Up early (well 8am!!) as kids keen to see the School with its concurrent school of the air and ….Arrived promptly at 8:50 to find the whole place deserted, save for the National Parks guy doing earthworks out the front – the kids have the next 2 days off – an extra long weekend each term just for outback kids so they can drive to ‘the Hill’ (Broken Hill, 700km away) for supplies, visit doctors, dentists etc. So back to camp for a couple hours schoolwork then into the family pub run by Suzie and her dad from Ingleside (Susie comes up each year for the winter to help her dad during the busy tourist season – last census there were 77000 people who passed through the National Parks & Wildlife office across the road so things sure get busy here.
Toby bought some excitement when he swung off the monkey bars at he school and put his big top teeth right through his bottom lip (He will be happy to show you the scar once we get home!). Blood everywhere and I had visions of driving the 350km dirt road to Broken Hill for stitches. Luckily the bleeding soon stopped, an ice-block numbed the pain, and then some local anaesthetic gel took care of the rest. You know you’re in the outback when the corner store across the road offers to bring your cappuccino over to the pub and asks that the kids just return their plates when they are finished their meals! It seems everyone here is from somewhere else – travellers passing through who just can’t seem to leave the place.
A full moon tonight so camp was lit up in that eerie light where everything is visible but only in shades of grey. Millions of stars and the odd plane high above, its red nav. lights the only colour for the evening.
‘Dead Horse Gully Campground’ Sturt National Park ($15/night)
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