41 Mile Bore

Leaving Queensland today, the realisation hit us that we probably won't be back for quite some time.
Border passes in hand (well phone) we headed for the NT border not knowing if there would be checks or not. After all Qld hasn't been a hotspot for nearly 3 weeks now. No sooner than we got to the border we saw that all traffic was being directed off the highway and through a checkpoint. The police there were pretty organised and had us through in no time. We found it hard to believe that some people, 2 in caravans and 1 truck driver were pulled aside to do their border passes then and there. What rock have these people been living under? Anyway we were off again after only a brief stop.
The sign just out of Camooweal advised it was 279km to the next fuel. I checked the fuel estimator in the car and it said I had range of 315km. A bit too close for my liking when headwinds can take up that slack in no time. Consequently we drove very conservatively and didn't strike any significant wind, apart from everyone passing me. Travelling at around 85-90 km/h we made the Barkly Roadhouse around midday. My fuel estimator still had 160km range showing so I was happy with that. Calculations I have done so far show a fuel consumption averaging out at 17.5 L per 100 km. Apart from today we have been pushing pretty hard so I'm happy enough with that.
Filled up with the dearest fuel yet ($1.92) at Barkly Homestead, we headed west toward Friwena bush camp, about another 80km. To describe this as a bush camp is not really accurate. It is a dust camp. It is definitely not the most attractive camp site we have seen. In fact I could say it is the least attractive camp site we have seen and it looked better than it smelled. The decision was made to keep going. We ended up about another 50km west and stopped at Bore 41 camp just off the highway. Everything is dry and dusty as you would expect but at least this camp provided a bit more shelter and less dust. Temperature was showing 44.1° outside. Inside with the fans going it was a chilly 38°. Time for a cold beer.Read more