Continuing on from my last blog here is our story about our trip through
Rudall River National Park from Telfer to
Newman.
Day 8 - 10th July
Last night after finishing the blog, the computer froze... yep, I broke it. Totally dead. So I went to bed to let David deal with it in the morning. So, at 5.30 am I went running and left David to it. My plan was to do a 1 hour 15min run, which meant a very cold early start.
Back at
camp after enjoying my own bit of peace, the
camp was in a rucous. David said the computer was unfixable (I'm in trouble now, cause this is not the first time)... the swags and clothes were still damp and the sun was only just starting to appear but a hot breakfast was being prepared for all. Once we were fed and repacked, we started our section of the Ruddall River adventure which should have meant a 52km drive to the access track off the
Telfer road, however soon came across a
well used
mine road that wasn't mapped so took that instead. There were no signs to say we couldn't but other signs about confirming it was a road in current use. Pretty soon however we found it was heavily flooded - no idea why they build tracks with no run offs? We simply pulled up out of the track to drive around the worst bits - conscious of not ruining their
mine road. This track came in to meet up with the
Telfer Road at their water plant so it was just a short bit on to the
Ruddall River access track. We got there and found a huge
road closed sign facing BACKWARDS! ie. as if to indicate to travelers coming up from the south of the park that they could not use the
Telfer Road that we were on. Puzzled, we wondered if the sign had been mistakenly turned - did it meant that the Ruddall River National Park roads were closed due to all the rain? The tracks were certainly in very wet condition - it would make sense, but the sign was turned the other way? What did it all mean? Next thing a truck drives past us on the
Telfer road and doesn't stop us, so we figure no one seems to care about what we're doing. So we continue on stilll... puzzled, but not worried.
We had other things to do - like look out the window at the most beautful scenery we'd experienced this whole trip - it is just magic in the northern section of Ruddall River.
I haven't had time to finish this blog so will just post up the photos of the highlights and come back to this next week.... I hope you enjoy it! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Telfer Mine Road
First view of Peterman Ranges
Great driving views through Peterman Ranges
Track to cave north of Christmas Pool
Family hike to cave
View of camp/carpark at Christmas Pool
Lots of water on track
Driving up Coolbro Creek
Access to Coolbro Pool
Beautiful Coolbro Pool
View from camp over Coolbro Pool
Camped at Coolbro Pool
Washing Lines provided at Coolbro Pool !
Northern Water - hand pump
Crompton Pinnacle on track to Desert Queen Baths
How to fix car sickness...
Beautiful scenery on drive to Desert Queen Baths
Arrival view of Desert Queen Baths
David takes the first plunge
The first pool at Desert Queen Baths
The second pool at Desert Queen Baths
The 3rd pool at Desert Queen Baths
David rides the track to the Cave
Our camp in the afternoon light
Our camp in the morning light
Desert Queen Baths - our camp
Main camps in the valley at Desert Queen Baths
Walking the track to the Cave
View from the top of the Cave - over Desert Queen Baths
The Plaque - overlooking the Rudall River
Creek dips on Granite Valley track
Graphite Valley
Coloured quartz found at Graphite Valley
On the way to Curran Curran Rockhole
Camped at Curran Curran Rockhole
Camped at Curran Curran Rockhole
Curran Curran Rockhole
A mummy moment (Michelle and Chardae)
Leah
David and Michelle