Outback NSW

I rarely stopped on the far-too-long and far-too-straight drive west. From Cobar to Broken Hill and beyond, as expected the dirt was orange-red and the low wattles were yellow. What was NOT expected were the MILLIONS of feral goats.

Many, many healthy herds of multi-coloured goats of all ages, some horned, were grazing by the sides of the highways. If I pulled up, they ran into the scrub. I began saying there must be hundreds, then thousands and these were all I could see from the road, but now I know there must be millions.

I saw many red kangaroo corpses and carcases and bloody streaks on the road, especially nearing Broken Hill (B-doubles can’t stop) but I saw no goat road kill.

Cane toads, cats, camels, rabbits, cacti… and goats.

I stopped only when I saw the first far hills.

For my first real stop that was not just a necessary stopover on the long drive, I headed to the NSW Mutawintji National Park, now run by the traditional owners, the Wiimpatja.

At the surprisingly well-equipped (flushing loos and a shower) Homestead Creek campground, the creek was mostly dry but had damp patches. Flood debris amongst the beautiful River Red Gums showed how high and fast that creek had run in the recent rains.

The long dirt roads in were only barely dry and open.

But further up the gorge there were many rock pools. What an oasis in this landscape…

There was also some well-preserved and protected cave paintings: the Yarra stick (left) once made of human hair and emu feathers tied to a stick, used to drive bad spirits out of sick people, and the Groonki mark (right) to denote a significant site, both said to have been made by the Cleverman.

I stupidly took a wrong turn, left the lovely creek and climbed, a route that was denoted ‘challenging’ and ‘for experienced bushwalkers’ (which I am not) with a rope ladder  descent required. I had read this and thought: well, I’m not doing that!

It took me up high and across the harsh and stony Bynguano Range.

So I did the challenging bits, and right after, had to squeeze through this rock passage and walk through water…  

All up, it was a six hour walk instead of three.

I met many of these Hop bushes, Dodonaea, in flower, some immature and green like this and some already turned pink, but all pretty.

The other frequent sightings were the shrubs of Dead Finish (Acacia tetragonophylla). I knew this one because it is also at Bimblebox in Queensland and it is called that because if this hardy plant dies, everything will be dead, finished.

I would come across these two in many other arid places, both in NSW and South Australia.

And of course, so would the bloody goats be there…