Day 15, 16 & 17 Claytons Bore & Mungaranie

Day 15

After leaving Farina we headed for Marree where we had intended to stay for a couple of days, some of you may ask why in hell would you stay at Marree, and you would be right.
Funny thing is that we got Marree confused with Marla which is a very nice place, it wasn't until we approached Marree we realised this was not the place we thought.
Marre is definitely not worth a stop over, its a dust bowl, the fuel is expensive, and the camp grounds/CP's are awfull.
We ended up getting some fuel ($1.90) and exchanging a gas cylinder at the servo, where the service was poor to say the least, they also did not know how much to charge for the gas so asked how much I would normally pay, then added $10.00, not bad I suppose.
Once done we were on our way to wherever we came across to camp up the road a bit, as it turns out Claytons Bore was just up the road 30 kilometers so we stopped there for the night.

Claytons Bore
The bore is just before the Claton HS on the left hand side, the camp ground is pretty open and mainly rocky but we managed to find a small patch of what was as close to grass were going to get, and we were only a short walk to the "Hot Tub".
Once set up we went over to the bore/hot tub, it was nearly empty and stone cold, wasnt looking good for us boys who wanted a spa.
Luckily the good wife found some instructions on setting it up and within the hour we had our spa up and running.

The water in the tub was fantastic, it was nice and hot and crystal clear, it was a little difficult getting out into the arctic wind blowing across the open space between the camper and the spa.

We stayed one night at the bore and headed off toward Mungeranie the next day.

Days 16 & 17 Mungeranie

The drive to Mungeranie was pretty easy, about 150 kilometers and good road all the way, I think we got in there just after lunch.
We went into the bar to book ourselves in and decided that we would return for a drink or two after setting up.
There was a series of spots to camp along the river, we were there early so pretty much had our pick and found a great sheltered spot among the trees only a few meters from the water.

The boys liked our spot mainly because of the prospect of getting some yabby's, the friendly bar man told them they might get some so they were very keen to try, the pots went in almost immediately.

That afternoon we went back to the bar for some drinks and chatted with the bar man who was very nice, he gave us a bit of an education on Tom Cruise, a legend in the area and entertained the boys with some memorabilia and stories about the stuff hanging on the walls.

The boys had some silly photos taken, as did some other patrons in the bar.

You had to be quick if you wanted to leave though because the next round was in front of you almost before you finished the first one, i guess that's what makes a good bar tender.


We spent two nights at Mungaranie and enjoyed it very much, it was a great place to relax and unwind, the bar was great and the service there was friendly and entertaining.

While at the bar we met a few other travelers and it was interesting to hear their stories and where they had traveled from.
The boys were happy as they got some yabbies which we cooked and ate, it wasn't much of a feed but the boys enjoyed them anyway.
We pan fried the yabbies in butter with some ginger, yes ginger, i grabbed the wrong jar out of the fridge but they were delicious anyway

We also did some cooking in the gas oven, best $40.00 I ever spent !
I cooked a roast Pork and veggies, and baked some damper which was as always a was a hit with the family, cooking in the gas oven is cheating a bit I know, but much easier than the camp oven especially when wood is as scarce as it is out here, its usually picked dry a fair way either side of the camping areas.

Roast Pork, veggies and Baked potatoes

Damper

The Spa

Another attraction at Mungeranie is the hot natural spa which we took a dip in, the water was bloody HOT, i wasn't sure at first if I could even get in, Joanne paved the way and we followed, it took some getting used to but once you were in it was great, all except for the slimy bottom and the algae floating around.









All in all our experience at Mungaranie was fantastic, its located half way up the Birdsville track, camping is great, and the pub and amenities are great.
$25.00 per night for the family ( non-powered)

Tomorrow morning we head for Birdsville.