We wake to a glorious sunrise and the mandatory chorus of birds, we may be in semi arid country but there is an array of birds to brightly color the landscape, Ringneck parrots, White-plumed honeyeaters, Pardalotes an assortment of birds of prey and others add a lot of life to the landscape.

We stop at the largest termite nest on the Plenty Highway it’s pretty impressive it must be 4m tall.

A strong cold South West wind is blowing sand across the road and has cooled the morning to a brisk 14 degrees. The road is fine, rough in patches and very good in others.

We cross the Arthur River and like most they are rivers of sand but I suspect below that sand in places must be water.

So far we have crossed paths with two vehicles and a big Red Kangaroo. You wouldn’t want to hit one of these Red Kangaroos they are big animals.

We are now traveling through Mitchell grassland, its nice country and I’m sure the cattle think the same.

We cross the border back into Qld and onto the Donohue highway. 246 kms to Boulia. The landscape is still ruled by beautiful birds of prey and Mitchell grass plains.

Lunch stop on the banks of the Georgina River, a peaceful place and only a puddle in a deep hole to remind us of the mighty river she is in flood. We watch as a pair of Falcons flush out a Wood Swallow and catch it on the wing.

We fuel at Boulia and with time to spare we push onto Cuttaburra Crossing on the Eyre Creek. This road is aptly named the Channel Country Byway, as we follow the Georgina River, her channels and tributaries south, there is still water in some of the deeper holes. The whole area is surprisingly green, there must have rain out here since we left Brisbane.

Treeless Mitchell grassland plains extend to the horizon in each direction. The birdlife here is amazing we pass a flock of about 80 Brolgas, birds of prey including a pair of Wedgetail Eagles. Massive flocks of Budgies, the size of which I haven’t seen since growing up on the Western Downs as a child. We even see Emus which we haven’t seen at all so far this trip.

These plains had to be Banjos “vision splendid’, just inside the Diamantina Shire there is a lookout to view the stunning scenery.

After passing through Bedourie we start to see sand dunes and the first real evidence of being on the edge of the desert.