Outback Queensland road trip Day 6: Euromanga to Windorah

 

By the numbers

214kms driving

Around 2 and half hours

2 cars passed

 

During the night we had heard the rain on the roof of out motel room and it was a little worrying as we had seen reports on the app that said there was water over the road and more would mean that we could not get to where we are going. The clothes that had gotten wet after we left the Euromanga museum were still damp, but they will be dry eventually. On handing the key to the room in I asked about the road conditions and was told its fine. Local knowledge is a good thing, but maybe the traffic app doesn’t tell the full story. What we did not want was to backtrack around 100 kms to take the other route that bypassed Euromanga.

 

We hooked a right onto the road that we knew would take us out to the Diamantina Development Road or Warrego Way as the GPS happily calls it. We did cross several causeways with a little bit of water in them, nothing that would do anything. The Road trains I had seen all took this road and I knew there wouldn’t be problems if they had. The drive was pretty uneventful as we seen quite a bit of wildlife along the way. We stopped for a Wedge Tailed Eagle in a tree who was watching us, quite a few kangaroos including a few we thought would jump in front of us. Several Emu and even goats who left a baby one to get off the road in front of us. There were cows too. A few of the places we passed by were cattle properties that had the main roads running through them.

 

In the entire time we were on the road, only two cars passed us and there was no one behind us either. We did see caravans on the side of the road, but that was it. Probably due to how isolated the area actually is that there isn’t that much traffic. We did come across some road closures, but they had little bit of a detour on the sides before we got back on the road. It was the same with the road into Windorah and it was damp too. We were told it would dry out by tomorrow and that they are expecting rain on Monday so things could get interesting by then. It was just on 12pm and we could check in when we asked and sorted out the room. That was the best time to get sorted and then took a wander around town. The flies were annoying, but we got to see the water purification where it was pumped to from the river and the murals in the same area. Windarah is a very small town and is the route you take to get to Birdsville. We didn’t pop into the cemetery, but that might be tomorrow before we leave.

 

Tomorrow is another 3 hour drive to Longreach and that should be interesting especially keeping an eye on the wildlife on the side of the road to see if they want to greet us. We seem to have had some really good meals while on this trip away and good to see what the country has to offer away from the hustle and bustle. We have lots planned for Longreach and that will be good as we are spending some time there.