Currawinya National Park at 10.00am for Toompine where we were to camp for the next two nights. First stop was at Thargomindah for refuelling and lunch. Some bought hamburgers at the service station and others ate in a nearby park. The Nicholson’s purchased a new fan belt to replace one that was giving problems.
We then travelled on to Toompine via an alternative route rather than the main Thargomindah / Quilpie road. This included crossing the Bulloo River where Tim & Bianca almost came to grief by picking the wrong side of the weir. Luckily, they managed to reverse out (although they did get a bit of water in the car) and then proceed safely across.
A few kilometres short of Toompine, the Hosking's suffered a puncture of the driver’s side rear tyre. The wheel was soon changed and then we were back on our way to Toompine… the pub without a town. The pub is the only thing there!
In the bar of the Toompine pub, they still had a copy of the July 2005 Range Rover Club magazine left there by the group on David & Gerda’s Central Australia trip when they stopped in when passing by in September 2005.
After a drink and a chat to the owners we were shown the camping ground which turned out to be a patch of bare ground next to the pub and not far off the main road to Quilpie… not the greatest campsite we’d ever seen… however, there were showers and toilets and it was free to camp there!
John and Rosemary put their tent up in the very large hall next to the campground, while the rest of the group set up nearby. Soon we had an instant village and had boosted the population of Toompine tenfold.
That night, we built a fire and had another good group discussion session around it before heading off to bed. We thought there might be some noise from the main road, but didn’t hear a car or truck all night.
Day 5
ToompineWe awoke today to a sparkling Queensland day at Toompine, “ The Pub without a Town” 
This is a free day, so everyone headed into Quilpie; Hosking's & Knights took the black top as we both had tyres to repair, which were both patched for $18.50 each!
The others of the group took the scenic route into Town. The Bakery was out of cream buns and the cappuccino machine was broken (disaster)
Quilpie is a nice outback town , offering, tyre repairs, hotels, cafes, hospital, a very interesting tourist information center, a museum, bowls club, air strip, St.Finbarr’s Catholic Church which has a beautiful opal alter, lectern and font. The main street features a wonderful 45 meter long mural showing the history of the Town. We all had lunch in Town and returned for another night at Toompine.
This Pub without a town is a typical outback pub, which has been renovated inside since our last visit, its unique feature is a tractor up a 60’ pole, and a few dogs, a camel, alpaca, goats, a pig, and 2 sheep!
After a short happy hour we enjoyed a huge meal at the pub, followed by a very funny game of trivia run by the owner, she had saved orange juice tops, which had questions under them! The more noise and laughter we made the more she enjoyed it!!
Toompine Pub is a great stop-over, with good showers & Toilets (important) and great hospitality.
Side Trip – Toompine to Quilpie
Today was a free day as we were staying for a second night at the Toompine pub. All the convoy were going into Quilpie, but some decided to go directly there (mainly to have tyres repaired) and some chose to take an indirect (and more leisurely) scenic route.
Making up the latter group, the Learsons, Deans, Altonas and Nicholsons headed northwest from Toompine along a dirt road that serves a number of stations in the area. The countryside had some green patches, reflecting recent localised rainstorms. After some navigation conferences, we made the right decisions at some crossroads and then stopped for morning tea under the shade at a very pleasant creek. Back on the road again, we hadn’t gone far when John & Julia suffered a puncture. However, it was quickly changed and it wasn’t very long before we were mobile again. We passed a number of stations and then turned east at the main highway and motored into Quilpie.
Our first stop was the Information Centre where the very helpful staff gave us a great tour of the attached museum and enthusiastically answered our many questions. Then it was off to the bakery for lunch after which the group split up to see the points of interest (and the Learsons to have their tyre repaired). On our way out, we took the advice received at the Info Centre and went out to Lake Houdraman, just east of town. This was quite amazing sight. We had expected another dry lake, but this was full of water with loads of (what looked like) water lilies growing along the shoreline… a real oasis!
Then it was time to head home… back to our camp at Toompine looking forward to our dinner that night at the pub.
DAY 6
Toompine to Yowah
Wednesday morning was fine and sunny and promised to be another really warm autumn day. We left Toompine after packing up camp and taking advantage of the showers and toilets, which we had exclusive use of and which cost us nothing.The trip to Yowah was uneventful and we arrived in the small opal mining town in time for morning tea. Unfortunately, the local café didn’t open until 11am, so after settling into camp, we went in search of “Old Val”, whom David and Gerda had been told sold opal chips at a reasonable price. What a character she turned out to be. Living in a caravan and spending from dawn till dusk on the opal fields, we had to admit, it is a hard way to earn a living.
Most of us headed off to the opal fields to try our luck. I had a couple of fossicking picks which my dad had scroun
ged out of his garage and proceeded to pick away at likely looking rocks which I was sure were going to ensure our financial future. So….after about half an hour in the hot sun, bending over rocks which didn’t even hint at opal colour, we decided to retreat to our cabin and enjoy the air conditioning and have a mid afternoon snooze. Opal fossicking was simply too much like hard work for us confirmed city slickers!
Just before sunset it was decided to make the trip to “The Bluff” to enjoy the sunset while overlooking a tree filled valley. It was a very relaxing way to finish the day and those who had been lucky enough to find some “colour”, showed off their treasures. Most had souvenirs courtesy of Old Val, but they were still treasures and made more precious now that we have experienced, first hand, how much hard work is involved in obtaining the colourful gems.
We had our usual camp fire after dinner and everyone retired reasonably early ready to begin our next adventure in the morning.
DAY 7
“Trouble Struck Early!”
As “Knight turned to day”, we awoke to a beautiful hot morning, intending to leave Yowah at 8.00am.
This was not to be! In fact, before the Knights even got into their vehicle, disaster struck the campsite, where the die-hards were camping. (The Deans, Gilpins and Learsons had chosen the soft option of a miner’s room optimistically called a ‘motel room’!). Warren noticed he had a flat tyre and Jim had rushed to his assistance … Gerda thought that she’d use this time to do some last minute washing, and just as the tyre was removed form the Disco the tap Gerda was using broke! Hot, sulphurous water gushed everywhere, creating a flow of warm mud straight towards the crippled Disco. “The boys” moved quickly, so quickly we thought we may have to move morning tea forward to revive them!
The adrenalin created due to the close encounter with warm mud combined with the elation of packing up our huge loads of opals (not!) seemed to impact quite strangely on the group. David advised us that we were traveling on to a date farm and winery, and for exactly half an hour the group chuckled over “date” jokes. For example, Peter felt he had some type of “man-date”, John L said the only dates he liked were “candi-dates”, while someone else told us about their “first-date” etc.
I realized enough was enough, so John and I rolled out our new “school of the air” game: Music Trivia. For the next few hours, the individual cars tried to score points by working out the songs or piece of music played, and the singer or composer. We had music ranging from Beatles and ELO to the Pet Shop Boys, and Madonna to Beethoven. The outright winners were Bianca and Tim, who not only knew the modern stuff, but also music from their mum’s era … Gerda has been a strong influence on Bianca!
The hours flew by as we passed through Eulo, and then headed into Cunamulla, where we discovered the cake shop that sold scrumptious apple teacake. After lunch, we continued on to Culgoa National Park.
That evening was one of our best bush camping nights, with a sky packed with stars, a warm fire and a lively discussion about the future of 4WDriving. We acknowledged that the current negative image of 4WDriving needs to be turned around by people like us, who enjoy 4WDriving but are at the same time committed to preserving the environment and who appreciate the value of such pristine places.
In summary, I felt that Day 7 was a perfect day!
DAY 8
Colgoa National Park to Brewarrina and onto Willie’s Retreat
The morning started with a leisurely walk to the banks of the Culgoa River, which looked more like slow moving mud. Large areas of tree dieback were a stark reminder of the long drought. At 9.30 we departed the campsite and retraced our steps to the main road heading for Weilmoringle, following the Culgoa River. Numerous flood ways were a reminder of this land’s changing moods. A caffeine shot enjoyed with a slice of Pat’s fruitcake, was taken by the side of the dry dusty red dirt road in the warmth of 28.5 deg.
The overcast sky teased the dry land which was devoid of stock or anyone else until a couple of local stockman joined the convoy and then suddenly turned off and re-appeared in front a few kilometres down the road (the benefits of local knowledge on short cuts). They joined in our radio conversation with directions to visit a cemetery by the side of the road, which was at the site of a former pub, in the middle of nowhere. The 10 or so graves 
ranged in age of death from 3 to 61. It leaves us pondering the tough life of our forefathers.
Approximately 25kms from Brewarrina we start to see sheep flocks, one horse ‘outstanding in its field’, cattle, green fields, beehives and water. This is a catchment area for the Darling and Warren advises there are restrictions on grazing to control damage.
We cross the Bokhara River, a muddy creek like the Culgoa, then flat featureless land until we arrived in Brewarrina at 12.30 for re-fuelling and lunch stop. The Knights and Learsons headed for the Café, which was most interesting and will be described elsewhere in this report. Julie left her wallet behind in the café. The owner of the café searched town to find our convoy and return it advising that a local aboriginal girl had handed it in.
Shortly after Brewarrina Warren & Julie Knight farewelled us and then there were 6.
The evening was spent at Willie Retreat in the Macquarie Marshes, 110km north of Warren, where we enjoyed a campfire and communal dinner at ‘the long table’.
Day 9
Willie’s Retreat to Coolah
Phillip and Myra Tolhurst run ‘Willie’ Retreat, not only for humans but also for the many species of birds and animals that are looked after, rehabilitated and returned to the wild. Myra has a license for bird breeding and breeds endangered species of native birds for National Parks and Wildlife. Phillip and Myra kindly allowed us to wander amongst the animals, including pet emus, kangaroos, peacocks, and geese etc. – a mini 
zoo. The most unusual being an albino kangaroo.
As part of Phillip’s educational and conservation passion, he is setting up a mini wetland to attract the numerous birds and wildlife. The Retreat has won an Australia Day Award for Business House of the Year for 2007.
For those in the Club that have visited before and remember Patrick the Pig and George the Sheep, they have unfortunately passed on. George lived to 21 years – 5 months and 3 days, attaining a certificate from Guinness World Records and featured in the Memorial Section of the Guinness Book of Records 2007.
As we leave ‘Willie’ John and Tracy say goodbye and then there were 5.
Travelling through the Macquarie Marshes for approximately 20km, we stop at a bird viewing platform for morning tea. Unfortunately there were very few birds, but two blue heeler dogs came from nowhere, appearing to be well looked after but with no sign of any owner or property for several kilometres. Bianca’s maternal instincts cut in with the pair fed and watered.
The scenery begins to shift from outback to agriculture. We come across herds of cattle in the long paddock, slowing down to allow them to cross the road.
We enjoyed a very scenic drive through the Warrumbungles, with a stop at the Observatory for lunch.
Coolah was our stop for the night in the local caravan park. After walking the town for a suitable dining venue, we decided upon the Sports Club, enjoying a sumptuous roast meal cooked by the Directors wives, who had taken responsibility whilst finding another chef.
The evening ‘revved up’ when the karaoke started and the whole group joined in the frivolities, with serenades, duets and quartets. We suspect the locals were having a laugh at us, but we all took it in our stride and retreated when the host took a firmer hand in the selection of songs.
Day 10
“The Home Run”
A hot shower and the rare convenience of a kitchen made for a very luxurious start to the day as we prepared for the final day of the trip. While Coolah might have been a tiny country town, the night “old blue eyes” paid a visit made for huge memories!
Soon after leaving Coolah, the convoy turned onto the aptly named Golden Highway, which must rate as one of NSW’s most beautiful country drives, made even more so by the early morning light glowing over the picture post-card farms and surrounding hills.
Along the road we passed a cottage where a local guy was securing a Ford Falcon onto a trailer, hitched to a Series 1 Land Rover Discovery. Peter observed (rather prophetically) that it was a welcome change seeing the Disco towing the trailer rather than riding on it! Sure enough, a little further along the road, while we were enjoying our morning tea stop at Merriwa, who should pull up seeking our help but the guy in the Disco! Apparently the Disco was suffering clutch problems…
On the road again, we experienced more beautiful scenery, accentuated by having to once again give way to another herd of very relaxed cattle on the road, who had no intention of yielding to the travel commitments of any tourists!
As we approached Denman, the serene beauty of the countryside was suddenly marred by the sight of immense open-cut coal mines carved deep into the earth. This presented a confronting reminder of the disparate interests competing for a legitimate share of the land’s resources.
A leisurely picnic lunch at Bulga marked the beginning of the Putty Road and the final leg of the trip. But we still found time for one more afternoon tea stop together at a roadside café, mainly because Gerda didn’t want the trip to end yet!
On behalf of the group, thanks again David and Gerda for giving us all such a wonderful outback experience.