The Great Cunnamulla Rally

The road from Nindigully to Cunnamulla urned into a bit of a technical challenge.

We were travelling at around 7ok/hour listening to the audiobook which was getting interesting when there was a bang followed by grinding , caravan flapping around a little but nt as much as my hands on the wheel. Yes tyre blowout on the caravan. We had ALKO electronic stability control fitted to the van and I think this is what made it a safe stop. It automatically comes on when it detects caravan sway.

So the tyre is shredded and the wheel rim is goosed too. We pulled over on the side of the road, didnt really want to get a shunt from one of the 153 metre long road trains !

So formula one wheel change was the order of the day and team members GW and KW set about it .

We used two bottle jacks and some clever digging and dirt platform making to raise the van enough to get the wheel off. Then a bot of a dig to create enough space to get the new wheel on.

I have two cut off sections of railway sleeper to help the bottle jacks get the right height and i helpfully left them in the rush in the garden in Melbourne !

So a pressurised tyre change in 35 degree heat and not a stressed word exchanged !!!

We limped into Cunnamulla as we had used our one van spare tyre and found the best tyre shop ( the only tyre shop ) . On the drive post blowout it was amazing just how many pieces of tyre your eyes see on the side of the road . The tyre was found quickly and after searching though piles and boxes in what must be the untidiest garage  I have ever seen a special white wheel was found matching the dimensions required.  Untidy it was but even more friendly helpful and quick. As with the other country establishments we have had to call on they drop what they are doing to get you on your way, I have become used to booking an appointment for emergency fixes !

Cunnamulla is a town built on the sheep trade . It once   boasted the largest sheep shed in the world with a 100 shearing stands and 500,000 sheep sheared in a season. It was the rail head into the region .However the sheep trade has dwindled and the historic shed that still holds the record has been dismantled . The people we spoke to in the town said the sheep trade has dwindled due to the drought and packs of feral dogs which have devastated lambing season. We were told that their is a bounty on each feral dog shot.
We had a few schooners in the Hotel Cunnamulla where we met Doug and Fiona . We were there for an hour and a half and there was only us being served (apart from the local butcher who ran in and skulled a bundy and ginger wine as this was his grandads flu prevention cure).  Doug had worked in the UK in the media for Granada. After swapping tales about the Lass O Gowrie pub near the studios he told us that this had been his first job in the UK and it was film editor for Coronation Street. Fiona then told us that he came home in a panic in week one because he couldn’t understand a single word that came out of Vera Duckworths mouth and that it all sounded rude !

Some idyllic fishing spots with a few little fish and some yabbies caught but no big yellow belly perch as yet. I took some consolation from the fishing shop owner who told me that the big fish are not biting (this of course after the sale ).

We spent a very informative morning in the visitor centre which has a film on the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) . This is taught in schools in Australia but funnily enough not in Larbert High or in Warrington so we were like sponges (Jodie that pun is for you). So for the brits – the  GAB  is the largest underwater lake in the world taking up over 20% of Australia’s land mass. It is a sandstone aquifer that burst up to the surface in raised springs. These were a key way that much wildlife could survive in the outback.  The indigenous tribes knew where all the springs were and were integral to their culture.

When settlers realised they could “mine for water” by dropping bores they started irrigating the most inhospitable of places. The Australian telegraph repeater stations that spanned the outback could not have been achieved without tapping into the GAB.

I modern times however it has been realised that the GAB must be kept in balance other wise it loses volume and pressure and the flow stops. Federal and state government have nearly finished an improvement plan which is making the bore and irrigation process more efficient.

Kate and I also tried our hand at sand dune surfing as we watched sunset from the sand dunes behind where the caravan was parked – with little success !