With plans to reach the border of NSW we headed in the direction of Barringun. We made our first stop at Tambo. We have stopped here on every trip as it had always been an oasis in the dry desert. We normally pull up alongside the lake and have a cuppa and something to eat. But this time the lake was no more! Absolutely no water and speaking with workers nearby there hasn't been any water in our for about 3 years. The grass is still very green as they had sprinklers on it keeping the area around the toilets looking good.
Next stop was Charleville, again what a bizarre place. We could not find a bottle shop or pub open, a number of shops appeared gutted and closed down. We looked around for a while then gave up. We pulled up next to the vortex rain gun and made some lunch, chicken sandwiches and a coffee. We did the calculations and realised we weren't going to get yup Barringun until after 5pm and the only reason we were going there was to have a drink at the pub with the oldest publican, Mary, 91 years old! I had checked in wiki camps and found she was still alive but the pub closes at 5pm. So no point for us to head there.
We ended up stopping about 30km south of Cunnamulla. That was after stopping to get fuel and finding a bottle shop. This town had a lot more going for it than Charleville!
The rest area was quite open to the road but we camped right at the back near the fence. There isn't much road noise after about 9pm and before 8am. A nice spot, much cooler now. I got my blanket out for extra comfort around the camp fire.
We are going to try for Ponto Falls today. To make a full circle and actually get to the right campsite for our final camp. Will take about 6 and a half hours driving, approx 600km from where we camped. Let's see how we go!
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