Twitcher Heaven - Birdwatcher's Paradise - Tue 19th & Wed 20th June
"You absolutely must go and stay at the Longreach Waterhole. As you leave Elliot go over the cattle grid and immediately turn left down this 11km sandy track." So said Bronwyn ... she's absolutely right.
Although this camp site is in the Camps 6 book the sandy track looked distinctly unpromising. First there's a sign that says Private Property, then there was a large Brahman bull. After about 3km of corrugations we came upon some council workers who had managed to get their truck "beached" trying to get back onto the track. After kidding us that we were way off track they confirmed this was indeed the way to the waterhole (think lake).
This is the best campsite on the trip so far. Price is good $0, facilities limited to a long drop toilet about 1km from where we're camped and two empty water tanks. But the lakeside location is stunning and the bird life prolific. There are pelicans and cormorants (several varieties) galore, we've also seen jabiru storks, brolgas, great crested grebes, darters, stilts, bee eaters, numerous birds of prey and many others.
The weather is brilliant; sunny, about 25 degree days, with cool nights. Today's shower was our first using solar showers. Fill black bag with lake water, leave in sun for 3 hours, hang from convenient tree, stand underneath and open tap. Very economical both in terms of water and heating.
We stayed two nights and were very reluctant to leave.