Thread: Rijidij Bull Bars

It was hosing down when i got to Hay, so I called ahead and discovered the "track" was closed from Maree north. I redirected up through Bourke and Cunnamulla, then continued on through Charleville and pulled up at Windorah for the night.

I could have made it to Birdsville the following morning, but did not want to risk being stuck there as I have commitments back at home prior to returning to work.

I turned back that morning, and whilst having lunch at Quilpie, I heard on ABC radio that they'd already had over 30 mm of rain between 9 am and midday that day

They had extremely high winds in the dead of the night, and some people took refuge at the pub, only to return to their flooded camps in the morning to discover their tents were GONE.

All in all, I made the right decision for me at the time (I was just swagging it). I had a lovely drive and the outback was at its best, with lush green herbage, pasture grasses and wildflowers covering the plains. It was truly beautiful.

I was a little miffed about missing the race meeting, but I've been a few times before and its not going anywhere. Indeed, in the sage words of the bloke at Windorah roadhouse, "Mate, it's probably exactly the same as the last time you were there, except now they have mobile phone reception." HA HA.

At least you're not still stuck in Birdsville. I see the Birdsville and Strez tracks are still closed. It's always hard to make the decision to turn around isn't it, especially when you've been planning and looking forward to the trip for a while.

I felt like a bit of a wuss turning around in Lyndhurst last week. Especially when we were sitting in Copley watching the weather clear (temporarily) and knowing other traffic had pressed on after us. If we hadn't though we would have wasted a weeks annual leave sitting under an awning in William Creek.

Cheers,
Jon