Thursday 29th September
The wind hadn't stopped when we opened up last night so we 'snacked' on salad and cheese indoors, as we had also overly snacked on peanuts whilst waiting for a break in the weather before we 'opened up' Djan. The wind was strong and after we retired I couldn't help imagining what the nearby coolibah tree was doing – swaying too close in our direction, too late now, no way was chauffeur going to get up, put Djan down and move Max, better just get on and try to sleep. So morning arrived with no gum tree dropping a branch on us. Better still, blue skies, drove up the road and parked outside the Innamincka pub to secretly log on to their wifi and see if we had heard from Michael, check our email and download the latest weather. Still nothing opened up across the Simpson desert and it was no place to hang around (a bit disappointing really, even though it had been fun sheltering under the verandah of the pub yesterday during the storm) so we decided to go south to Tibooburra. It meant driving out to the Dig Tree again and then hanging a right towards NSW. By this stage I couldn't remember which State I was in. No, not 'State of Excitement', etc. The road started off ok, and then a few puddles started appearing. Hardly surprising considering the 'sky show' we had on Wednesday arvo. We could see recent tracks so knew someone was ahead of us. It was only an hour or so before we caught up with the culprits of the tracks. They were stopped just before some 'wet' stuff. Chauffeur hopped out and we introduced ourselves and before long we were in friendly convoy sharing thoughts over the radio. Ian and Linda (and son Jack) were from Sydney and obviously Linda and I had genes in common – slightly apprehensive about the 4x4 adventurous games some boys think are great fun. The poggy buddles, got bigger, and sloppier, slightly stickier and eventually our Max got so much gunck stuck on his tyres they didn't grip as much as they should and started spinning. By this stage Ian and chauffeur had built up enough comaradarie (my spell check is coming up but can't be bothered to try to sort it) going on within no time our new blue rope thing was out, along with a yellow strap thingy (Richard I hope you never read this – I know the boys were doing the right thing, but I can't put the right names to it). I knew I had shoes on my feet, but they were so encrusted with mud I couldn't see them. I was aware that the mud smelt quite different to NT mud – how observant I am!! Linda, who told me she was a nurse, jokingly told me she would have had pains in her chest if they had been alone. Dare I admit, that frequently happens to me even when we are on a club outing. Decided we would stop for lunch when we found a shady tree. An hour later, no shady tree, so it was lunch in the open. Ha, ha the wind was so brisk the sun was good. Yet again, our Djan instant kitchen impressed our fellow travellers. They had been camping with a rooftop tent (Linda and son) and Dad in the swag. Linda told me the wind last night was lifting her feet up in the rooftop and also had ripped the fly!!Hmm, no wonder I had been concerned about the tree near us. The rest of the afternoon flew by. Again the colours (with blue sky) were absolutely awesome. Some very pinky red sands and lots of pale olive grasses. We parted ways, exchanging contact details, as we stopped to camp just short of Tibooburra – Linda was hoping for a night under a proper roof after last nights stormy conditions. Camping at Olive Downs was quiet and pleasant. Another family pulled up a bit later, a few pleasant chats etc.
Friday 30th September
Was aware early morning that there wasn't a dawn chorus (first time ever on this trip) but I could hear the chap in the camper trailer gently snoring. At one point chauffeur nudged me, huh couldn't he tell it was not me snoring but our neighbour? A while later (quite a while, it was daylight at this stage) I again heard our neighbour 'gently' snoring. I also became aware that I could hear the neighbouring 'camp' up and about and chauffeur was asking me how I could sleep whilst I was making so much noise! The cheek of it, it couldn't possibly have been me making that noise – I was awake!!! Have chuckled about this on and off all day. Chauffeur somehow – after putting up with all my sleeping acoustics proceeded to deload Dmax of at least 50Kg of excess weight – the mud he had collected yesterday. How someone can get a vehicle, Dmax and Djan, so clean with one cloth and only a couple of buckets of water absolutely amazes me. I was even more amazed when chauffeur moved Dmax and proceeded to 'sweep' the area clear of all the unloaded mud. We made it into Tibooburra without having to transfer fuel from the auxillary. We had done 925 km and fuelled up with 111 litres. The red light had only been on for 25 km! Have to take note of all these details – they will all be uploaded into chauffeur spread sheet later. The lady in the info centre was interested in our 'setup' and we soon found out she had met “Margy” the first Travelander owner we met on our travels back up in Cape York. Heading West again toward Cameron's Corner. This Corner shop sits on the border of Queensland, NSW and SA. Of course we had to have a beer, chin wag and buy the sticker, I am getting quite a collection now. This pub is in THE BOOK – Aussie Bush Pubs. Very Iconic and amongst other things we noticed the ceiling was covered in $5 and $10 notes. If you want to camp the night there it is $5 a vehicle. You have to get the note stuck into the ceiling without standing on a stool. The secret we discovered is you put a thumbtack through the note, followed by a coin, then twist the note around the coin and throw it up at the ceiling. The note sticks and the coin falls out. At the end of the year, the Corner Store owner takes all the money down and donates it to the Royal Flying Doctors – as he says, it is all they have out here if anything goes wrong – what good is health insurance if there are no doctors or hospitals? Quite an interesting fella – he himself had been flown out 2 weeks ago after a heart attack – just got back 'home' yesterday. In 2009they had collected $6000 but due to all the floods 2010 had only made $2000! We hit the road again. Had been told about the 'red flags' on the dunes marking poor conditions. Sure enough we found them, some of the dunes had some boggy soft patches on the other side – great to have the markers. Went as far as the Yellow Bus. It was a Camp 6 marked site – you got it – there was a double decker yellow bus. Love to know the history – looks like someone lived here for a while. Anyway, the more interesting thing is the grass fires around. The wind is awful so we cooked inside and can see several small grass fires, one of them quite close and we are down wind. However, the fires here don't seem to be as aggressive as we know them in WA. Another couple of vehicles have pulled up to camp for the night as well. Sitting here on the bed, being rocked around by the wind (we cooked inside because of the wind) but there is also a spattering of rain – could be an interesting night. The other vehicles are tenting it – quite a challeng getting them set up, has taken them ages. Oh I love my Djan.
Saturday 1st October – Yellow Bus to Arkaroola
A few more people 'tourists' pulled in in the morning for photos and a chat and we eventually tucked Djan away and got back on the road again. Quite a nice track. Lots of burnt out areas, some still smoking. Got back to the Strzelecki Track and headed south, then diverting off passed Mt Hopeless. We were hoping to get to Arkaroola – home of the 'internationally-renowned Ridgetop Tour. It was lovely approaching the Gammon Ranges. They just stick up out of the plains. We arrived mid afternoon and 'checked in'. In our naieveity and enthusiasm we hadn't read between the lines. The Ridgetop Tour, was a tour only, not a tag along. Chauffeur was so disappointed. This was a big tourist magnet – I guess for city folks that need the 'outback' shown to them – without their creature comforts. There was 300 ha of bush camping so after paying our $18 for the night we went to find 'our bit of bush'. Unfortunately this 300 ha of bush is through a gorge alongside a creek bed. The toilets are at the start and then everyone drives further along the gorge to camp. This meant that a lot of people spread out in a long line. Therefore people driving back up to the toilets continually until late in the night. Also with a restaurant/bar up at reception I guess a lot of campers had partaken of these facilities – again too far to walk. First thing in the morning their helicopter tours took off. It was busier than Fremantle on a Saturday Night. Oh, you live and learn. However, we were able to drive their other numerous tracks, and whilst not ridgetop, they were lovely. Going back to the maps we found a place that looked a little quieter for this night's camp and not too far away. The driving through these 'Ranges' is quite different to anything else we have seen and thoroughly enjoyed it. Eventually finding our own 'spot' in a scenic clearing quite high up on the hills, but also sheltered. There were even some fireplaces, so for the first time in too long we had a fire to cook our dinner on.
Sunday 2nd October Arkaroola – somewhere near Weetotla Gorge
We had a beautiful 'quiet' night – no traffic! Figured we had to make use of the fire again and had ourselves eggs and bacon. Setting off with full comfortable tummies little did we know what a lovely treat was in store for us. The track we had taken was a one-way, and the return journey was quite memorable. A few places were 4x4 (I reckon chauffeur would argue this point with me) but I'm writing this so it is my call :) Gill's lookout was awesome, with 360 deg views and some beautiful 'red' ridges. The track down again although steep (which is enough to set my muscles off) it was relatively smooth. I thoroughly enjoyed this drive. Stopping at another camping spot for morno's we got chatting to a couple from Canberra who were on a 5-day walk. Forget that, I can't think of many things worse. Fancy having to lug all your stuff around for 5 days – wouldn't be able to carry all the wine I would need – let along my mattress. All they had was a backpack each. If you can't have good food and alcohol on a camp – well what is the point!! Lunchtime saw us at Chambers Gorge. Just pulling up who should we park next to but none other than our travelling companions from the other day – Ian, Linda and son Jack. Well you would have thought we were lifetime friends. It was lovely – greeting with giant bear hugs was so welcoming. After chewing the fat we decided we would camp where they had been for the last couple of nights at Wirrealpa Station. They were staying in their shearers huts (as their roof top was splitting at the seams) but we would camp along side. What a treat, the family has been on this homestead for 130 years, and there were memorabilia galore. The old kitchen,, stone walled, old arga cooker, giant solid wooden tables and trestle benches. We burnt the midnight oil, sharing stories, chauffeur's inner kid coming out again when he spotted Jack's rugby ball. We haven't had such lovely company for a while.
Monday 3rd October – Weetotla Gorge to Wirrealpa (And Tuesday, somewhere)
We have had such a lovely time, I seem to have lost a day. Sitting here on Wednesday 5th Sept knowing what we did yesterday, which makes Tuesday, can't remember what happened on Monday. Oh well. I do know that despite the rain yesterday what we saw will rate as one of the high lights of the trip. In convoy again with Linda and Ian we drove to Wilpena Pound. This is the 'centre' of the Flinder's Ranges. A natural 'pound' in the mountains and quite delightful, unfortunately it is also a tourist magnet, but we managed set off to check out the Old Wilpena Station – the best preserved historical pastoral site in Australia. Guess what, we were the only ones there and it was incredible. The Red Gums, old buildings, information was just great. Hundreds of photos later and lunch we drove on through Brachina gorge. It was soo good, unfortunately with the rain the light wasn't the best, so we might have to go back on a brighter day. A beer later in the Parachilna Prairie Hotel, with the obligatory sticker. Later back at Wirrealpa Homestead in the Shearers Kitchen over a few more wines with Linda's infections laugh, Jack the non-stop chatterer (and encyclopiac memory for sports) and Ians singing made for another fine evening. Unfortunately, we had to eventually drag ourselves off to bed.
Wednesday 5th October
Said our sad farewells to our newly found friends – some people still have to work! We waited a while to let Djan dry off a bit after the night's rain. Whilst sitting in the car typing up some blog Max (the dog) asked if it was safe to unplug his ears – don't worry Jack I gave him a good cuff, the cheeky little mongrel! Decamped and set off. Rain on the horizon and whilst at the info centre in Blinman were told the 4x4 drives (most of them anyway) were closed. But got a good mud map of some other places to visit. Went up to the Nuccaleena Mine ruins. Very interesting. Built in the 1860's it was incredible. The stone masons must have been quite industrious to erect so many houses, shops, smelter etc in such a short time in such an isolated spot. The chimney is huge and the stone work very impressive. Great place for a picnic. Back through Blinman. They have an annual camp oven cook off with up to 50 teams competing. Unfortunately we had missed it by a couple of days. Linda and Ian hadn't though and told us the tasting was great, they had a good feed. In the pub (where else to go on a rainy day) there were lots of photos of times past – loved the one of a couple of 'well dressed' ladies coming into town on a Sunday sat on the back of a camel back in 1907. Have decided to take a self-drive tour tomorrow, when hopefully the weather will be better.
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