Day three in the Carnarvon Ranges and the Little Sandy Desert is showing us its full character. Steve T and I left those feral camels in our dust, wheels carving fresh tracks through the rust-red sand as we pushed deeper into this magnificent country.
The landscape out here has a hypnotic quality - endless golden grasslands punctuated by hardy eucalypts that have learned to survive with barely a drink. It's the kind of country that makes you understand why the old explorers either fell in love with Australia or went completely mad trying to cross it.
Mid-morning we had one of those encounters that makes remote travel worthwhile. An bush turkey, standing tall and regal among the spinifex and scrub, watching us with that peculiar mix of curiosity and suspicion these birds are famous for. I grabbed the camera quickly - they can disappear into the landscape surprisingly fast. The way they blend into these muted tones is remarkable, nature's camouflage at its finest.
The tracks we're following are proper outback fare - twin ruts of red dust winding through sparse vegetation, the kind of road that demands respect and a vehicle you can trust. The 4WD is earning its keep, handling the corrugations and soft sand patches that would stop a regular vehicle in its tracks. Every now and then we pass a wind-bent tree standing sentinel, and you can't help but wonder what stories it could tell.
We're making good progress through increasingly open country, the desert revealing its subtle beauty the further we travel. Tonight we'll make camp somewhere along this track, cook up a feed over the fire, and watch the stars come out in their millions. There's something about being this remote that strips away all the unnecessary noise of modern life.
Three days in and we're finding our rhythm out here. Tomorrow will bring the final day of this adventure, but tonight belongs to the desert, the campfire, and the endless sky above.
