Mungo to Pooncarie
A cool change overnight, a few spots of rain…..what could possibly go wrong? I heard the occasional drop on the roof at 4am, but not a puddle in sight as I pulled out of the Main Campground just on 9am. I hate back-tracking if I can possibly avoid it and Google Maps pointed the way across Lake Leaghur and Garnpung Lake before a left at the Ivanhoe Road and a straight run to Pooncarie. I was assured by a young guy in a campervan that the run across the lakes was particularly smooth. I topped a ridge then turned right, eagerly anticipating the run.
Yes, they black soil roads across the lake beds were indeed smooth, but the dust had coagulated into clods, concealed under the veneer of dry looking road. It seemed so Leyland Brothers, throwing up sprays of black earth as I barreled along across the lake beds, unaware of what was about to happen. Halfway across Garnpung Lake, I seemed to be using more and more fuel to maintain speed. I initially put that down to the muddy conditions, but then, an unhappy noise somewhere left front encouraged me to pull over to check.
An initial inspection was looking OK until I rounded the front of the Jeep. The left wheel arch was jammed solid with compacted mud, from the bull bar to the mud flap. So compacted that the wheel was having difficulty turning, so I believe it may have been the diff complaining.
Off course it was the middle of nowhere! So after trying several methods, I settled on a flat head screw driver and a hammer to chip away at this black horror, all the while hoping that there was no collateral damage. After an hour, the last clump fell to the ground. Note to self – buy wide point chisel. It was only then that the state of the van caused me a ripple of mirth. Mmmm…….another Russell Coight moment for sure!
It was a rather gingerly departure, listening for any residue of a problem. Luckily, I had reached the edge of the lake, and the relative safety of gravel that lasted all the way to the turnoff. After that, I could relax. THIS road was smooth AND solid. It must be hard to appreciate how many of these roads link the outposts that are small country towns across the nation, and the vast distances they traverse. As you can see this one was pretty straight. So, much later than I had anticipated, I rolled into Pooncarie, relieved also to see that the Darling had made a re-appearance. I figured I’d pushed my luck just a little and happily settled in for the night.
The Pooncarie Bush Dash – Testosterone on Steroids What do you get when you put two hundred plus (mostly) guys in a paddock with a whole lot of loud, shiny off-road muscle cars? Opportunity- I mean photo opportunities. Yep, just for once, I happen to be somewhere where an actual scheduled event is happening. It turns out Pooncarie’s one day of noise and excitement is today. The first round of the Australian Off Road Championships, and I’m Johnny on the spot.
The warm ups were in full swing when I arrived and the time trials started an hour later. The course quickly disappeared into the scrub and only the dust plumes revealed their location on the circuit. The vehicles varied from souped-up utes to fully blown off-road machines.
The suspension on these machines is beyond belief and for a brief moment I wondered whether they would miss the odd gas powered strut, just to give the van springs some support for the long dirt road trek ahead. Luckily the course re-emerged adjacent to the main road and I quickly relocated to an adjacent truck stop. A few vanners joined me as we watched the dusty procession.
The main event started after lunch, but I couldn’t hang around. There already was a conga line at the beer tent. I could only imagine what kind of Saturday night would unfold. It was time to move on to Menindee and the sun was high in the sky when I pulled out.