China Wall to somewhere on the Granada-Clonagh road (north of Cloncurry)

Barkly Hwy memorial

Chilly morning as it takes a while before the sun peeks over the China Wall, so we are washing and breakfasting in the shade. We drive back toward the Highway, and try the Spring Creek Track from the other end. It’s very stony at the start, making us fear a tyre issue, so we park and walk along the track instead, very close to the Expedition’s path. After an hour and a half of walking we are hot and sticky. Imagining walking all day, without the benefit of the track, and in the heat of January, gives you much greater respect for Burke and his party.

After leaving the Ballara loop road into the Selwyns, we turn off the Barkly Highway again a little later to lunch at Corella Dam, an artificial lake very close to where the Expedition passed as they followed the Corella Creek. Then on to Cloncurry, where we talked to the Visitor Information Centre about books, but the requisite person wasn’t there on a Saturday. Off into the last chapter, heading up the Burke Development Road and then across towards Clonagh Station, where we camp near a creek crossing.

Corella Dam