Back in the Ranges

The OWO seems to be getting a little anxious, and is getting a little "pushy" about the time it is taking to "travel" with you, but we have seen so many beautiful places on this Big Adventure it becomes quite overwhelming and I just want to share it all - the beauty, the remoteness and the solitude of the desert and the ranges; the dramatic cliffs of the coastline; the sparseness of the desert; the flora and fauna; the history and culture of the outback and towns; and the joy of early morning birdsong and clear starry nights in the bush. All this, and much more, we have experienced on this Big Adventure, so I hope you will continue to join us as I continue to give you "snippets " from my daily journal -- even though it may take quite a number of posts to complete our "travels".

Our track from Kimba to Minnipa

SUNDAY, 20 September--- WEDNESDAY, 23 September --- GAWLER RANGES

SUNDAY

Iron Knob iron ore mine

Sunday morning we farewelled Mr B and left the Acacia Ridge Motel. Today we would make our way to the Gawler Ranges NP where we planned to camp for three nights. Travelling comfortably  along the Eyre highway we passed the massive open cut mine area of Iron Knob, from here they transport iron ore to the massive steel works at Whyalla.


Once again we were amazed at how quickly the countryside changed -- from the dry, red rocky hills of iron ore, with very little vegetation, to fields of yellow and green, miles and miles of grain crops in a rich farming area that contrasted so much with the drier more arid areas we had already seen.

Halfway Across Australia

KIMBA -- the little town "halfway across Australia" with the iconic 'Big Galah' sculpture. This was our 'morning tea' stop and we took time to explore a little whilst here. This is the eastern gateway to the Gawler Ranges and is one of South Australia's major grain belts. The first pastoral leases were granted in 1872 and the first crops sown in 1908.

Edward John Eyre and Tracker

On our way out of town we detoured via Whites Knob lookout to discover the fascinating metal sculptures of the explorer Edward John Eyre and his aboriginal tracker.



GAWLER RANGES NP -- it was only 100kms from Kimba to the NP and the route we followed actually passed through pastoral lease land, with a large number of grids, but a very good road until we entered NP land. Here the 'road' became more of a track, with some very corrugated and rocky sections.

Beauty of Port Augusta

With trailer and vehicle back in working order by Friday afternoon, we spent our extra day exploring more of the beautiful Arid Botanic Gardens and catching up with Mr B, who arrived at the Motel late Saturday afternoon. We celebrated the OWO's birthday on Saturday evening with oysters, lovely fish and chips, and a bottle of good wine. Our time in Port Augusta was well spent and we were once again all set to continue our adventure.

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Before we do continue our travels, I would like to share some of the beauty we saw in Port Augusta, recorded through our camera lenses. For those of you who have been faithfully following the ups and downs of our Big Adventure you might enjoy the visuals that will be uploaded to the Photographic Journal listed in the menu to the right of the blog posts. These pages will be updated over the next couple of weeks, and I may even be able to motivate the OWO to update his photo blog.

We hope you enjoy the beauty of these photos. Please keep in mind copyright lies with The Rambling Retirees and should you wish to print any of these please seek permission via email.

Chirruping Wedgebill taken by OWO

Regal foxtails taken by OWO

Red wattle bird feeding

Flowering chenopod

Spotted turtle dove taken by OWO

Parrot family feeding taken by OWO

Beautiful parrot taken by Mrs OWO

Red grevillea

Flowering WA gum

Lizard in Bush taken by OWO

Metal daisies

Honeyeater taken by OWO

Desert Grass Bush

Arid Lands Entrance Wall

Sturts Pea and Lizard Wall Sculpures

Flowering Gum Wall Sculpture

White crowned babbler taken by OWO

White fronted honeyeater taken by OWO

Port Augusta for Repairs and Rest

 

Spencer Gulf, Port Augusta

Thursday, 17th September.  Another day, another place.
Having arrived late into Port Augusta yesterday and booked into a van park for two nights (something these travellers are reluctant to do unless absolutely necessary), the OWO spent the morning searching for a repairer for the trailer and the vehicle. Looks like Mr Murphy has decided to stay for awhile! Trailer could be fixed but not until late tomorrow and the part for the vehicle had to be sent from Melbourne and would arrive tomorrow. However, the OWO assured me both would be fixed and we could be on the road again on Saturday so book another night in the cabin.  Good wifey approached booking office but no joy there -- fully booked -- next move OWO?

First, deliver the trailer. Next call into the Information Centre for alternative accommodation suggestions. Finally, check out the alternative suggestions and make a choice. So, okay, there may have been a bit of interactive discussion first but finally we agreed on a motel and booked for two nights -- Friday and Saturday (just to be on the safe side and be sure all okay with repairs!). Now we can relax a little and enjoy a little R and R around this area for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning before the car had to be left with the dealer.

Beach across from Van Park

After delivering the trailer, booking the vehicle into dealer, booking the motel, purchasing two dozen local oysters ($10/doz closed), a short tour around town and lunch at the pub, we headed back to the van park to complete some mundane duties such as ten days worth of dusty washing, and finally we had time to take a wonderful walk along the beach near the van park.

Avan for the RRs maybe?

Whilst pegging out the washing Mrs OWO espied an Avan parked near the laundry area and was cheeky enough to approach the owners for a closer look. This was the type of campervan that would suit the Rambling Retirees perfectly. Very impressed. And thanks to Joan and Arthur the OWO was also impressed.

 The OWO also spent time chatting with some fellow travellers taking part in a vintage car rally.

Vintage rally interest

So the day was not a complete wash out, and tomorrow night we would have the luxury of a motel and on Saturday we would be catching up with our long time friend, Mr Bonney.

Always find a positive from within a negative!

Coastal flowers at P A

Wattle at the park

Beach flowers

Rail bridge across channel

Murphy Joins the Team!!

Flinders Ranges from Brachina Gorge road - so close, yet so far!

 Now this Irish man seems to have been tagging along with us for a number of days -- you may know him as MURPHY -- been keeping the OWO company for awhile, and here he is again!

Only one km along the Brachina Gorge track and the trailer locked up. OWO gets out expecting to find a flat tire - easy fix, just a little inconvenient in the middle of a narrow section of a very rocky 4WD track? No one around so should be a doddle to fix.  Not so. No flat tire, so why have the trailer brakes locked up?  Seems the bolt holding the spring had sheared off and had broken the shockie mounting - no way to fix THAT in the middle of the bush!!!

OWO huffed, puffed, used some calming language - not - and just had a complete melt down. After his rant was over good wifey gingerly suggested calling on the UHF to see if anyone might be on the track or in the area that could give a helping hand. One response, and around the bend, across the dry creek bed, arrives a very helpful " Westralian" named Trevor. After on the ground surveys and intimate discussions, the OWO and Trev devised a way to lift the trailer, remove the hanging shockie, and release the brake.

No flat tire?!! So what do we have here?

Did I mention that this was a narrow rocky section of a 4WD track?, and that there was no one else around? Yes, of course I did. I also mentioned our uninvited travelling companion Murphy, and here he was again. Whilst OWO and Trev were working on the situation, we found ourselves in the middle of "peak hour" traffic! Murphy's Law - damn that man! Within twenty minutes we had four oncoming vehicles lined up unable to pass our vehicle in the middle of the track - and I have never seen so much "man power"  gather in such a short time (outside of pub hours!) and all offering advice, naturally!!!!!

The OWO and the wonderful 'Westralian' finally got the trailer moving again, at least enough to allow the gathering crowd room to manoeuvre around us and continue on their way. Trev and his companion, who were from Albany in WA, our ultimate destination, bid us farewell and we were once again mobile. But Mrs OWO didn't feel the situation was stable enough to continue on to the camp grounds at Aroona and almost (not quite) pleaded with the OWO to have some common sense and reconsider our options. It took awhile but finally common sense prevailed and the OWO agreed that our best option was to head off to Port Augusta for "R&R" - Rest and Repairs for both vehicle, trailer, and the occupants.

Decision made, we drove slowly out of the Park, off the 4WD track, and back to the bitumen highway. By now we were both totally stressed, hungry and very disappointed over the change of plans, but secretly inside Mrs OWO was relieved that common sense had prevailed and repairs could be made before venturing into more isolated regions.

We arrived in Port Augusta around 5pm and booked into a cabin at the Shoreline van park. Very basic and could only stay 2 nights but tomorrow the OWO would find somewhere to get the trailer fixed and the fuel hose fixed on the vehicle. Hopefully we can be on our way again in two days time.

Flinders Ranges viewed from Port Augusta - maybe next time.

Oh my gosh. This was only day 12 of our Big Adventure and we had a long way to go yet. Let's hope we can leave bleeding Murphy behind when we leave Port Augusta in two days time.

Gorges, Ranges and Disappointments

Sunrise over Weetootla Gorge Range from Campsite

Weetootla Gorge --- up with the sun. Woken by the Corellas and other birds at 5am. Clear skies and already quite warm. Slept very warm overnight for the first time since leaving home. Looking forward to the day ahead with a feeling of 'Joie-de-Vivre ' after feeling so tired yesterday. However, that feeling soon changed when the winds started around 9.30am. It started with an occasional short gust but by midday it was strong enough to blow away anything loose around the tent, lifting the kitchen awning pegs out of the ground, and, of course, covering everything with dust -- fine, gritty, shitty, dust. With only the fly screen closed at the tent door it blew mountains of dust into the tent, covering everything inside. To exacerbate the situation we were now inundated with those nasty sticky bush flies and by now Mrs OWO was NOT a happy camper.

Outback Tracking

Our second week on the road was a bit of a challenge in controlling our frustrations and maintaining a calm attitude.
 Before leaving Innamincka we stopped at the Outpost to fill with fuel, at $1.80/lt for diesel - the dearest so far. While the OWO was filling the vehicle I popped inside to get some postcards and a jar of the "magic" fly repellent cream we had been told about by Paul in  Thargo. Looking out the door, to check how the refueller was going, I was alarmed to see fuel pouring out underneath the vehicle. Without thinking, unpaid goods in hand, I raced out the door to stop the OWO pouring more of the precious gold onto the drive! As soon as he stopped so did the "leaking" -- obviously not a hole in the tank says OWO, not sure what's going on there! Try again, tell me what you see. OK - start - whoa, STOP - pouring out. OK- looks like might be the filler hose. So as the tank was almost full, refuelling stopped at $100, with a pledge to get the problem looked at when we reached a bigger town. So without further ado we hit the road again and began the next stage of our adventure travelling the Strezlecki Track. (Oh, I did pay for the goods and fuel before leaving!!!).

Week 2 -Innamincka to Port Augusta

Tea break on the Old Strezlecki Tk

Leaving Innamincka at 10am our goal was to reach the Montecollina Bore camp by mid afternoon via the old Strezlecki track. The first section of the Track - which by the way is the main trucking route for the multitude of mines in this part of the country - was in very good condition. A little corrugated in places and very, very dusty but otherwise not bad for a dirt road that you can do 110km on. The main hazard was lack of visibility when the road trains passed in the opposite direction.

A lost hitchhiker on Old Strezlecki Track

A working drill

Travelling the old section of the Track we didn't see another vehicle for 70kms. The wildflowers along the Track were spectacular, providing splashes of colour in an otherwise extremely dry countryside. Here we also saw red sand dunes and some fascinating mine areas.

Great wind-free camp site

Arriving at the Bore around 2.30pm we chose a lovely secluded spot in behind the sand dunes, protected from any wind, but not the flies!

Red desert flower

Main pool Montecollina Bore

Black kite

Fascinating weathered dunes

Wetlands Montecollina Bore

Colour everywhere - even in the dunes

Desert stitcher with the essential net

Our planned 'overnighter' turned into two nights and we spent the extra time enjoying the solitude. No "tourist attractions" here. Just pure desert country where you can relax and soak up the rays (at 38 degrees). The OWO spent his time with camera in hand just wandering the dunes, whilst Mrs OWO switched between camera and needle in hand, the first stitching since leaving home. There were hundreds of Zebra finches around the bore and the wetlands was a haven for many waterbirds as well as the galahs. The black kite visited the dunes frequently. Some great photographic opportunities.
Flies were once again frustrating but fly nets and cream eased the frustration a little. Great spot to camp.

Fruit of the desert

Sunset over the desert at the Bore

Wildflowers in the desert

The Bore to the Ranges - via the off-road 4WD track
The morning dawned clear and hot with 28 degrees before 9 am. Today we would travel 280km to our next camp at Weetootla Gorge in the Gammon Ranges. We turned off the Strezlecki at Mt Hopeless and travelled 140km on the 4WD track to Balcanoona. The track was reasonably good until we reached the channel country where we crossed many dry creek and river beds. These were very rough and rocky with no water at this time of year - in the 'wet' season all these beds would be flowing with varying depths of water. Despite the lack of water, it was extremely lush around the creeks with masses of colour provided by wildflowers and flowering shrubs. Such a beautiful sight in an otherwise inhospitable dusty region.

Balcanoona consists of two  houses, the Rangers Station, some camping accommodation in the old shearer's shed, and a toilet and shower block. Here we also gleaned information about the Gammon Ranges. Being a Sunday, there was no Ranger in sight but the leaflets provided gave us all the info we needed to get to the Gorge. The campsite is 7.5 kms from here, with 5kms being 4WD access only.
Once at the camping area we chose a site with a little shade alongside the dry creek and by 3.30pm we were all set up for a three night stop. A pleasant 33 degrees, with a little breeze and fewer flies, and the wonderful sight of the majestic gorge all around us. Tomorrow we would investigate deeper into the gorge.