Then we drove into Longreach for the day. Spent some time driving around the back blocks looking at the houses. It's a very old town with lots of original architecture. Then a spot of shopping and some lunch before venturing out to Starlight's Lookout which is about 45km out of town on a dirt road. We checked at the Information Centre and were told that the road was good, even though there was some rain in the area. We took off and got about 15km out and the dry road turned into a slightly damp road which was VERY slippery and very muddy. Not mud as we know it, but very sticky black gunk. We persevered in 4-wheel drive weaving along for a short distance, but then threw in the towel and turned back. We stopped at a pretty lagoon on the way back and got rid of some of the mud.
Unfortunately there had been a little more rain, so we picked up even more mud and when we got back to the sealed road we had to stop and de-mud the wheels, so that they could go round properly - they were totally mud bound. A quick call to Dad for advice and back into Longreach and the only car wash in town for some high pressure hosing down.....
And shovelling of mud.....
Into a wheelie bin, which we filled......
All up about $25 and 45 minutes of "fun".
The irony of this story is that this is exactly the spot that my parents were trying to visit when they got stuck for 2 days a couple of years ago. The Info Centre also told them it was good to go. Looks like our family is destined not to reach this lookout.
Anyway, all ended well. We are now far more knowledgeable about the fickleness of changing weather conditions in this part of the world. We headed back to Ilfracombe, a beer at the pub, a nice hot shower and a yummy dinner of barramundi and veges.
Tomorrow we head back into Longreach for some more sedate tourist activities - Stockman's Hall of Fame and riverboat cruise. Hopefully, mud not included!
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