Monday 12th - Friday 16th May 2025
Leaders: Bill and Gill
Participants: Phil and Gill, Uwe, Geoff, Sue
Monday 12th May
All participants arrived in time for lunch at the Tranquil Waters Caravan Park at Lake Cullulleraine. The grassy green camping sites abutted the beautiful still lake. We had a leisurely afternoon watching the bird life on the lake, went for a walk along the lakeside then had happy hour and the pre- trip briefing around the campfire.
Tuesday 13th May
A squadron of pelicans glided over the still lake in the early morning and took up a nearby perch above the water as we ate our breakfast. We departed Lake Cullulleraine by 8.30 and took a short drive to Lock 9 on the Murray River. This is one of 13 navigation locks on the river. It allows boats to pass from level to level during regulated water flow conditions. The weir and fish ladder ensure water depths remain usable for people and fish.
Travelling along Crozier Rock Road we followed the Murray on the flood plain before turning onto the Old Mail Track which travelled through flat salt bush plains. Short of Kempe Road we passed a huge almond plantation! Many of the trees were very big and old. CMV Farms had fruit tree orchards for many kilometres.
Due to private land halting our north bound journey, we had a dog leg diversion before we could reach our destination for morning tea, the Red Cliffs Customs House. Only the original stone storage shed has survived the passing of time. Now a houseboat hiring business operates from this point. Resuming our journey south on 180 degrees heading, we passed the White Stone Cairn at the site of the cairn built by the Surveyor General in 1850 to make the boundary line between Victoria and South Australia. Little did he know this boundary was to become a hotly contested dispute which was not resolved until a High Court ruling was declared in 1914 formalising the actual border line.
After we crossed over the Sturt Highway we pulled over to air down as the track became sandier and softer and the dunes became steeper. The land on the SA side of the track was often being farmed whereas the Vic side was native bushland. We continued driving down the 100m wide strip of ‘no man’s land’.
Lunch was taken on the track before we reached a locked gate at Braun Road which forced us to do a short diversion, eventually travelling through a farmer’s paddock! A signpost to a campground popped up at a very convenient time as we were looking for a suitable spot to stop. Driving 5.6km off the Border Track, we came to Berrook Camping Gound. It was fabulous! It was a new camping ground with long drop toilets, firepits, gas BBQs, information boards and very spaciously laid out camping areas. A well laid out gravel walking path took us 600m to a wonderful lookout point over the vast landscape and provided 5G phone reception!! A very peaceful, relaxing evening was spent at this gem of a spot as the near full moon shone down upon us.
Wednesday 14th May
We back tracked to the Border Track the next morning. The track was likened to a roller coaster ride at Luna Park as we dipped and rolled along the undulating track. The lead car saw many kangaroos, even large mobs. We pulled over for morning tea just off the Mallee Highway where we had phone reception so our leader could call SA Parks to confirm the track conditions ahead of us. 20km of Ngarket Conservation Park was closed through the one-way section as the sand was especially soft on the big dunes due to extended dry weather. We would need to divert to the Centre Track. All travellers used the available phone coverage to purchase a SA Parks day pass. Then we headed back to the Border Track. Soon we came across a lot of old discarded tyres and an area set out like a camping area. What was this?
Next came the locked gate over the track prohibiting us from entering the one-way section of the Border Track so we headed west towards the Centre Track. More tyres dotted the sand, and large dunes appeared, then signs for ‘View Track here’….a dune buggy course marked out with old tyres! There was no indication of how to get to Centre Track so we kept heading west /north west and eventually reached Edward Schiller Road, then left onto Rosie Pine Rd to a closed (not locked) gate at Centre Track. Just inside the gate we pulled over in the Pine Hut Camping Ground for lunch and a chat about the lack of information on the tracks to indicate how to access the diversion to Centre Track.
After lunch the track was very corrugated then patches of very soft sand and the dunes were getting bigger. ‘Keep Left’ signs at the base of long double dunes indicated that challenges were ahead. Bill and Gill became bogged near the top on one such dune so the second car, Sue, went up the downside having ensured there were no oncoming cars, and snatched them over the top of the dune. Deciding the ‘down’ side was a better surface, the rest of the convoy followed Sue’s example. TC just missed clearing the top so had to be snatched over also.
Having lost a bit of time with vehicle recoveries, we pushed on to Red Bluff camping ground in Victoria for our second night. Once tents were pitched, we hiked up the impressive red bluff for another engaging view of the colourful vegetation (but no phone coverage). Another very clear cold night.
Thursday 15th May
A heavy dew descended overnight and we awoke to a cold, foggy morning. The track was quite overgrown this morning, so new pinstripes were acquired. Despite the dew, the track was very soft and the Leaders found themselves in a precarious situation atop the first big dune for the day. Picking a better route to the top to enable a recovery required much thought and discussion. Eventually a slow rear snatch was used to get the car off the steep tip of the dune and then the two vehicles had to traverse the very soft sand at the top to get back down the dune where an easier route around the dune had been located. Once again, a great team effort had all vehicles safely back on the track.
The swales between the dunes became wider and the soil more clay-like so it wasn’t too surprising that we started to encounter deep ruts in the track. Fortunately, the clay was dry so fear of slipping into the deep ruts wasn’t front of mind. We had to walk many sections of the track to pick the safest line to take to navigate our way through many deeply rutted sections.
Again, morning tea was enjoyed on the track as a respite from the challenging track. The track had many low overhanging branches, trees to be dodged around and branches to avoid as we endeavoured to protect the side of the cars.
Finally, the track broadened out to farmland left and right and then a short stretch of bitumen road took us into Serviceton for lunch and a tour of the historic Railway Museum. Serviceton was established to allow a change of trains because of the rail gauge difference between the Vic and SA government railways. The 3-level building was built 1887-1889 using bricks that were transported from Horsham. Les gave us an informative tour of many of the rooms that house relics from days gone by. Victoria took possession of the station in 1914 after the border dispute was settled.
We were underway again after 2.00pm and soon into the Little Desert National Park. The track through the park was mainly white soft sand with few dunes. There are two tracks heading south and we swapped between the two depending on the vegetation and sand condition.
We were travelling well so decided to push on to Frances, just inside SA where we stopped for the night. The General Store owner was most helpful and guided us to the $10 per night camping at the nearby recreation reserve. He also recommended the dinner at the Football/Netball Club rooms that was happening at 6pm. Once the overnight camping was sorted, we had a brief ‘happy hour’ where the trip was officially closed and we all gravitated to the warm clubrooms and enjoyed a hearty meal prepared by the local ladies. As we sat enjoying the noisy chatter of the room, several of the local farmers came over and chatted to us. We swapped stories about our adventures, and they shared their challenges of farming this part of the country. So many friendly people welcomed us and thanked us for joining them. It was a truly memorable night. A short walk and we were back at our tents and settled in for another cold night under the stars after a wonderful few days out on the tracks.
Heartfelt thanks to Bill and Gill for leading a wonderful trip and for the great camaraderie we enjoyed with all trip participants.
P.S. A local farmer recommended we stop by Goroke on our way back home the next day to view the Silo art. It was stunning!
Text and Photos: Gill and Phil