Greetings from St. George,

I left the motel in Bourke at 7:30am, with the intention of overnighting in Blackall. After filling the tank, I tried to make a reservation at a motel in Blackall, but both were booked out. So, I tried the motel at Tambo (100km before Blackall), and it was booked out too. I then tried a couple of motels in Charleville (300km before Blackall), and they didn’t have any vacancies either. The next option was St. George, which is to the north-east, rather than north. The first motel I rang there was also booked out. At the second (graciously recommended by the first), I finally got a room. So, I headed north along the Mitchell Highway, towards Blackall, but turned east at Cunnamulla, for St. George, along the Balonne Highway.

There were bugger all towns along the route; I stopped for a cup of coffee at a rest area around 10am, and reached Cunnamulla around 11am. I stopped in Bollon around 1pm for lunch, and to fill the tank, and arrived in St. George around 2:30pm.

I did 545km today. I’ve never seen so many kangaroos in my life; there were hundreds of them. Unfortunately (for them), all but one were in varying states of decay on the sides (and middle) of the road. I also saw one pig (dead, fortunately), two emus (one dead, unfortunately), and a few wild goats (none dead, unfortunately). The wildlife sighting highlight, however, was the occasional wedge-tailed eagle feasting on a kangaroo carcass.

I’ll be heading north-west for Blackall tomorrow. I’ve learned my lesson; I made a reservation as soon as I booked into the motel in St. George.

Cheers,
Julian