Day 6 - Mt Finke to Waltumba Camp Ground

Tuesday 22nd March 2016

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise that bathed Mt Finke in a gentle pink glow, oh if only the day could stay this beautiful, peaceful and cool. It wasn’t long before sunrise was over, breaky was eaten and we’d packed up ready to tackle the last leg of Googs Track which will bring us out at the Trans-Australian Rail line, from there we head into Tarcoola. Just after leaving Mt Finke there is a small un-named salt late that needs to be crossed. Sadly it looked like the crossing was an adventure playground for outback hoons. The rest of Googs Track had a few more tallish dunes and recent rains were still evident from the remaining puddles and damp sand.

A couple of hours later and with some sadness we reached the end of Googs Track. The Trans-Australian Rail line is before us and we take the opportunity to pressure up the tyres from sand pressures to gravel pressures before crossing the line. While pressuring up we saw a green headed ant going about it’s daily chores. It’s easy to see why it was named Green Head Ant, the head was a deep iridescent green. After photographing the ant we looked around and saw that there’s ample signage at the northern end of Googs Track to let you know where you are and where you’re heading. We crossed the train line and turned right and headed down the Trans-Australian Rail service road toward Tarcoola about 38kms to the east. It’s worth remembering that away from major towns and cities you may come across some country rail crossings which aren’t controlled by lights. You need to stop, look both ways and cross if safe to do so.

 

Not long after turning onto the Trans-Australian Rail service road we see the remnants of the recent rains with puddles covering the road. In some cases the land on both sides of the road resembled swamp land. One puddle had a flock of ducks on it having a swim and a Brown Falcon was perched nearby.

Before you get to Tarcoola you cross the Trans-Australian Rail line again. Remember – stop and check for trains before crossing. Driving into Tarcoola you can see the remains of old mines and when you arrive in town the dominating feature is the red Tarcoola Hotel. There was a sign on it saying opening in 2104 which had been changed to 2016 but it didn’t look anywhere near ready. A house on the right hand side of the ‘main street’ looked lived in and there was a huge painted sign on the road saying “Slow Down for Children”. There wasn’t much left of the petrol station and the hospital needed a lick of paint but it wasn’t a working hospital.

Leaving Tarcoola behind we head toward Glendambo via Kingoonya where we’ll fill up with diesel. We cross the Trans-Australian Rail line several more times as the road meanders toward Kingoonya. Along the way we saw the breath taking Wedge Tail Eagle, we just love seeing these magnificent birds and a flock of Emus out foraging with dad emu keeping the young ones in check. When you see eagles on or at the side of the road please slow down and give them time to fly off. Their large size and the fact they rely on thermals to gain height means in most cases it takes them some time before they are safely up in the air and away from the danger your vehicle presents.

Pulling in at Kingoonya to fill up we’re greeted by a friendly kelpie keeping an eye on the town. There is a pub/general store, accommodation and fuel depot in Kingoonya although research sources say you can’t get fuel here. They’re wrong, you can. Filling up here removed the need to go into Glendambo and back out again meaning we could now head straight out to the Gawler Ranges where we’ll camp for the night. This was our second time at Kingoonya having been through here on our way home from Alice Springs in 2015.

We saw more Brown Falcons on this trip than other trips in the last 24 months. Running out of daylight we started looking for somewhere to camp for the night. We saw a sign for the Lake Gairdner National Park so pulled in to check out the lake. Gee it’s large but is only about half the size of Lake Eyre. Now we’ve mentioned elsewhere in this diary about ‘hoons’ driving on salt lakes, well we have since found out that Lake Gairdner is home to speed week. Once a year racers participate in an organized event in an assortment of cars and bikes as they attempt their fasted speed – so not hooning. There is a set track which is 9 miles long, yes miles not kilometres. They’ve been holding the event at Lake Gairdner for the last 24 yrs and we’d missed this years event by a fortnight.

On the way down to Lake Gairdner we passed a campground called Waltumba, what a lovely spot. There aren’t any facilities here but the surroundings are perfect. We even had a male kangaroo as a neighbour but fading light didn’t allow us to get a good photo, and there was evidence of emus in the area. Near the entrance of the camp ground there is the Waltumba Tank. This tank was used to catch rainfall from the roof but what makes this different from other water tanks is the tank itself is below ground. The tank had water in it when we were there and the hand pump worked just fine. There is a sign saying boil water before use. We finished the day off watching a lovely moon rise.

Total Time : 9.11
Total Distance: 349 kms
Average Speed : 38 KPH

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