Day Eight- Sturt's Cairn

​Headed out of Tibooburra early, down the Silver City Highway. After spending most of the week in Sturt National Park, and visiting some of the sights Sturt did back in 1845, we decided to go all the way and visit Sturt's Cairn. 

​Heading west off the highway at Milparinka, we journeyed across the rocky plains to Depot Glen. This is where Sturt's expedition party was stranded for six months because of drought. They stayed at the permanent water hole, waiting for a change in the weather. Second in command John Poole got scurvy and died, we visited his grave.

Depot Glen where Sturt's expedition party camped for six months

John Poole's grave

​About 5 kilometres from Depot Glen is Mt Poole (formerly Red Hill). Sturt instructed the men to build a stone cairn atop the hill as a way to alleviate boredom and keep up morale. 

The road to Mt Poole

We parked at the bottom and climbed to the top, which took about 20 minutes. From the top there are 360-degree views of rocky plains and desert hills. Visiting at 8 a.m. in the morning, on a clear day with the temperature around 20 degrees was perfect. ​

The climb up Mt Poole to Sturt's Cairn

Sturt's Cairn

​The rest of the day was spent driving, back through Broken Hill and then east to Cobar for the night. Approaching Cobar in the late afternoon we saw lots of feral goats on the roadside.
 
Big Sis

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