This was the day we knew would be long…850 km (535 miles) . All would be on two lane roads and we needed
to be off the road well before dusk to avoid hitting kangaroos on the highway.
We arose early and left the park headed west. The ‘roos were
active and we went slow as several hopped across the road. They are so
weird! And they go fast.
As we left the park we drove through farmland
and range land for about 250 miles: cattle, sheep, emu ranches, corn, cotton and
other crops.
Often it was at least an
hour between towns and at Cobar we reached the edge of the Outback. From here there was one town over the next
250 miles with two small truck stops interspersed. It was like driving the Loneliest Road…US
50..across Nevada. Three differences
were present: The land was fairly green due to recent rains, the plants weren’t
sagebrush but sure looked like it, and the dead animals on the road were
kangaroos not deer.
The Kangaroos are most active at night, and the trucks
(“Road Trains”) drive fast and have giant steel bars on the front that have the
shape of a snow plow. They hit the ‘roos
on the highway as a thump and keep on going with no damage to themselves. They are called “Road Trains” because they
can have as many as three 53’ trailers.
California only allows one 53 footer or two 28 foot trailers; Nevada,
Utah and Wyoming allow three 28 footers or one 53+ one 28’; No one but the
Aussies allow these combinations, appropriately call “Road Trains”.
We arrived well before dusk in Broken Hill and set up camp,
and made ready for our 4WD tour to the Outback in the morning. At our campground were the most amazing
collection of camping equipment, from trailers from which folded out a 10x10
tent to this $100,000 specially designed for the outback Spinifex trailer.
Twolanersinoz!
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