{"id":613,"date":"2017-08-26T18:12:55","date_gmt":"2017-08-26T08:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/?p=613"},"modified":"2019-04-02T23:46:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T12:46:11","slug":"yaraka-to-isisford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/yaraka-to-isisford\/","title":{"rendered":"Yaraka to Isisford"},"content":{"rendered":"

All bitumen, much of it dual lane & new.<\/p>\n

The turn off to Idalia NP took us onto dirt road of varying quality, some good, some requiring high clearance. The first \u2018real\u2019 (other than corrugations) test of the Tvan\u2019s off road capabilities, which it managed without even breaking a sweat. We engaged 4wd more for control & to do less damage to the road rather than because we needed to. Our friends Peter & Margaret, veteran 4wd travellers maintain that both are good reasons to use 4wd whenever off sealed roads & so we do.<\/p>\n

It was approximately 70kms into the Park\u2019s campground where we set up for a couple of nights & did all of the walks & drives the park offered. Whilst good to be out there in the silence of the bush, & enjoying some walks & views we felt the park offered far less \u2018wow factor\u2019 than Welford had, but enjoyed the slightly more (but still mild) 4wd\u2019ing on the park\u2019s tracks.<\/p>\n

Back at the junction with the Blackall road we met an elderly couple who had just pulled of the bitumen to visit the park. They were pulling a huge dual axle caravan which I\u2019d guess would have had to have weighed at least 4 tonnes loaded & I\u2019d estimate at around 24\u2019 to 27\u2019. It had lots of checker plate around it & large lettering advertising that it was an \u2018off road\u2019 model. I tactfully expressed my concern about the viability of taking this behemoth onto the park\u2019s often tight & twisty tracks with a few deep dips in which I\u2019m certain the van\u2019s rear overhang would become caught. The old fella wasn\u2019t about to be put off reaching his dreamed of destination (despite his wife\u2019s uncertainty) so I advised he take the van no further than the info board\u00a0 just past the park boundary where there was a large turning circle, unhitch & drive in to see for himself first. I hope he did\u2026\u2026. I haven\u2019t heard anything on the ABC\u2019s Western Queensland news about him getting stuck & preventing anyone else getting in or out. Seriously how some caravan manufacturers manage to convince folks who are old enough to know better about the off road capabilities of their products is beyond me. I have no doubt that this chap, who would have been pushing 80, intended to just drive in because he had a van he could take anywhere.<\/p>\n

Wave Rock – Idalia NP\u00a0 (Not the better known namesake in WA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A view from Emmets Pocket trail – Idalia NP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Waterway – Idalia NP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Base of a Redgum – Idalia NP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We bid the couple farewell & drove on to Blackall, our first \u2018big\u2019 town in a while, in order to restock our dwindling fresh food supplies. Actually Blackall is not a big \u2018big town\u2019, but it does have all the main services, courtesy of being on the the main north\/south Landsborough Highway, a route favoured by Grey Nomads who were much in evidence at the town\u2019s camp spot. A dusty & somewhat barren car park on the edge of town, with a number of potable water taps but only a single toilet. There would have been at least 70 or 80 caravans, campervans & motorhomes set up on the $8 per night site. Would hate to see it when busy! I\u2019m sure it is more attractive when the river has water flowing, but we felt $8 per night for a dustbowl & one single toilet was poor value. Nevertheless it was cheaper than the $30 per night caravan park, which by all accounts had plenty of customers. The aesthetics of our camp spot aside, Blackall provided what we had visited for, & gave us the added bonus of the best swimming pool I have been to in my 60 years. The pool is an artesian pool, with a spa & an olympic size pool. The temperature of the water is determined by how many folk in town are watering their lawns at a given time. Water comes out of the ground at 60 deg.C, & generally cools before use. The more folk using it at once the less chance it has to cool. On our visit the spa was at a lovely 37 degrees & the main pool at a comfy 32 degrees. Apparently they cap the spa temperature at 44 degrees by turning off the supply to allow cooling on occasions. The pool, it\u2019s kiosk, & open changing rooms were reminiscent of yesteryear, whilst the outdoor pool facilities were modern. This gave a very pleasant & laid back ambience, very different to the large echo-ridden modern indoor pools. At $2 entry per person & no time restriction it was great value. We left relaxed & wrinkled & left town to drive the 120 odd kms to the small village of Isisford – once again heading west taking a round about route to Winton, avoiding the highway & Longreach.
\nIsisford was to be an overnighter before continuing to the Lochern NP, Opalton, Lark Quarry & then Winton to once again restock before going south to the Diamantina NP, & thence on to Birdsville & Innamincka. However we found ourselves such a pleasant sheltered, sunny & private little camp spot on the Barcoo River, just outside of Isisford, about 30 minute walk to town we are currently on our 3rd day here & will likely stay a fourth. Best of all, last night the fish started biting & I\u2019ve landed 3 Yellowbelly, 2 small ones which went back & one cooked in foil on our camp fire. Yum. I think the reason for this success is a) the freshwater shrimps I\u2019ve caught for bait & b) the method I\u2019ve used to put them on the hook which I changed from previous attempts. Guesswork really, but it keeps me happy. Also found a freshwater turtle in my bait net this morning, whom I said G\u2019day to before releasing. Birdlife is prolific & we have been visited during the hottest part of each day, by small but very bright butterflies, almost ultra violet in colour.<\/p>\n

Isisford main street – population 100<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blogging central on the banks of the Barcoo, Isisford. Making coals for tonight’s camp oven dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BTW. I still have no idea about the sirens at cattle grids, but a friend did write to tell me he had experienced similar somewhere in WA, where a feral extermination targeting particularly foxes, programme had been taking place. However instead of movement sensors triggering sirens, they triggered loud recordings of barking dogs! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

We are expecting to be offline for the next week to 10 days until we reach Winton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All bitumen, much of it dual lane & new. The turn off to Idalia NP took us onto dirt road of varying quality, some good, some requiring high clearance. The first \u2018real\u2019 (other than corrugations) test of the Tvan\u2019s off road capabilities, which it managed without even breaking a sweat. We engaged 4wd more for … Continue reading Yaraka to Isisford<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-queensland-channel-country","tag-australian-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8PHoJ-9T","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":620,"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions\/620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}