Out of the mud

We were out of the mud but not out of the scrub - so to speak! We sat in the shade after Elmer's recovery and very soon afterward Nissa called in a state of distress. She was due to catch a train to Bourke on 4 January and at the point of calling there were flood warnings for the area and very real concern that the train might be cancelled.

After advising Nissa to call Countrylink directly, we started to follow the track home. It wasn't long before we realised the track was not the one we had previously traveled but as it was in better condition, we decided to stay on it!

Nissa called back, much happier after to speaking to Countrylink. We continued along the track with much light-hearted debate as to where we would end up. We could see a bluff, so assumed it was ours - and were happy until we bumped along further and realised our bluff was still in the distance, though our identification was more doubtful by that stage. We crossed our fingers and hoped we were right.

At one point we seemed set to scale a very steep slope but thankfully abandoned that effort! We back-tracked and found a more gentle incline and soon were on our very own bluff - hooray!

What a day - what an adventure!

Mud spring muck-up

Nick hard at work on phase one of the recovery ...

Although I took a lot of footage of the mud spring mishap, I have only a few pics so can't show you the other side of the car. 

In fact, Elmer's front wheel was stuck so far into the mud that the opposite rear wheel had lifted off the ground and lost traction.  Nick worked so hard and we did what we could to help - resting in the little shade available between bouts of assistance. Fortunately we had plenty of drinks and water with us. There were a few small waterholes but the water was far too hot to be considered for a refreshing dip.

Phase one of the recovery was to use the high-lift jack to raise Elmer's wheel and dig as much mud as possible around it. As the jack took the weight it started to sink slowly through the mud crust, so Nick created a platform under it to distribute the weight a little better.

The next mission was to drop many rocks of various sizes into the hole. This allowed Nick to raise the wheel higher for another layer of rocks - and then a layer of sticks also.

The chainsaw wasn't with us, so Nick did his best to break timber with the mining mattock. We can't prove our estimation of temperature but believe it was at least 45 degrees. (There were gloves in the back of Elmer and they were necessary as hand protection when touching/carrying the rocks).

After working steadily for what seemed like a couple of hours, Nick deemed everything ready for launch. We were all needed as traction, so Vaughan and I perched on the tailgate with Erin standing behind us holding the roof rack for support. I had an arm tightly around Vaughan, trying to hold the burning hot edge of the tailgate with finger tips only (as only the finger-less gloves had been left).

Speed was of the essence as the logs would sink into the mud under Elmer's weight. Nick drove off the jack, shooting backwards quite fast. We all were very lucky not to fall off! Erin suffered a burn to her elbow but otherwise we were unscathed - and hugely relieved to be unstuck!

12-mile Adventure!

We had already lost the track a few times before here!

We had been chatting on the Cafe verandah about the Eulo mud springs and were given directions to some closer to Yowah, at 12-mile.

We took Nick's pepsi max home (sans frog) and set off on a new adventure after lunch. And what an adventure the afternoon proved to be - far more excitement than any of us had bargained for! The track was barely visible in places and we had lost it altogether not far out of town due to a large clear area. We followed a fence line for a bit, before the scrub got in the way! There is a fair bit of footage of the adventure and I shall try to upload it here.

Other side of the creek bed, with visible track!

The pic above is from the first creek crossing. We made another creek crossing further along and needed to stop in the creek bed to determine where the track went.

Vaughan was keen to catch more tadpoles and though it was very pleasant in the shade next to a few small pools, we were on a mission!  We continued onward. (Erin was struggling with the bumpy ride and looked fairly white). There was much discussion at about 30km along the track as to whether or not we should turn back. We decided to travel along another 10 kilometres and it was around that point that we saw much green grass, larger trees and many mullock-type heaps.

Nick tried to drive closer to the green, where we presumed the waterhole to be. There was water on the track though and so much high grass that we couldn't see where we would end up.

We turned around and drove back over to the mullock heaps. There was various discussion en route, with Nick querying the whereabouts of the mud springs - as he started driving up one of the mullock heaps. I had just voiced my alarm that the mullock heaps were in fact the mud springs, causing Nick to hurriedly engage reverse gear. Too late - we were well and truly stuck!

Fat frogs!

We generally spent some time each day at the Yowah Cafe.

It was very pleasant to sit on the verandah eating icecreams (or chippies), chatting with some of the locals and watching the world go by. 

There were usually plenty of frogs to spot too!  Nick bought a couple of bottles of Pepsi Max from the cafe and they were sitting in a box, waiting to be taken home.  Seemingly the frog could sense the cool, so hopped across the table and into the box with the bottles!  Clever, eh?!

Glorious Mud!

We called in at the Eulo Mud Springs on the way back to Yowah.  As we walked from the car to the Springs, there was a male emu wandering very close to us, doing his drumming call!  (Two emu families were roaming in the area, a bit further away).

Testing the jelly-like mud!

Giving way to the emu!

Mud fight!

Rock on to Eulo!

Nothing special about this rock!

This rock was out in the middle of nowhere along the Bulloo Development Road.  We assumed there was some significance, so stopped to check it out.

I walked all around but there was no plaque, no nothing - just a rock with two white posts!

Happy New Year!

Diamond Dove - an omen for 2011?!

We celebrated the New Year with an afternoon drive (in air-conditioned comfort) along Blackgate Road. 

As well as the diamond dove we saw two wedge-tailed eagles, a group of goats - and a family of emu enjoying a muddy bath in a large puddle on the road!

Disturbed their group bathing session!

Given our previous Thargomindah experience we didn't bother with a New Year's Day visit!

Instead we headed back along the main road to Eulo - and spotted more goats/emu along the way.