Awake with the birds again after a solid nights sleep , breakfast out of the way , we had packed up and were on the road by 8:45 without any rush .
The drive for today was only 92klms to Georgetown - a bit over an hour away . We were going to use the weed spray facility on the outskirts of Mt Surprise , but surprisingly it was barricaded off - shame that , as the ute could do with a bit of a tub underneath - more information - the wash is to help with the control of weed seeds that get stuck on the underside of vehicles - it basically just washes the underneath of the vehicle as you drive over it .
The best part of driving up here , its not a very busy road , so you get a chance to look at the scenery , rather than the car / truck infront or behind or coming at you . With that in mind , we proceeded west , we’d had road reports from others that had come this way and were heading east - there are single lane sections on the way across !!! - there’s a novel idea , the head full of visions of sharp edges on the tar , rocks being thrown up by everyone coming the other way at 100 mile an hour , disaster around every corner !!
So far so good , and there it was , the dreaded single lane - no one had called on the CB radio to say they were coming !!! We proceeded on , then sped up , thinking the sooner we get back to double lanes the better , then thought , oh , what if we have to drive onto the edges ? we better slow down . The traffic coming east was still fairly sparse , but you are going to meet them in the worse spots - narrow bridges , one way bridges or one lane roads - it’s Murphy’s Law .
The first car approached , we slowed and both got off the tar , then there was another and another, we nearly stopped and let them zoom away , before rejoining the tar for our turn . Not far down the road and the single turned back to double again , all was good in the world . About another 5 klms and it was back to single lane again . Old hands at this now , we cruised down the middle of the road , no oncoming traffic to bother us - 2 sections of single lane down .
The road was straight for quite a distance - they dont waste money on corners up here - and it was heading straight towards a gap between two ridge lines . The vegetation was getting sparser , trees were getting shorter - down to about 5 to 8 m maximum . Grass is much thinner and more golden in colour - strictly grazing country out here - there were also sections that were covered in basalt rocks - would have been very tough to walk over .
We came to the two ridges and the road started to wind down into the valley , to the watercourse below - a dry watercourse , there are many dry creeks & rivers up here .
The road changed to single lanes another 4 or 5 times on the way , and didn’t present any problems for us . Before much longer we arrived at Georgetown , and parked beside the swimming pool . We decided to have a walk around , and found the information centre / library / gem exhibit , before wandering back , driving down the road 100m and booked in to the park for 2 nights .It was only 10:30 am !!
We drove back east for about 10 klms to get some photos , much easier without the RV , you can stop where you like and get the photos you want .
Back for lunch , booked in for Cobbold Gorge tour tomorrow , went for a ride back to the library / information centre and went on the internet for half an hour - $3 - checked emails & facebook briefly . Rode down to the Post Office and supermarket/hardware store , got some things & cash and headed back to the RV . It was warm - 27 degrees - so we went to the office and got a token for free entry into the 20m pool - we had it all to ourselves !!!! The pool is beside the Etheridge Creek - a dry creek bed that is about 60m wide . There is also a park out the front on the main road side - a nice green shady oasis in a dry area .
It was time to head back for a relaxed beer , cheese & bickies , after our little triathlon ( we walked - not ran , rode and swam ) , its tough at the top , but we’ve decided we’ll keep doing it - just to bring these reports to you !!!!
Todays map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.ku7pDZ_WLGJ4&usp=sharing
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