Running from El Nino

I’ve had an eye on the long range forecast for a while now. When it became clear that an El Nino event was on the cards, a decision had to be made. Heading north into outback NSW and Queensland this late in the year was always a moot point, but the prospect of heatwave conditions on me and the Jeep, turned my head south. Spending the summer on the east coast of Victoria was now a very attractive option. Since I’ve never been there, it would still be a brand new adventure. I could then set my course for north by northwest in late March next year, starting with the Darling River Run.

Speaking of which, part of that route runs from Pooncarie to Menindee. Now recent rain had temporarily closed the dirt road to Ivanhoe and a right hand turn towards Victoria. At the same time time, I was loath to invoke a spoiler alert on my Darling River Run. Hobsons Choice. So after spending a couple of hours in and around Menindee, I called in to the local servo to top up the fuel and share my dilemma. “Geez mate” he said, “that road coulda been opened on Friday and definitely by today. The bloody Council didn’t want to pay overtime for someone to come out from Broken Hill.” “Really?” I say, leaning in to the conversation. ” You think it would be OK, even with a van?” “Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem” came the confident(ish) reply.

Well, that’s all the encouragement I needed. Ignoring the signs and skirting the half-road barricade I was on my way to Ivanhoe….and he was right!! One small puddle in nearly 200klms of good dirt road. In spite of the recent rain, still managed to leave a trail of dust in my wake. A long, red ‘jet trail’, scattered by the winds across this featureless terrain. A steady 80klm per hour, just over three hours and I was back on the tar. Turned right onto the Cobb Highway and five minutes later, getting a cuppa ready in this one horse town called Ivanhoe. The run from Ivanhoe to Hay was devoid of a single inspiration. Flat. How flat? I’m talkin’ curvature of the earth flat. Perhaps five hours on the road left me more jaded than the scenery deserved.

There’s nothing like a run on red dirt to remind you that caravans are not hermetically sealed vessels. It wasn’t as bad as our experience in the NT, but a couple of hours of hands and knees was required to get the remnants of the Ivanhoe-Menindee Rd out of the van. A couple of nights at Hay and the following day, had intended to pull up somewhere on the Murray River, but just felt both rested and restless, and decided to push on with no destination in mind.

It was getting close to coffee when I spied a small sign set well back off the road, Moodies Swamp Nature Reserve and a single lane, dirt track, winding and then disappearing… somewhere. A quick reconnoitre revealed one possible landing place, again, all the encouragement I needed. I was off my game that day and it took several attempts to manoeuvre the van into position. I hadn’t really seen a true wetland since Kakadu and with the sun going down, it came to life, with both birds getting their last feed and frogs warming up their vocal chords for another night of karaoke.

That such a bare, unheralded location could provide such a picturesque panorama – you feel quite chuffed at the reward you can get by turning over a rock (metaphorically speaking) and discovering something a little special. The next morning, same location, entirely different atmosphere (I couldn’t pick between these two photos, so I had to have an excuse to include both of them)

Thanks to the time lag in getting posts up, you won’t even notice the week I spent in Melbourne. Back to ADP Caravan Services for a couple of minor repairs, a haircut at my favourite hairdressers and a re-configure of the inside of the van. And for those true believers, that love conquers all? Thanks for your kind words, but for now, it would be like trying to peel an orange with a fork. So, heading along the east coast of Victoria my friends, and looking forward to sharing some summertime fun.