Southbound - last legs, Griffith to Melbourne

We are now able to take the last stages of our journey in a leisurely fashion. In Griffith we explore the delights of Griffith Central, shopping for a bowl to replace one that broke when it fell out of the cupboard. We lunch in Jerilderie, walk the main street and read about the Kelly gang's famous bank robbery. On to Tocumwal for a cuppa with Peter's sister, then the pretty way along the north side of the Murray to Mulwala, crossing into Victoria at Yarrawonga. We reach friend Pam's place just north of Wangaratta as scheduled just after 5pm.
We spend a very pleasant evening with her and her friend Joan. In the morning we re-organise the 4WD, swapping the spare for the repaired original tyre, and packing up everything we can before driving to Wangaratta for a look at the current exhibition in the gallery where Pam works. After a coffee we head to Shepparton via very pretty backroads round Lake Mokoan. At Goodfellows, we unload everything back into our little Renault and then drive back to Melbourne, stopping for lunch at Nagambie. The Renault feels very strange after the big 4WD, and I keep reaching for the gear lever and clutch. We get home before peak hour, and we just have time to get the first load of washing on before we hear about the breaking political news. From then on we open mail and continue the washing while more or less glued to the television. Quite an evening.

Southbound - Gundabooka to Griffith

Gilgunnia

Our last starry, starry night. We wake a little later than usual in the bush - too many trees shielding the sunrise? We enjoy alfresco breakfast at the campsite table, admiring the wildflowers and birds, then pack up and we're on our way shortly after 9am.  Back to the Kidman Way and down through very pleasant surroundings to Cobar (coffee and a walk), Gilgunnia Rest Area (roadside lunch), Hillston (icecreams and a walk), to Griffith.
The Kidman Way has less traffic than the highways we've used so far, and as we go south there are more and larger trees, the grass becomes green, there is water in the creeks. In our many excursions we haven't travelled this road through Bourke and Cobar, and we enjoy seeing new territory.
As we approach Griffith, we come into crop-growing country, with large grain silos, then into the fruit-growing area - oranges and mandarins everywhere. We settle on the Kidman Wayside Motel as our place to stay, and go for dinner at Il Corso, a traditional Italian restaurant where we enjoy a good meal while observing the locals out on Saturday night.

Australia's longest hotel veranda, Cobar

Southbound – north of Charleville to Gundabooka National Park

Woken by carolling magpies and kookaburras, up with the sun, and decamped by about 8am. We drive through Charleville, stop for an excellent coffee at Boulders Café in Cunnamulla, cross into NSW where we stop for a roadside lunch.

We stop again in Bourke for ice creams and a few provisions, then sidetrack into the Gundabooka National Park, where we find three other camping groups established, but there is plenty of room for us to be almost out of sight of them. Our last bush camp? Maybe one more tomorrow night, before we cross into Victoria. It is getting colder at night – this morning was chilly for us to need jumpers.

Southbound – Longreach to approaching Charleville

I am hoping for a swim in the pool at the Albert Park Motor Lodge, but there is a southwesterly blowing both when we arrive in the evening and in the morning, and it just isn’t warm enough. We enjoy the space in our room until just after 9am, when we head to the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame to sort out an invoice for an earlier delivery of books by Mike D. We get that solved quite easily (they couldn’t make out the bank details on Mike’s handwritten invoice), but we can’t actually work out where they have their copies – no sign of them in the bookshop. Possibly they’ve sold out already? We leave an order form in case.

On the road we head to Barcaldine, where we refuel, then down to Blackall where we stop for lunch, then on toward Charleville. After driving through endless bare, dry paddocks with no trees the previous day, it is nice to see paddocks apparently being re-aforested, and to get back into country with trees. Past Augathella and we head off the highway on to a side- track, then off-road for another bush camp. Yet another clear night – I will really miss the stars when we get back to the big smoke.

Southbound - Cloncurry to Longreach

Left Wal's Camp early, breakfast in town, then to Cloncurry Unearthed, the Information Centre. Gail is very pleased to relieve us of our last 7 books, so we are now Sold Out. Fill up and head south east to Winton, where we lunch, then on to Longreach, arriving just to late to go to the Australian Stockmans Hall of Fame.
Not a lot of interest in the 500+km drive - lots of road trains, and the roadkill here is grey kangaroos, not red. It is grazing country, dry and mostly featureless, apart from one large sandhill. Winton is a nice town and we enjoyed our lunch there. Their Waltzing Matilda Museum burned down recently, which is sad.
In Longreach we are having a luxury night at the Albert Park Motor Lodge (where else could we stay?). Peter is still selling the book, but when he got the people in the next room interested all we could give them was an order form. Should have brought the ninth box!

Southbound - Karumba to Cloncurry

After a bit of time communication with home while we still have coverage, we leave Karumba and start southward and homeward. It would have been so much harder for the Expedition, turning without actually seeing the sea (although they could smell and taste it), and setting off with only a quarter of the supplies they had left with. We will go home the easy way, via all sealed roads. They had to go back the way they came, over the Selwyn Range, and this time in the wet.

After the relatively short trip back from Karumba to Normanton, we turn on to the Savannah Way and head west until we reached the Bynoe River, which Burke and Wills followed to the Gulf. We drive down to Camp 119 by the river, where King and Gray were left to wait for their return. This was our last bit of "following", finishing off the last chapter in the book.

Back to Normanton for a coffee and a pie and a look at the Bynoe Gallery (local aboriginal artists), then the 372 km drive to Cloncurry. We arrive too late for the Visitor Information Centre, so we find ourselves a spot in Wal's Park for the night, our first night in a park, rather than the bush. Not as good as being alone.

Near Clonagh to Karumba

Early today we cross the Expedition track at the Tom Ticehurst crossing of the Corella Creek, which the Expedition followed out of the Selwyns. They must have been relieved to find it increasing in size and flowing more or less northward, so that they knew that if they kept following they would reach the sea. It is even wider when we meet it again on the Wills Development Road. We follow it for a few kilometres down a side road to its junction with the Cloncurry, where we stop for lunch. There is water in a waterhole here, but not much. However you can see from the flood debris high in trees that the river must be full and powerful in the wet season.

Tom Ticehurst crossing, Corella Creek

On past the Burke and Wills Roadhouse, stopping only to change drivers, then another little detour down a side road. The Cloncurry flows into the Flinders, and we detour to the point where the side road crosses this river and the track. Then it’s a rather boring run on a good sealed road up to Normanton. We deliver another 10 books to the very pleasant and helpful man in the Information Centre, then press on to Karumba, arriving just in time to stand, beer in hand, watching the sunset over the Gulf. Then it’s excellent fish and chips for tea, and a very welcome shower after 7 nights bush camping. The motel is spacious and pleasant, has a washing machine so we have clean clothes as well as clean bodies. Only drawback is the cane toad on the doormat.