And know for something different to the last couple of days , we head northwest from Winton toward Cloncurry . More interesting scenery .
We came across this - Combo Waterhole - where Waltzing Matilda originated from , so we went for a look - it's 8 klm from the hwy .
There's a walk through the billabongs and explanatory signs along the way .
The billabongs are part of the river system and fill up and dry out according to the season .
Back in horse & cart days , Cobb & Co , they decided to ensure you could pass safely , it was the mail run - reason 1 , reason 2 was to keep some water banked up for the drier times for stock use . They carted all this rock in and laid it so it would dam up the water , but also in a way that it wouldn't get washed away - you can see a lot of the rock has been placed on it's side , not flat , so that avoided getting washed away .
Plenty more budgies
Not so long ago this was all underwater , judging by the grass caught on the fences .
This little fella decided to get a photo .
Some more budgies .
There's several of these crossings - so much work to do these and also to cart the rock here in the first place .
This is the billabong that the swagman drowned at - fully clothed he tried to cross the billabong to escape a police constable , who came looking for someone else !!
Here's an aerial view
Another showing all the different billabongs in the river .
Given that the river spread out so much over the countryside , you can begin to understand the enormity of doing all these crossings . They don't call it Channel Country for no reason , it all flows to Lake Eyre Basin in South Australia .
After our wander around the billabongs , we headed up the road a little further to a free camp beside the road . This is the view toward Cloncurry .
And here we are neatly positioned between 2 piles af gravel , with a semi dry billabong beside us .
Another view
And with a sunset like this , what's to complain about !!
Here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1LV058eKIIVEq-prSeDYvBcPkYS8yMOI&usp=sharing
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