Turning North to Mungerannie

This journey continues to serve up surprises. Perhaps because of my lack of prep for this trip, I had assumed that Lake Eyre was the only attraction on this leg. Far from it. Sure, there is the lookout which actually showed us Lake Eyre with salt nearer to us, but plenty of water on the horizon, but there was plenty more besides.

First up we needed to extract our value from Coward Springs, being one of the more expensive campsites of the trip. The owner here has made a real effort to preserve the railway history, having restored the engine driver’s hut. Other station buildings are part of the working cattle station and so are in good condition, but not for the public. There was also the spa and the wetlands to explore in daylight. They also run camel safaris out of the homestead, and we were treated to a departing camel train, fully loaded for an expedition.

The local spring at the homestead was artificial, extracted from a bore dug in preparation for the coming of the railway. The real spring is a km or so down the road. These springs are natural, as water has found a path through the rock that overlays the Artesian Basin. Over time, the sediments and minerals brought with the water builds up into mounds above the surrounding flat plain. If the mound gets too high, the pressure required to lift the water that extra height causes another fracture to open up, so one spring dries up, and another starts to build. This creates a series of mounds, mostly dry, but one will have a depression in the top filled to overflowing with water, and a stream running away from it.

Further down the road is more evidence of the railway and Overland Telegraph Line. These pictures are of the second longest bridge on the old Ghan and the nearby siding at Curdimurka.

A little further down the road we had advance warning of the next surprise. We caught sight of what looked like a huge statue of a scottie dog, made out of one of the railway water tank strands. Just beyond this station is a place called Planehenge. It was particularly appropriate for us because there has a been a statue made of C3PO from Star Wars, and we were listening to the radio play of Return of the Jedi at the time.

At Maree we had a last look at old railway history, and took a look at one of Tom Kruse’s Birdsville Track mail trucks parked near the station. We just found out tonight that he died in 2011, aged about 97, so the job did him no harm.

From then it was a small matter of completing the 200km north on the Birdsville Track to Mungerannie. We arrived about an hour before sundown, so there was plenty of time to get the camp setup, go down to the tub for a hot wash, and be back in time for dinner at the pub. It has been extended since we were last here 14 years ago with Isabel nearly 1 and so has lost some character in its newness.

Tomorrow it’s off to Birdsville, but not before we look at the birds in the wetlands over breakfast I am sure.