Currawinya Introduction

Being a long way west now, sunrise doesn’t get you out of bed until around 7:25. That makes for a morning very compatible with the girls.

Camped on the banks of Ourimperee waterhole our local delights started early. While there were many birds in the dawn chorus, the pelicans provided the most spectacular sight. A little after dawn, several squadrons of pelicans flew overhead. The largest of these came over first and probably had over 100 birds flying high towards the east. Later in the day perhaps a dozen pelicans gave us another display. A flotilla was paddling up and down the waterhole and almost on cue, all would simultaneously duck dive to feed, and then again just as simultaneously would arise again and continue on their way.

Today we saw more wildlife than you could reasonably expect. We saw emus, complete with chicks. We saw many varieties of kangaroos and wallabies. The bird count is now up over 30. However, we also saw the ferals in great numbers as well. Goats are predominant out here, but we have also seen pigs, foxes, cats and rabbits.

The big surprise later in the afternoon was an echidna coming down to a waterhole to drink. After being initially shy and curling up in a ball, it eventually decided life had to go on and gave Pippa a thrill by walking right up to her. Later, it decided Louis crouching down looked enough like a place to hide and crawled in between his legs.

Currawinya was until relatively recently a working sheep station. The campsite here is not far from the shearing shed. With 12 stands and made on steel posts on three split levels, it gives a good indication of the scale of the industry. The yards and dip outside are extensive and the shearers quarters well preserved. Currawinya being a new national park bought from the previous pastoralists I imagine it was in use right up to the end.

Tonight we find ourselves around a campfire with a bunch of at least empty-nesters, if not exactly grey nomads. The surprise packet though is a French woman here with a teenage daughter. Apparently they landed in Sydney yesterday afternoon and were whisked to an overnight stop somewhere on the road. Today they drove through to Currawinya. I suspect the jetlag and culture shock are in equal measure.