Day 13 Camooweal - Barkly Homestead - Cape Crawford

Overnight stop at Barkly Homestead. Plenty of sites and a huge amount of activity. Sites are dusty and there is very little grass anywhere. They consume 500 litres of diesel per day to generate their electricity.

Diesel is $2.09/l

01 July

Left early for Cape Crawford and drove at about 80 kph to manage risk of animals on the road. We encountered a mob of kangaroos casually chatting to each other on the road. Had to ‘shoo’ them away so we could drive through.

Are you wanting to get through?

The sky and the view across the Tableland is spectacular. It is the biggest ceiling we will ever see and very hard to photograph.

Big sky is hard to capture but beautiful to view.

Who would want to try?

There were numerous single lane bridges on the road with signs forbidding overtaking or passing. You would have to come from the muddy bottom of the gene pool to even contemplate trying to overtake or pass on these bridges.

Cape Crawford is a neat site with plenty of grass and shade. Space is a bit tight and we were asked to park carefully and think about others parking later.

Heartbreak Hotel

The cars that didn't make it

We enquired how to get to the ‘Lost City’ and the girl behind the counter said there was no such thing. Richard, noting her accent, said “You’re not from round here are you?” which the maid replied “I have been here long enough to pick up a thing or two and there are no lost cities here!” It was an odd reply as there was a big sign outside advertising helicopter rides to them.

We were later told that the chopper rides were $150 per person for a 15 minute trip. 

Alternatively, we could drive 64 km to the Carabarini Reserve where we could watch birds from a hide and walk round one of the lost cities.

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The ride was well worth while. The bird life was splendid and we spent an hour or so in the hide then walked round one of the lost cities. 

Just like European ruins

Not sure who this was.

Lots of little ally ways.

It was easy to imagine how these sandstone pillars, eroded over millions of years, might represent a lost city.

Diesel was $2.2/ltr and again the camp site consumed 500 litres of diesel per day to generate electricity.