QI Tour - Rain at Thargomindah (Day 28)

Rain threatening at
Thargomindah

… and then the rain came. Not much but enough to make driving so much more hazardous. Yes, the roads are sealed but they are only just over one truck wide, so when you meet traffic or it needs to pass, you have to get at least half of your rig onto the road verge and after rain, that means suddenly creating wheel ruts in soft, red mud which can be at least 15cm deep. With a weight dragging behind, that makes for instability and potentially, for a catastrophic loss of control.

Not the look we’re going for. 

We spoke with several van jockeys today, with their rigs thick with mud, caked on to great depth in wheel arches or centimetres deep on the tyre treads. Their vans weren’t just splattered with mud, the fronts had been coated in the stuff.

One chap retold his tale of woe which saw him arrive at Thargo on Monday, after breakdown with some sort of fuel feed problem last Friday on a road between Cameron’s Corner and Innamincka. No reception, a dead car and no one answering on radio. Hours passed by until, completely by luck, a big tow truck who was on another job passed by. The car was towed to Innamincka but the van left behind. $250. Fluked a bed at Innamincka and likewise luckily found a bloke in the pub who was prepared to fetch his van. $100 plus lunch.  Nearest repairs available were at Thargomindah. The mechanic made the 740km round trip, carrying the car and towing the van. $3,600. Car has been on a hoist in Thargo since Monday. Parts ordered. $??? plus $500 transport cost.

Enough is enough. Too much risk for us. Tomorrow we reverse direction out of the Outback and head for roads more frequently travelled where rain runs off and there is plenty of room for all.

We stayed an extra day to allow for the road verges to dry but the sun didn’t really take effect until after lunch so we might stay a fifth night in Thargo.

This morning, we walked part of the extensive bike path network which provides access to the Bulloo River and all of the stopping points in the history tour. In most places, the track is lit by solar stored power lighting as evenings are a better time to walk than the heat of the day. Our walk included the fabulous Information Centre, which gave us some valuable advice on the state of roads leaving Thargo.

One of the ladies - the daughter of Pete Chute, the conversationalist from the pub a few days ago - recommended the Thargo Roadhouse for quality coffee … made by her daughter. We were starting to feel like we were in an episode of the ABC’s Backroads!

If appearance was your guide, the Roadhouse provided no assurance of the coffee but that thing about books and their covers never rang truer. Pete’s grand daughter made me a cracking Mocha, one my mate Dinesh Goyal at Vivaldis would have puffed his chest out with pride at.

The rest of the day was taken up with the sorts of bits and pieces tasks that mount up when you are on the go and of course, hearing horror tales. Sue got a chance to watch some swallows that have copious nests under the eaves of many of the buildings in the caravan park.

Technology being what it is, tonight I’ll take part in a meeting of my beloved Tahs club: me in Thargomindah, two others in Brisbane, one in Port Macquarie and one in Sydney … and yet none of them is the most distant. The final member will be talking to us from Hong Kong!

Maybe it’s that connectedness which makes the isolation of our planned path seem so perilous. Maybe we are just getting soft or old or overly cautious. 

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today's photos

No matter. Tomorrow or maybe Saturday  we  are heading east and leaving the Outback to others and their tales.