McCabe’s Corner Trip Report - by Kellie

23-25 October 2020

Three cars left Marong early on Friday morning and headed up the Calder Highway.  Our first stop was at the local coffee shop at Wycheproof which also coincided with a shower of rain, so out came the raincoats.  After a scrumptious morning tea, we headed off again up the Calder to Hattah where we met another car from the Mildura 4WD Club.

Over lunch and another light shower of rain, we discussed the route for the afternoon, then aired down and headed west.  It was a very overcast and humid afternoon and we kept watching the skies for the forecasted 10-20 mm of rain. 

We finally reached the Shearer’s Quarters campsite about 5.30pm where everyone set up, lit the fire and enjoyed a nice dinner with a few drinks.  The night was very mild and as we were sitting around the fire, we watched the lightning out north and debating whether the expected rain was going to affect our plans to reach McCabe’s Corner the following day.

The following morning, after some rain overnight, we headed off traversing lots of puddles and seeing lots of kangaroos and emus along the way.  We reached the Sturt Highway where we travelled along the black top for 10 mins or so and then hit the Border Track (the one on the Victorian side not the Border Track on the South Australian side which was 20 metres to the west).

The Mildura vehicle led the way and we managed to get through the river entrance gate.  But joy turned to disappointment when we soon discovered that it was pretty muddy and there was lots of sliding happening with one of the vehicles getting bogged and needing some words of encouragement. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t make the corner as it was too muddy, so there’s another trip to plan for the future.   After airing up, we headed off to Lake Cullulleraine (via the Border Track again and through all the mud puddles) to fill up with fuel, then onto Werrimull where we met another local car.  Some members headed over to check out the pub seeing it only re-opened a couple of weeks prior and reports that came back were that the meals were fantastic.

All five vehicles headed south and came across some more puddles which were lots of fun to drive through.  We travelled to Rocket Lake where we stopped and took some photos and then stopped to stretch our legs at the Rocket Lake campground.  With only 45 mins to go, we were back in the 4wds heading south to Mopoke Hut.  Unfortunately, the wind hadn’t let up all day, so we set up while it was blowing a gale.

On our last morning, we packed up and headed from Mopoke Hut towards the Pink Lakes.  Being such an overcast day, we were greeted with strong pink hues across the lakes.  We didn’t spend too much time out of the car taking photos, as the wind had picked up and was quite chilly. Back in the cars again after checking out the old salt harvesting machines, we headed towards Snowdrift where we had lunch. 

After a long lunch, it was time to make tracks and head towards home. The Eagle Track was quite bumpy but we finally made it to the Wonga Campground and aired up.  We all then headed to Hopetoun to fill up and make the long journey back home.  A great weekend was had by everyone.