June 27th

Another wide blue sky. The road was excellent and there was a team of men and machines working on it maybe even preparing the surface for bitumen. Desert Poplars and Mulga trees line the road as we travel toward Tjukayirla where there is a very good road house albeit quite expensive. This is to be expected in such a remote place.

There were many points to stop for today. The first after the Roadhouse was a Lone Desert Kurrajong tree…’The Kurrajong Sentinal’.

Paine and Barclay were two explorers who travelled the area in the first part of last century. We stopped at a memorial cairn which recognises their journey. They named the Pikul Rockholes in 1931. The breakaway had several overhanging ledges which were quite ‘cave’ like and contained some aboriginal art work. It is impossible to imagine how old it is.

Lunch time brought us to the Eurothurra rockholes which gave us a wide view to enjoy. It is very easy to walk by the rockholes without seeing them. They are simply ‘holes in the rocks’.

The flowers today have been lovely. We came upon one patch which looked like snow…an area covered in white paper daisies.

Mid afternoon we actually drove through the NW corner of the Yeo Nature Reserve. This has special meaning for us as our eldest grandson has been named after the Surveyor who named this area….. John Yeo’s great great grandfather.

Tonight we are camped in a huge forest of Black Oaks. The area is called ‘The Pines’ although the Oaks are actually ‘Casuarinas’ and not ‘Pines’. We have a camp fire which is enjoyable on a cool night.

Eurothurra rockholes

Paper daisies like snow in the desert