Coober Pedy

We were camped by our creek bed and after a great barbeque meal we all collapsed.

Photos

Thought this one of Roland tucking into oysters demonstrated his delight. These were $7.50 per half dozen and they were fresh picked that morning. He tells us that in Switzerland oysters are equivalent to $10 EACH. The other photo is of the cliffs at the Head of the Bight. My photos of the whales are so insignificant that they are not worth posting.
Gail

Norseman

We were very  lucky this morning. There was a shower of rain at about 4am so when we woke at 7am and found it was not raining we set to and packed up the camp. Once most of it was stowed away we made jaffles for breakfast over the coals of the fire using the left over Chilli con Carne. Rich but delicious. We had only driven about 10kms on our way when we drove through a very heavy rainstorm that would have made packing up very difficult and miserable. There were self congratulations all around.
We drove through Madora Roadhouse because we don't like it but stopped at the top of the Pass for Maria to take a photo.  Fortunately the rain seemed to have passed so she could see the view. The sky was threatening for most of the morning with lots of rainbows much to Maria's delight. We stopped at Cocklebiddy because we thought a coffee  break was called for but drove the extra 70 kms to Caiguna to have lunch because the food there is home cooked and usually good. As usual there was a crock pot of soup on the table and this was what Bob and I chose. Roland had the most enormous hamburger.
Fortified we set off to tackle the 90 Mile Straight (146.4km) and then on to Ballidonia. When we arrived at Balladonia I asked Maria how she was coping with the long drive without diversions. She told me they had passed the time by her reading her diary aloud to Roland. I checked for mobile phone reception here and found that I could talk to Elise. Bought her up to date with out ETA tomorrow and asked her to book Martin's Nissan in for a service.
We made the last stretch into Norseman by a quarter to five and I rushed in to IGA to buy supplies in case they closed at five. Then Bob came in to tell me that it had been decided to stay in the pub for the night. This is a beautiful old building that has been maintained but not restored. The rooms are basic but comfortable enough and of course there are no ensuite bathrooms. Roland and Maria have a corner room with french doors opening onto the beautiful wide verandah. They were delighted with the novelty and we all stood outside to admire the view but it was too cold to stay out there for long. We enjoyed dinner in the bar where there were two fires burning and a surprisingly large crowd for a Monday night. Even though the town is suffering with the down turn in mining there were still quite a few workers coming in to eat.
Today we are driving home via Hyde as this is a shorter route and we have confirmed that the unsealed road across to Hyden is in good condition. Then it is sealed road all the way in to Brookton and home. So the journey ends.

100 kms West of Eucla

We had a fairly leisurely start this morning. We had slept well despite the road trains thundering through the night. They might have ceased at some stage but I wasn't awake to check. We were doing a bit of advanced preparation for the border patrol at Border Village. Bob made sure that all the surplus mud was brushed off the camper as we had been told that a dim view was taken of importing SA mud. Maria and Roland chopped and browned our remaining onions and some garlic ready for our Chilli Con Carne dinner tonight. I had parboilded the surplus potatoes and frozen them last night so we have some for dinner tomorrow night if we are off the road.
We then set off for the Head of the Bight to go whale spotting. This is another place Bob and I have passed by a number of times. We did not regret the detour. The 12 km access road is now sealed and we discovered that it is actually a national marine park. Something we had not realised before. When we arrived we were told there were whales in residence which was a great relief given that M&R were keen to see them. We discovered that there has been very extensive walkways and lookout points developed right to and along the cliff top giving excellant viewing. There were about 4 whales with calves and two were in close to the cliffs; probably within 100 metres. We  watched for quite some time as the two closest rolled around in the waves and waved their flippers in the air. We read that the cows roll onto their backs to stop their greedy calves from suckling.
We then moved on to the border and found that our preparations had paid off and we had an amiable but thorough border inspector woman and had no problems. We did have to give her the last of our precious Karri honey as we had not managed to finish it despite the best efforts of all of us. However we had expected this to be so.
From there we went down to the Old Telegraph Station where Bob  and I had not been for many years. We found that the sand level had increased in that time and there was a lot more vegetation around the area. It seems that the dunes in this spot have stabalised over time.
We then drove down the road until we found a Parking area which had extensive area and sheltering trees behind it. This is just past Munderabilla Roadhouse. I have the luxury of writing this while Maria prepares dinner. And now it is time to eat.

50 kms East of Nullabor Roadhouse

Yesterday as we were leaving the Bauer Peninsula we realised how much new housing there is at Streaky Bay. It is a beautiful bay with a compact  and useful business area only 7 hours from Adelaide and 1 hour south east of Ceduna. It looks as if it has been discovered as a retirement mecca especially because of the fishing. We drove into Ceduna and made it to the bakery just before 12md in order to buy their second last loaf of fresh bread to go with our oysters. The men filled up with diesel while Maria and I went to the visitor centre to post the blogs that I had forgotten in Port Augusta.
We then rejoined the Ere Hway for a while but decided to digress again. Bob and I have noticed the turn off to Fowlers Bay each time we have driven across and commented that it would be nice to explore one day. Since Maria and Roland were interested we decided this was the day. Fowlers Bay is smaller than Streaky and not so attractively located. There are magnificent white sand hills backing one side of the bay but the community is hemmed in by fairly extensive salt pans. However it has the distinction of having the oldest settlementin this region. It was origionally a whaling port and was notorious with the early explorers for the remains of whale carcasses littering the bay. It was taken up as sheep grazing holdings and became the easten most port  in SA.  There was a Police post with one constable. At one time the mail between Fowlers Bay ( brought by ship) and Eucla was delivered by an Anoriginal man on foot.It said so on the story boards by the waterfront. This was also a major resource place for Eyre in his explorations. Well worth a visit but we decided not to stay. We had eaten our oysters for lunch as planned at Penong and they were delicious. Maria even tackled some Kilpatrick which the Oyster Bar chef had prepared and grilled for her and packed in a polystyrene box. Roland was in heaven.
We flashed through Nundroo having stopped at this unattractive roadhouse before and made camp at the back of a parking bay well on the way to Nullabor Roadhouse. We used a track to locate ourselves about 400 metres back from the road and had delicious BBQed King George Whiting dinner.
The road trains were increadibly noisy in the otherwise silent countryside but  I slept well regardless.

Port Augusta

We checked in to the Shoreside Caravan Park and because the sky was black as we arrived with rain all around we opted for a 2 bedroom cabin. The cabin was one of their older ones but everything worked and we would probably stay here again. The facilities were excellant and Maria and I did our washing after dinner with no competition and good commercial driers. Meanwhile Maria and Roland were cooking pumpkin soup because we still had Lorraine's pumpkin and we didn't want to lose it at the border. We had gone to a pub for dinner which Bob and I had found on our previous trip. Maria and I had seafood since we were back on the coast and it was delicious.
Next morning the priority was to register our absentee vote, go to the library to clear up our emails and shop in that order. M&R went searching for a camera battery but were unsuccessful so Perth seems to be their next hope. Meenwhile their IPad is taking some great photos. Somehow I seem to have forgotten to post my blogs while at the library so it will have to be the Visitor's Centre at Ceduna.
We then shopped for supplies and set off for Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula 100 kms short of Ceduna. We were travelling through the SA wheat lands and they have had goods rains since the beginning of June. We  drove through 100's of kms of vivid green paddocks. Bob and I realised that we have never been here at this time of year before and we now understand how the communities are sustained. Previously it has looked dry and dusty and a pretty hard struggle.
We diverged from the the East/west highway at Poochera after discovering there the one roadhouse along the way that serves a decent coffee. I was also admiring some hand made kangeroo skin plaited belts but since we had already purchased kangaroo skin golf gloves at Oolooroo I resisted.
Streaky Bay is delightful and the Caravan Park is also very well run. We opted for a 2 bedroom cabin again and found it was a very compact but well designed Jayco right on the edge of the beach much to M&R's delight. The CP has a cafe on site so we had fish and chips for dinner in our cabin.
This morning we drove the scenic route around the nearby Bauer Peninsula stopping at one of the beaches and the Blowholes.  Then back in Streaky Bay we purchased fresh King George Whiting fillets for dinner. Where ever that turns out to be. The plan is for a brief stop in Ceduna for fresh bread and oysters for lunch and hopefully I can post all these blogs before we go offline again for a while.

Wilpenna Pound day 2,3 and 4

After we had such a lovely day when we arrived we booked in to the Wilpenna Pound camping area for 2 nights. The next day we drove 50 kms to the NE area of the Park to walk in Wirrealpa Gorge. It was beautiful weather and we had packed our lunch so we strolled down the creek bed towards the Gorge. This was after Maria had surprised some young German tourists by quizzing them about their holiday in their own language. This Gorge was not as steep sided as the ones we saw the previous day but had the same interesting geological strata as we had seen earlier. We discovered later that we had completely missed the walking trail along the top of the creek bed which would have taken us to the Gorge proper much faster. As it was we walked along the waterway dodging the deepest pools and muddy tracts. It was very pleasant and interesting but after we had walked for 1 & 1/2 hours we thought we were only just on the verge of the Gorge and it was time to back track for lunch. We had our picnic lunch and then drove out of the access road and turned left instead of right continuing for 5 kms. This took us out of the park boundary so we could collect firewood. It is forbidden to collect wood in the Park because of all the little critters that we would make homeless. The previous evening we had nearly frozen without a fire so we were determined to have wood for fires for the rest of our stay. Satisfactorly loaded we headed for home and an early shower. Maria cooked dinner which was an additional bonus for me.
We had already decided that with the weather holding at sunny and a comfortable camp established we would stay an extra night. This allowed us to go walking into Wilpenna Pound itself and up to one of the lookouts. I think we had all expected the Pound walls to be like the rugged colourful walls the we had seen on the previous days. Instead it was a shallow valley surrounded by rounded hills. Most significant was that the hills did completely encircle the valley with only one pass providing access. This was an area of ceremonial significance to the Aboriginal people and which they have reclaimed after failed attempts at farming and grazing by early settlers. The settlers story was written up on well designed story boards and their struggle to succeed was tragic. The setlement was abandoned after years of competing with drought, floods, fire and the Depression.
The view from the upper rampart was worth the climb. Only 100 metres but it was very steep. We then had a picnic lunch beside the very well restored stone farmhouse before going for a gentle stroll across the valley floor. There ensued a subtle struggle to photograph the joey in the pouch of one of the many fairly tame Euros in the area. Mother finally got fed up with the attention and told junior to pull his head in before moving just out of camera range. We have been amazed at the number of Euros and Kangaroos grazing on the grass that has prolifereated after the rain. They are wherever you turn.
It is luxurious to come back to camp after a pleasant day and stroll over for a shower. The crowd is building up here so our canny old travellers strategy of showering late afternoon ensures we have the bathroom to ourselves and plenty of hot water. The facilities here are very good but there is nothing like a tour coach of young people to make the shower room  soggy.
Today we woke to the dreaded sound of rain pattering on the roof. When it did not intensify we sprang into action to pack up and were relieved when the shower moved on without really wetting us very much. We have introduced Maria and Roland to jaffles for breakfast and they make an easy messless breakfast when we are packing up to move on. Much to our surprise the clouds cleared away and we had a beauriful morning to travel south. We took a slight detour by driving along the Moralana Scenic Road which was well worthwhile. Similar countryside but different enough to be interesting in it's own right. A short side trip to Black Gorge saw us standing in the turn around debating whether to risk a walk but the clouds which were rapidly building and looked very black decided against. Just as we were about to get back into the vehicles we saw a Scarlet Capped Robin flitting around chasing insects close to where we were standing. He had a brilliant red cap and breast, not dissimilar to our Robin Red Breast though a bit smaller.
We then headed to Peterborough where we thought we might spend the night. However the day became darker and wetter the further south we went. After a quick tour of the internal areas of the Steam Rail Museum we high tailed it north to Port Augusta. We are in a comfortable two bedroom cabin in a caravan park and there is promise of  finer weather tomorrow. What's more we have found we can absentee vote tomorrow Friday which means we don't have to hang around Port Augusta until Saturday. So we will be on the road again.

Wilpenna Pound, FRNP

We had sunny but cold weather yesterday. Before we set off from Blinman Maria and I did some laundry at the towns only option; the hotel laundry. Meanwhile the men hosed yet another load of mud off the vehicles. This is especially useful for the camper as we are getting covered in red mud each time we set up otherwise. I have adopted a hint from Maria and bought some gardening gloves to wear when we are setting up and breaking camp. Just the same my hands are cracked and dry. I really feel for the early pioneers who didn't have the luxury of hand lotion though I suppose they had lanolin in the sheep country.
We drove into the Park from the north and headed for Branchina Gorge. Along the way there is interesting information about the different geological eras and the type of rocks that were formed. The whys and wherefores. The Gorge itself was stunnning and the cameras were getting a workout. We saw a Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby. He tried  to hide when I was pointing him out to M&R but then got impatient and dived out from behind the sreening bush and made a dash for more  substantial cover. There are kangaroos and euros everywhere there is new grass and that is over a lot of the country. About 3pm we decided to look for camping and stopped at a couple of advertised stations. The first was booked out and the second one had no one home. It is the beginning of the SA school holidays! With some trepedation we went  on to the Wilpenna Pound resort and found it was not overcrowded. We set ourselves up comfortably, cooked our lamb chops in the camp kitchen and went early to bed because it was bloody cold and we hadn't collected firewood in our anxiety to find somewhere to stay. That is the priortity for today along with finding some more beautiful scenery.

Blinman , Flinders Ranges

Would you believe after one sunny day it rained on us again last night. Bob and I woke to the pitter patter of raindrops at about 2am. It continued to rain until after we had breakfast and packed up. We all huddled under the annexe off the side of Martin and Lorraine's vehicle to eat our left over chicken curry on toast. I then had time to very quickly publish yesterdays blog. We set off from Arkaroola and drove back to the North /South Highway because I wanted to shop at Leigh Creek. Unfortunately Leigh Creek is a mining town (brown coal) with no interest in serving tourists. It was Sunday so the Foodland was closed. The only place open was the service station and I did manage to buy tomatoes and some packaged ham slices there. The only other thing in the towns favour was that it had a mobile service so I could interrupt Elise and Ingrid's screen printing workshop that was Ingrid's present to Elise for her birthday. They excused themselves to phone me back so Elise could check on our return date and thank us for her birthday presents as she had celebrated yesterday for convenience and so they could go bushwalking.
We left Leigh Creek and went down to Parachilna where we shortly later detoured to go to Glass Gorge the first of the attractions in this area. We are not sure where the name comes from but it was certainly a pretty drive with the country looking almost Alpine. There were native pines all along the way and barren hillsides reminiscent of areas where there is a snow line higher than the tree line. Maria and Roland commented on the similarity to Switzerland. The Glass Gorge itself was lovely. It is a slate valley and the gorge floor was littered with eroded slate. There were many different colours of slate. We think we also managed to identify some fossils within the surface of some pieces. Roland would have liked to put some in his suitcase.
Tonight we opted out of camping and are in a two bedroom apartment in Blinman which will give us ready access to  the Flinders Ranges National  Park tomorrow. Blinman is the highest town in South Australia and so we are expecting a cold night again. Our unit has reverse cycle airconditioning so we are quite comfortable which is a pleasant touch of luxury. Thankfully the weather forcast for tomorrow is for fine weather. We are looking forward to doing some walking in the gorges.