After a great weekend catch up with Garry & Linda , we headed off to Meentheena Vets Retreat , 78klms east of Marble Bar . No power , no water , no phone reception for us , no internet or tv - oh what a shame !!
We fuelled up in Marble Bar - just to make sure we had enough fuel to do some driving around the retreat and there abouts , and returning to Marble Bar again . We arrived to the entrance just before lunch , and made our way in the 5klms of gravel track - cautiously ! The track was in good condition , dusty , but pretty smooth apart from the washouts and creek beds . We made it in okay , but there were some concerns about the exit back onto the road when we leave , but we found a spot to set up , then had some lunch . The drive in took about 20mins , we went quite slowly .
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing , it wasn't too much longer till the fire pit was alight and everyone was seated around the bush telly , laughing and chatting .
There are several 4wd tracks on the property and we chose one that took us a further 30klms into the rugged australian bush , far from everything and everyone .
This is the Nullagine River at Paperbarks Campsite - you can camp about 20m from the water . The paperbark trees form a green canopy over the water .
There are 3 kayaks and a tube that can be used by any of the campers here .
The track followed the river valley up into the hills , we were driving through spinifex grass & orange gravel , then we would come across some bull dust - brown dust that exploded as you drove over it , forming a brown fog of talcum powder .
We stopped regularly for some photos and just to look at the magnificent outback we were driving through . The track degenerated somewhat , with washouts and eroded sections that we had to crawl through at low speed , in fact we we're in 2nd gear for most of the drive . It was taking plenty of concentration to put the wheels where you needed to get through as we climbed over rocks & gutters , so much so that we missed the track that was to take us to Baroona Hill . We continued on for another few kilometres and stopped under the shade of a lonely tree & had lunch before flying the drone around again . The scenery from above was an eye opener , the green of the water ways & the reds & browns of the gravel , dirt & spinifex .
On the far side of the riverbed some of the area had been burnt very recently , not sure whether it was a lightning strike or a random burn off ?
After our lunch we headed back toward Baroona Hill , found the track and drove to the top of the hill up a very rocky track . The hill is where the land has been thrust upwards creating a sloping hill and an orange rocky cliff face . A gum tree was growing out of the cracks and had been there for some time - the dry riverbed is behind it .
The rocks here were very different from other areas we've been to , the rock is layered in lots of very thin layers like shale and chips away very easily .
The rock on the edge of the cliff was quite colourful , with red & orange patterns .
This is one of the pool areas where water seems to sit surrounded by a large gravel bed . There is a Jabiru just taking off - it's a black necked stork and they stand about 1.5m tall !
Then we spotted a kayak in the spinifex haha .
The colours of the outback are truly stunning .
On the way back to the van , we came across a bird we'd never seen before - it had a dirty cream neck , light brown body , black topped head and was about 1m tall - we found out later it's a Bustard - no I wasn't swearing .
Back at the camp it was time to join up with everyone and sit around the bush telly with a cold beer and chat to our new neighbours .
Next day we headed off to another creek bed that had a few waterholes and more great scenery .
Another 4wd track took us toward a couple of spots , scenery again was great .
An extremely rugged and varied landscape out here in the middle of nowhere .
There are some Stromatilites fossils here , which are quite extraordinary apparently . Stomatolites are ancient ball of bacteria that seem to grow for a very long time - new have seen living versions at Hamelin Bay and Cervantes , but never fossilised ones . Apparently scientists come and check them out regularly - some from overseas as well !!
Further up the track we arrived at Pelican pool , another part of the Nullagine River - no pelicans though .
More gravel beds along wide stretches of the river , there were signs of the flooding earlier this year , debris was caught in the trees about 3m above the current level - that's a lot of water .
This is a smaller waterway we had to drive across , just love the white of the gumtrees against the stones & gravel .
After another drive back toward the van , we took another turnoff and discovered Rocky Pools . Yes another part of the Nullagine River , these paperbarks have an enormous root system - there's not much soil in there to hold onto , it's just a mass of roots.
More views of the pools from above , this would be the longest section with water we've seen .
More typical aussie outback colour .
At the campsite was an old Blitz truck , gradually returning to where it came from - rusting away .
Yes more sections of the river , this one slightly different , water on the left and gravel on the right - not totally sure if it's the river and a creek that flows into it or if it's an island with a branch of the river going around either side .
We ventured out of the property and drove down to check out another campsite by the river - it was pretty dry though , with the river about 120m across - water was flowing down here between 2&3 metres deep after the cyclone earlier this year .
Well that was our week in the outback , here's a map link : - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pnWRih6ziD7nP80EzfXpi1DheSb2LzhN&usp=sharing
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