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Fourth of July we find ourselves at Nockatunga Station.

All that pointing at the place on the map inside the Noccundra Hotel has almost wiped it off the map. 

The 'township' consist of the hotel and Noccundra Hall.

Last night we camped by the Wilson River.

Free camping with hot showers provided about a five hundred metre walk to arrive alongside the Noccundra Hotel.  A gold coin donation paid for the showers, except by the time we arrived there the water was tepid.

Nonetheless, we showered.

We had hoped to have dinner at the pub, but the publican advised us that he'd run out of food, what was left would feed his in-house guests and that he was off to Broken Hill in the morning to get more supplies.

Well, we've all heard of the pub with no beer...

So we supped on some soup heated up on the camp stove.

This morning, as we trudged to the amenities, we were enthralled by the the superb sunrise.

The camp ground was well endorsed last night. Some campers have obviously been here before, or are long-time campers and utilised their push bikes to conquer the distance between camp and bathroom.  Perhaps they're just well prepared as many grey nomads take everything including the kitchen sink and satellite dish with them as they converse our great country. 

I guess having a means of un-motorised transport to visit the loo means being able to camp a little bit further away from the main camp.

Today, we're off to Thargomindah, about one hundred and forty kilometres away...after we have morning tea at the pub.

Yackamoorundi Park, Victoria.

Playing with morning shadows, you can see our tent on the right.

On our first night out of Adelaide, we stayed at a little town called Yacka and camped in Yackamoorundi Park.

The park is open to the public but it also provides a small camping area for travellers. There is a locked gate and we had to visit a nearby house to pay our fifteen dollar camp site fee and to collect the key. Showers and toilets are on site and we were asked not to camp on the grass.

The rabbits are so bad here that the ground was thick with rabbit droppings that stuck to our shoes an inch thick!

We didn't have a chance to check out the showers as they were out of order. Damn. So it was a sponge down the next morning.

The birds were everywhere...galahs, some sort of swooping birds that swooped in huge flocks at sunset over the weedy creek bed nearby, magpies...

We had a good night's sleep, no traffic noise to speak about, no trains, factories or noisy neighbours and woke to another glorious sunrise accompanied by birdsong.

Very early on into our journey, it's become obvious to me how much we miss out on in nature by sleeping indoors! When was the last time you watched the sunrise out your bedroom window?

In the tent we can't see if the sun's up or not, it blocks out that much light, but we can't wait to see what piece of art nature is dishing up for us outside and once we've opened our eyes, it's not long before one of us is peeking out the tent flap to see. Even cloudy days are pieces of art...sometimes more so. When we get back home, I'll be sleeping with the bedroom curtain open! Even though our bedroom faces west, just to see the colour of the sky is a bonus. If only humans were as joyous to see the sun rise as what the birds have been over the past weeks...they really know how to greet a new day!

But then I guess they're not off to the office for eight hours either...

Sunrise over sea - Gilbert's Beach New South Wales.

On Wednesday, woke to a glorious sunrise and wallabies. Nice camping ground but minimal amenities. That is, no showers, pit toilets, no running water, but we were able to have a camp fire. Camp fires would become a luxury, at least until after the thirtieth of April, which is when the bushfire season ends in the western states.