Day 2 21/05/2013 Bourke to Sturt NP- Mt Wood campsite.
It was not particularly cold overnight due to heavy cloud cover; and with it the promise of rain today, also tomorrow, according to the weather forecast. Not what is wanted on a camping trip, but probably much needed in the area. We got off to an early start, heading towards Wanaaring, all our travelling today on unsealed roads. The landscape was constantly changing......scrubby country with red dirt road; then open treeless plains with a gravelly road, where mobs of emu were again very prevalent, as well as kangaroos and wallabies. We also passed through fenced farm land.....cattle and sheep; predominantly the latter. There were many sightings of feral goats. It started to rain about 10 km west of Wanaaring on the Tibooburra Road. Normally I don't mind camping in the rain (well, ok, maybe just a little bit), but in this red dirt country, the rain turns the roads, (and the camping areas), to thick, sticky red mud. Even walking around the campground has resulted in our shoes becoming coated in said sticky, red mud....it's almost impossible to get it off! We are at Mt Wood campground, some 25km East of Tibooburra, one of four places to camp in Sturt NP, the most westerly NP in NSW. The rain has been persistent but not too heavy. Here's hoping we don't get stranded, which sounds very over-dramatic, but is a real possibility if there is too much rain. We are the only campers here!
This area of Sturt NP was once used by pastoralists, and we spent a couple of hours dodging rain showers and wandering around an open air Pastoral Heritage Museum, as well as visiting some old shearing sheds and Shearers' quarters.
There is plenty of wildlife in this region and in addition to those animals already mentioned, we have spotted no less than six Wedge-tailed Eagles today.
There is no phone signal here, so today's blog will be uploaded later. Meanwhile we hope the rain stops soon!!!!!