We waved goodbye to Doris the Donkey and we're sure she was a better Donkey for our gesture.....A few K's South of Toompine was the turnoff to take us away from the main road and along the old river road, which was the route traveled in yesteryear and the one that attracts us most. The first 20 k's or so were a bit rough with stones and gibbers in the road surface, but we just slowed down to 30 or 40 k's an hour and took in the scenery...you see more if you're not roaring along concentrating 100% on the road and it's irregularities....also saves your tyres and rig from  lot of grief too.

After about an hour we found ourselves in a remote location on a hill and noticed a tower getting taller as we got closer to it. A quick check of the NextG phones told us that Telstra had thought of our every need and we had full service on our phones without the external antenna on the Landcruiser. This also meant we would have Wireless Broadband too.....yep check our e-mail way the hell out here....how good is that.

Another hour or so down the track and we were just going over yet another grid when I happened to look back over my right shoulder and I spotted...yep another waterhole....no traffic so a U turn saw us heading towards this little oasis in the bush...how good is this??? When we stopped and rolled out the awning, we noticed some birds on the other side of the water and they turned out to be Brolgas...4 of them...so we rated this  "4 Brolga Waterhole"...I have a hobby of Ham Radio and was pacing out the distance between a few trees to see it they were suitable to string my field antenna in when I heard this buzzing sound close by. It was coming from a Coolibah Tree by the water's edge and then I noticed a dead stump section was hollow and some bees had made a hive in there and they were all on the top of the stump...things you see when travel the old back roads and STOP to smell the roses so to speak. There were lots of Galahs here to and they had made this their home and a convenient stump in the middle of the waterhole made a great spot for them to get a drink.

So in with the yabbie pots and try our luck here....there's nothing like a yabbie sandwich for lunch...on fresh bread and butter with salt and cracked pepper....as good as a fresh crab sandwich on the coast.
Yep ....got lucky here and this means we're staying for a few days. Also caught some small yellowbelly in the yabbie traps too...only 8" in length so we threw them back...they need to be 12" to be legal and good for eating. Julie also caught one on a line too...same size and threw it back....might have been the same fish everytime...who knows??

We were visited by all sorts of wildlife and it always pays dividends just to sit and look and listen for a while...relaxing too. There were a pair of Major Mitchell Cockatoos and aren't they pretty pink...like their White and Yellow Sulphur Crested cousins, they have a vivid comb when displayed and it's a bright red against their pink plumage....GR8...and there was a lizard that ran along the ground and up into a dead stump for a better view and I'd never seen one like this before with his black and white markings and vertical frills too....can't wait to get back into the bush again.

We had 3 nights here and could still be there, but that goes for every waterhole we stayed at in the Channel Country of Queensland....We always keep an ear on the weather when traveling the bush as most of these waterholes are on black soil flood plains and the first hint of rain and you will not move no matter how good a 4X4 you think you have. The met bureau was predicting a rain front to pass over us so we decided to pack up and head for the bitumen and spend a couple of days in the caravan park at Thargomindah. This would let the weather pass and we could do some laundry while we were at it. Also, we could use their dump point for our loo...saves us digging a hole in this hard ground. So down the river road and over the beautiful crossing a few kilometres South of us.