Birdsville to the Dig Tree

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Yesterday was a bit of a rest day. Some of us did some minor repairs on the trucks, some wandered over to the bakery for a coffee and a custard tart and four of us went on a scenic flight over this end of the Simpson. We also all caught up with our families after a week or so out of service. Being a bit of a sook, I really do miss my little family L

Personally I did all of these things bar the flight. You can jam your four seater plane somewhere where I am not! I managed to find time to clean the truck, fix some little issues and eventually wander off for some fishing with our whole group at a couple of different spots. After that, Phil and Neil decided to have a romantic dinner for two watching the sunset back at Big Red while Tony and I went up to the pub. Surprise! We got chatting to a local and a couple of ring ins and stayed for a few beers before getting some takeaways to keep us going to Innamincka.

During the evening we again had a few brews, spoke some rubbish and headed to bed far too early.

The following day (today) we all got up pretty early, got shit, showered and shaved (well not shaved), and headed off toward The Dig Tree. The Dig Tree is where Burke and Wills left part of their party while they continued north. The party waited many months for Burke and Wills to return but ended up getting sick and decided to leave. They ended up leaving the morning of the day where Burke and Wills arrived in the afternoon. They had left a message carved into a tree and provisions were buried beneath it. Through a comedy of errors and misunderstandings, Burke and Wills both perished. We’re camped near the tree on Cooper’s Creek tonight.

During the day we stopped off at Caldega Ruins and also Cordillo Downs to see one of the biggest old shearing sheds going around. The majority of the day was spent driving but we had some good banter during it all.

Tonight we all threw in for a ripper Shepherd’s Pie and Neil is about to make some damper. Out of a cook book. Bloody Pom! He reckons Poms invented damper. Hopefully we survive the night!

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