Thorny Devil

The Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) is an intimidating looking Australian lizard.
Don’t worry … this dangerous look is only a disguise, this animal is very harmless (unless you are an ant).

The Thorny Devil inhabits the arid scrubs and deserts of Central Australia and early morning is the best time to come across them, when they are warming themselves in the sun on the road.

The fellow below we met on our trip over the Gunbarrel Highway in 2004.

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Australian Pelican

The Australian Pelican (Pelecanus Conspiccilatus) is a large water bird. It can be found in Australia, wherever there is water with fish in it. For instance, if there’s water in Lake Eyre, in Outback South Australia, they will somehow know it, and be there. Naturally, they’re quite common at the seaside as well.
The Australian Pelican is usually white, with some black in its wings. The eyes are yellow, and its bill is enormous. It always looks to me as if the bill is a little bit over-sized compared to the rest of the body. But it sure makes them look very special.

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This particular one was sitting on a branch over the Paroo river, at the Corni Paroo Waterhole, in Western Queensland, close to the border of New South Wales.

Old Peake Telegraph Station

The ruins of the Old Peake Telegraph Station are off the Oodnadatta Track in Outback South Australia. It is a rough drive, even for 4wd vehicles, but it is definitely worth it!

The Telegraph Station use to be a major centre on the Australian Overland Telegraph Line in the early 1900s, but is now as remote and deserted as can be. A small pocket of date palms and some white-washed ruined buildings are all that is left.

The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a 3200 km telegraph line that connected Darwin with Adelaide (or rather Port Augusta) in South Australia. Completed in 1872 the Overland Telegraph Line allowed fast communication between Australia and England.

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The surroundings of the Old Peake Telegraph Station are very harsh and makes you wonder how people could survive …

Trilby Station

Trilby Station is located on the Darling River near Louth, south of Bourke, New South Wales.

It has always been a hard life trying to make a living of the land in this area, the more so in the last years with one of the the worst droughts ever experienced since white man came to Australia.

Trilby is still a working sheep station, but as an other source of income has opened its doors to travellers. It offers a range of accommodation, the best option (at least to us and by far) camping on the Darling River and watching the bird life.

If you are there at the right time you can pop in and see the School of the Air, operated from Broken Hill, life in action (if the kids haven’t grown too old by now and if Satellite Broadband hasn’t caught up with the whole thing).

There are interesting self-drive tours to do at Trilby and neighbouring Dunlop Stations. A lot of relics from the past can be found, such as abandoned homesteads, plant, cars and … the odd double-decker.

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The folks at Trilby call this the Old London Bus. It is supposed to have been the mobile residence of a sheep shearer that worked on the station some time ago, but it was left behind when its time had come. But … watch it … as was pointed out by specialists, it has never had a life in London. It is actually an old Sydney Bus, although it may also have driven the streets of Newcastle (NSW it is, not the UK).

Anyway, we hope it is happy now …