Up the Centre

  29/8/22 We have a tight camp-site here at Rawnsley Station caravan Park in the Flinders Ranges, on gravel. No matter. We're here. This is the view from our camp-site.   Today we took off for a drive and forgot to take any of the maps, so took a punt and drove off onto the Bunyaroo exit. Happily, that took us right into the Brachina Gorge and we drove right to the very end. It was magic. We are so aware of the ancient history of the landscape, which was pushed up between two techtonic plates and was originally the bottom of a shallow sea. As a result, palaeontologists have discovered some of the oldest marine vertebrate life-forms in this area. We examined rocks, were astounded by the power that raised almost vertical plates of rock in the surrounding hills, and admired the majestic river red gums (although the creeks were dry just now). A fantastic day, and discovered by chance on our part. We called into the Wilpena Resort on the way back, which is quite flash and has ...

26/8/22  Yesterday, we spent the morning running around getting my Stemetil injections, which took five visits to and fro between two chemists on opposite sides of town, and then did the grocery shopping in preparation for five days in the Flinders Ranges, followed by three stops up the centre to Uluru. After that hectic morning, we took ourselves out of town to  Silverton, passing and meeting several trucks carrying ore into BH. We checked out all the historic old sandstone buildings , and went out to see the Mad Max museum which, unfortunately, was closed. Returning to BH, we went out to the Sculpture Park. This was a collaboration between the BH council and an Aussie sculptor. Over one week a symposium was conducted where sculptors from all over the world came together to create amazing sandstone sculptures full of meaning. The first photo shows the  one done by an Aztec sculptor. When the sun is going down, the sun shines through the hole and glows. Unfortunately, it ...

 Today we left at 7.30 on a much warmer sunny day and set off on the very long straight road to Broken Hill. We stopped at Wilcannia to top up with fuel by joining the long, slow line of caravans at the single pump. It's sad to see this old town on the Darling River, with its lovely old stone block buildings, almost deserted.  The road across the flat, wide plains seemed endless, but everything was green and the fresh shoots along the edges were being grazed by the hundreds of wild goats, which have been a feature of the trip from Bourke to Wilcannia, along with emus and roos (mostly road fatalities, unfortunately).  From Wicannia on, wildflowers began to appear - purple, pink, white and lime-yellow. There are plenty of wayside stops all along our trip, lately with added porta-loos for the increased traffic. It has obviously rained all the way on our trip so far, as everything is green. We hope that means the wildflowers will be out in the Flinders Ranges. We're here at B...

 Yesterday we left early for a longer day and made it to Cobar at 2.30. The day started out warm and fine, but soon changed to rain and a freezing cold wind, which buffeted the car all the way and used up twice as much fuel. We had to fill up again at Brewarrina. We were planning to spend some time there, going to see the ancient ingenious aboriginal fish farms in the river, which have been used by our original inhabitants  for centuries. However, due to recent rains, the farms were inundated and not visible. We also wanted to visit the aboriginal heritage museum, but it was closed due to a funeral. We took ourself off for a bought breakfast instead of our usual cold muesli in the van, and tucked into a mini feast at the delightful Muddy Waters Coffee shop, decorated outside by John Murray, the outback artist whose print we bought the day before.       The freezing wind continued when we arrived in Cobar and we set off into town to find me a proper parka, as I d...

 22/08/22 Yesterday, drove on the very bumpy road to St George,  arriving at 1.00. Ian had another go at fixing the door, with a little help from the guy in the van next to us, followed by Alan, the marvellous park manager, who wouldn't accept anything for his hour-long help. Ian and I kept trying after both our assistants had tried their best, and managed to get it working except for the top bit on the door. I suggested we stop while we were ahead, but Ian reckoned he could get it all working. No joy (at all!). We're now back to square one and will get an expert to fix it in  Broken Hill. We had a good trip today on a good, well-made road, stopping for our usual 10.00 brunch in the delightful roadside park at Dirranbandi. We had our own breakfast and coffee, so (regretfully) didn't take advantage of the iconic bakery and coffee shop where the locals stop for their morning tea. B Off again, we joined the 'caravan caravan' and arrived in Lightning Ridge right on noon...

 20/08/22 Well, we didn't get away until 11.35. Yesterday the handle on the caravan door broke off and while Ian was repairing it, the door blew shut and couldn't be opened (no handle), effectively locking us out of the van. We had to go to Maroochydoreto get my new hearing aids (yay!!) so we picked up a new door lock kit, but Ian couldn't get it to work before bedtime....AND the Lions were a disgrace! Then the phone rang at 4.30 a.m. - missing resident with alzheimers, so people out searching for her. She was found safe and well, thankfully.  As soon as I was awake, we set about breaking into the van. After some clever tricks and a bit of muscle and not too much damage, Ian got in and opened the door. Now for the new catch. It worked fine when assembled, but locked every time it was put into position. So, off we went with a jury-rigged door. Made it to Dalby by 4.00 and found our power cable is stuffed. Borrowed one, and it's off to Bunnings first thing tomorrow.  Of c...

One week to go. New tyres on the van, rusty spots cleaned and repainted, fancy new covers on the gas bottles, and nifty new hose-winding bags to keep our power cord and water hoses neat and easy to wind and pull out. New water and fuel cans - we'll need to carry plenty of spare fuel and water going from the Flinders Ranges to Alice Springs. It's pretty lonely out there, although these days, you can hardly go anywhere without meeting more grey nomads every few minutes on the road. We're getting a bit excited - Ian especially. He made up silly songs and sang therm at full voice on our way back from seeing our Victorian niece at Mooloolaba today. Yeah, he's excited, and yeah, he can sing!