Safari 2018 August 11th

 August 11th 2018 
       Cockburn River

Evening at Cockburn River Camp..very dry

It has been an uneventful 300km travelling as we go south. The main comments along the way have been about the dry countryside. So dry that trees are dying in some areas, Mistletoe is dying on the trees and some small areas of bush have been fired. There are  paddocks which have been scarified ready for planting a crop or maybe the seed has been planted but no rain to bring the shoots up. Only a few places had water in dams or a creek which was not completely dried up. The Australian drought is very REAL to be sure.

Our night at the Kookaburra Camp near Bolivia was cold enough at 0.8deg.The Kookaburra property is extremely dry as well, but it does have a spring which keeps a small lake full of water to service the park and the B&B accommodation and no doubt the few farm animals and a vegie garden full of garlic and kale.

We travelled a Tourist Route across country to Glenn Innis. From there we drove on the New England Highway which by-passed Armidale then through Uralla, and not quite to Tamworth where we have settled for the night at the Cockburn Camping ground on the Cockburn River. I was awhere that there was a nearby rail line but it still surprised me to hear a train and to see a small bright green three carriage train going by quite close to our caravan.

John sitting on a ready-made' seat at Cockburn River Camp

The river is very dry apart from one small ‘puddle’. We walked along a heavy rock river bed where floods have obviously flowed. There are a couple of single campers here with their dogs.

JG found a chair which had been carved with a chain saw into a comfortable chair!