Salvator Rosa Trip - Day 2

Day 2 - 2/4/2015 - Springsure to Salvator Rosa

We didn’t have any rain over night, there wasn’t any thing showing up on the rain radar and the prediction was for only a slight chance of a small amount of rain.  After talking to the Showgrounds caretaker the previous night, there hadn’t been any significant rain in the area for a few days so it was all systems go to head into Salvator Rosa.

Springsure sunrise

We were on the road by about 8am.  There was about 60km of sealed road before we finally hit the dirt :-) We think we found an error on the QLD National Parks website.  It stated it was 144km from Springsure to the park turn off along the Dawson Development Road, but we measured it as 114km.  Just something to be mindful of.

At the turn off to the park we stopped for smoko and a brush up on a bit of history.

It looked like there was a still a bit of water around from the rain a week or so before.

The country also started to open up a lot more which gave some spectacular views of the Carnarvon Ranges.  We decided to spend the time taking photos on the way in because we had more time on our side.  On the way home we will want to make good progress so we won’t have as much time to stop and enjoy the scenery. 

The Carnarvon Ranges

The Carnarvon Ranges

You can get a bigger image of the panoramas by going to this page on the blog site, if you are not already on it, and clicking on the image.

We also started to see some of the local wildlife by the billabong

Two Brolgas

The black soil didn’t look like much, but you could certainly tell that it wouldn’t take a huge amount of rain to start making it slippery and sticky.  On one section of the track another vehicle had to wait for use to pass as there was no way I was getting off the crown of the road as there was water still in the road shoulders and it look really soft and boggy.

Black soil track

The track was getting less formed as we got closer to the camp ground.

We arrived at the Nogoa campsite just before midday.  At this point there were only two other camps setup so we found a spot as far away from them as we could to setup camp.

After lunch we decided to do the 20km return drive from the camp ground to the walks in the park.  To do this we had to cross the Nogoa river.

Going across didn’t look too bad but I was a bit apprehensive about coming back and trying to exit the river.  It was a bit of a steep exit and with wet tyres and sand on the planks of timber I though it might be a bit slippery.  As a precaution I checked with the other campers and they had had no troubles exiting the creek, so we gave it a go.  Better to be safe than sorry!  As it was it was a pretty easy exit.  The traction control didn’t even cut in.

Campgrounds from across the creek

The first stop was the walking track to the base of Spyglass Peak and around the China Walls.

Spyglass Peak

The Spyglass starting to come into view

The China Walls

The China Walls

Next stop was Homoranthus Hill to hopefully get a better view of Spyglass Peak.  You couldn’t really see much of it from the ground looking up.

Stairway carved out of the sandstone to the lookout

Nearly stepped on this little guy!

There was great views over the landscape.

I still couldn't get a shot front onto the Spyglass!

For the next stop we decided to go all the way to the end of the track, Major Mitchell Springs and the Old Yard Site, and then work our way back to the other springs.

Major Mitchell Springs

Major Mitchell Springs

We are not sure that the walk to the Yard Site was worth while, or even worth putting on the map.  There is not much left of it.  I was expecting a few more remnants.

A couple of old fence posts and coiled up barbed wire is about all that remains!

The most interesting thing near the Yard Site was some nasty looking wasps!

Some of the biggest wasps that I have seen!

The next stop was Belinda Spring.  Even though there was only a trickle of water, the ferns gave it away that there was a permanent, (but small), water supply there in the dry surroundings.

From here it was back to Louisa Creek junction.

Unfortunately none of the water holes were deep enough to have a sit down and cool off in.  It was mostly ankle deep at best.  So we decided to head back to the camp ground to see if we could find a better spot there to sit in the cool water.

On the way back to camp we found a place that had the best angle of Spyglass Peak.  You could see the “spyglass” front on.

The Spyglass

Once back at camp we set about finishing off setting up the camp with the awning extension and outside shower.  We also found a little waterhole in the Nogoa River that was about knee deep which was a nice way to cool down after a long day.  Only one other couple had turned up and the camp ground was unbelievably quiet.  It felt like you had to whisper to each other because talking normally “felt” like it was too loud!

That afternoon and evening we also had a light sprinkle of rain.  Enough to wet everything and make the ground damp.  At this stage we didn’t really mind if there was light rain as we still had a few days for the access track to dry out before we had to leave.

Sunset at Camp HQ