Day 106: Due to the rain we were unable to do the Oodndatta track as we planned as SA roads had closed it off. You could still take it on if you wanted but is was a $1000 call out , then $1000 a wheel to be rescued. With that in mind we decided to head towards Port Augusta. This would only be a stopover on our way to the Flinders Ranges.
Day 107:We took off from Port Augusta , stopping along the way at Quorn, hoping that they would have some information on the Flinders Rangers, they didn't have too much, but they had heaps on their local attraction Pichi Richi Railway. This was not much help so we just kept going to the Flinders. We saw that they had an information centre at the Wilpena Pound and after Housie just about ran over an emu we arrived, to find that the accommodation here was commercialised, so we headed off looking for NP camping. We ended up at the Trezona camp ground. Once we had unpacked we found that the camper somehow had leaked after all the rain and our sleeping bags were wet. Luckily it was a nice day and enough hours of daylight left to dry them out.
Abandoned Kanyaka Homestead just outside the Flinder Ranges NP
Day 108: We drove through the park, seeing some great lookouts, that looked over the Bunyeroo Valley and also a mountain range known as Razorback. This track took us all the way back to Wilpena. After a quick bite to eat we took the pretty easy 2km walk into Wilpena pound. This takes you past the Hills Homestead that is no longer occupied, and there is a story board on the hardships they faced trying to farm cattle then wheat. The walk then started to get steep but not for long up the Wangarra lookout. Which was a good view from inside the pound.
Inside Wilpena, photo's don't do it justice
Dec's would rather play his ipod instead of taking in the view
Day109 : After a lazy morning we packed up camp and headed to Parachilna via the Brachina Gorge. The gorge follows a dry river bed with spectacular rock formations and cliffs. We arrived at Parachilna in time for lunch. The Prairie Hotel was quite a modern hotel for the outback considering you could order tapas and an antipesto platter! Housie ordered the 'Feral Antipesto' which consisted of kangaroo, emu pate, goats cheese with ciabratta bread, olives and tomato relish. Charli and Declan tried the kangaroo, emu pate and goats cheese. Charli liked the kangaroo and pate but Declan only liked the kangaroo. Housie and Al were pleased that they had a taste especially while Al sat there feeling nauseated the whole time!!
Brachina Gorge
Moving on to Leigh Creek we filled up with fuel and decided to stay here the night as we needed to get a new tyre and mend the water tank, again, before heading into the Gamon Ranges National Park and up to Camerons Corner. The caretaker at the caravan park was very welcoming and invited everyone staying there over to his camp fire. We met some interesting people with plenty of knowledge to share about their travels around Aus.
Day 110 : We headed off this morning and stocked up with food and bought a new tyre. We set up camp in the Gamon Ranges at the Weetootla Gorge camping ground. After one of the quickest setups ever we went for a drive around the Gamon ranges. Parts of this track were 4WD but wasn't anything to worry about. Along the way we stopped to look at old wells and a hut. The hut is called Grindell's Hut and is the scene of a murder! We arrived back at camp for a relax before organising dinner.
Day 111 : This morning we drove off towards Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary hoping to be able to do a self guided 4WD trip to a lookout, Sillers, at it is known to be spectacular. We were also considering going to the Paralana Hot Springs north of Arkaroola. After finding out that you can only do a tour to Sillers Lookout we decided to do another self guided 4WD trip through the property. The drive is called the Echo Camp Backtrack, this took us through some great scenery. We stopped at one permanent water hole and spotted rock wallabies hoping around the kids loved it. The tracks through here were pretty good 4WD wise, as a couple of times we could feel the car balancing on 3 wheels as we took on some steep and uneven inclines. Surprisingly Al was not too bad on this trip. We stopped and walked through Bararranna Gorge, which was great, Housie and the kids had fun yelling out and hearing their echos.
Day 112: We packed up camp and were on our way to join up to the Strzelecki Track. The track takes you through the 7.9 million hectares of the Strzeleki desert which is white dunes with scrubby bushes and extends across the borders of South Aus, Queensland and NSW. As we worked our way along a roughish track past homesteads and cattle, we rounded a bend and had to pull up quickly. A guy and his daughter had broken down in their Nissan Patrol. The fan belt tensioner had packed it in and his car kept over heating. The nearest homestead was 30kms back from were we had come from, and there looked to be another one in the direction we were travelling about 40kms ahead. We were hoping that at the homestead he would be able to use their phone to get help.We were able to squeeze past him on the narrow track, then hitched up some towing straps and towed him along for about 30kms. As we approached the Strzeleki track, we had to turn south and travel 10kms to get to the homestead. A few trucks were travelling along and heard us talking on the UHF radio. The first group told us that the nearest town was 600kms away, they obviously didn't want to help as we knew the nearest town was only 200kms away. A second lot of trucks came through and we talked to them about the homestead which they informed us that it didn't exist. These guys offered old mate to use their satellite phone to call for help and suggested a spot for him to wait that was a well known landmark along the track. Declan thought it was great that we were towing the camper and someone else at the same time, because now we were a road train. We had to tow him another 25kms to the spot. When we dropped him off, we checked on if they had enough water which he said that he had plenty(20ltrs), not sure that he had enough especially if help didn't come tonight, we gave them another 10ltrs. He was very grateful for the help and water, and said that he would buy us a beer if he caught up with us again, knowing he was from Queensland and a Broncos supporter, we wouldn't hold our breath.
We stopped the night at Montcollina bore, which is and open bore into a natural pool, the kids had a bit of fun splashing about the water, but the main pool water temp wasn't that inviting.
Day 113: More driving on the Strzelecki today then taking a track to Cameron Corner. Strzelecki is not really a track any more, with lots of trucks using it to get from Mooloomba to Adelaide, parts of this road are now bitumen. From Strzelecki to Cameron Corner was a track, water still laying in big puddles after the recent rain,red dirt and high crests. The kids loved the feeling in their stomachs as we topped over them. When we arrived at the Corner we were able to place three of our fingers, one in each state as there is a marker on a pole. From here it was 200mtr drive into Queensland for lunch at the local store/pub/motel. This has mean't that on this holiday we have been in every state and territory.
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| All in 3 different States. Dec's is in NSW, Charli QLD and Al in S.A |
After lunch we planned to camp in the Sturt NP. We had to go through the dog fence on the SA and NSW border. We took the middle road, instead of the main one. This takes you along the NSW/QLD border, the kangaroos have to be the biggest in Australia here, some of them were massive. We were going to camp in the park, but the lure of showers for a similar price, had us stay in the hottest town in NSW, Tibooburra. We had tea at the pub which had all the local farmers on the turps, which created a great atmosphere.
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| Al opening the gate that is part of the dog fence at Cameron Corner |
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| So many Eagles about up here |
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