Mount Hardwick

About 50k west along the road to Boulia then turn off the road 4k to the Conn waterhole. Ironically the sign says "4 CONN WATERHOLE". Not certain what 4. This spot is on the Western River just above the Junction to the Diamantina River.

The Diamantina starts around Kynuna and wanders all the way south past Birdsville while the Western River starts between Longreach and Winton. Eventually the waters from the short wet season end up in Lake Eyre to evaporate and start all over.

Right now is after this year's wet and there is still a reasonable amount of water in the long waterholes. As the season progresses the waterholes dry up and dissapear until few are left.

Wednesday 18th August 2021.

We have etched a spot in the dusty banks with our camp for a couple of days. It is very quiet here with only a couple of other camps a reasonable distance away from us.

A few late to bed birds are chatting to themselves or telling their new offspring about the recent wet that may have a gap of years to the next. This is the outback, well beyond the legendary charred stump. No phone service, too far for smoke to be seen, our only way to contact anyone is via satellite communication.

Thursday 19th August 2021.

Today is very pleasent though last night temperature dropped to under 10 degrees. We had a short walk this morning of about 2 kilometres.

Last night the treated water clarified nicely ready for filling the solar shower bag and a load of washing. The dunny plunger modification we copied from other travellers works very well to agitate the clothes. Holes drilled in the $6 long handle plunger ensure it will never be used for its intended purpose. This helps with the agitation as well. A lot of dirt come out of the clothes. Wool wash seems to be an ideal detergent and requires minimal rinsing.

Its not lunch time yet and I have treated enough water to finish our wash tomorrow and have water to heat for our shower.

Pam has been having difficulty with her camera. The main issue is the zoom control. The springs in both directions have failed completely. If the control is not centre the camera will not focus or shoot. It took near 2 hours but with dogged persistence I managed to cobble up an external spring to centre the zoom control. I am waiting for a report when the glue dries completely.

There are a few birds here however not the huge numbers we saw at Corella River. It seems the kites here don't catch fish from the river and the small birds are much more nervous when they fly over.

Friday 21st August 2021.

We decided to stay here for a other couple of days. The camp site is very good with abundant treatable water. The washing is up to date and we may do a small run tommorow so we will only have the bedding to wash when we get to a park.

Its not the fact this camp does not cost that makes it attractive. We are not crowded by other people on all sides being assaulted by barking dogs and generators. The people who have been here are quiet and 100m plus distant. Quiet means birds are inclined to ignore us after we are here a day or two. That suits us fine.

After breakfast we got ready for a longer and harder walk.

This afternoon we are relaxing keeping our diaries up to date before we go for another short walk before our nice hot solar heated shower.

Saturday 22nd August 2021.

We started today with an easy couple of kilometres walk. Up to the power line, along a bit then back via an old access road that appeared to have been run to the power line. In the middle was a deep washout in a small channel.

The bird list is growing more than we expected. We have noted upward of 20 species so far.

Today is yoghurt making. This is very routine these days and I generally try to time it when there is plenty of water for cooling the milk after heating and water for washing. The cooling water gets up to about 60 degrees so saving that for the cleanup keeps water usage lower.

It's a sunny day and batteries are fully charged by 1 0:30. All the gadgets are fully charged so electricity to spare. The power used by the yoghurt incubator will come straight from the solar panels.

The frustration! Little birds Seen on our walk, photos too distant to a identify them. Only thing for sure we don't know what they were. Maybe try again tomorrow.

Conn waterhole was a good camp, only in dry weather though. A bit of rain and nothing would move anywhere. When water was spilled on the ground there was instant sticky gooey mud. The other nuisance is the two or 3 foot deep water that would move fairly fast in deeper channels. Even the highway is no sanctuary as the floods cover a lot of distance there too.

Today there were clouds. That meant a possibility of interesting and pretty sunset. We were rewarded with a very nice sunset for our last afternoon here.Read more