“You carry a lot of things for somebody with nothing in their car.”
I think they were talking about my cocktail maker and coffee grinder rather than the extra tools and spare parts. Or maybe they meant my Mary Poppins-like ability to keep pulling alcohol out of the car.
It was our last night on the Oombi as we were rushing to get off the track before the rain hit.
From 10 days of just wandering slowly along the track, with 3 rest days to soak up the atmosphere, there was a sudden change. The weather forecast had changed and the rain was coming in earlier. We now had to rush to get off the track.
So an early start and a lot of driving. We were heading further into black soil country, and it was already damp. If we got stuck in the rain, we were really going to be stuck.
And we still wanted to stop at Oomari to see some art. Some of it dating back 35,000 years.
Ronnie led us in to a couple of galleries by the river. It was still sunny. It definitely didn’t look like rain.
It was over 30o, but once we were under the overhangs of the second gallery the temperature dropped a good 10o and the rocks were cool to sit on. Ronnie called it the ‘living room’, where people would gather to grind grain, tell stories with the art, and escape the heat of the day. He explained the paintings, how and why they were made, and some of the history. It was fascinating.
Then we drove further down the river and had lunch sitting in the cool flowing water.
That was definitely the day’s highlight, and one of the highlights of the trip.
What can I say about the drive today?
It was long, tedious in parts, difficult in others.
If it wasn’t black mud it was dust. And if it wasn’t either of those it was rocks. Except for the creek crossings. There were a lot of them, some big, some small. And a couple stunningly beautiful.
The aim today was to cross the Pentecost River. It doesn’t take much rain to make the Pentecost impassable. If nothing else, we should at least be able to get to Drysdale Station. Well, after crossing the Carson and Drysdale Rivers that is.
The Pentecost River crossing is long, rocky, and flowing. And we did it in the dark. One at a time, while being spotted and given instructions over the UHF. It was an undertaking worthy of 24/7.
Once over, we pulled up and camped right beside the river. And celebrated around the campfire. Hence the comment about my Mary Poppins car. I popped a bottle of champagne that I’d been saving for this occasion, and also made margaritas. The boys got their tequila. It was a good night.
But we still had to make it off the track, across the Carson River and down to Drysdale. When we woke up next morning, for the first time it looked like it might rain. We packed up in a hurry and continued on the track.
By the time we got to the Carson it was sunny.
We pulled up, looked across the river, and there was a grader on the other side. What a stroke of luck, I thought! The track over the river has just been graded.
More famous last words. There were washouts, floodways, rock, and mud. Lots of mud. Long stretches of mud. Red mud. Mud where I got stuck and nearly cried.
I felt like I did when I made it to Birdsville after doing the Simpson Desert on my own, then couldn’t open the butter for my breakfast croissant.
I got stuck in a trough on a muddy part of the track. I tried everything to get out and nothing worked. And as there were no other cars travelling with us there was nobody to snatch us out, and nothing to winch from. I was looking around for somewhere to bury a tyre to winch off when I remembered we had lockers.
“Why didn’t you remind me about the lockers?” I asked
“I thought you’d already turned them on” was the response.
People – never assume your driver knows what they’re doing. 😂
The sky came over very dark and threatening. We could smell rain.
And there was still the Drysdale River crossing, which was already flowing.
We all made it out, and stopped at Drysdale station to refuel, have something to eat, and say our final goodbyes to those heading in different directions.
Then off on the next 300 odd k and two more river crossings to get off the Gibb River Road and back on tar before the rain. With the vagaries of the time zones between NT & WA, and being closer to the NT border than to Perth, it gets dark early here. Very early. Like 4pm early. By 5 it’s pitch black.
And that meant the Pentecost in the dark again. Two night time river crossings in two days! Of the same river. I’m going to audition for 24/7.
But we made it across with no worries, and then it was straight back on to tar and to El Questro, which is the first camping place on the tar. I was woken up in the middle of the night by a strange sound. It was bucketing down. It poured all night. We’d only just made it
It was a magic trip. Challenging, exhilarating, joyful. I learned a lot, and recovered a lot of confidence in myself.
I might do it again next year, and maybe see the places we missed this time around.
I’m so proud of you 👏
Thanks Jenny, it was such a great trip!