Big Red Run - Day 3 - White Cliffs to Tiboburra

We decided to get up early to watch the sun rise over White Cliffs, and it was definitely worth the effort.  There is something special about seeing the dawn of a new day, particularly in somewhere where the sky is huge.  We went for a short walk to get a special vantage point where no photo will ever do the scene justice - but it didn't stop us trying for the perfect shot.

One little fellow wasn't particularly impressed with the early morning!

We had planned on a leisurely breakfast, before poking about in town for a while, however our plans changed when we met Garath on our way back to camp. Gareth was out walking his dog, and we got chatting.  It turned out Garath was a NPWS ranger, and invited us on a tag along tour of the Perry Lakes.  

I must confess I had never heard of the Perry Lakes, nor even the Paroo River, but it seemed like a great idea, so we made our way back to camp, quickly packed up and headed off on the tour.

It was fascinating, and Garath introduced us to many of the natural features of the area.  The majority of the park is reclaimed pastoral leases, but what I didn't realise is that the Paroo River is the only unregulated river system in the Murray Darling basin.  It is simply one of our best kept secrets and I was simply blown away by the fact that it is such an important part of our country - but I had never heard of it. 

A Leopard Gum

Soaring Pelicans

Perry Lake

The lake system is flooded on average three out of every ten years.  It is so important that his been listed under the RAMSAR convention 2007, meeting six out of the nine criteria.  (A river system only needs to meet one of the criteria in order to be listed - making this a pretty special place).  More can be read here: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/wetlands/ParooRiverRamsar.htm

Needless to say we were running a bit behind time when we eventually pulled out of town and commenced our journey to Tiboburra.  We were thinking of camping at Fort Grey, near Cameron Corner, but decided instead on calling it a day at Tiboburra.

On the road to Tiboburra

Playing around the camp

 We camped at the edge of town at Dead Horse Gully.  There was enough time for a sunset walk around the boulders that seemed to catch the last of the sun's rays and glow, before contentedly falling into bed for a great sleep.

What a great camp!