We arrived at the Warburton Roadhouse last night after a gruelling days to after a gruelling day on some of the worst gravel road I have travelled, and I’ve been on a few. It was bone jarring.
Warburton is a small mostly indigenous community, and visitors are asked not to take photos as a respect for the indigenous and their cultural practices, especially valuing and guarding images. So we took no photos.
Coming into the town you ford a creek, which was merely a trickle at this time of year and little rain. The town is really set in an oasis in that the creek gives life. The town is very small but well kept. The Roadhouse was excellent. I want to dispel an urban myth in some quarters that this is a town to avoid, but my experience is that Warburton is certainly a town to visit. We stayed in the campground behind the Roadhouse.
In the morning we visited an indigenous art exhibition at the gallery in the shire building, well worth the effort. It was a retrospective of indigenous art from the region, art that told the story of the beginnings of the region and the people in it. There was also a book on display which gave the history of white settlers coming into th e region and the work of the United Aboriginal Mission. Lyn had met several of the families associated with the UAM (Wade, Collins, Schenk). The indigenous comments on the mission were indeed generous which showed positive identification of some good outcomes of the work of UAM.
We set off on the road and continued to wrestle with corrugations and dust. The road takes its toll and we have been taking plenty of breaks for rest and recreation to compensate. We got to see camels grazing (and which are not native to Australia, and are destroying the flora which has a major impact on fauna too). Today’s breaks included:
A breakaway called Yarla which was so peaceful, and with stunning views (above).
And above, a gnamma hole just off the Great Central Road, one of three large gnammas together, with tadpoles and a fourth with algae. There were also plenty of Finches at the water holes.
We continued on until we came to the Warakurna Community and Roadhouse, and we’ve camped in their open campground for the night. In all a wonderful day.
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