Day 02 – Mt Surprise to Winton [630km]

Mt Surprise accommodation at Bedrock Village was excellent; evening campfire and full dinner and breakfast!

Left Mt Surprise for Winton at 8.00am sharp. There were only two scheduled stops before heading for Winton, quite a long way away.

As we neared Winton, the land became more grassland with shorter trees – good cattle and sheep country.

The first stop along the way was Porcupine Gorge, a geological feature of interest (to some). A basalt cap on the sandstone has eroded into a narrow gorge.

As it was getting close to lunch time, the Guides Jazza and Barbara prepared lunch in the car park. There were some interesting cloud formations and trees (for anybody interested).

After lunch we drove to Hughenden, an old mining town. On the main street is machinery display highlighting the town and the region’s dependence on groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin

We also saw the famous ‘Coolabah Tree’ an important landmark in the exploration of this part of the country by the Europeans.

From there it was on to Winton with a brief stop in Corfield (a town that nobody had heard of).

The last 215km was uneventful, the bus reaching Winton at 5.00pm. Tired but (sort of) happy, we looked forward to drink and dinner and bed