Another day dawned in the Northern Territory – and another appearance by Branch as we were preparing to leave. MacGyver’s fridge would not work on the car battery setting – multiple attempts were had at resetting the fridge, checking fuses, Anderson plug (not the Anderson plug!!!), cables, caravan batteries etc etc – it was a flurry of activity with everyone putting in their 2 cents worth – including Branch. Finally Trev detected that it was the 12 pin plug that had shorted out and needed to be replaced – an easy fix but we will have to buy one at the next town.
Kerry and Rosie took our frozen food into their freezers and
we got underway aiming to get to Daly Waters pub for lunch.
Rosie had a zip issue – she thought her jacket zip was
broken – missing the runner bit…until Gordie noticed it at the top of the zip –
a normal opening zip that you connect at the bottom and zip up – the tab had
just migrated to the top – issue fixed without Branch!
We reached Daly Waters for lunch and enjoyed a pub meal and
the ambience of the “collector” pub – absolutely ramdom but fascinating place
full of items of lost (or donated) paraphernalia.
Glen got stuck into his “Hilux Burger”.. Oh what a feeling!!
Across the road from the pub we saw a junk shop and went
inside for a quick look – Trev found the 46 station sign thagt had been missing
for ages…lots of other random vehicles including a police car with a sign in it
– this photo is for you Joel H, Daniel B and Meagan hahaha.
Trev had tried a number of places to get another 12 pin plug
and finally we got half one at Mataranka at Roper River Mechanical.
We arrived at King River free camp and set up for the night – Trev fixed the 12 pin plug with Branch at his side while we enjoyed happy hour.
After a great night’s sleep we awoke to trouble in the camp…seemed that Branch had passed out on Glen’s caravan battery…no power to the Hackfath van!
While diagnostics were being run I noticed some interesting burrows around the cap area (photo below) and was unsure as to what lived there – even Google Goggle could not identify it!! All comments welcome…
After a bit of troubleshooting looking for possible causes we decided to head on to Karlu Karlu for lunch and then Tennant Creek to source a new battery… Branch had thawed out and was back on the road with us in fine form.
First stop was Barrow Creek for fuel and coffee – we filled up but decided to make our own coffee in the vans as the coffee available was just an urn with instant coffee… There was a grave site well kept in memory of 3 line workers…. Lots of interesting locals and Glen made friends with a dog..
We arrived at Karlu Karlu for lunch and enjoyed stretching our legs and having a walk around marvelling at the Devil’s Marbles.
Trev tried his strength out on the rocks and found a big crack.
The flies were very persistent and Rosie got out the fly
swatter to deal with them!!
The flies loved the colour red….
There were some spectacular rocks – the marbles are due to erosion of the granite in the area wearing into the round shapes – fascinating!! There were some huge marbles with very large cracks – it would be quite easy to be crushed if a boulder broke or split when you were standing next to it.
Trev put the drone up for some aerial shots…
Even in such a dry arid place there were small beautiful wildflowers and white-trunked gums with striking green leaves that provided a great contrast with the red rock and blue sky.
We spent some time taking various photos and then ate lunch – the Hackies left us to push on to Tennant Creek to get their replacement battery sorted.
At Tennant Creek we all fuelled up again and pushed on along the Stuart Highway lined with power poles and stock crossing at various times to arrive at Attack Creek free camp for the night.
The campground was very full but we managed to get some
spots and set up – Branch hopped out again to assist Trev as the Hackfaths had
no power to their van… but Glen found the issue after a bit of troubleshooting
and pressed a button on the solar regulator and the van came to life!
Branch was then found in our van as the stove had a few
loose screws – nothing Macgyver couldn’t handle!
The sunset was beautiful and an almost full moon rose over the plain.
We left Curtin Springs at about 0800 – Rose and Dave let
their grey water loose while driving out but Trev waited til the exit…and it
all came out in a rush – he moved quickly to the grass to water the area after
Kerry reminded him we were supposed to use it to water their trees (as per the
sign!!).
The drive to Erldunda was uneventful – the landscape flat
and scrubby….
At Erldunda the fuel queue was long – Gordie had an altercation
with 2 young German tourist girls who filled up at the only diesel pump in the
queue he was in then promptly locked their van and went inside to order food.
After a while Gordie went inside looking for the owners of the white van… and
located the girls on the food queue – they moved quickly out to the van followed
by Gordon lecturing them all the way on service station etiquette – they got in
their van and drove off at a fast pace – leaving behind a very long queue and a
fuming Gordie!
We drove in to Alice Springs searching for a dump point and
a place to fill up the water tanks which sounds easier than it was!!
After picking up some groceries we left Alice and ad lunch just
outside of town then drove on to a free camp called Hemmi’s camp about 40 kms
out of Alice.
It turned out to be a great spot – however Gordie got stuck
in the bushes as he had the biggest rig – a bit of a disadvantage in some
circumstances – however Trev assisted to clear the path and Glen did a great
job as traffic controller…while the others watched on in amazement.
We set up in a wagon train and built a fire – Dave started and
Trev finished it off…
Rosie got a jump on everyone and started cooking dinner
before happy hour had begun!
Glen had a unique way of keeping files and mozzies of the
food…
The red dirt and dry conditions had taken it’s toll on Rosie’s
feet so a foot spa was in order.
Sunset looked great so Trev put up the drone satisfying Dave’s
enthusiasm for flying!
The moon was out…and almost full which means that the loonies are out and about…
Gordie confirmed this theory by “dancing in the moonlight” to his country music on his ute by the light of the moon.
We sat around the camp fire eating dinner and then choc chip damper… and marshmallows…doesn’t get much better than this!
The Hackies and Wells decided to do the earlybird drive in to Uluru to see sunrise so left at around 515 am. The Hunters and Lovedays were up at 6 planning to leave at 7am – we drove out at about 715 towards Uluru and shortly after leaving Trev realised he had not put on the caravan lock…..but we were so far along we decided to chance it so as not to be late meeting the others at Uluru to cycle around the rock.
Along the highway we came across a herd of wild camels –
finally!! There are over 1 million head of wild camels in Australia and in our
last 3 month trip we did not see a single wild camel!
The Hunters also saw a large black bull which we missed
entirely…..or was it just a shadow of their imagination early in the morning??
Driving into Uluru the Rock looked as spectacular as ever…
We met the others at the carpark – Ashleigh was picking up her hire bike and we assembled the bikes and cleaned off the Oodnadatta dust making sure all was in working order. Branch was taking the day off in the car making the most of the sunlight and being out of the icy cold wind that was blasting around the rock.
Rosie needed a lesson from Trev as to how to change her gears and Trev finally set it on a gear that she could just stay in the whole way around to save any issues – looking glamorous as she went along!
We took off around the rock at about 0900 and the first part of the ride entailed cycling down a 2 km track to reach the rock. Once at the base of Uluru we continued in an anticlockwise direction meaning the initial ride was in the shade and with the arctic wind we were all frozen – longing for the sunny side!
As we made our way around we had various stops for photo ops – taking care not to photograph the “sensitive” sites… mostly….although I think there were a couple of rookie errors in that department by all and sundry.
The ride was enjoyable
– Annette only had 2 stacks, Gordie called out to me to look at
something and I hit a large rock in the middle of the path – doing a front
wheelstand but not coming off!! Glen
showed off his wheelie prowess!
Ashleigh and I were told off by a foreign tour guide for
taking our bikes down a path that apparently we were not supposed to (no sign
anywhere !!) – we just ignored her and took care.
The side facing the sun made for some great photos and we then finally made it back to the cultural centre after riding 15kms.
By this time the tour buses had pulled in so we were thankful we made the effort to do the early start and miss the crowds. There were a few sore butts amongst us but the ride was worth it. Glen equated the feeling to being like sitting on a Staedtler pencil for 2 hours! After an awesome coffee at the Cultural Centre we drove out to Kata Juta (The Olgas).
We stopped along the way to take photos at the dune lookout then drove on and stopped in the picnic ground to have lunch.
Trev discreetly put up the drone for some fantastic shots of the Olgas and surrounds.
After lunch we drove around to the “Valley of the Winds”
walk though the Olgas and walked to the first lookout. The flies were pretty
fierce at first but once you got up a bit higher (into the icy wind!) they
disappeared. The views from the lookout were amazing! Such a beautiful country!
Kata Juta forms part of the chain of what is believed to be an underground
mountain range which was left after the inland sea (or Flood!) subsided.
The next place to visit was the gorge on the other side of
the Olgas where we stopped to walk in – as we entered the walk 2 wild camels
emerged from the bush and strolled across the track much to everyone’s
excitement.
Rosie had not yet made it down the track and was so disappointed she missed the great photo opportunity that she left the track and went bush bashing in search of the camels…but alas they were too quick and made their escape.
Gordie found the flies overwhelming….so he and Kerry retreated to their vehicle along with the Hackies and had a rest in their cars while we walked up a short way to look at the gorge.
We decided to head back to Yulara for coffee and planned to
drive back in to a “secret” spot to watch sunset at Uluru and avoid the crowds
that go to the designated sunset viewing platform. The coffee was great again and
we relaxed for an hour or so taking in the shops and ambience of the place.
Much to Rosie’s delight we found “Gecko’s Café” and booked a table for dinner.
It was only a short drive back to the spot we wanted to watch sunset on the rock – just along the road to Kata Juta about 200m from the main turnoff – so we went back and set up the GoPro and cameras ready for the sun to go down. We had the place to ourselves which was great and the view of Uluru was fantastic.
Trev managed to get some amazing drone footage as well.
Just before sunset 4 helicopters and a light plane appeared circling Uluru – obviously tourists gaining a bird’s eye view of the rock at sunset. The sunset did not disappoint – the colours were spectacular and the cloud formations added to the vista.
Driving back to Yulara was like peak hour but we managed to
get a park and then enjoyed dinner at Geckos. We left Yulara at about quarter
to 8 and drove back the 80ks to Curtin Springs in the dark…ever watchful for
wildlife Trev put on his light bar and lit up the universe! Gordie was very
envious and Glen just wished he had some lights!!!
The black bull made a reappearance close to Curtin Springs
grazing by the side of the road…eyes shining in the headlights as we flew past
but no other wildlife was seen thankfully!
As we got close Trev and I were praying that we still had a
caravan to come home to …praise God there it was when we arrived!! We all
packed up and went to bed – it had been great to get some real exercise after
days sitting in the car but everyone was ready to hit the sack. The day had
been really enjoyable with lots of laughs and great company…. and no “events”
that required an intervention by Branch.
Under the cover of darkness we connected up the vans and quietly inched out of the van park and stopped on the outskirts to fill up with water.
Dave made extra sure he was well equipped with water in his
own words for Rosie’s sake – he filled up his 2 van tanks and 5 jerry cans of
water (total water capacity 270 litres of water) Good to know someone has
plenty to spare – just hoping that he doesn’t want to on-sell it to us all to make
up for the loss of fuel economy!!
Just as we were on the road a quick call to stop came from Rosie – they had forgotten to put down their second bathroom vent. Not to be outdone, Kerrie and Gordon had to ….. and then we locked our tunnel boot. Branch still had not surfaced after a night on the town in Coober Pedy…
Dawn was breaking over Cobber Pedy – eerily beautiful – much like a lunar landscape.
Just a few kms down the road however we had to pull over
again as Trev could not locate his mobile phone – we knew it was in the car as
it was connected to Bluetooth and after turning the car inside out Branch
finally appeared and it was found just wedged near Trev’s left knee in the
console…
On to Marla where we grabbed fuel and coffee. Dave noticed
his Anderson plug was now hanging down damaged – apparently it had been a bit
loose this morning on leaving Coober Pedy but now needed repair – Branch was
out again – never a dull moment on this
wild adventure. All sorted and we were on the road heading for Erldunda our
next stop.
We crossed the border into the Northern Territory and made it ti Erldunda – a quick fuel stop and lunch and we headed out the Lasseter Highway towards Uluru and Curtin Springs our next free camp.
Rosie spotted what she thought was Uluru but in fact was
Mount Connor – still an amazing mesa sitting isolated amongst the desert
plains.
We arrived at Curtin Springs – fortunate to get 4 spots close together and set up camp. Once organised we had afternoon tea and listened to Simon Manchester’s talk on Genesis chapter 1 – a great insight into God’s creation of the world. We all feel so privileged to have this time off to go and explore such a wonderful and unique part of His marvellous world!
As we were spending two nights in Coober Pedy we did not
need to rush in the morning but that did not stop Branch from making an early
morning appearance to remind everyone that all is not doom and gloom and any
issue can be sorted no matter how big or small…. Trev detected that we were
missing a towel and was certain I had left mine at the showers last night – he
clearly remembered hanging up his towel the night before after returning from
the amenities after me and had seen only 1 towel on the rail – allegedly! After
searching the amenities and laundry I could not locate the towel – I was sure I
had brought it back with me the night before but Trev was very insistent as to
what he had seen…that was until he opened the drivers side door and found HIS
towel on the front seat….Branch ensconced on the towel smiling broadly. See it
pays not to be too certain of what you had seen!!
Everyone did a bit of tinkering here and there tightening
nuts and screws that had rattled loose the day before. We then went into town
to the Umoona opal mine and history museum for a mine tour. We had done the
tour previously but this time it was even more informative – our guide was
Sonya who turned out to be Swiss and knew an impressive amount about opals and
mining them.
We toured through the miner’s residence first – most people
in Coober Pedy still live in the underground dugouts which they now turn into
very unique but beautiful homes. As the temps outside are extreme (up to 52
degrees in summer and below zero in winter) the underground homes are perfect
as they are at a constant temp of 22-26 degrees without any heating or cooling.
The homes have all the comforts of a typical house but only limited by your
imagination – if you need another room or cupboard you just dig one out – any
shape or size!
The opal mine was a stark opposite to the silver mine in Broken Hill – it needed no supports as the ground is sandstone mixed with gypsum – miners drill down and then dig by hand when opal is found so as not to damage the gemstone. Airshafts were dug – the guys were keen to inspect the upward passage.
Opal was still located in this mine – Trev eyeballing the
sample entombed in the rock – anyway of just chipping it out??
The area was a honeycomb of passages and it would have been
quite easy to get lost. We emerged up the main exit tunnel to the shop and
museum where we took advantage of the complimentary tea and coffee…. Trev
bought me a beautiful opal ring as an anniversary gift.. and Gordie bought
Kerrie an opal “K” necklace.
DCIM100GOPROGOPR0494.JPG
Outside we took in the view of Coober Pedy township…
before moving on to the Catacomb church – the Anglican underground church dug out of the side of a hill.
We were taking some photos inside when 2 bikies Mal and “Bomber” from God’s Squad came in – they were great Christian blokes and took a group photo for us. We spent some time talking to them – Bomber is a pastor at Yass – and then we prayed together and went on our separate ways.
Our next stop was Faye’s underground home dug out by 3 women
in the 1960s-70s. Again it had all the comforts of home with an inground
swimming pool also dug by the women – it apparently was party central in the
‘70s in Coober Pedy!
The home even has a “dog cupboard” where the women’s dogs slept – Rosie and Gordon were suitably impressed!
We left the underground home and walked past the public noodling area where you could fossick for opals….
After a quick lunch at the local “Passion Bakery” where Trev made friends with “$2” a local aboriginal who asked Trev for some money to buy a cool drink – Trev went one better and bought him some cold water which he then rudely refused…not so needy after all!!
The same bloke later took a shine to Annette outside the
hardware store – again hoping for “$2” – the hardware store owner told Glen and
Annette his name was “$2” and he then sent him politely on his way.
Back to camp where it appears Branch had been at work.. Glen
was able to put his fridge back in completely and it appears to be working!!
Dave noticed some water again under his van – on inspection it seemed a rock had punched a hole into his grey water pipe – not a big deal at this stage and not too difficult to repair.
We drove out to the Breakaways and took in the spectacular
view across the plain. The area had been used for locations in movies such as
Mad Max beyond Thunderdome and Red Planet. Much to Trev’s disappointment it was
a “no drone zone” which was really unfortunate as the landscape was awesome and
aerial photos would have been the best way to do it justice!
Trev disappeared down the cliff only to reappear as a dot in
the distance which gave some perspective to the size of the panorama. Rosie was
sure the large mound in the distance was an opal mine but Gordie soon put that
idea to rest.
We drove down to the castles – like salt and pepper shakers
– and marvelled at the unique and wonderful variety of God’s creation.
We fulfilled Annette’s fetish for shadow photos with a group shot….
Driving back into Coober Pedy the mullock hills were everywhere evidence of the multitude of opal mines all around the town
Trev had a drive of the Titan on our way back into town – very salubrious vehicle!!
The most beautiful plant so far was the Sturt’s desert pea
in full bloom in Coober Pedy…
Coober Pedy is a fascinating place with so many random metal sculptures and lots of junk lying around – very unique but great to visit!
As we were planning for a 630 am start we had dinner at John’s Pizzeria – huge portions and great food – and then headed back to camp to pack down ready for the early morning exit.
Dawn broke over the claypan and we emerged from the vans
ready for another day on dirt…. Glen and Dave decided to leave early to get a
head start as they planned to travel slowly to preserve the vans and Dave wanted
to get to William Creek to get his tyre replaced quickly.
They set off and we had breaky then were on our way as well.
The road was still punishing and we said a prayer hoping to get to William
Creek then Coober Pedy unscathed.
We were not far down the road when Gordie came over the CB
saying he could see a water trail from our van – sure enough the other drainage
tap from the second water tank had now snapped off and Branch and Gordie
plugged the hole while Trev made some quick repairs. We were underway in no
time and made it to William Creek at the same time as Glen and Dave.
The place was a hive of activity with vans and utes
everywhere. The fuel line was long so we joined it and waited while Rose and
Dave took their tyre to be repaired. Initially the bloke thought it had just
come off the rim but on closer inspection a puncture was found which he easily
repaired – they do a roaring trade at William Creek with tyre repairs – they
were queued up in that shop as well!
While Gordie was waiting to get fuel, he managed to hit his head on the drivers door and cut it open – and started to grow a second nose! Branch was asleep and missed all the action but I managed to scrounge a bandaid from the depths of my handbag and stuck it on to stop blood dripping into his eye – no need for stitches thankfully!
Gordie went in to pay for his fuel and a blonde woman came over and tried to swap her Nissan for his Titan – she had extreme ute envy and when Gordie came back even hopped into the driver’s seat!
We all went inside the pub after fuelling up and had coffee
– the pub was full of old relics and even a gecko managed to find its way to
our table much to Rosie’s delight.
After coffee we hopped back into the cars and started on our
way again. Not too much further to go (166Kms) to Coober Pedy but it seemed
like an eternity. Turning right onto William Creek road off the Oodnadatta
track we optimistically thought the road was better. Trev put the drone up for
a quick video of our convoy and then we headed on to Coober Pedy planning to
stop halfway for lunch. Kerry and Gordon were in front with the task of finding
a suitable lunch stop.
Our radio was still playing up which was causing much
frustration and Branch was no help as he was still sleeping after the major
overtime he had worked yesterday. The desert was a beautiful contrast to the
blue sky as we drove along – the road was a bit of an improvement on the
Oodnadatta track but at times there were large corrugations and deep ruts so
care had to be taken.
Kerrie picked a great spot for lunch in a dry creek bed. Glen and Dave arrived not long after that and we all opened the vans to check the damage!!
The Hackies has a broken table leg but the fridge had not really moved again. Dave and Rosie’s microwave had completely fallen out – Branch awoke from his slumber and was over in an instant keen to assist but it was useless – the microwave was trashed!! Kerrie had milk all over the floor from the fridge and Trev had lost an Anderson plug!
The scenery was picturesque with the trees, clouds and arid
ground all blending in together…
but it looked like the Ranger had seen better days!!
We pushed on and finally arrived back on the tar at about 330pm. Dave only had 12kms of fuel left as he was too cheapskate to fill up at William Creek – almost a disastrous decision so after filling up with fuel and pumping up our tyres we pulled in to the Oasis Caravan Park and set up – thankful again to have made it safely albeit with some repairs required to Coober Pedy!
Rose and Dave got to the cleanup instantly – the windex was out giving the Snowy a spit and polish!
After a great nights sleep we awoke to the news that Rosie
had lost her glasses again (an everyday event!) and Dave had to accompany her
on a midnight stroll back to the pub to look for them… everything was turned
inside out but the glasses were nowhere to be found although Rosie swore she
had put them in her handbag after reading the menu in the pub. She walked back
down to the pub while we were preparing to leave just in case but no luck….
Anyway a much bigger issue was looming on the horizon. It appeared that the Hackies had left their fridge running on the car battery all night and Branch arrived to find a completely flat battery!!
Glen was quick to get out the instruction manual to ensure no damage was done to the delicate computer system (what happened to old school cars!!) Attempts were made to start the Hilux with Gordie’s jumper leads – no luck!
Switching over to the Macgyver version and moving the Ranger closer, the Hilux roared into life and everyone cheered….
A secondary cheer was then heard as Rosie found her
glasses….in her handbag of all places…
We left Parachilna , stopped briefly at Leigh Creek to fuel
up and then drove on towards Maree and the start of the Oodnadatta track which
Dave had been so keen to do. We passed Deception Mountain shrouded in cloud
looking as mysterious as its name…
Annette noticed a sign on the way for an underground bakery at Farina so we decided to stop and have a look. Farina was a small town founded in the 1800s before Maree but once the railway was extended to Maree it began to die.
The place had some amazing ruins with one old building that had been both a Transcontinental hotel and then a bush nursing hospital.
The underground ovens were still in use – a Scottish design and one of the very few left in working order.
We went into the tent café and ordered a variety of baked goods including the best cream buns ever and amazing sausage rolls, pies and vanilla slices. The sourdough bread looked awesome so we all grabbed a loaf to take with us.
The bakery is run by volunteers who are raising money to
restore the buildings of Farina – a fantastic effort and great idea now the
road is sealed all the way to Maree. The place was packed despite being out in
the middle of the desert and the queue to buy food and coffee was long. After a
few photos and the usual extended chats we were back on the road to Maree.
We arrived in Maree only to find another huge crowd of 4WD vehicles, people and a very long queue for fuel.
Glen lined up for fuel and we all started taping up our vents and letting down the tyres for the Oodnadatta track.
Rosie won the best taping comp with colour coordinated tape and evenly sized pieces… our lime green tape clashed with the calm aqua of our van.
After our group shot under the Oodnadatta track sign we ventured
off road… and off road it was! Despite the fact that the road conditions were
listed as good the corrugations were terrible – the last time we drive the
Oodnadatta the road had been amazingly good – but this time not so…
Only 13 kms into the drive Rosie came over the CB radio asking us could we see a “water trail” in front of us?? As we could see nothing we stopped to check and low and behold we had a leak – a stone had hit the small drainage tap of our caravan water tanks and had snapped it off. Branch was out in an instant while I plugged the hole and Trev got some tools out.
Dave took a moment to find a bush after a leak of his
own…but no bush in sight!!!
A quick plug of the hole and we were on our way… or so we
thought but Branch was working overtime today… only 2 kms along and Dave
stopped with a completely flat car tyre….
We did a u-turn and drove back to find the car manual out,
and Branch loving the action….all good and finally we were on our way again….optimism
abounded as we had now had 3 issues…but the Hunters were still unscathed so who
knows what may happen next.
We planned to have lunch at Lake Eyre then go on to Coward Springs for the night. The road was pretty bad with the dips and cattle grids very eroded and the corrugations were unforgiving! The landscape was arid and barren but beautiful in its own way.
Passing the random metal sculptures we eventually made Lake Eyre and stopped to check the damage and eat lunch.
Rosie and Dave discovered they now had no water left in their tanks and on inspection discovered that their little drainage tap had been sheared off by a rock too – this time no one detected the leak trail on the road so they had lost all their water…Branch did not dare poke his head out at this stage. Rosie also discovered a random piece of melamine with a small round hole in it on the floor near the bed – but no one could find where it had come from.
Lake Eyre was eerily quiet and beautiful – a little bit of water in the distance but mostly mud and salty sections – not like our last visit when it was a huge white salt pan looking like snow.
We ate lunch while waiting for the Hackies who were bringing up the rear and had not answered on the CB – we were about to go back and see where they were when they drove up. Glen had stopped to check his bikes which were rattling and noticed a window had partly come ajar. When they went inside their van the fridge had come loose and moved almost completely out of its cavity!! Branch now made an appearance as Glen tried to use his head to push it back into place.
The fridge did not go back in completely but we decided to push on to Coward Springs as it was getting late and we wanted to arrive during daylight hours.
We made a beeline for Coward Springs and arrived to find the park full with a sign up saying no entry – as it was in a conservation area we were not allowed to free camp for another 10kms so we pushed on and once out of the area Kerry spotted a clay pan on the righthand side which already had 1 van camping there – it was a great spot away from the road and protected so we drove in.
It had appeared that the Hunters had had no issues however Branch noted a near miss… Gordie’s nut on the towball was almost completely worked loose – only holding by a thread…this prompted everyone to check their nuts.
The Wells and Hackies had been making their way a lot slower and so Kerry and I stood up on the road edge waiting for them so they did not drive past and miss us…they arrived just before sunset and we pulled in and set up for the night. Kerry solved the mystery of the melamine in Rosie’s van – it had come from under the seat – the lid to get into the extra storage that Rosie did not even know existed. Rosie again won the award for the best decorated van – even a pot plant on the table!
Branch made a quick visit to Trev and Gordie’s utes…it
seemed that the vent Trev thought was used to prevent dust getting into the
back of the ute did the opposite – the whole back was coated in fine dust which
demanded the use of the Makita blower…Gordie’s also had dust throughout but the
dust on his tray had set like render!
After cleaning up and sorting various issues like moving fridges and oven doors falling off the Hackies joined us all for happy hour and a good laugh at the day’s events…who knows what a day may bring but at least we were all safe and well praise God!
Sunrise over the racetrack at Broken Hill was a great way to
start the day.
We fuelled up and left early aiming for Peterborough for a
late morning coffee. Branch had decided to assist Trevor with his CB radio
which was playing up – crackly and not always connecting…until a voice came
over channel 5 asking us all to get off as we were interfering….moving to
channel 7 seemed to improve the issue but it wasn’t long before the CB was
playing up again…must be something to do with a small aerial – anyway MacGyver
and Branch will sort it out at some point – intermittent communication is better
than none and can sometimes spare you from inappropriate communications such as
musical items selected by “friends” hahaha…..
The drive along the Barrier Highway was uneventful with
desert and saltbush for miles – it was hard to believe that the miners from
Burra walked all the way to Silverton with all their belongings in wheelbarrows
through this arid area– incredible perseverance and tenacity…. Crossing the
border we entered South Australia.
We stopped for coffee at the Take a Break Café in Peterborough
– a very “unusual” café with home baked goods made by the owner’s mother. It
turned out to be more than just a “new agey” place and Gordie left some reading
materials in their book display for them including a couple of Bibles and “The Search”
– you never know who may benefit from picking one up – God works in mysterious
ways!! After a short prayer for the owner we left and continued our journey.
Travelling north from Peterborough the wind picked up and so
did the fuel consumption!! A brief stop at Hawker for lunch in the vans out of
the gale and fuel we continued on toward Parachilna our destination for the
night.
Now heading past the Flinders Ranges the countryside was a
bit greener with many ruined homesteads and buildings reminiscent of the pioneer
life in early Australia dotting the fields along the highway.
The magnificent Wilpena Pound made for a great backdrop for
photos.
We arrived in Parachilna just in time to set up the vans and catch the beautiful sunset before dining at the Prairie Hotel – famous for it’s “Feral Menu” including Kangaroo, camel, goat, emu and various other unusual delicacies.
We awoke to a crisp clear morning and took advantage of the
fact we were staying in Broken Hill for 2 nights by having a cooked breakfast and
slower start to the day.
The Wells had not had such a great night with Dave developing
a toothache and rash…and despite multiple doses of painkillers nothing was
improving so Rosie had managed to contact an emergency dental service who could
fit him in at 1150.
Our first place to visit was the Daydream silver mine out of Broken Hill near Silverton. It was started in 1881 and was being mined before Broken Hill was discovered. We drove out to the mine aiming to get on the 10 o’clock tour – we arrived just in time and fortunately for Rose and Dave the owners allowed them to go straight down the mine to see the underground section of the tour before they had to leave to get back to town for the dentist.
We all joined the full tour and for the next 2 hours learnt
a wide variety of interesting facts about the early mining days, bush tucker,
surviving in the arid outback and what local plants to use for deodorant, blush
and eyeshadow!
The Cornish miners who came out here in the 1800’s were a
tough bunch spending 12hrs a day down the mines with roofs held up by mulga
tree trunks digging the hard rock by hand and blasting with gunpowder to get
the silver contained in large seams deep below the surface.
The views across the desert were amazing and the relics around the mine made for some great pics! Annette and Ashleigh were bent on finding some silver!!
We all donned hard hats for our underground tour. The mine
was fascinating- down steep narrow passages lined with rock still glistening
with mineral deposits and roofs and sides held up with piles of rock and tree
trunks.
Gordie felt the need to still wear his sunglasses underground,
Kerry was fascinated by the deep passages and Annette’s shoes were glowing in
the dark!!
After the tour we headed back to the homestead for some
homemade scones and coffee – fantastic light and fluffy scones!!
We were then on our way back along the long and winding
dirtroad to the Living Desert and Sculptures.
The groups of sculptures were created in 1993 by a group of
artists from all over the world. The sandstone blocks were brought in and
hauled up the hill. The artists then carved the sculptures on location.
Those of us who appreciate art enjoyed the pieces while others
were less impressed!!
The view across to Broken Hill was spectacular.
Trev put up the drone for a quick landscape view and some
pics….
We then walked the track through the Living Desert and saw
some “natural” sculptures and fascinating desert vegetation….
Dave by this time was back at the campground recovering from
surgery to remove the offending tooth and well dosed up on painkillers – Branch
was no where in sight which was a first….
We picked Rosie up and went back into town for coffee and to
see the Big Picture – unfortunately the gallery where the Big Picture was
located had just closed….so all we saw was a small picture of the Big Picture
through the window.
Back to camp for happy hour…but first Macgyver and Trafman
with Branch’s assistance tackled the Wells cable issue and after much fiddling
around finally succeeded in fixing the issue.
Happy hour in the dark and cold was still fun – Branch comforted Dave after his dental ordeal…….
while we all tried to keep warm – thanks for the UGG boot tip Klaus – some of us got the memo!
Annette looked by far the cosiest in her puffer jacket! Last night in Broken Hill – Parachilna here we come…
Loveday's Wild Adventures 