TO THE CORNER AND BACK... Fords Bridge to Currawinya National Park

A very peaceful night at Fords Bridge- although a local station cattle truck rumbled through the night, rattling along the corrugations after it left the tar. Out here you can hear sounds for miles, and the noise of the metal cattle crate seemed to last for hours as it sunk into the distance. Some of the others heard wild pigs squealing around, I never heard a thing !!!… might of been something to do with the few beers that I had the night before. 

Today was going to be a bit of a short day. From Fords Bridge we were heading deeper into the outback along the Dowling Track where we would pass through the Dingo Fence ( now called the wild dog fence ) into QLD then travel further north into Currawinja National Park. 

A total distance of only 170km which was fine as were had plans on exploring the Park and its natural wonders. From Fords Bridge the road wasn’t to bad, there were several sections of corrugations, but generally the road was in great condition. The whole section of road was a deep red colour which gave great contrast to the surrounding landscape. Around the 80km mark we soon came across the Dingo fence- where we needed to open and shut the gate. This is the designated border of NSW and QLD. Just across in QLD lies the settlement of Hungerford. Once a proud town, now there is only the old pub which was on the Cobb and co stage coach run. 

Apart from cold beer, packs of chips and a few souvenirs, don’t get too excited about the town. Oh, I forgot there is about 5 houses here too !!!.. Inside the pub the walls are full of history articles, photos and artefacts. 

We were soon back on the road for the last stint of the day into Currawinja, to set up camp along the Paroo watercourse. The past season out here has had a few floods and the low dry creek crossings were pretty rough and rugged with large stones and ruts that cut across the road. The Dowling Track that we had driven today was a bit unusual  with sections that were open, sections that were lined with Mulga bushes ( I think )- that gave a closed in tunnel effect, then there were the low areas where recent flooding had been. At one of the stops where I took several photos I noticed a pile of old cans just off the road. Most of these had the old ring top pull tabs, it was a bit hard to tell exactly what was in the cans previous, just an interesting pile of cans.

As you approach the park, large sandstone carved blocks greeted you as you entered Currawinja, very spectacular indeed. From the stones it is an easy 2km down past the woodsheds towards camp. While you can camp here we preferred to camp beside the Paroo billabong for some water views and a spot of fishing. An easy day today- we were all looking forward to the next few days exploring this remote and beautiful park.