Outback Adventure 2019

Day 22

Morven - Mungallella - Mitchell - St George - Nundigilly Pub - Hebel - Lightning Ridge

Another early start today so that we could get on the road and further down into NSW. On the road at 7.45am !

We drove by Mungallella 40kms from where we stopped at Morven which has a great free camp that I would have liked to have stopped at had we been able to last night- oh well next time.

We put on some fuel in Mitchell and confirmed that the road from Mitchell to St George was open ( lots of flood affected roads around!) which it was.

We were glad too that it was as it was a great drive. It is an unmarked road that is single lane in lots of places and unlikely to involve any road trains! The road was full of roadkill and that meant that it was a veritable smorgasbord for the multiple wedgetail eagles, kites and crows that we encountered along the way. On the menu today was kangaroo! Some fresh, some aged....I managed to add to the menu via about 3 small birds who ran out of luck. We also saw a big goanna, an echidna and emus. The real highlight though was the multiple feral dogs that were hanging from signposts! We counted at least 5 . They are attempting to rid them via a baiting programme at present but some local is showing off his ‘trophies” clearly!

We stopped in St George and left our Disco and Van and piled into the new Disco for a short 44km trip out to the Nindigully Pub for lunch.

The Nindigully Pub was built in 1864 and is the longest continually licensed unrestored pub in Australia. It also has a massive burger called the Roadtrain burger. It’s a 5.5kg burger that offers a 1kg meat Pattie! With chips and wedges as well and a hefty $80 charge - it was a feast for 6 of us......and we cleaned it u easily!

Having picked up our Disco in St George we fueled and headed further south towards NSW.

We drove through Dirranbandi and then Hebel on the border before crossing into NSW and on towards Lightning Ridge.

By that time it was after 4pm and so the Roos were getting curious about the road and we saw a number out and about - also a heap of goats too for the first time in a while.

We rolled into Lightning Ridge and to power for the first time in a while.

We had a relaxing swim at the artesian baths at sunset in the 40 degree water which is only 200m from where we are staying.

Tomorrow we explore the Ridge some more and will then head further down the road.