13 May, 2017 by Cruisers

Springs, THE Centre, civilisation

9th – 13th May 2017

Tuesday 9th

18km north of Oodnadatta we turned off towards Hamilton Station and Dalhousie Springs.

This is where we leave the Oodnadatta Track as we head to Dalhousie Springs.

Yesterday I glibly described what a gibber plain is … today we learned a lot more about them, a LOT more! Corrugations reigned supreme until about half way to Hamilton where we met the graders – wow! It felt like a freeway from there until Hamilton and the Dalhousie turnoff where we left the Oodnadatta Track – this is now the Old Ghan Heritage Track. I can assure you there’s not been a grader down this road for quite some time! If it was not rocky gibber plain to drive on it was up and down over red sand dunes with soft sandy patches. We were 2.5 hours on the 75km track from the Hamilton turnoff, much of it travelling at around 20km/hr. It sure made the drive interesting.

Those gibbers! It was always a worry that one of them would pierce a tyre.

Hamilton Station homestead is at the turnoff and we saw some of their Hereford cattle along the roadside, all looking particularly healthy and chubby despite it being hard to see what they were eating – it looked like dry, spindly grasses to me, but obviously OK for them.

We stopped at Pedirka Siding ruins where the fettlers who looked after the Ghan railway line were housed in the middle of absolutely nowhere on a gibber plain – goodness knows how they survived it! Kudos to them!

Single men’s quarters at Pedirka railway siding. These were the fettlers who maintained the line.

A real challenge occurred soon after that at the Stephenson Creek crossing, a dry watercourse of about 100 metres of soft, deep sand. Both Jabirus crossed it without a worry, drivers and passengers holding their breath, particularly as there was evidence of where others hadn’t been so blessed (or skilled!).

The road took us on into Witjira National Park and to Dalhousie Station ruins which were abandoned in the 1920’s. Dalhousie Station was a cattle station and was located here because of the many springs in the area providing a very necessary water source, average rainfall being only 150 mm per year, with an evaporation rate of 4000 mm per year! This was the most northerly station in South Australia. There are several ruined buildings and the old stock yards remaining. The mound springs are here too but have been overgrown. It is quite picturesque with the date palms in the background. Easy to say as I return to my air conditioned vehicle.

Dalhousie Homestead ruins.

Not far from the homestead is the main spring where we camped for the evening. The campsite is large, treed, with good cold showers and toilets. There were half a dozen other campers here going in various directions – the Simpson Desert Track ends here.

The main spring here is pretty amazing – about 150 metres long, 50m wide, very deep, tree – and grass-lined and a constant 37C. Fantastic! We all enjoyed a long soak in the spring before spending a delightful evening under the stars solving the problems of the world.

Dalhousie Springs.

Wednesday 10th

Why rush away from a lovely spot like this? The morning was spent cleaning up the vehicles, tightening loose screws, washing clothes and going for another swim.

An early morning dip before leaving this delightful spring. Dalhousie Springs.

After lunch we moved off to 3 o’clock campsite, 12 very rocky, washed out, slow kilometres down the track. This endlessly large camping area, with us as the only campers, is on gibber plain in the bend of a dry watercourse, with a covered picnic table and a large tank of potable water. A couple of days of having plenty of water has been a treat.

Our campsite at 3 o’clock -(the name of the campsite, not the time!).

It’s a full moon tonight, the light on the shiny gibbers and the stark beauty of this lonely campsite is stunning. A dingo visited us here; we’ve been surprised by the lack of wildlife seen out here – no camels even.

Moonrise over 3 o’clock Creek.

The weather since we left Maree has been brilliant – cloudless blue skies, daytime temps around 20C, nighttime dropping to 3 – 7C.

Thursday 11th

An early morning visitor at 3 o’clock campsite. A healthy looking dingo.

Today we rattled over corrugations, fish-tailed through sand and rock-hopped into MtDare. Though for a brief few kilometres we praised the god of the grader drivers. We went the long way via Bloods Bore, due to tales of bent axles and numerous punctures on the short cut. The countryside continues to be quite beautiful.

Bloods bore windmill and pump. Stopped here for a cuppa and break after a rough drive.

Mt Dare consists of just a pub with a population of the publican and his wife and two backpackers. When the season gets busier next month it increases by two more backpackers and a mechanic! Mt Dare is the most central pub in Australia,

The hotel at Mt Dare. Campsite is out the back. Fuel to the right – that’s it! Nothing else at Mt Dare.

The campground here ($20/vehicle) has hot showers and flushing loos – will the luxuries never cease!

Friday 12th

It’s an exciting day today – our final destination will be somewhere very special. But first Aputula, or Finke. We’re back to the Ghan towns, and, while Finke had already been a small town serving the pastoralists the Ghan gave it a big boost for a time. In the 1980s when the Ghan line here closed the town was handed over to the local aboriginal groups to manage and their name for it is Apatula. After a long, slow shake, rattle and roll over rocks and corrugations Apatula appeared.

Welcome to Apatula Finke

We headed straight for the general store with thoughts of an ice cream, only to find it closed – its 1.30pm. The young white couple who are managing it and assisting the locals with governance issues saw us and opened up for us, bless them! An interesting chat with them, an ice cream each and a pair of aboriginal art decorated earrings and a Ghan spike later we moved on.

How can you say you’ve been to Central Australia unless you’ve been to the Geographical Centre of Australia? The planimetric centre of gravity of mainland Australia is at a point some 40km outside Apatula, and 14km in off the road.

That’s our destination – oh that it were that simple!

The track in isn’t maintained and has become a maze of y-junctions as deep clay washouts or long soft sand patches are bypassed. The problem is that you don’t know which turn is the one that takes you away from the obstacles. All the tracks wound narrowly around and past mulga trees which threatened to graffiti the vehicles as we passed. The washouts and many stretches of sand were negotiated well though two long, very soft, very deep sand patches going around a corner tested both drivers and vehicles – all emerging victorious.

We’re all here – in the middle of Australia.

At last we arrived at the very centre of Australia – it was a pretty special moment.

There’s only one other camper here, well away from us. The stars were magnificent until the nearly-full moon rose lighting the mulga trees in its soft light. The silence was all pervasive.

Saturday 13th

Neither Steve nor Ken was too keen to go through the sand patch again, so as we left they walked each track option to see which was best. We didn’t escape the sand traps or the washouts, but we did manage to bypass the worst places.

The prudent traveller walks the paths before choosing which direction to take. The road to Lamberts Centre of Australia.

It’s back to civilisation today – we joined the blacktop and dozens of caravaners at Kulgera (people shock!) where a beer was enjoyed by all, then moved on to Erldunda caravan park ($32/n) where we’re camped on lovely green grass, albeit with neighbours all around us – that’s the price we pay.

Our first internet/phone cover since Parachilna two weeks ago.

To see the photos from this part of our trip CLICK HERE.

8 May, 2017 by Cruisers

Oodnadatta Track

6th – 8th May 2017

Saturday 6th

And the 4 erstwhile explorers are also ready to tackle the wilds!

And the 4 erstwhile explorers are ready to tackle the wilds!

Another top day. Leaving Maree on the Oodnadatta Track was pretty exciting – our first foray into the real Outback of Australia. The track follows the old Ghan railway line all the way to Oodnadatta. Our first ‘point of interest’ was the Multonia Sculpture Park at Alberrie. These sculptures are all made from junk and spread randomly over a 5 acre paddock beside the road. Some were quite good, others … well they are made of junk.

Man with child (and Denise). How do I know it’s a man?

Lake Eyre, Australia’s largest lake and the lowest point in Australia at 10 metres below sea level soon appeared to the east. Due to recent rains there’s water in it, an uncommon phenomenon. Lake Eyre is where the land speed record was set by Donald Campbell in his car the Bluebird in the 1960’s. When it’s dry it’s a smooth, fast salt lake.

Yay! We’re at the lowest point in Australia – Lake Eyre, 10 metres below sea level.

A very strange sight a few kilometres further on was a large flock of seagulls – do you know how far we are from the sea!! There’s water in the Stuart River (maybe half a metre deep at the deepest) and thousands of little fish are trying to swim upstream and providing a banquet for the gulls.

The seagulls are all there for the fish. The fish are jumping up onto the wet cement and trying to cross the culvert under the road.

We passed the ruins of several sidings and fettlers’ cottages before arriving at Curdimurka, another railway siding now in ruins. Here the original tracks still remain, the station building itself is still there, though birds have taken up residence in it and the big cast iron water tanks also remain.

Curdimurka – wide gauge line closest, narrow gauge on the other side.

Moving on we came to Mound Springs. These are two springs fed by the Great Artesian Basin. They’re both on the top of small hills, or mounds, presumably formed by the springs bringing up sediment and depositing it at the edges. The first of these is ‘the Bubbler’ which does just that – bubbles languidly appear and rise to the surface, disturbing the muddy bottom as they do. The aboriginal mythology of this is that a snake has been caught and it’s the writhings of it that are seen in the pool. It doesn’t take too much imagination to be able to see that. This pool overflows into a lush, green area. The second pond is called Blanche Cup and is a pretty, reflective pool.

Mound Springs. This one is Blanche Cup. Pretty, still, reflective.

Our campsite tonight is at Coward Springs ($25/night) – a real oasis in the desert, complete with date palms and a thermal pool. The pool is only about 6ft square but very refreshing. The camping sites are all tree lined and have fire pits. A great spot.

Not a big thermal pool … but nonetheless a very pleasant dip after a dusty drive.

Sunday 7th

Before leaving we took a look through the museum which is housed in the restored engine drivers home. Fabulous museum telling the history of the region from the very beginning.

The museum at Coward Springs is now housed in the restored Engine Driver’s residence. It’s an excellent museum, worthy of a couple of hours of time.

We stopped to look at the old rail bridge crossing Edwards Creek, then again further up the road at Warrina. Warrina is where the Elders Scientific Expedition alighted the train in 1891 before their 12 month, 6800 km journey exploring parts of Australia not previously seen by Europeans.

There’s a geocache under here somewhere – so he reckons. Edwards Creek rail crossing.

However, William Creek, next place up the road, actually has a permanent population, of 4, though during the tourist season (beginning now) it swells to 12. There’s a pub that provides alcohol, meals, coffee, accommodation and fuel, and the Wrights Air Charter office and aerodrome. After refuelling ($2/L), we headed off on a two-hour scenic flight over Lake Eyre and the Painted Hills ($420pp). Nick, our pilot, gave us good commentary on the trip, pointing out and explaining all the features as went. Apart from the area around William Creek and Lake Eyre we were over Anna Creek Station the rest of the time. Anna Creek Station is the largest cattle property in the world, though right now it has no cattle. It was one of the Kidman properties. Kidman owned connecting properties from northern Australia to the south, however they’ve all just recently been sold. Anna Creek was bought by the Williams family (couldn’t be sold to Gina Reinhardt apparently because of its proximity to Woomera, secret military stuff). The Williams family wanted it destocked before taking possession – a mammoth task for the outgoing Station manager.

William Creek_flight47

The Painted Hills were beautiful, their story best told in photos, as is Lake Eyre’s. There’s a little water in Lake Eyre, but it’s from recent rainfall, not from water coming in from the rivers, and as such will soon dry up and there were no birds to be seen. We all enjoyed the flight and recommend it.

One of the islands on which the pelicans breed when there’s water in Lake Eyre.

CLICK HERE to see the photographs of the Painted Hills and Lake Eyre from our flight.

On return we continued up the road to Algebuckina Railbridge which is/was the longest bridge in South Australia. It spans the Neales River which has water in it, and lots of bird life. Camping here beside greenery and water, under this amazing structure was a real treat.

The Algebuckina rail bridge is the longest bridge in South Australia.

Monday 8th

Only 50km further on we arrived in Oodnadatta.

And yet ANOTHER point of geographical, or climatic, significance in Australia. Oodnadatta is the hottest and driest town in Australia.

A quick drive around the two town streets revealed a couple of parks, a free camp, a museum at the old Railway Station, a closed pub and, most famous of all, the Pink Roadhouse.

The Trakka Jabirus at the Pink Roadhouse Oodnadatta.

The Pink Roadhouse is everything – general store, fuel, car repairs, cafe, bar, souvenir shop, tourist information, caravan park and landline telephone (only Optus here!). Of particular note is their Oodnaburger – Ken and Steve both ordered one and thoroughly enjoyed it!

The report came in that the Oodnaburgers were excellent! Ken, Wendy and Steve.

The Painted Desert is a 90km side trip from here on Archaringa Station. The road out was pretty good, until the last 15 km where the corrugations rattled our teeth and some sections of soft sand (over corrugations!) needed 4WD. But when we got there it was worth it. Though much smaller in area, they’re the same strikingly beautiful hills as we saw from the air at the Painted Hills yesterday, but here we were up close to them.

Painted Hiils14

We drove further on to the station homestead where you can camp, but we decided we’d head back to Oodnadatta – let’s do all those corrugations again! The countryside is flat gibber plains (covered in small rocks) to the horizon with low-growing saltbush and, in the dry water-courses, stunted shrubs, Occasional flat topped low hills added variety. My description makes it’s sound boring, but it is quite beautiful – you have to be here to appreciate it.

Back in Oodnadatta we settled in to the free camp, which has a brand new picnic shelter and table, with an electric BBQ – so new they haven’t connected the electricity yet!

CLICK here to see our photos of the Oodnadatta Track.

Many people asked us about the the track conditions. Here are a few pics.

Pretty good here. The grader has been through.

Hard to see corrugations, but they are there.

Gibber plain through which the road is built.

Choose your path and hope those gibbers under your tyres aren’t too sharp.

5 May, 2017 by Cruisers

And on to Marree

2nd – 5th May 2017

Tuesday 2nd

Leaving Brachina Gorge and the Flinders we’re back on the blacktop with Parachilna our first stop. The landscape has abruptly changed – flat as far as the eye can see! Parachilna’s raison d’etre was to service the old Ghan railway. A rail trolley with an information board describes its history. The railway station building is still here, though boarded up.

First the Ghan line, then the Leigh Creek coal line – both closed.

A new railway (well, by new I mean since 1956) runs through here now, but only to haul coal from Leigh Creek, a bit further north. This, too, has just closed down as mining has ceased. The new ‘Legendary Ghan’ runs on the western side of Lake Torrens.

Parachilna, though it only has a population of 2, is quite famous amongst foodies, and a ‘must stop’ spot for travellers. The Prairie Hotel, built for old Ghan travellers, is still very much a going concern, with its claim to fame being its Feral Food platters. We partook of the ‘Feral Food Antipasto’ platter and really enjoyed it. ($38, plenty for 2 to share). The emu pate was divine, though the camel mettwurst a bit chewy – note that kangaroo and emu are not ferals; for goodness sake they form our coat of arms.

The ‘feral food’ antipasto platter. At Parachilna pub.

Heading on we turned off to stay on Beltana Station. Beltana Station was first surveyed in 1855 and soon after was purchased by Sir Thomas Elder, who then imported some of the first camels into Australia. He ran a successful breeding stud for camels and provided them for transporting supplies to remote regions or for the construction of the overland telegraph line and also for expeditions by explorers, the most notable being Ernest Giles 1875 expedition from Beltana to Perth.

Entrance to the Beltana Station.

Today Graham and Laura Ragless run the 460,000 acre sheep and cattle property. This afternoon we watched them sorting a large flock of sheep ready for transporting tomorrow (you don’t want to know where to!) and wandered the homestead grounds looking at their old and new farm machinery. Dinner tonight is in the old shearing sheds with Graham, Laura and the workers. It was a unique opportunity for us to discuss their day-to-day lives with them over a delicious roast saltbush lamb and quandong pie for dessert. Beltana only produces a few hundred sheep for wool having moved primarily into the meat market. Interestingly I noticed they unloaded a truck full of goats when we first arrived. They’re feral goats, it’s illegal to keep goats in SA, however there’s a lucrative market for goat meat in Adelaide, paying more per kilo than lamb meat. Great for the farmer; they’re controlling a problem while earning money to do so.

Sorting the sheep by weight – ready for sale tomorrow. Note the watchful eye of the alpaca. Beltana Station.

Wednesday 3rd

Another fantastic day today! After a wander around Beltana Station, a chat to the workers, a good look at their museum and the purchase of some saltbush lamb we drove a bit further along to the road to the old township of Beltana. Beltana had been quite a thriving town as it was the main service town until the railway was built to Marree.

This was the old railway station in Beltana. The Ghan stopped here until 1956 when the line was realigned 10km to the west as a result of the coal mine at Leigh Creek. It’s now privately owned and become someone’s home.

A notable inhabitant was the Reverent John Flynn who, during his time here realised the need for better medical services in remote areas, went on to establish what became the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This is more an ‘abandoned’ town then a ruin. It’s major buildings have been preserved and a few people still live here, though the majority of the houses are either empty or ruins. Signboards around town make for interesting reading. A brand new picnic area with covered tables and electric BBQ with excellent parking bays for campers makes me think they may be going to open it up for camping soon.

Back along the road a little way is the memorial to the Afghan cameleers.

A plaque commemorating the contribution of the Afghan cameleers to the development of central Australia.

Once more on the Outback Highway heading north we stopped for brunch at Aroona Dam which was constructed in 1955 to provide water for the Leigh Creek coal mine and community. Due to high evaporation rates out here the dam is sited in a narrow river valley with very steep sides. The geologic formations here are fascinating.

Amazing landscapes here at Aroona Dam.

On to Leigh Creek. A sense of sadness pervades the town. The coal mine, which began in the mid 1950’s closed last year and about 90% of the inhabitants have left. It’s a pretty tree-lined town that shows evidence of good urban planning, with a well-designed shopping precinct, fantastic sporting venues, parks and a modern hospital. As we drove past the lovely big school at lunchtime there were only a dozen or so children playing. The supermarket and tavern are the only places open in the shopping mall and even then we were virtually their only customers at that time. A drive through the residential areas revealed home after home empty. If we’ve learnt nothing else from this trip it’s that country areas can quickly go from boom to bust and that’s just life. But seeing all this excellent infrastructure beginning to deteriorate already is saddening, particularly when we have poor, frightened, innocent refugees housed atrociously in prisons.

We passed the mine site as we continued our travels towards Lyndhurst and Talc Alf.

Ignore these Road Restrictions at your peril. All good for this first leg of our trip.

Talc Alf some would describe as an eccentric. He lives about 5 km along the Strezlecki Track in the desert and is a gifted artist, sculpting his passion from talc which was mined nearby. Every sculpture has a message. Talc Alf is fearlessly pro-Australia but not anti-immigrant. He is also something of an iconographer interpreting meaning from the icons we use today to represent letters. It was quite fascinating listening to him and he is indeed well read and quite smart. An interesting character.

Talc Alf with just a few of his sculptures in his outdoor art gallery. Look closely at the flag on his hat.

Next stop was the Ochre Pits. This ochre has been ‘mined’ here for thousands of years by the indigenous people who use it ceremonially and for trading.

Ochre pits. Amazing how large they are.

By now dusk was approaching, but we decided to continue on to the campsite at Farina ($5/pp/n) some 25km up the road, where we arrived just before sunset. Chilly night, only 2C just before sunrise.

Our campsite at Farina - a delightfully unexpected campsite.

Our campsite at Farina at sunset – a delightfully unexpected treat.

Thursday 4th

If yesterday was a great day for all the interesting things we saw as we travelled, today was a great day for the relaxation and beauty of just staying put. Farina began in 1878 and was named as such because of the unrealised hope it would be a wheat producing area (farina is Latin for wheat). It’s heyday coincided with the progress of the Ghan train line up to here and its demise began soon after as the Ghan line was being built further north taking the workers with it, and the arrival of automobiles for transport replacing the camel trains which originated around these parts. It’s now a town of only ruined buildings, but has one of the best campsites ever just outside it along the creek. It’s a very large camping area, with green grass – let me say that again – with green grass, large shady trees, flushing toilets and a donkey-heated hot shower, and did I mention it’s all grassed, with green grass. We’d only planned to stay one night, but our next stop will be on dirt behind a pub … why move!!

Ahh a bit of well deserved R&R. At Farina campsite. Note the picnic table – seating and table made from old Ghan sleepers, while the support posts are railway lines. Very sturdy!

Apart from the beauty of the campsite the town of Farina has received lots of TLC from volunteers who are restoring some of the buildings and have placed really interesting information boards all around town describing what stood in that spot, but also the day-to-day lives of the inhabitants as described by them. If you’re a traveller don’t even think of bypassing this gem.

Partially restored buildings in Farina.

After a lengthy exploration of the town ruins I did some cooking to have more ready-made meals prepared for the coming two weeks and Steve did some geocaching, finding the two geocaches hidden here. Later in the afternoon he lit the fire in the donkey to heat water for showers, much to the approval of the other campers, then we BBQ’d our dinner.

BBQ for dinner tonight. At Farina campsite.

Friday 5th

A few hundred metres outside the town are the rail yards. The bridge over the creek still stands as well as the large square water tank, and evidence of where the narrow gauge and wide gauge rails ran is clear. Piles of rubble indicate where other buildings, such as the Booking Office, the waiting rooms, etc once stood.

The water tower at Farina railway siding. This style of cast iron tank is common at the Ghan sidings – the water being used to refill the steam engines.

Cattle, wool and ore from the local mines were taken to Adelaide from here; Thomas Kidman’s cattle were brought down to here or Beltana by drovers before being loaded on the train.

Stuart’s contribution to opening up central Australia is commemorated. His expeditions permitted not only communication from south to north, but also settlements and farming.

At Maree, not too much further up the road, we’re meeting Ken and Wendy, fellow Trakka Jabiru owners, who we’ll be travelling with for the next 6 weeks or so. We camped at the back of the pub (free camp). Here I had my first bore water shower – it’s not that bad, but too salty to drink. While waiting for them we wandered around Maree, not a town in ruins for a change! The Ghan’s last departure from here was in November 1981, then the railway closed. However the railway buildings are still in good condition.

The old Ghan lines have been retained here in Marree, and the railway station is in good repair. Some of the buildings have been repurposed and continue to serve the community.

In the pub is the Tom Kruse museum. Tom was the very well liked and respected ‘mailman’ who in the 1930’s to 1950’s delivered the mail and goods to the properties along the Birdsville Track, which begins here. Not an easy job.

Tom Kruse’s contribution to outback people is not forgotten – here is the truck he used to deliver the mail and supplies along the Birdsville Track. There’s also a museum of photos, memorabilia and a short documentary that was interesting to view. Altogether a pretty amazing man.

Tomorrow we begin the Oodnadatta Track with Ken and Wendy.

The two Trakkas ready to leave from the Maree pub.

For more photos from this part of our trip CLICK HERE.

2 May, 2017 by Cruisers

Flinders Ranges

24th April – 2nd May 2017

Monday 24th

We sadly farewelled Tez, Greg and doggy Daisy this morning and headed directly to Tyrepower to get the tyre fixed. Excitedly we head north now to the Flinders Ranges. We’ve heard so much about them.

The Stuart Hwy took us to Snowtown for brunch and a break. The gruesome Snowtown murders of the early 1990s are unfortunately remembered by many Aussies. There were 8 murders here the details of which I sharn’t go into. The town has suffered because of its reputation and today it is a pretty sad and sorry looking place. It had been mooted to change its name, which I think was a good idea, but obviously it didn’t get up.

However, on the upside, the Ranges that run north-south to the west of Snowtown are apparently perfect for wind turbines and there are about 70 or more turbines that generate enough electricity to keep 350,000 homes going. In the park at Snowtown is one of the blades (yep, they’re big) and an excellent information board describing the project.

Just in case you didn’t know what a blade from a wind turbine looked like … Snowtown.

It started raining as we continued north and didn’t stop. We were a bit worried about the roads into Mambray Creek camping area at Mt Remarkable but needn’t have been – sealed right to our campsite. Ahhh the beauty of a motorhome – we pulled into our site, turned the chairs around and spent a warm, dry, comfortable afternoon reading and watching movies – no need to go out in the rain for anything. Wouldn’t swap my motorhome for any other kind of rig!
Mt Remarkable is in the southern Flinders Ranges.

Tuesday 25th

Today dawned sunny with a few scattered clouds, still cool. We did a couple of the walks – the Wirra Water Walk alongside Mambray Creek and the Baroota Hike to the Baroota station homestead ruins and the station cemetery. Lovely walk along the dry creek bed (despite it raining all day yesterday, go figure). The old red gums are so beautiful, lots of birds and a few kangaroos for company.

The very beautiful River Red Gums that grow in the riverbed of Mambray Creek. They know where to find the deep-down underground water.

The cemetery dates from the early 1800’s and is so sad – so many children. The property did well in the first years it was established, but being right on Goyders Line years of drought followed, then flooding rains and heartbreak. It was a very tough life. The homestead had a lovely location with views to the mountain range in one direction and across the plains to Spencer Gulf in the other.

Steve examining the ruins of the Baroota homestead. I guess there were many happy times in front of this fire, before the many sad ones that led to its demise.

For the record this is an excellent campsite – well-spaced sites, flushing loos, hot showers and located in a very attractive part of the national park ($20/night + NP entry). We walked the Alligator Creek section of Mt Remarkable on our way to the Eyre Peninsula – that was the eastern side and this is the western side.

Wednesday 26th

We’d planned to do another walk here before we leave today, but we awoke to a strong, cold wind blowing – not going to happen! Quorn is next on the agenda. The Old Ghan Heritage Trail starts here and we figured we might follow it for as far as the road will permit us. This trail follows the original Ghan railway as closely as possible, including along the Oodnadatta Track to Oodnadatta before branching off and heading more directly to Alice Springs.

The railway stopped running to Quorn in 1957, however a local enthusiasts’ group maintains the rolling stock and lines between Quorn and Port Augusta running tourist trips currently on Thursdays and Sundays, ie not today. There are some majestic old stone buildings in Quorn, testament to the historical prosperity of the town. The Information Centre is now housed in the Railway Station.

The railway station at Quorn. Once used for the Ghan, now the Pitchi Ritchi Railway has tourist trains leaving here a couple of times a week.

Still keen on getting some walking in we headed for Warren Gorge. This council-managed Gorge and camping area ($15/night) is about 20 or so km to the north west of town. The area over which you can camp is huge which always makes it hard to choose a spot – ‘is this the best spot, or is that one over there better?’. Finally set up with views over pine trees to the striking red cliff walls of the Gorge we once again decided it was too cold to walk so hunkered down inside watching movies.

Thursday 27th

A lovely sunny morning with no wind left us with no excuses. The Gorge Loop walk follows the creek, which is flowing albeit only a pace or two wide. At the far end the path climbs the steep Gorge wall and continues back to the trailhead on the other side of the range. We enjoyed the walk as it was quite varied in flora, lots of birds and the occasional rock wallaby. The views down the Gorge from the far end were beautiful. The Smoko Lookout overlooked not only the valley on the other side of the Gorge but also the unsealed road north, the condition of which no one in Quorn could tell us about.

The lookout on the Warren Gorge walk.

The road looked good, from up on high, so when we returned to Priscilla we headed off along it. With recent rains everywhere is now green. The road wound its way further up this scenic valley taking us past ruins of homesteads and towns – the fickleness of the weather is not a farmer’s friend.

Back on the Stirling North Road we stopped at Kanyaka Ruins for lunch and a look around. Kanyaka Station was a sheep station though it began as a cattle station in 1852. Because of the difficulties of transport, the station had to be self-sufficient and Kanyaka station grew to supporting 70 families and included a large homestead, cottages for workers, workshops, huts and sheds, mostly built from local stone due to limited supplies of workable local timber. Extended drought in the 1860’s saw the demise of the sheep station and it was resumed by a pastoral company for growing wheat. The stone walls and floors are all that now remain of this once thriving enterprise.

Kanyaka Homestead. It would have once been an impressive place to live, in its day.

Kanyaka Homestead. It would have been an impressive place to live, in its day.

Continuing north through Hawker we turned off on the Moralana Scenic Drive, an unsealed road which cuts westward between Elder Range and Wilpena Pound Range following the Moralana Creek (dry). The Ranges on either side were spectacular, particularly as the afternoon sun lit up the red cliffs of the Elder Range. The old, gnarled River Red Gums along the creek were striking and the drive made even more enjoyable by the many family groups of emus and kangaroos. A road sign suggested a great place for photographs – a walk up a very steep, shale hill – the views definitely worth the effort though. The restored ‘cueing yards’ where the bullockies, who carted the felled cypress pine, shoed their bullocks was interesting.

Yes we did hike up this very steep hill to take a photo of Priscilla, and the Flinders Ranges. Moralana Scenic Drive

Heading southward on the Parachilna Rd towards Hawker, to complete the loop, we came across a parking area just off the road with heaps of room for camping and views to the Ranges in every direction. A quiet evening after a full day is anticipated.

Sunset at our free camp just north of Hawker.

Friday 28th

I’d been looking forward to seeing the Old Ghan railway station at Hawker as I believe it is well preserved and now functions as a restaurant and art gallery … but it’s not open this morning! Oh well, a photograph of the outside will have to suffice.

The railway station at Hawker is now a restaurant and art gallery. Not open when we visited, unfortunately.

From Hawker we headed to Wilpena Pound and into the Flinders National Park.

The Wilpena Ranges, on the drive to enter the park.

This is the favourite walking location for our friends Ric and Gill, so we’re filled with high expectations. After choosing our camping spot we headed off on the 7.8km Wangarra Lookout walk. The first few kilometres follows Wilpena Creek, which, like the walk at Mambray Creek, is lined with spectacular river red gums. This creek though has a permanent spring and it’s lovely to see flowing water in a creek out here. Further on is Hill’s Homestead with signage describing life in the Pound in the early 1900’s. A sculpture also tells the aboriginal story of the creation of the Pound.

A ‘small’ tribute to the original inhabitants of this area. Wilpena Pound.

Our walk, however, now took us upward – why do lookouts always have to be on the top of a mountain (rhetorical question, don’t answer!). After some sweating and a bit more heavy breathing we made it to the Lookout. The western section of the Pound lay before us. It is pretty amazing – a plain, entirely enclosed by mountains. Beautiful. OK Ric and Gill, I can see why you love this place so much.

Panorama of Wilpena Pound. From here it’s easy to see the enclosing mountain range with the flat plain in the middle.

Saturday 30th

St Mary’s Peak is the highest point in the Flinders Ranges. At a round trip distance of 21.5km from camp and the warning that it is ‘STRENUOUS’ in the walk descriptor we knew it would not be a ‘walk in the park’. The first hour was very pleasant amongst the river red gums, followed by cypress pines as we moved away from water. Then we started to climb! The track became shaley with rocks of every size, boulders that had to be scaled to get onto rock ledges, and just before reaching the saddle was a sheer rock face where both hands were needed to pull ourselves up.

As the track went upward, the condition of it got much tougher. On the way to St Mary's Peak.

As the track went upward, the condition of it got much tougher. (This bit was easy compared to what was coming up.) On the way to St Mary’s Peak.

Added to the concern of the climb was the poor track marking – the painted blue arrows on the rocks worn away almost totally and only occasional blue reflectors indicating where you should be next, but not how to get there. They did say in the literature that the climb was dangerous, and so it was in places. The magnificent views, when we had the energy to look, were all to the outside of the Pound. Finally at Tanderra Saddle we stopped for lunch and congratulated ourselves on having made it. The view over the Pound in one direction and to the outside in the other was lovely. The actual Peak is another 1.5km, however the peak itself is sacred to the local indigenous people who’ve lived here forever and have asked us not to climb it. No argument from me!

After a VERY tough climb we’re at Tanderra Saddle with St Mary’s Peak behind us.

The return journey wasn’t quite as difficult. Rather than the shorter, steep incline of the ‘outside’ track, the ‘inside’ track’s slope is quite reasonable but the first 4km of this descent is extremely rocky before reaching the plain of the Pound. These paths do not make for pleasant walking, eyes glued to the ground for fear of a sprained ankle. The next 8km was easy walking through cypress, occasional stoney, dry creek beds, river red gums and emus, kangaroos and birds. All up we were gone from camp for 6.5 hours and returned pleased with ourselves, but very tired.

An Australian Ringneck Parrot, Port Lincoln variety. Lots of them all around Wilpena Pound.

Sunday 31st

Surprisingly we both woke this morning with minimal aches and pains – all this bushwalking we’re doing is definitely toughening us up. Today was a day to relax. A short 3 – 4 km walk along the beautiful Wilpena Creek and up, but not too far up, the range at the side of it and back to camp kept our muscles loose.

Monday 1st May

The Bunyeroo Scenic Drive leaves Wilpena and winds through the Flinders Range to Aroona on the northern edge of the park.

Ok, I can see where we’re headed. Bunyeroo Scenic Drive

This is a magnificent 4WD drive between Ranges, into gorges, over water crossings (with running water!) into Bunyeroo Gorge and finally to the Aroona Ruins where there is a campsite. No other campers here in this remote spot.

We’ve had many beautiful campsites on this trip, but this has to be among the most beautiful. Aroona Ruins.

After setting up camp beside the dry creek bed, surrounded by river red gums with a backdrop of red cliffs we headed off on the Yuluna Hike. This absolutely beautiful hike took us across the plain, along several dry creeks, up escarpments and to lookouts down the Gorge. We both loved this 9km hike.

The path here is narrow and shaley on the cliff edge above the creek. The beautiful views continued as we climbed upwards. Yuluna Hike.

The ‘Aroona’ incident occurred here. This very embarrassing incident resulted in a policeman waking us up at midnight to check we’re OK. We’d inadvertently put a ‘help’ meassage on our tracking map (see ‘Where are we now’ menu) and our family reacted accordingly. Good to know the system works well, but acutely embarrassed that we had worried and inconvenienced so many people. A big thank you to all involved, not forgetting the SA Police and very amiable Sergeant James who drove from goodness knows where along rugged a 4WD track in the pitch dark to find us.

Tuesday 2nd

We leave the Flinders Ranges today via Brachina Gorge. This gorge is a geologists nirvana with fantastic examples of geological changes that have occurred here over the last 600 million years. The drive is well signposted for non-geologists to understand what they’re looking at. Apart from that it’s another awesome drive through a spectacular Gorge.

Stopped for some looking around, on the Brachina Gorge road.

For more photos from our time in the Flinders Ranges CLICK HERE.

Cruisin' Chronicles

. . . do what you can while you're able

From Adelaide to Alice

Springs, THE Centre, civilisation

Oodnadatta Track

And on to Marree

Flinders Ranges