Sunday 26th July 2015 - Haddon Corner to Thargomindah

We woke, ate and packed up quickly to beat the flies, and then headed south towards the Dig Tree.  The country ranged from sandy desert to gibber desert and then back into sand dune country.  Quite   a few kangaroos in places.

We arrived at the dig tree in time for lunch.  It's not hard to see why Burke and Wills died out here.  It's pretty dry and dusty despite the waters of the Cooper Creek

In 1860, the Government of Victoria, then Australia's richest State, decided to sponsor a lavish expedition to make the first south-north crossing of the continent to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Eighteen men, twenty camels, and over twenty tons of provisions started out from Melbourne in August on their ill-fated trip led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills. The party reached Cooper Creek by December and having built a stockade, Burke and Wills started north, along with Grey and King, with four men remaining at the stockade camp. They followed the Corella River into the Gulf and found vast salt marshes lay between them and the sea. Disappointed they left the Normanton area in February 1861 and headed back south. Their progress was slowed by the wet season and food was running out. On the evening of April 21 they staggered into the stock camp which had been decamped only that morning. Before the base camp party deserted the depot (stockade Depot Camp 65), they had buried some provisions in the remote chance of Burke and Wills return and instructions to dig were carved into the trunk of the tree. The three blazes on the dig tree were:

B LXV Trunk, creek side
Dig 3FT NW Trunk, land side
Dec 6 60 April 21 61 Limb upstream

Burke and Will’s never found the supplies and later perished before a rescue party arrived.

Burke's face was carved into another tree (the ‘Face Tree') about 30m downstream of the ‘Dig Tree' by John Dick in 1898 and is still clearly visible. Apart from the boardwalk structure built around the tree to help protect it, the site as you view it now is as Burke and Wills and companions would have viewed it nearly 140 years ago.

The Dig Tree

From the Dig Tree we were back on the bitumen and heading east once again.  We did head off the 'black stuff' to detour to Noccundra where we thought we might stay for the night.  J, R and D were looking for a room in the pub but there were none available.  Will we camp by the river?  No, Jennie was over the dust and David was over crawling into his swag so it was on to Thargomindah!

Noccundra Pub

We set up in the Explorers Caravan Park (we in the camper and J&R in a cabin - David down the road in a motel).  And a very nice Caravan Park it is too.  Pleasant host, kangaroos nibbling the lawns, a great camp kitchen and hot showers - what more could you ask for.  It was interesting to note that you could leave your caravan here while you headed west for $5 a night. A bit different to Birdsville.

Dinner was a roast at the Oasis Motel down the road.  Most satisfactory.