4 May—6 May 2002

We packed up and left Winton, somewhat wearily due to the noisy celebrations keeping us awake.  We stopped on the way out to buy some wine and beer to offer our hosts at Strathfield Station beyond McKinlay, which was our next stop.  Petrol was horribly expensive in Winton.  We refuelled at the pub in Kynuna, which looked like a lively place.  It was a shame we couldn’t stay for a beer or two.

We passed through Kynuna and McKinlay, where we began to follow directions to Strathfield Station.  We had to negotiate several kilometres of dirt road with deep ruts.  This meant that the ridge between the wheel ruts was too high for our car, so I had to drive with one set of wheels on the ridge in the middle, and the other on the verge. This was a slightly unnerving manoeuvre. It was like trying to drive on railway tracks and disobey their guidance at the same time.

We stayed two nights at Strathfield.  The first night, David Moore was there.  He took me out for a short drive in the evening while he checked a bore.  He showed me what Spinifex feels like, and what it looks like when it’s burning.  His wife, Heather Moore, is Marie and John Chandler’s daughter (they were out hosts at Glentulloch).  Heather is an accomplished artist, but she’s very modest about her achievements.  David works in agropolitics. They have a young daughter, Georgina, who was five years old, and who evidently welcomed Ruby and Clare’s company.  A young German couple were also staying there as part of the WOOF Scheme (Workers on Organic Farms).