Sat 7th – It was rather chilly when we arrived at Swinging Bridge rest area, but we were soon set up, heater on and snuggled up in bed. The earliest night in months. We had a leisurely morning hitting the road by 8.45am.
The drive into Roma was a bit slow with lots of road work starting from about 80kms out of Roma. Repairs were needed due to some damage caused by the floods.
The plan had been to stop in Mitchell, check out the Murals under the bridge and have a soak in the hot artesian waters but both were damaged in the floods. The pools are still under repair, due to open in August. The bridge is one lane and the walk way underneath to see the murals was washed away.
We stopped for the night at Neil Turner Weir, 3.5km west of Mitchell. The place was pretty full, we pulled in around 3.30 figured we had to stop a bit earlier than we normally do to get a spot. After a cuppa we had a shower before it got too cold and then went for a walk around. Its a pretty good, spot not far off the main road, free firewood is provided, toilets and bins. There is plenty of areas to camp but we did have one person tell us that they were there in Aug last year and they had trouble finding a spot.
After tea we retreated to the warmth of the camper having a read before bed.
Sun 8th – We have been fortunate so far this trip not to have much dew in the mornings so we have had relatively dry canvas to pack up. Heading off about 9am.
Very bumpy road with heaps and heaps of road kill. Its like dodging mine fields. Where we stopped for morning tea there was several skeletons and carcasses. Last time we were out here we were avoiding the sun and seeking shade, now it’s finding a bit of sun to warm up.
We decided to make a big day of travel and head for Cooper Creek 10kms out on Windorah. We arrived at 5.45pm still light but the last 70kms we were on roo alert as they came out to feed on the grasses near the edge of the road. One bounced in front of us, Chris jammed on his brakes, easily missing the young wallaby it did a big slide as it tried to stop and nearly slid into the side of the Ute.
The extra km’s was worth the effort. There is plenty of camping along the banks of the Cooper, at first it just looks like a big pull off area but as we took one of the tracks it led us down to a sandy area all to ourselves overlooking the river. After a quick setup, we had a shower and enjoyed the lovely evening. No heater tonight it’s quite mild. There are a few campers set up across the river.
