Russ Travelling Australia

After leaving Muloorina we had a night at Leigh Creek to replenish supplies and update the blog, then off to Warraweena Station.  This is a private sanctuary in the Flinders about 30 Km north of Blinman.  The station is 355 Sq Km and is managed by a wildlife trust to bring back the bush and the animals into the Flinders.  You travel from Leigh Creek via Beltana, which is an old railway service centre, which is now occupied by “new age people”.  We thought the 25 Km  road in was rough, until we tackled some of the roads on the station!  Once you entered to station you noticed that there were may more small plants and the land was much greener than the surrounding areas.  We had our own bush camp 2 Km from the station at the start of Sliding Rock Creek Gorge.  The road in was stoney and along a creek bed for about half the journey.  But well worht the trip, absolute privacy and your own long drop toilet (dunny).

On the first day we set up camp and then walked up the gorge for a couple of K’s.  Enjoyed the scenery, but no rock wallabys unfortunately.

Marg also did some sketching, the views inspire you to try to capture what you see.

The next day we went on one of the half dozen 4WD drives on the station to a gorge and waterhole and rock wallabys, hopefully.  This one was rated as medium!!  The screams from the passenger attest that it was a bit more than that.  After about 20 Km we faced a steep creek crossing that had been washed out, Marg got out and walked over the creek and up te hill, I went through OK after dragging both ends of the Prado through.  over the hill, we then faced 30 m of washed out track with two ridges on which to run the tyres (tyre width) and a half metre drop between them and on one side.  The down side was too great, so we backed back up the hill and turned around.  Marg heard a swosh-swosh as we backed and sure enough we had a flat (75 mm slashed wall from the creek crossing).  So back to camp we went, fairly slowly as we didn’t fancy a long walk!

Having had enough outback adventure over the last few years we decided to head home, especially as Marg has had bad asthma in the cold nights, because she cannot breath deeply with her cracked ribs.  This causes a  build up of congestion which can lead to pneumonia if it builds up too much.  It will also be good to be back as Deen is having some minor surgery this week and we will be there to help if needed.

The drive down the Leigh Creek Road on the western side of the Flinders is Marvelous, the ranges stretch into the distance alongside te road all the way, you want to stop every K or so and take another photo.

Last night in Burra, a great town and worth more than an overnight stop.  Tonight in Ouyen and then home.

So that’s it.  A truncated journey but very enjoyable never the less.  We loved the Flinders the best and the station stays are well worth searching for.  Over and out

We travelled from Leigh Creek, via Lyndhurst, through barren gibber plains and clay pans – hardly any trees or shrubs, through Marree, then travelled north towards Muloorina Station.  More of the same country and we were wondering if we had made the correct decision, until, after 50 Km off the Oodnatta Track, in the distance, what seemed like a mirage, we saw some hills, and some trees.  to our amazement, we arrived at this wonderful lagoon, surrounded by trees and quite a few campers.  The weather was warmer, but with no power, we were hoping that the nights would be kind to us.  They were cold, but we were as warm as toast and as soon as the sun rose, it was better to get up, make a cuppa and sit in the sun.

As soon as we arrived, I put a yabby net in, but to no avail.  Checking morning and night, no luck at all – not even a beatle.  Apparently there are small fish in the lagoon, but nothing found our old lamp chop bones and old steak appealing.  I even had the garlic butter for them!

We have camped by a weeping acacia, which is absolutely stunning and gives us much needed shade.  Cattle come down to drink at night.  The lagoon flows rapidly at its north end.  There are septic toilets here, but no showers. The bird life is fantastic – it is really great to hear birds of all descriptions here.  Water birds, parrots, honeyeaters.  We have spotted Galahs, Corellas, Coots, Pelicans, White Plumed honeyeaters, Willy Wagtails, Square Tailed Kites, Hawks, Osprey, Crows, Great Egrets, Mudlarks, Noisy Minors, Sandpipers, Purple Swamp Hens, to name a few.

We woke on our second day to find a Pelican sleeping on our camp table!  He gingerly moved away and sat under the Acacia.  We thought he looked quite young, but pretty sick,  except he would preen himself for ages every hour.  Russ went out to collect some wood and when he came back, he emptied the bag of wood out, making a loud noise, and the pelican scampered into the water.  We were convinced that we would have to be digging him a grave, but later we saw him swimming and catching fish.  We then wondered whether he was exceptionally tired after flying from Lake Eyre, where apparently the parents discard them and send them on their way, as the water recedes.

We have loved it here and a donation of $8 per night goes to the Flying Doctor and it is well worth it, except for the FLIES!!  We have laughed at people with fly nets over their hats, but this time the laugh was on us!

What a pleasant surprise.  My last memories, back 35 or so years, were of a desolate place, with rock everywhere.  Well all of the above is still here of course, but now there are well sign posted tracks, taking you to the most beautiful waterholes.  We first visited Bolla Bollana Spring, after inspecting the old Bolla Bollana Copper Smelter.

It’s in extremely good condition and I commented that it must have been built by our nephew, John Youdan!!  The pity was that there wasn’t any information about how they got the ore to the smelter and how they got the copper to the market; just some old rails and ruins left there.

Proceeded to Nooldoo Nooldoona waterhole, where we had lunch in a tranquil setting. More small birds around the waterholes, but unfortunately, we haven’t seen any rock wallabies yet.

We returned via the Pinnacles.

Next day we had another interesting and bumpy ride to Stubbs Waterhole

We walked up the [dry] creek for a while and came across some aboriginal art, in a cave.

We complain about the cold – just imagine their life!

We gathered some wood and Russ was sawing it up, when a helicopter came over – very low – I gave him a wave – next minute we have a helicopter 6 metres, hovering over us, to check out whether or not we needed help.  Exciting, scary – the moral of the story is, don’t wave to the helicopter pilot!

We are leaving tomorrow for Leigh Creek – supplies needed and 3G required, so everyone can know that we are alive.

We are now in Leigh Creek and publishing this blog from here, (it was called Leigh Creek South last time we were here, 23 years ago, but the ‘South’ was dropped after the original Leigh Creek was demolished).  We will head out to Maree to another station stay and maybe out to Lake Eyre, so no more blogs for a while until we get back to 3G territory.

It was sad to leave Alpana Station.  There are two roads to Arkaroola – one through Leigh Creek (on the highway) and a short cut from Blinman.  After the rain, we were a little dubious as to whether we’d tow the van through the slippery mud bits, but trusted the local’s advice that everything would be fine and it was.  The first 40 kms were very pretty, and then it was evident that, once over the ranges, there has been very little rainfall.

We counted the creek crossings and gave up at 100!

We called in at Chambers Gorge – little did we know that you are basically driving up the creek bed for 9 kms!  Towing as well, but all was well and we had an early lunch, crisping up our homemade rolls again, but with every other tourist interested in our Kimberley Caravan, it wasn’t exactly peaceful, but enjoyable just the same.

The countryside changed from healthy looking shrubs and trees, to gibber plains and dead trees.  Unsure whether to stay un-powered at the Gammon Ranges, or do the extra 30 kms to Arkaroola, we decided to go for the soft option again and we were both pleasantly surprised with the massive improvements made (over the last 35 years!!!).  Quite a few spindly trees, leveled and landscaped sites, fire pit and plate on each site, septic toilets, a reception area with a restaurant, bar and shop, and fuel at $1.55 a litre.

From our camp site we can see the Observatory on a nearby hill; it contains a 360 mm (14″) telescope to view the southern sky.  We just enjoy looking at the night sky while sitting around our fire.  Apparently, we missed a meteor shower that happened on Tuesday night – Wednesday morning 1.00-3.00 am.

It was sad to leave Wilpena, but we have not compromised our trip by doing so.  We are headed for Alpana Station, 5 kms south of Blinman (which is only a 54 km trip), so decided to detour through the Bunyeroo Gorge.  What a great decision that was!  Breathtaking views at every turn, loads of [dry] creek crossings, framed by magnificent ranges.  Huge red gums, native pine trees, sheeoaks, lilies about to burst into flower.  This place brings out a very emotional, spiritual side of me.

Arrived at Alpana Station, where we set up with a backdrop of eucalypts, a dry creek bed, ranges in every direction, a powered site [I know, but even Russ has been cold!!]. We even have an en suite!  Now I’ve done it – you’ll never let us live it down!!

(Janice and John – dogs are allowed).  Speaking of which, it is great to have the company of the station dogs.  They have a very old dog named Bob – corgi/kelpi cross, with very short legs!, who came down to sleep with us last night, because his owners were out.  The weather was atrocious, with thunderstorms, a howling gale, rain, but he slept outside the ensuite.  Sally had put his dry-as-a-bone coat on fortunately.

We learnt about the two hour thunderstorm from locals the next day -didn’t hear a thing.

We visited Nungawurtina Hut, a recently rebuilt replica of the shepherd’s huts that were scattered throughout the Flinders Ranges in the 19^th and 20^th century.  This in on their 51,000 acres of land and is 7 kms from the homestead.

On the way back to our camp, we took a drive to Sunset Lookout – is there another word for breathtaking?  Sorry, but we had a panoramic view, looking out the St Vincent’s Gulf, we think.

Provisions required, so we headed to Leigh Creek, going through the beautiful Parachilna Gorge (my favourite).  We took a photo of it 35 years ago and I did a bark picture of it way back then, and it was still the same today.  So picturesque, maybe I’ll try and paint it when I get home.

We had some prescriptions to get in Leigh Creek – organized by phone a day ahead – except we forgot to ask if they were open on Saturday mornings.  Of course NOT.  Went to the hospital – a phone call was made and the pharmacist came IN, no charge, and was more than happy to serve us.  Everyone we met at Leigh Creek was lovely and couldn’t have been more helpful.  We had travelled 100 kms to get there, so we really appreciated it.

Drove 5 kms further to Copley, to visit the famous bakery, bought some pasties, drove to Aroona Dam to have a lovely lunch.  This is Leigh Creek’s main water supply, which seems to be, not only beautiful, but abundant.

Years ago, the highway passed by Beltana – now it is 11 kms off the main road, and apparently the old historic building is now occupied by ‘alternative’ people.  We don’t know quite what this means, because after taking the time to visit again, we saw no signs of life, except to hear a generator going.  Whoever is there seems to be looking after the place, as it was tidy and it looked as if improvements were being made.

There was a Private Property sign, but we don’t know if someone has bought it or if they are squatters.

We arrived home at about 3 pm and realized we had forgotten to buy rolls, so had an experiment, using our Cobb oven, fuelled by charcoal, to make some home made ones!!  Wonder what they’ll taste like!  The bottoms were a bit brown, but the tops didn’t colour up much at all.  I had to flip them over for 10 minutes or so.

After last night’s shocking weather, (howling gale, 15 mms of rain) we went to the Blinman pub for lunch today.  I had a Roo burger, with bush tomato relish – tasty but the roo was tough and Russ had a saltbush lamb burger.  He was happy with his choice.

At an interesting café in town, called “The Wild Lime Café”, I was able to buy some indigenous ingredients.  Wattle seed, bush tomato powder, and a few other ingredients that I had tried to obtain a couple of months ago, when I had a special dinner for Cam’s birthday.  Looks like I’ll have to give it all another go.

On the fourth and last day, we took a picnic lunch at to Glass Gorge, only to find it was 15 mins from Alpana, so continued on the loop road to Parachilna Gorge.  We found a delightful spot for lunch in the gorge, plus it had a table, so we had a leisurely picnic lunch and then home to Blinman.

After a conversation with Sally about my interest in indigenous foods, she took us up to see quandong tree, full of unripe fruit.  It reminded us of an Acacia, but Sally said she thought it was in the Sandalwood family.  To my delight, we purchased half a kilo of quandongs, plus some un-roasted wattle seed.  I was thrilled and can’t wait to get back and see what I can do with them.

We really enjoyed the stay and Sally Henery couldn’t have been more obliging, polite and informative.  Nothing seemed too much trouble.  We enjoyed our lengthy conversations about the Henery family and farm history and we were both treated to the best cuts of their own culled and marinated kangaroo.  It was absolutely delicious – we had it BBQ’d rare.  Thank you Sally – We recommend your station to everyone.

We have one night left in our cushy environment, with heating etc., then tomorrow we are moving either to a gorge further into the Ranges or to a Station, not far from Blinman.  We treated ourselves to a meal at the Bistro today – I know – we are losing our outback spirit, but we have done a couple of walks, chopped wood etc. etc. and my ribs are causing me to take all the comforts that are offered! (Or maybe, it’s just old age).  The weather is slightly warmer here today, without that strong cold wind.  We have been packing up all the bikes, fireplace and all the odds and extras that accumulate after a stop in one place for a while.

As from tomorrow, we may not have access to the computer, so the blog may be held up for a few days.  It will be sad to leave here, I’d have to say that it is one of my favourite places.

Speak to you soon.

On our walk yesterday, we passed the perfect place for lunch today.  So, after the most relaxing morning, where I sat outside and did some Sudokos, tea, coffee, Russ was busy preparing his case against Kimberley, inside on the computer.  We had a stale Turkish Pide, left in the bread bag and I had the greatest plans to fill it with all sorts of goodies and make the most delicious lunch to have beside the creek.  Unfortunately, after wrapping it in foil, placing it in the frypan, we ended up with burnt offerings!!  I’ll have to think of another way to achieve the same result.  Nevertheless, I scraped off all the burnt bits and to our surprise, it still tasted pretty good!

I think the setting had something to do with it, even though the day’s temperature is much colder than yesterdays.  It was probably about a 2km walk in to this beautiful spot, but well worth it and we got to speak to a lot of of walkers, both on the start of their journey, or on the return.  We hope you enjoy this picture.  We were hoping for a rock wallaby to come down and drink during the hour we were there, but no such luck.

Arrived two days ago to the greenest Flinders Ranges we have ever seen.  We have been here three times, the first with carcasses of animals in paddocks and on the road, red dirt on the ground, but strangely enough, the creeks still running.  This was 30 odd years ago and we stayed at East Brachina Gorge.  This photo of our ‘smalls’ indicates the lengths we had to go to to dry the ‘important bits’!.

This time, our first night here we stayed on an unpowered site at Wilpena campground and froze our thingees off!!  (Especially with aching ribs).  The next morning we were over to reception to book in for five nights on a powered site!! Yes, we are getting soft, but at least we are still here.  There is a resort and motel, so that could be the next option (only kidding of course).

We are starting to love our Kimberley again – a love/hate relationship – love it because it is perfect for what we need, but can we trust it??

Took it easy the first day, and the next, for that matter, then went up to Brachina Gorge, had a picnic.  We followed the ‘Brachina Gorge Geological Trail, informing us, as we travelled, that the various formations of shale, limestone, quartzite, sandstone, etc., all dating back to 560Million+ years!!!

Things have changed so much.  Everything seems to be bushier, much more shrubs, small trees, maybe five years old, but incredibly different to the extremely dry environment on the past two trips.  Absolutely wonderful, but with Australia’s drought, we expected a completely different scene.  We saw the most spectacular, healthy looking rock wallaby, with a striped tail, that made him look like a Richmond supporter.

This morning we walked 7kms into Wilpena Pound to the old homestead – a little bit difficult on the way in (with extra breathing and the ribs), but I thoroughly enjoyed the walk out,  on the decline.  We found a great place to take a picnic to either tomorrow or the next day, which is only about 3.5 kms in.  There are a lot of rules and regulations here, one of which is that you can’t ride your bikes into this ideal spot.  Quite ridiculous, as the walking path is road width and a shuttle bus uses it!

Our photos haven’t quite captured the magnificent colours of the rocks and the intensity of the green, so put your imaginary colour-receptor goggles on and let your imagination do the work.  The sculptures in the photo show you the way to Wangara Lookout, giving you a magnicent view of the Wilpena Pound.