Running Waters

View towards Running Waters

Amid all the aridity in the region of the Skull Springs Rd there are a couple of surprising green and moist oases. The most notable is Running Waters where the creek forms a big pool across the road. And the water there is running, I even recorded it's babbling and gurgling - just because I could.

Skull Springs Road

We camped the night there in the middle of the braided 'creek' high up on a berm of coarse sand, pebbles and rocks. Creamy trunks of tall trees surrounded us, both eucalypts and paperbarks.

Our campsite 

There were pools up and down the watercourse, some clear and running, others still and dusty. There were plenty of birds to be seen and heard and downstream there were ducks and grebes and a whistling kite nesting high in a tree beside the biggest pool. After dark we heard the unmistakable call of the blue winged kookaburra competing with the lowing of the cattle and hum of the crickets for airtime. In the morning as the sun's rays lit the tops of the trees, I watched a family of white-browed babblers peel off one at a time out of their big communal nest above our camp site, churring and chattering as they do.

Downstream pool

In late afternoon there was the loud thumping of blasting some distance away. Throughout the night we heard the sounds of mining vehicles and planes on the move, not surprising as there are a few mines in the vicinity, Woodie Woodie being the largest. What was surprising was the relative quietness during the day - or perhaps our other senses were more occupied in the day, thereby masking the mining sounds?

Looking up

Recently ( in the last few years) there had been a good flood, as the banks of the lower watercourse were eroded down to a spongy mat of tree roots. Flood detritus forming large mats hung high in the branches and draped around tree trunks. The lower couple of metres of paper bark had been torn from the trunks of the trees by the force of rushing water and detritus. Seeing it in the dry season, peaceful and calm, it is hard to imagine the quantity and force of water in flood times.

Miske with flood detritus above her head