Day 393 | Dulhunty River crossing: terrific campsite next to the water
32 km | zzOz total: 11,352 km
Want to see some real manly testosterone in action?
Spend time at the Palm Creek crossing on the Telegraph Track. Some campers were so entertained by the shenanigans they were staying another day just to watch.
The creek crossing itself is no worries, it’s only ankle deep, it’s getting down and then back up.
The getting down part, about 6 or 8 m with half in one near vertical drop, wasn’t something to ride your bike down, the mud at the bottom was a mucky porridge knee deep, untested by myself but so I’m told, I unashamedly used the walkway bypass carrying the whole caravan in 4 loads, all reassembled on the other side in 30 minutes.
Then I spent an hour watching the first 4WD for the day, a gung ho tour operator with a flair for the dramatic, light a cigarette and have it hang from the side of your mouth as you contemplate the descent, a Landcruiser pulling a large double axle trailer loaded with, well, just about everything would fit in there. Man, that would be fun, there were some major crashes and that big drop, you basically can’t steer instead just slide attempting to avoid getting wedged in the chute, the heavy trailer dictating progress, coming ready or not.
Then get up the greasy opposite bank, a more gentle gradient but wheels spinning, digging the body into the muck, requiring winching from various now sad looking trees to get through, then assisting the next few vehicles as well, some heavily tattooed blokes from Roma assisting with the winch operation, long accustomed to such manoeuvres.
By the time I left there were 50 engrossed onlookers, spellbound by the whole brute force required for the 4WDs to smash their way through.
I was about 7 km along the track, a great ride by the way, before the first Captain Hero came through.