August 13th…DAY 58

John leaning on The Black Stump

We have been away north of ‘the Black Stump’ and now we are south of ‘the Black Stump’ but are we ‘beyond the Black Stump’…I took this photo of ‘the Black Stump’ about 5 km north of Coolar.

The Keep It Park where we stayed last night had space for at least 200 rigs especially with the water so low. The lake is on the Namoi River which eventually flows into the Darling and then the Murray. As we were leaving we saw several Rosie Dock plants..usually an out back display with lovely red flowers.

The short cut we took was along ‘The Black Stump Way’ passed through the town of Tambar Springs. An unknown town to us but in 1979 the bones of a Diprotodon were found in the bank of the Cox Creek. This creature is distantly related to koalas, wombats and kangaroos. It was a solidly built plant eater the size of a large rhinoceros.

Farms were interesting as they were much greener and ‘yellower’ today with wheat crops and Canola in bloom. One property we noticed was called Kurrajong Park. The Currajong trees are known to be used during drought times to feed animals. The branches are stripped down and fed to starving stock. Yes, here we could see these very trees scattered through the wheat crop so evidently they are valued or they would have been felled.

After Coolar we turned off to head for the ‘Coolar Tops National Park’. The thirty kilometre drive into the Park took us through high undulating farmlands. The scenery was really pretty. Now we are in the park the forest trees are tall and straight. The area has been used for milling. The many birds are noisy, particularly the cockatoos. Kangaroos and wallabies come quite close to us, so close we could see young ones poking their heads out of mother’s pouch. The evening is very cold but with the warmth of a lovely fire we enjoyed our dinner outside, but now inside is the place to be.

Kangaroo and Joey