Day fifteen. Goog’s Track to Ooldea Rd Camp. 16.7.26

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Cooler night last night, I awoke for a loo stop. Went back to bed and read for a little bit.
Out of bed about 7:30 to start the morning routine.

We held a conference to discuss the plan for today which is to head to the end of Goog’s track and turn left after crossing the railway line and before the dog proof fence, where we should encounter almost a highway gravel road good for higher speeds and turn left somewhere ahead off the railway access track to camp.

We crossed the train tracks at 10:40 and came to the end of Goog’s Track shortly after. Then it was time to air up the tyres.

At this point, Phil was keen to try one last test to diagnose where the problem was with their trailer brakes. This required us to swap camper vans for a time. So I towed the Ultimate and Mary and Phil had the TVan behind the Fortuna. It quickly showed that the brakes were calibrating in my vehicle which indicates the issue Phil has been chasing for 12 months lies with the van brakes.

We cruised along a very nice sandy road that is an access road for the dog fence and railway.
Not far along here we stopped to take photos of magnificent Sturt Desert Pea that was flowing out onto the roadside, there were also some hops and as luck would have it a magnificent hawk or some sort of bird of prey in the tree above above me beautiful light. I had the right camera and got some good shots stoked!!! saw a couple of trains freight train in either direction.

Stopped at Wynbring airstrip for lunch where we encounted the second train as we were leaving.

After lunch, I took the lead as we pushed on wet on another brilliant sunny day.

The train track stretched off to our left and our track followed along nicely. There were quite a few Phone towers and train signals on the tracks. We passed some old railway sidings, Mount Christie being the first.

We crossed the railway line at Barton side. Looks like I’m gonna work camp settlement and continued in a Westerly direction.

The train tracks wind their way across the country and our track beside moving further and closer to the tracks as we go. Makes me wonder why things just don’t go straight across.

We are driving later than our usual pull up time in order to move away from the railway access route. The setting sun provided great lighting out to the right – the light behind the grass seedheads was pretty amazing.

At the Ooldea intersection we doubled back on the other side of the line to the Daisy Bates memorial. Daisy was a self-taught anthropologist who lived out here for many years working in studying with the local indigenous people.

Here is some more info sourced from the web by Meg.

Daisy Bates
The monument commemorates Daisy Bates (1863-1951), welfare worker and anthropologist, who lived near the site in a tent between 1936 and 1940. 
Daisy Bates lived in a tent in the district and devoted her life to the aboriginal cause. A self-taught anthropologist, Daisy Bates conducted fieldwork amongst several Indigenous nations in western and southern Australia.
She supported herself largely by writing articles for urban newspapers. Bates also published her work on Indigenous kinship systems, marriage laws, language and religion in books and articles.
She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for Aboriginal welfare work in 1934. Bates wrote her autobiography My Natives and I in a tent at Pyap, outside Loxton South Australia between 1935-1940. Daisy Bates died in 1951.
The cairn was erected by the Daisy Bates Memorial Committee. She was known among the native people as ‘Kabbarli’. Between 1919 and 1934 she lived in a tent around 2 kilometres north from the Ooldea Railway siding with the aim to provide the Aboriginal people with food, clothing, simple medicines, to discourage contact of the Aboriginal women with the railway workers and to generally look after the wellbeing of the Aboriginal people in the area.
Watched by more than 40 aborigines, many of whom remembered her, a memorial cairn to the late Mrs.Daisy Bates was unveiled at Ooldea siding on 14 November 1954. The ceremony was performed by the Minister for Territories (Mr. Hasluck) who said that the memorial was a witness to the life of a remarkable woman who worked for the natives in an age when there was not much sympathy or compassion for them. For white people it was a living witness that the natives had hopes and aspirations of their own. 
Turning directly to the natives present, he said, “To you it is a witness that, by living among you, white people care about you and are your friends.” Mrs. Bates was Kabarli, or grandmother, to the natives, he said, and to that degree had entered their family life. This point was emphasised by the Superintendent for Native Affairs at Woomera (Mr. W. B. MacDougall) who said that when he told natives of the unveiling ceremony their first reaction was one of a form of resentment because they believed Daisy Bates belonged to them. She was ‘Granny’ to all the native people of the Ooldea region and far beyond. However, they soon recognised the significance of the memorial. The natives who attended came from up to 100 miles away, some from the Yalata Reserve.

The Advertiser (Adelaide), 15 November 1954.

We then crossed back over the railway line and headed out to another location along the line that is a marker of the joining of the east west train lines. It was an impressive monument with one on either side of the tracks.

By now we were well into ‘golden hour’ and the light across the plain (Nullarbor) was stunning.

From here we headed back to the Ooldea Rd to head South to find a place to camp.

As the sun set stunningly to our backs we pulled into a side track around a now almost dried out bog hole/water across the track.

On the way Col and Mary had to hit the skids to avoid some Roos – some of the first we have seen for days and days. They were perched either side of the track watching me – so I pulled up for a pic as they were so warmly coloured in the fading light.

A quick set up tonight. To the west the sun was disappearing below the horizon and the waning sliver of a moon was visible in the West along with a very bright Venus. The outback orange colours in the sunset were captivating. As night fell we kept ourselves entertained spotting many many satellites scudding across the sky.

We unloaded our wood and set up the fire pit tonight on the track as there is plant life everywhere both sides of the track. This includes our very own Sturt Desert peas.

It’s quite cool in the night and there was a bit of breeze that had us huddled around the fire while dinners were prepped. For us it’s leftover curried snags, Mary and Col had leftovers too. Meg and Stef whipped up an impressive satay chicken.

More huddling around the firepit after eating while trying to spot shooting stars and keep warm.

Another good day, quite a few kms under our belts today ( especially compared to the last few days along Goog’s track)

Then to bed with hot water bottles and plenty of bedding to stay warm and warm warm up