(Kate)
It was a very cold night and so we stayed in bed for a while to put off getting up. We eventually got going by 10:30am. This sounds lazy, but it isn't really because it takes us 2 hours to pack up camp. We got going, and paused at Hawker to refuel. There were lots of caravaners at the park near the pub, where we pulled over for a late morning tea. The park, that is, not the pub.
Hawker is the last expected OPTUS coverage until we get to Longreach in QLD. Telstra has far better coverage in outback Australia than anyone else, but we also have an HF radio, and are members of the VKS-737 radio network, so we're not really fussed. We filled in a "Declaration to enter QLD" the day before we left Adelaide, declaring that we hadn't been to any hotspots and therefore were not a risk to Queenslanders. We learned from the news that the COVID situation is escalating in Sydney, Darwin, and the Tanamei Mine, and now there is a positive case in Perth. It seems like we are getting out the city at the right time.
We headed onwards, and stopped for lunch by the side of the road in Parachilna - (first photo) almost deserted now. Except for all the travellers who had also pulled over there to make lunch :)
Subscribing to Wikicamps has been a good investment - it gave us a campsite at Yerelina Creek, Mt Lyndhurst, about 70km NE of Lyndhurst on the Strzelecki Track. A group of caravans were also camped at this free site, but there was plenty of room for everyone. The couple we helped out of the creek bed last night gave us a bottle of Tasmanian wine as a thankyou gift. Only problem was, we don't carry a corkscrew with us. "No corkscrew, no problem", said Ben as he dived for his toolbox, and came back with a woodscrew and a pair of vicegrips.
The Strzelecki is now open to 4WD and heavy vehicles after being closed for a couple of days after the "atmospheric river of rain" swept across inland Australia. The start of the track was still pretty chopped up after being driven on when still damp, but it was OK.
It was another cold night, 4.9 degrees when I got up - the kind of cold that you light a campfire to sit around at breakfast time.
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