Bore-ed at Thargomindah!

Visiting the Hydro Power Plant at Thargomindah had been on our wish list for a long time. We lucked out in 2010 due to summer closure (and maintenance).

Our next visit in March 2014 was also unsuccessful - and though we hoped to return before May of that year (when the bore was capped), we didn't manage to make the drive.

We finally saw the Hydro Power Plant this trip - not quite seven years since our first attempted visit!  Good thing we're patient, eh?!

Was it worth the wait?  Vaughan wasn't impressed.  In fact, he seemed ... bored?!  

In fairness it was quite hot and we were all pleased to be travelling back to Yowah in Elmer's air-conditioning.

Hot water?!

We picnicked at a small table beside a public amenities block. We've driven past on other occasions and I was intrigued to see what the courtesy showers looked like, so took my camera inside.

As you can see, the area was basic.  It was clean though and the hot water was definitely hot!

Itching to know?!

I spotted this large nest in a tree near our picnic table.

The webbed bag was about the size of a large rockmelon and seemed to be stuffed with dirt. 

I wasn't sure what it was but fortunately didn't investigate too closely. It's a caterpillar nest - and they're not very nice caterpillars! The horrid inhabitants are known as itchy grubs and I recall having a run-in with them when I was a kid living at Yowah. I was itchy for ages and required many carb-soda baths to ease the irritation.

More formally, the grubs are known as processionary caterpillars.  They are the larvae of the Bag Shelter Moth (so called because of the web nest made by it's offspring).  Large groups of caterpillars rest within the webbed nest.  When they leave the shelter to find food, they do so in long lines.  You can read more about them here.   

Re-fuelling!

FoodWorks was our first stop, where we bought enough groceries for our two-night trip.

We then drove around to Fergie's Roadhouse and topped up Elmer's fuel.

One of the local ladies asked where we were headed and upon hearing of our Dig Tree destination commented that the flies were quite savage out there if you weren't used to them.

At that stage we were still blissfully ignorant of the savage fly concept - and actually thought Thargomindah's fly population was fairly extreme!


We had a quick picnic (with quite a few flies), posed for photos next to the open road signs and then set off!

Love not war?!

We'd spoken to Ide about the bowers of Satin and Spotted Bowerbirds. She told us of a bower built on the fence-line of a house we would pass on the way out of town, so we made a point of stopping.

We were so glad we did!   This fellow had a similar colour scheme to the guy at the fossicking area but obviously had a better quality of loot because of living in town. He had many more nails and screws - and quite a lot of toy soldiers, at least 20 or 30!  We spotted three teaspoons too and wondered how he managed to carry them!

There was much discussion in the car just after leaving as we speculated about his toy soldier collection - and how he might have transported the spoons!

Laid-back leaving ...

We'd gone to bed a lot earlier than usual, to avoid the many mozzies!  Once Nick had zipped the mesh doors and sprayed insect repellent, we all stayed inside. 

I still needed to do my back stretches but wasn't prepared to do them outside with all the biters.  Although I was tempted to skip a night, I was very diligent and utilised the small patch of floor space between the beds and central tent pole.  One more gold star for the tally!

We showered in the morning, after a bit of a sleep-in - ate an unhurried breakfast (with real milk!) and took our time packing up.  Vaughan is catching a tiny frog from beneath the trees and we needed to relocate a gecko from the tent also.  Even with our laid-back departure, we were still heading out the gate a little after 10:00am, which is the usual check-out time for most parks.

On the way out, we called into the office and had a lovely, long chat with Ide - one of the park managers.  We spoke of our various wildlife finds and in talking learned of another Spotted Bowerbird bower in the front yard of one of the town's houses.

After-dinner entertainment ...

We travelled out to Thargomindah in Elmer Fudd, leaving our trailer behind (to conserve fuel).

Due to our much reduced packing, we brought only one tent, one fridge, beds/bedding, a few basic clothes and toiletries. 

We chose not to bring our chairs, nor the cooking stove and associated gear - so were very appreciative of the screened camp kitchen for food preparation and (mostly) bug-free dining. The FoodWorks had cabbage, so I'd planned to serve coleslaw with our BBQed meat. Given our reduced kit, I had to improvise when making/serving our coleslaw. Fortunately we had packed several bug-boxes for Vaughan, so washed one very thoroughly and used that!  (It was one from an op-shop and probably intended as a salad container anyway)!

The camp kitchen was also equipped with a television but we left it turned off, in keeping with our TV-free holiday.

Vaughan was happy catching geckos while we cleared away dinner.

He first brought back a small one and then later returned with a much larger and stronger catch, which was writhing in his hand while biting hard.  Nick took hold of the "death-rolling" gecko and then placed it on a table to calm down.  We later all held it gently, marvelling at it's strength and velvety soft skin. 

This fellow was the same as those on Louie's shack.  We've been calling them Marbled Velvet Geckos but are now a little unsure.  The skin pattern more closely resembles a different velvet gecko but their distribution area does not include Yowah or Thargomindah. 

The New Bore(s)?!

Thargomindah's water supply is provided by a sealed bore, just out of town. The "new" bore was started in 1999, to replace the original one which had been in use since 1893.

I particularly wanted to see the Hydro Power Plant but we'd lucked out - again!  As well as the usual summer-time maintenance, the old bore is to be permanently capped (which involves blasting and a then a large volume of cement).  There is still hope for another Thargomindah visit before May and hopefully we'll get to see the famous Hydro Power Plant then! Third time/visit lucky?!

Ice-cream stop ...

Thargomindah petrol was a couple of cents cheaper than Yowah's, so we'd topped up Elmer's tanks before driving down to Pelican Point.

We returned to Fergie's Roadhouse after our swim, for an ice-cream fix. We bought a few postcards while we were there but weren't tempted by any other souvenirs. (Hah, I've just checked the archives - it seems we stopped for ice-creams and postcards on our last visit also)!

In the swim ...

One end of the 25-metre pool is under cover - fantastic for those of the lily-white complexion!

We all had at least one go on the slide and Vaughan had many.  He stayed in a lot longer than the rest of us but after a couple of hours was ready to head off in search of ice-cream!

Hulla-Bulloo?!

We'd decided to go swimming after lunch, at the 25m town pool. We were a bit early (or the lifeguard was a bit late) so we drove down to Pelican Point, to look at the Bulloo River.

It was a very pretty spot even though the pelicans weren't around.


I really liked the tree with it's massive root system exposed and Vaughan was happy floating sticks down the causeway.

There was a shaded picnic table and a wood-fired BBQ.  I expect it would be a popular spot at times, though we were the only people about today.


One of the other caravan park guests had put in some yabby nets earlier, hoping to catch lunch.  Seemingly only one yabby ventured to be caught, so he/she was returned to the river!

Frog friend!

There were many pop-up sprinklers in the grassed area. Vaughan made good use of them, becoming quite saturated as lunch was cleared away and Nick completed setting up the tent.

A small tree-frog hopped out to enjoy the sprinkler shower too!


Editor's note: Vaughan interrupted his hat-throwing to admire the little frog and spent some time watching it.

Fly-free food!

I hadn't realised there were two caravan parks in Thargomindah but we all really liked the one we chose.

On arrival we were warmly welcomed and chatted about all our wildlife finds en route.

It is a quieter time of year and we had a great choice of sites.  We chose a powered one because they were shady and closer to the amenities.  The camp kitchen was only a short walk away, so Erin and I started lunch while Nick set up our tent.

As Erin BBQed, we soon realised that the Thargomindah fly population was far greater than Yowah's!

Although it was pleasant looking down to the river, we ate sitting inside the screened camp kitchen. A few flies still made it in but they weren't too bothersome.

Saturday shopping ...

Just before crossing the Bulloo River, we slowed for some cattle being herded along the roadside.

There were people on quad bikes directing them forward. We'd seen many cows along the road previously but this was the first time there had been anybody with them.


We drove slowly along the main street as we decided on a plan of action.

First stop was the post office, which also offered a few local souvenirs and hand-made craft items, including fly veils - which were advertised on a blackboard in front of the building. 


It later became obvious why fly veils were displayed so prominently! I bought two postcard, more stamps (as Yowah's supply was getting low) and a couple of pens.

Our next stop was FoodWorks, where the modest range seemed luxurious in comparison to what we'd become used to in recent weeks.  Among other things, we splurged and bought two litres of fresh milk!

Vaughan and Erin sat outside the shop, keeping Keegan company and working on Vaughan's new cross-stitch kit!