Four Wheel Driving in the Red Centre

4 WD drive trip July – August 2012 with Ike, Sandy, Roger, Margaret, Geoff, Jenny, Malcolm, Pam (and Eddy and Ellen who left early)

Saturday 14/7 Kokatha Tanks (Odo reading 199845)

Set up bush camp just before Kingoonya, our first set up went well despite there being rain as we started setting up.  Had our first rehydrated meal, dodgy, but OK, all well, campfire for age, much discussion about lack of microwave and also about establishing time for setting off in the morning. Everyone decided that we would set off at ‘half past’!  And almost forgot to mention, had the first tyre blow out of the trip, Ike trying to tow wood to our fire!!  Early night, freezing, sleeping with thermals and 2 sleeping bags.  Ice covered everything.  Heading towards Kingony, where everything was locked up,  no petrol, no pub, just Kingonya hall and some scrappy houses.  Pub looking for new owner.  It does have a rather attractive public toilet where we had smoko.  Drove along airstrip/road down the length of Kingonya, heading towards Cooper Pedy about 140kms away.  Celebrations at 12.35pm on the 15^th of July, our Suzie turned 200,000, we sang Happy Birthday in the middle of Whoop Whoop

Sunday 15/7 Cadney Park Homestead (OR 200310)

Stayed at official campsite, a small altercation with a fellow travellers about morning sun, but now all sorted!  Marla for petrol at 200394, $45.00 on petrol, even had post office.  Everyone had food except Colman wasn’t allowed to have any, Not Happy.  Stopped at NT border for lunch and lots of pictures and now heading on towards Erldunda, not stopping Kuldara for petrol because to get petrol there you need to go into petrol station, give them your credit card, go back out, pump your petrol, go back in and collect your credit card and pay for the petrol!!  I got tired just thinking about it, never mind what might happen to your credit card in your absence!!  Saw lots of Procession caterpillar cocoons on trees, and lots of bright red flowers – Hops apparently. Stopped at Pines Road House, everyone compared petrol and everyone used about 37 litres and we used only 26 litres.  Heading off towards Curtain Springs for night.

Monday 16/7 near Curtain Springs (OR 200789)

After lots of driving we stopped just outside of Curtain Springs at an overnight camp area, 

Tuesdsay 17/7 (2 nights) Yulara Resort, Ayers Rock (OR200982)

Arrived at Yulara resort and another little todo about who camps where, we took someone’s spot!!  Resort has grown hugely since we were there in 1989.  Had a great shower after a couple of dodgy days, and as the days were lovely and warm the shower was just wonderful. Great night had by all, some of the crowd did not join us, but everyone else joined in a BBQ.  When we first checked into the resort all of us were given Ike’s surname, so we had all suddenly become “Andrews” so we decided we must all be related, Ike and I decided we were brother and sister!!  A young German couple came and sat with us and joined in our conversation, so eventually we established that Ellen is my mother, Helen (the young German girl) was my daughter and Patrick (her partner) was the SIL, with assorted grandparents and grandchildren.  You needed to be there!

Wednesday 18/7 Yulara Resort, Ayers Rock

Slept well and late, beacon & eggs for breakfast.  Got year pass to Uluru, wandered around the campground, sorted ourselves out, did some washing  and chilled out.  Drove out to the Rock and Colman climbed up a little of the way, I only went up about 100 steps, enough for this time!  We then walked around the base to Kantju gorge, in Mala walk, very interesting.  Returned to campsite and checked out the coach camping before having another wander around the resort facilities. Good night with campfire and lots of chat.

Thursday 19/7 40kms this side of Docker River (OR 200981)

Packing up and heading off towards Docker River, Eddy and Ellen are leaving today as they were having too many problems with their camper, oh and a complete lack of microwave on the road!!  Got petrol and then head off.

Friday 20/7 Sandy Blight Junction (by quarry) (OR 201158)

80-90 kms outside of Docker river camped by the Shore River (not a creek!) heading towards Docker River.  Slept in because Ellen & Eddy weren’t there to make a racket, had toast over the left over fire.  C and I went for long walk along river bed, heard dingos and there was supposedly an Aboriginal settlement nearby.  Had to drink our port out of coffee cups as there is a $5000 fine for brining alcohol into aboriginal communities.Stopped at Lasseter’s Cave & plaque which was not signposted at all, lucky we found it.  A cavern where Lasseter supposedly came and spent 25 days in the cave back in the 18??, he had supposedly found a gold reef somewhere and was coming back to find it again.  He returned and couldn’t find the reef, his camels bolted, and he tried to walk it out with 1.5 litres of water with some friendly aboriginals but he died before he found his relief party.  His relatives are still looking for the gold now.

Stopped in Docker River, the place was an amazing mess, there weren’t too many aboriginals and the reason was that they had all headed off to the funeral of a woman who had died 5 weeks ago.  One stories as to why it took 5 weeks to bury here was that they were trying to raise money for her funeral, another story was that they were fighting with the Areyonga crowed as to where she should be buried!!  The couple who ran the store had been in Oz for 8 months travelling around WA when they got bored (!!?)  and so they decided to take the job at the DR shop.  The shop has no windows, all the doors had steel doors, mesh and were able to be bolted shut, although it did sell fresh fruit & vegies but they were outrageously expensive.  The petrol pumps were housed in a little concrete bunker with steel reinforced doors, Petrol was $2.06 for both petrol and diesel..  The place was filthy and there were (at this point) more dogs then humans!  Part of the conditions for entry was that you could not take photos of any aboriginals, so I had to be very careful.  And we all had the compulsory ice-cream which we now are also subscribing too.  Can’t break a tradition! Just after we left DR, about 5kms out we got pulled up by an Ab who was perched on the wing of the bonnet of his car, (the actual bonnet was missing), waiting for someone to pass by and give him a hand starting his car, so he could continue to the funeral which had started an hour earlier.  We have since discovered the reason for the missing bonnet.  When the Abs put up signs to announce a gathering of any type, they use car bonnets for signs by standing them upright with a direction arrow painted on them, explaining why most of their cars don’t have bonnets!  Just before that we passed a bicyclist who was cycling off to god knows where, no helmet, just shorts & a tee-shirt.  After our 4 cars passed he must be chocking on the dust we kicked up – poor thing!

Saturday 21/7 this side of Kintore (2 nights)  (OR 2013500

Bush camp between DR and Kintore, compact little camp behind a quarry.  Great night with huge campfire, all well, Geoff still not well after hurting his back in Yulara.  Stopped to let down tyres, had smoko with coffee and some of Sandy’s fruitcake, as we stood there looking a little bedraggled we were passed by 3 you beaut 4wd cars with self-inflating tyres, as well as a couple of female passengers with hair coiffed earlier this morning by some unknown outback hairdresser.  Hmm, we all felt a bit scraggy!

Sunday 22/7 this side of Kintore (2 nights)

Camp made about 120kms, this side of Kintore on the Sandy Blight Junction road.  A rather small and intimate campsite nestled in amongst the sand dunes.  All got together and made a communal dinner with roast beef, lamb, vegetables, baked potatoes and dessert; we called it The Long Table of Sandy Blight Junction Road, a mouthful I know, but it was great!  Big fire, lots of chat, decided to spend 2 nights here as tomorrow was Sunday and nothing would be open in Kintore.  Sent my mother a text message from the satellite phone.  Did a few walks the following day, spent about 2 hours with C and Jenny and did a huge walk, while some others back at “home” got concerned about our long absence, I guess we could have ended up anywhere!  We then had a lovely shower and just organised ourselves.  Had a few good chats, some quiet time, BBQ for dinner. 

Monday 23/7 87kms other side of Kintore (OR 201437)

Ike had flat tyre on trailer so we fixed that, heading towards Kintore at the usual time of 9.30.  Overnighted almost exactly on the Tropic of Capricorn, very flat campsite and not much vegetation and what there was prickly and pokey and pointy.  As we drove in we found a hug hole in the ground, kind of like a mini canyon and if you or your car fell into it you would know all about it and not get back out in one piece.  It is a registered bore but was not marked at all, just hidden amongst the low scrub.  It was Sandy & Ike's turn to join the crew for dinner so Colman and I had a lovely dinner under the stars and his specially erected chandelier under a huge tree.  After all that we had a big fire, Roger carried half a tree about 200 meters to feed the fire, very enthusiastic.  Then Geoff got a big lecture about what he should and shouldn’t be doing with his back.  We left them to it!

Tuesday 24/7 near Mt Liebig community (201572)

Up earlyish and off to Kintore, about 30 kms away.  About 500-800 people in Kintore and the same amount of dogs looking very hungry.  The petrol station housed in its little bunker is open every hour on the half hour and we were lucky enough to get there just at 25 minutes past, couldn’t have timed it better as no one knew this was the case.  We put petrol in the car and the petrol was $2.15pl.  Shop is being refurbished, everything is mesh and security again, and the place has rubbish from pillar to breakfast table - ughh. Saw the funniest sight when a girl who looked no more than 18 heaved her top up and shoved her little black baby up to her boob, the grab this little one made for the boob made you think she hadn’t been fed in days, very strange place. Left and heading for Alice Spring, we will have a couple of stops on the way but I think the crew is heading straight back following discussions last night! They headed off and we puddle after them, we stopped at Sandy Blight junction for lunch and turned down the SBJ road, set up camp just outside of Mt Liebig community.  We stopped at (I think) the last Len Bedell tree for this trip where we found a business card left for us from the Crew, so they had stopped there also.  A great little camp with the others, all had tea together, drank the last of Ike’s port, as well as the last of the port we gave him.  The boys went for a walk to investigate derelict aboriginal house the saw in the distance complete with solar panels, hot water system all still in working order.  The usual story is that someone died in the house so they just up and leave it, after the taxpayers forked out the money for all the mod cons!! And since then I have been corrected, the house was actually a “Holiday Home” (paid for by the Tax payers), for Ab who find the stress of living in the community overwhelming and need to get away from it all, I want one too!!  All had showers last night, very civilized until I accidently tipped the dirty shower water on Colman’s feet, took a glass of wine to make him get over it!! 

Wednesday 25/7 Glen Helen Resort  (201805)

Everyone was happy and relaxed in the morning with Ike yelling for everyone to get up; he was forgiven once he made me my morning cuppa, breakfast and on the road as usual by 9.30.  Headed to Glen Helen gorge for overnight stay.  120kms, west of Alice Springs.  On the way we visited, but did not go into Redbank Gorge which we decided we would come back to as we were running a little late.  Arrived at Glen Helen about 4.30, more of a campsite, not sure where they got the idea that it was a resort!!  Got set up after a little todo about the size of the camp spots.  Great shower, when I turned the water on and it started to run over me it was pink, realised it wasn’t the water but me that was turning it pink!!  Then off to restaurant for dinner, a little pricey but you were quiet remote.  We had – Me: a tasting platter with crocodile tail with garlic aioli, buffalo medallion with wild lime chutney and goat patties with something else.  Colman had kangaroo with kumara mash and beetroot, very well cooked and very tasty.  Had helicopter flights for $55 for quarter of an hour, or you could a four wheel drive tour for a day for $280pp, which we didn’t do either.  Had a couple of port with Ike & co around his trailer, bed about 10.30.

Thursday 26/7 Alice Springs  (202030)

We all went of a walk into the gorge, had a coffee when we got back and head off about 10.30 for Alice Springs.  . Stopped a quiet a few scenic spots along the way.  Ochre pits, Serpentine gorge which we climbed to the top of the hill and was spectacular, we then clambered down into the gorge and the water hole which was equally pretty.  We headed off to Alice to meet up with the rest. 

Friday 27/7 Alice Springs

Spent all day at campsite and did lots of organising and washing etc.  We had dinner with Ike and Sandy while Roger & Margaret headed off for dinner with friends.  We went for a little wander around, found a great bookshop (Red Kangaroo), found a quilt shop where I bought some fabric and Colman spoke with Michael on Skype.  Alice wasn’t as bad as everyone said; we had lunch in the Todd Street mall, and a great coffee down the road at an Italian cafe

Saturday 28/7 Alice Springs (202190)

Long drive with Geoff, Jenny Margaret & Roger out to Arlunga gold fossicking area, Arlunga historic reserve, looked at a couple of different mines.  Climbed down one, where three of us could fit in and still get claustrophobic but in the hey days 6-8 people worked down this mine, pass!  Arlunga itself still had a number of ruins including a government complex which included the people that weighted and graded the gold.  Headed of at 9.30am and only came back at 6.30pm, so a long but very interesting day on the road.  On way out we stopped to Emily gap which was spectacular.  On the way back we missed Trephine gorge (too late but we will revisit) but we stopped at Corooboree rock where Roger & Colman proceeded to climb through a hole in the rock, which considering it was sacred was a bit like climbing through the alter in a church – boys!!  When we got back to Alice there was still confusion about what everyone was doing as the head gasket fix was taking longer then expected.  We decided we would head off towards Areyonga on Sunday and meet them all on Monday at Kings Canyon.

Sunday 29/7

Left Alice and heading into Simpsons Gap, ended up catching up with the others there, and said our Goodbyes again. Then headed off via Hermannsburg which is another Ab community run by some church, expensive petrol, lots of rubbish but full phone reception, interesting!  Spent night at Palm Valley, road was dodgy but found a great campsite. They only had communal fire pits, one had a chair next to it so we found an empty one and set up our tent next to that one.  As we passed the occupied one on the way to the toilet the guy sitting there said we could have joined him at his fire and we could share the timber.  I didn’t really feel like it, Colman thought it would be a great idea and we said we would head down after dinner.  We relaxed, set up the tent and organised dinner.  Colman ended up cooking dinner down at the other fire pit.  That is how we met Hardy, he had been on the road for 4 months in a 4wd kombi van, and he was a lovely guy, German background.  His wife passed away about 2 years ago and this was the trip that the 2 of them were going to do together, I’m thinking the ashes of his wife were travelling with him based on the way he spoke.  He lives on a communal property down in the Dandenong’s with 90 others, not all living there but they had all bought into it.  Another couple turned up, Alex and Ben that were from Kiama; he was a wharfie and she a solicitor.  A lovely night followed, they left about 10pm and then Hardy brought out a bottle of wine he had made and we share this and then Colman brought out a bottle of port and we stayed talking till after midnight.  We spoke with Hardy about the track into Palm Valley and Cycad gorge and in his opinion it was very rough but he had walked it in just under 1 hour so we decided that we would do this.  There was also a park ranger doing a guided walk on the following morning and we decided we would do this walk.  Off to bed.

Monday 30/7 Areyonga (202590)

Up early, said our goodbyes to Hardy and headed off to the gorge, we were about half way up when we thought we should have exchanged emails with Hardy and if he was still there when we got back we would do so.  Shortly after that a tour group passed us in a long wheel Troupie, going slightly faster than us walking, after that the ranger drove passed and asked us if we wanted a lift to which we agreed.  The gorges were lovely, we saw some Stick Rat nests which were shiny black fossilised stuff/poo nest perched in the cliff face.  There was Red Cotton palms sitting in amongst the Ghost Gums and the look was lovely, this is one of the oldest rock formations in the world.  The palms are native to Mataranka and came down to Palm Valley a couple of hundred years ago in a flood, the only place in the world that these particular palms can be found.  There were also Black Footed rock wallabies whose favourite food was the spear bush.  The reason this is called Spear bush because when the fronds are heated they become stiff and the Ab’s use them as spears.  You can tell the presence of a wallaby as it will eat the bush up to its own high, and everything is lush above it.  There was still water but it was low, I think the water can rise to well over 2 meters based on marks on the surrounding rocks.  There was another group on the tour (the ones who overtook us); it was an art tour from Canberra, spoke with them a little.  Ranger was fairly useless, but she did give us a spin back to the campsite.  Hardy was still there and as I was heading to write down our details he handed us his.  Another hug and then he left.  We stayed for lunch and then had a great long hot shower, SA could learn something from these NT National Park camp sites.  We then headed off to Areyonga.  Went via Hermannsburg, it was a Lutheran mission from the 1860, it was a little cleaner than some of the other places, petrol was $2.15pl, we didn’t go into the cultural centre it was $10 pp. and looked dodgy.  Visited the cemetery instead.  Headed off, saw lots of wild donkeys on way in, grey & brown.  We had called Cheryl on the way in but never really did get directions and when we got there got the royal run around, up to the white house, down to the blue house and all sorts of other wrong directions from the locals.  Then we saw Rob driving a loader, turns out we were sitting just outside Cheryl’s office.  Back to their place, BBQ in back yard, lots of chat, lots of drinks in coffee cups, lots of laughs.  By about 11 Cheryl and I headed towards bed, Colman stayed up chatting with Rob until all hours of the night.  It was great sleeping in a soft warm bed.

Tuesday 31/7 Kings Canyon (2 days) (202670)

Up by 7am to head off with Rob at eight for the royal tour and to check all the things he need to check first thing in the morning.  Saw more donkeys, no camels.  We did not get to the Azurite mine as it was too far (13kmof rough road which takes about 2 hours), it is an experimental mineral (not sure what that means) and is a beautiful bright blue colour.  Checked water, generators, sewerage treatment plant, and also the cemetery.  He also digs the graves and he told us the story of the woman who had died and whose body was in Alice.  After much ado they picked a date for the funeral, but sadly forgot to tell the undertaker in Alice to bring the body down, so they postponed the funeral till the following week.  Rob checked the grave on the morning of the funeral to discover that a donkey had fallen into it, it was still alive and not happy about being hauled out by a front end loader.  In the end they got the thing out, (alive) just as the first people arrived for the funeral; I guess it’s all about timing.  Now Rob puts timber on top of the graves, just in case.  Another story was of the coffin that was just too big for the hole.  But not to worry, after dropping it into the grave and it getting stuck 1 meter down a couple of the Ab’s jumped in on top of the coffin and tried to jump it down into the grave, unsuccessfully!  They took the coffin back out, dug the grave a bit bigger and repeated the process, after trying this about three times they got the coffin down to a respectable 2 meters, then the lid gave way and so the left it at that and just covered it with soil.  There was also the story of the bureaucratic nightmare about fences and camels, horses and donkeys.  It appears that some white folks are unaware of the fact that camels are big and will mow down a 2 strand wire fence, that horses can climb up trees and that donkeys don’t read road signs.  Sadly these are some of the council members around here!   Some bits of Rob information, the root of the spinifex grows 120 meters down to look for water.  They removed 1300 burnt out cars from Docker river when they did big clean up, they brought up a road train, squashed the cars and filled up all 3 trailers of the road train.  Went back to R&C’s place for lunch and then headed off towards Kings Canyon to meet up with the rest of the gang. 

Wednesday /8 Kings Canyon (2 days)

Picked our sites, set up camp and went up to pub for a glass of bubbly and a bottle of beer and waited for the others to arrive while watching all the coming and goings around us, wandered around, oh – despite Telstra supplying 97% of the people with phone reception, obviously we have been traveling in the other 3%, cause once again - no phone reception.  The others arrived, we all had our dinner separately and then we sat with I&S, then bed.

Up early and off to Kings Canyon, did Kings Canyon Ridge top walk which was 6 kilometres, this included a 600 meter to a look out as well a 600 meter walk into the Garden of Eden.  This was part of the inland sea; some of the rocks here are actually compressed sea & dune sand with a red layer of sandstone over the top.  There was also lots of rock with the rippled sea pattern which was fascinating considering we were almost in the centre of Australia.  It took us about 6 hours to do the walk because we stopped, caught up with the others, chatted and explored all the way around.  Everyone did the walk and we all caught up at different times along the track.  Came back and organised ourselves for setting off the following day then headed up to the tavern for dinner and to see the local ’Act’, called The Roadies, a male female duet, bush band.  Food was relatively nice, I had Barramundi and Colman had a camel burger.  We had the cheapest bottle of wine which was$30, the average being about $50-$60 for relatively ordinary wine.  Ike ended up on stage miming along to ‘Give me a home among the Gumtree’s with a very fetching little pink punk wig.  Spent some time talking to a “musical” family who had participated in the sing-song, mother, father and 3 kids, they are going to Areyonga today and she spent 9 month studying in Linz.  They were one of those strange little groups, father played the ucalaly, mother the clarinet, son played acoustic base guitar, other son played something else and the daughter a cello (I think). A bit like the Partridge family but weirder!

Thursday 2/8 Henbury Meteorite Crater(202870)

Did a bit of shopping before we headed off again, $17.90 was spent on 1L OJ, 2L milk and a loaf of bread!!  Supposed to leave at 9.30 as always and everyone is running late as always!! Malcolm & co are heading back up to Alice to find out about the car and we will meet them in a couple of days.  Heading off to Henbury over Rogers Pass!!!  The Henbury meteorite crater was formed 4000 years ago when a meteorite hit this area.  A bit of trivia, the difference between a meteor and a meteorite is that the latter hits the ground, so it comes into the atmosphere as a meteor and when/if it hits the ground it becomes known as a meteorite, that must have been a male scientist thought that one up!!  Anyway this meteorite broke into several pieces (4) and struck in a few different spots around the area, the biggest being here.  This piece was about the size of a 45 gallon drum and caused a crater about 100meters round by about 20 meters deep now.  I can imagine this would have been quite a bit deeper when it first struck.  The other fragments landed in Goss Bluff, Altunga (gold mining town), not sure about piece number 4!  Walking into the crater where the temperature dropped dramatically and the vegetation was quite different.  Coming out it was full moon and we messed around and took some photos, we were spotted by another couple who had arrived earlier and they came over to have a go to and we got talking to them.  Hmmmm!!!!  They were Greenies, professional protesters and she had not heard of female razors, waxing or any other form of hair removal (enough said!) His name was Michael and her Metree (or some such strange thing), they joined us – somewhat ‘un-invitedly’ around the campfire and then proceeded to piss everyone off with their ‘lectures’.  I did learn something however which surprised me no end and will also fascinate everyone reading this blog – the definition of a Paediatrician is – uranium mining cause/effect/nuclear energy expert, and here I thought it had to do with kids,(for anyone interested this was about Helen Caldecott).  Anyway they told us they had just finished protesting at Roxby/Olympic Dam (where we were heading to look for work next!!) and were heading off (with their company car!!) to do the next protest at Muketty station.  I could tell by the look in R face that he would either speak his mind or head to bed, so he decided on the latter followed closely by Margaret and then us.  Enough dribbled for a day! Oh this is also where Colman decided he would investigate the old Japanese art of wood under fingernail torture and managed to get a couple of nice size splinters stuck under his little fingernail, he does always go just that one step too far.  Anyway, he got a piece out after S&M had a little go prodding and poking but there is still a piece in there and apparently it hurts, which I can imagine.

Friday 3/8 North of Maryvale over Finke race track (203027)

Still fire left in morning so we had toast over open coals, ready to head off when the “Protesters” came over to say goodbye (not sure why but maybe I’m being nasty here!!), they gave us a present of a sticker, an aboriginal flag with something about caring, or unity or equality or healing, people who know me well will know how much that meant to me!  Anyway we were all in cars, engine revving when they collared Ike, Colman and Sandy, an hour later I had almost convinced everyone to drive off so that they get the hint but at this point they had obviously used up all their hot protest air talking and headed off.  You should have seen the scramble to get into the car; all we left was a cloud of dust.  Had lunch in the Hugh River where Colman went for a little wander and ended up slipping and sliding down the side of a rocky embankment, he limped back looking a bit the worse for wear and moaning, again the two ‘Florence’s’ tended to him while I lectured.  I’m getting a bit of a bad rep here, the boys were offering to polish my broom and handed me little heart shaped rocks, hmm wonder why!! We then travelled parallel to the Fink race track which is a huge outback off-road race in the Northern Territory. It crosses the Finke River, supposedly the oldest river in the world, several times and with the corrugations I noticed not something I would like to try.  Made camp just inside Maryvale station, there was a ‘No trespassing’ sign, but apparently this doesn’t apply if you pull in far enough off the road!  Prickles everywhere, had to put up our little shower tent for Colman and his ablutions and I did all the set-up which was interesting and all worked out. 

Saturday 4/8 Chambers Pillar (203092)

Set off at usual time even though I had to do most of the packing up, Colman’s knee is still sore, as is his finger, and hopefully all will go well. We were a little worried because the airbeds were very flat when we got out and we thought that maybe we had punctured them with all the little thorns and prickles everywhere, let’s hope not!!   Heading off towards Chambers Pillar, not Pillars as I had thought so all this way for one scrawny pillar – this better be impressive!  We will be meeting up with Malcolm & co there.  First stop is Maryvale where we got some supplies, arrived in Chambers Pillar about lunchtime and spent a very relaxing afternoon doing very little.  Malcolm & co turned about 4pm, G&J and us then went up to and around The Pillar for a walk.  Some very interesting ‘graffiti’ carved into the pillar dating back to the1870 including travellers John Ross and Alfred Gile.  When we came back the ranger was there and told us there would be another one of those “Chat around the campfire” nights which will be good, and hopefully a bit more informative then the one at Palm Valley.  Some interesting stories he told included the legend around Chambers Pillar.  There is another rock formation called Castle Rock on the other side facing the pillar.  The story goes that a young aboriginal guy defied the local tradition by not marrying the girl chosen for him by the tribe, the tribe knows there is no family link with this girls thereby ensuring that there is no intermarriage within a family.  So this guy headed off to another tribe where he collected himself 2 wives, mother and daughter and married them both.  When his tribe realised what he had done they cast him out and he turned to stone, which is now known as Chambers Pillar.  The rock formation on the other side, Castle Rock, is the upturned faces of the two women screaming, looking at the sky into two different directions.  Another bit of info was about the culling of feral cats in the area, the ranger said there were about 1 million feral cats in the state, they caught about 30 of them and after an investigation of their stomach contents found about 8 native animals in total.  So imagine the damage 1 million of theses creatures can do! He brought some bush tucker food, couldn’t find much on his way in which made me a little sceptical about his food gathering skills, but he did bring some native parsnip.  This plant has a fluffy white ball on top and we had seen on the way and the root is this parsnip stuff, he put it over the fire and Colman ate one, I thought it just tasted like stringy tough chewy stuff!!  The ranger was very interesting and also very well educated; he admitted that it takes effort to get to this as you do need to remove yourself from your tribe because the “what’s yours is mine” mentality prevails strongly still. He also told a story which will qualify for the Idiot Award for the year.  In the early 1960’s they stopped people carving their names into the pillar as it had become a historical site, the fine for doing so was $5000.  The rangers come and check every morning to ensure that nothing has been vandalised, one morning they arrived to find a brand new etching of a name in the pillar.  They wandered down to the visitors book, found the matching name and the guys address (all entered by him) and he ended up with a nice little fine, the half-wit was also South Australian! Sad!  Sandy went off and made some damper and at 10pm we sat around and ate damper, jam and cream.  This was followed by a quick rendition of ‘The Scene’ in Lady Chatterley’s lovers by Colman, using the top of our lantern box and a couple of wet ones, not really as exciting as the original!!

Sunday 5/8 Geographical Centre of Australia (203306)

This morning we are heading back to Maryvale where we stopped for petrol and water.  Then off to the geographical centre of Oz, which is at latitude 25, 36.3,4S and longitude of 134,21.7,3E.  We arrived late in the day after following the Fink racetrack for miles, then into Fink for the compulsory ice-cream and stock up and onwards.  Colman, Rodger & Ike decided that racing into The Centre was a good thing, there were several different tracks leading in so they were all weaving and turning down the various tracks to see who could get there first.  Luckily there was no one coming out at the same time!!!  There was a bit of commotion about who would set up where and tempers flared, C&I kept a low profile and got out a glass of wine.  Instructions were given about how to face the light, the tent, the car so that the perfect photo could be achieved by the professionals, we didn’t do much just kept sipping the wine and letting them get on with it!  We then all gathered for the ceremonial taking of a picture right in the ‘middle’ of it all.  Apparently there are 3 different geographical centres all in and around this area taken with various methods over the last years.  We celebrated the event with some Apricot schnapps and after a quiet night all went to bed.

Monday 6/8 Dalhousie Springs (3 nights) (203532)

Had another group photo, back to Fink and then onto Dalhousie Springs.  We stopped in Fink for a loaf of bread and 1L of OJ which came to the grand total of $11.50.  Arrived at Dalhouse, set up camp and headed straight down to the spring, no shower in 3 days – ughhh! Lots of people here, we had BBQ and sat around fire for the night.  As of next year there will be no fires allowed here so that will change the atmosphere of the place dramatically as that really is a focal point and there is not much else to do.

Tuesday 7/8 Dalhousie Springs (3 nights)

The spring is basically an upside down shower rose and gets its water from the Great Artesian basin through about 80 holes.  There are at least 3 fish species and 6 water snail species as well as crustaceans, yabbies & frogs living in the springs.  The main pool is about 38degrees centigrade and up to 40 meters deep and flows at a rate of 160 litres per second coming out at 43 degrees.  There are lots of interesting things in it but the most interesting (and least liked by me) are the Dalhouse goby which grows up to 3cm in length and they (I think) are the same things that you pay for in Thailand so they can nibble your feet.  I paid in Thailand and didn’t like it then and I certainly don’t like it now, although others think it’s great.  Got up and went for a swim first thing, it was cold outside but the water was like a bathtub.  Had a nice chat with a couple (Jenna & Josh) who had spent 3 months doing every desert road in every state/territory of Oz (apart from Tassie), told us to go to the Tunnel Creek road which is somewhere between the Gibb River road and Western Highway.  Spent day doing very little, did have a walk around the spring and then back in for another swim as not a soul was in the spring.  Soon J&G turned up as well as others.  The facilities here are good and clean, but the smell of the drop toilet is woeful, and the showers are cold water only.

Wednesday 8/8 Dalhousie Springs (3 nights)

We went with R&M in their car and the others out to Purni bore, on the way out we had to cross water which came almost up to the bonnet, not sure if our Suzi would have made it.  We also encounter a Dingo who was out chasing cars and attacking tyres… been hanging around the local dogs a bit too long I say!  Purni was created as a result of some drilling done by the French Petroleum Co in 1953 who wanted to explore the rock strata and found water at 14 hundred meters, the bore was drilled to 18 hundred meters and water flowed at 18L per second.  The bore was eventually cut as it was affecting the flow into Dalhousie which is about 70 kms away. The water coming out here is 85 degrees Celsius and is heated 3-5 km beneath the surface.  Headed back and found someone stuck at the water crossing and helped them out, that was after talking to a few guys who had pulled another 2 cars out earlier.  Came back to Dalhouse to find a sandstorm had hit, our car awning was down and the car/tent/everything was absolutely covered in sand, everything was fine though.  To make up for it all we headed back down to the spring and had a long soak, when we got out we talked a little to a lady called Pam who I had seen cleaning the toilets here.  Apparently she does this instead of paying the site fees, she uses cheap Avon perfume to make the place smell better, hmm each to their own.  Anyway her and her husband Malcolm, were down in the pool and he had just come out of the pool when he fainted.  Colman helped straighten him up because he had fallen funny, C made sure he was ok and when he woke up Colman helped him to his feet.  He noticed that when he had fallen he had ripped one of his toenails so this maniac then bent down and ripped it off, at this point I was ready to faint, but he beat me to it.  Out cold again, this time C and a couple of others helped carry him over to a bench where C tried to work out if anything serious was wrong.  Colman thought at one point he wasn’t breathing so when he bent over to check Malcolm opened one eye and said “you’re not going to give me a kiss are you??”  Anyway he was a character and kept joking around, “I’ve had a stroke and didn’t like it” and so on, his wife just fluffed and when we tried to work out what medications he was on got very little sense out of either.  Next thing a couple turned up who turned out to be doctors and they happily took over, they were very impressed with Colman’s professionalism!!  (So proud of him I am!!!bubs – sorry joke for those in the know).  We saw Malcolm sometime later wandering around barefoot and happy!!!

Thursday 9/8 somewhere between Oodnadatta and Cober Pedy (203777)

Leaving Dalhousie towards Oodnadatta and we travelled on a ‘public access’ road which is a road that leads through private property but the public have access to it, with lots of gates to be opened and closed, ensuring you get your exercise for the day!  This particular road is called the Bypass track – no prices for originality!!  We have done almost 4000kms.  After leaving we called into the Dalhousie homestead and a number of different old Ghan railway sidings which have now all been abandoned.  Stopped at the Ood and the Pink Roadhouse which is currently for sale, Jenny suggested we buy it as it had great potential but not really too sure, although we did spend a while discussing possibilities!  One of the main features of the hotel is the canoe hire, they do have 2 canoes available for hire but as Colman pointed out the concern would be at the size of the water tank required to get full use out of the things.  Quite civilized place, the aboriginals were used to the interaction between them and the white community and they did look at you and greet you which really was a first.  Colman and I headed off to the local pub for our Shandy.  We kept going and tried to get as far as the Painted Dessert but it was just too far so we had a bush camp about 45 kms out of the painted dessert, in a river bed, well off the road and much to the dismay of some.  Had a nice campfire as we realised it was our last night together.

Friday 10/8 Coward Springs (204214)

Had been a very cold night, we had coffee around the fire and then packed up and headed off for the last time as a group on this trip.  Off to the Painted Dessert which sits between the Ood and Coober Pedy, we travelled down Lollipop Lane which is what connects the two places.  In CP we had lunch and said our good byes and headed off with Margaret & Roger towards Coward Springs.  Had a quick stop at Williams Creek, there is a rocket to be seen which was the second last to be launched from Woomera, the last one still being in orbit.  There were also assorted graves and tombstones one of which was from the women who died while trying to find help for the stuck car and died on the way.  Her husband who remained with the car survived and turns out all that was required to get the car unstuck was to engage the 4 wheel drive hubs!!!   Got a lovely long email from Hardy!  On the way in we picked up some railways sleepers for a fire and drove a little way along the Ghan track, a bit dangerous for the tires with timber and nails sticking up everywhere, so we gave it up after a few meters.  Sat up camp by about 5.30 and we all had dinner together and sat up late talking. 

Saturday 11/8 Coward Springs

Noisy place full of cockatoos.  Colman stoked the donkey for me and I had a great hot shower, facilities here are lovely.  R&M left and it was sad again.  The Coward Springs Hotel was licenced from 1897 to 1953 when it was run as a store till 1962 when it was demolished, there are also Date Palms here which were planted by the Afghan Cameleers.  The bore was drilled in 1887 and a new bore drilled in 1992 and the water flow was then reduced to what it is now.  We went to the hot springs for a swim, the water temperature was about 26 degrees which was positively cold after Dalhouse and it was tiny also, all 6 square meters of muddy murky waters left me very unimpressed.  Colman staid in for a bit but I couldn’t take to it at all, very icky!  A couple turned up with two kids who they apologised for being noisy, in fact they should have apologised for the adults that joined them later in the day.  We were also joined at our fire well after 9pm by ‘Mudy’,  Ike’s buddy and owner of a 4x4 with 15inch set of mud tyres that Ike loved.  He told us he had managed to do 120kms most of the way including almost landing in the water pool across the road leading out to Purni Bore.  Apparently he just managed to grind to a halt before the trailer hit the pool, he then backed out and did it slowly, which would have caused that part of the track to be churned up.  He then thought he would try to get out of it in 2 wheel drive, but guess what he couldn’t so had to change back into 4WD, making this track all but impassable!!!  We then head off to see some of the ‘waters’ around here fed by the Great Artesian Basin.  A bit of information about the Basin, it’s 3000 meters deep and contains about 65 thousand giga-liters of pressurised water which is about 130 thousand Sydney harbours and can reach up to 100 degrees celsius.  Rivers that flow into Lake Eyre are the Cooper Creek, the Gorgina/Diamanina systems, the Warburton, the Neils and the Mekumba river, all which feed and are fed by the GAB.  On the way out we went to Blanchet’s Cup and the Bubbler which are mound springs, a small hill with a little lake on top.  We then headed down to Kurdamuka which is one of the few existing railway sidings of the Ghan that still has all the facilities and has been well restored and is also home to the Kurdamurka Ball every year.  It also has the second largest railway bridge of the Ghan track, which we missed, we then drove past Lake Eyre South and down to Roxby via Andamooka.

Sunday 12/8 Roxby Downs

Roxby was a pretty nice place and we decided to spend a couple of nights here, we had checked out  Andamooka and had definitely decided against staying there. The campsite in Roxby was nice even though we ended up tenting on the lawned area outside the amenities block, paying ordinary price of course. Had some great coffee in town as well as a good meal, a lovely end to a wonderful month. Now back to Kimba.

Kimba 2012

Well, have decided the best way to deal with our time in Kimba is to do a little story of the experience… So here goes the Kimba story, but first a few facts.  Kimba population, roughly 636 and the annual rainfall is 339mm, most of which fell sometime mid June!!!!  It is home of the Big Galah which perches a proud 7 meters tall and tends to have tourist perched between its legs, I speak from experience.  It is also supposedly half way across Oz, which apparently is causing a little debate but it appears that it is a first come first serve basis and no one had thought of it before!!  In Kimba is also the Whites Knob lookout with a great sculpture of Edward John Eyre and Whyllie, his faithful aboriginal sidekick, the statues are excellent & worth a visit.  So now onwards, we (I) have been threatening to visit Joyce in Kimba since we first met a quilt encounter  about 6 years ago.  We attended the same tutorial and spent most of our time talking and getting very little work done, much to the teachers dismay.  Little did we know.  I had been in contact with Joyce about our impending visit for some time, and when we left Ceduna I told her we would be there in about 1 week we wanted to take our time visiting all those places.  As you know despite seeing everything and celebrating Paddies day we still managed to do it in 2 days, so 2 days later we were heading towards Kimba when the phone rang, Joyce wanting to know what was happening.  Her reaction when I told her we were 40Kms out of Kimba was priceless. 

Having said this I must set the scene just a little, Joyce had heard all about Momo and all the various trials and tribulations of my last 5 years, and she was looking forward to seeing Momo and also meeting Colman and had invited us and asked us when we would finally visit, on many occasions.  I was a bit perturbed when, after finally telling her we would be there in a couple of months, to find they had sold the farm, bought a house in Adelaide and were moving soon!!  No need for this I thought, if you didn’t want us visiting, just say so.

So we were 40kms out of Kimba, they had a shack in Arno Bay they were about to head off to and we were told in no uncertain terms that we needed a holiday and were to come with them to Arno. Right, next was the detailed explanations of how to find their farm.  Not sure if I have mentioned at this stage that Momo had no reverse gear, so we needed to be a bit thoughtful about the whole thing.  Anyway Joyce explained, 7kms our side of Kimba, windmills, red roof, Chapman’s road etc etc.  I got off the phone and explained to Colman that it was just outside of Kimba and well there was other stuff but I forget, anyway, how hard can it be to find.  We were just passing the 80kmph sign when my phone rang.  Did you just drive past the windmill, the red roofed house and Chapman’s road???? Cause I’m sure I saw Momo!!  I won’t repeat what Colman said, might I say, complimentary it was not! We pulled over, got out Suzi and drove back to the farm, which was exactly where Joyce had said it would be, oh well!!  Colman had never met either Joyce or her husband John, and I had met John only once, so let’s see how we all get along.  I failed to mention to either Joyce or Colman that the other was Irish, so there was the first common bond, they hit it off.  I liked John at the first meeting and that hadn’t changed, Colman also seemed to find lots to talk about.  John and Colman headed off to get Momo in a manner that did not involve reverse gear and Joyce and I continued where we left off last July at Quilt Encounter.  They were in the midst of packing and were due to head off to Adelaide in 4 weeks, all worked out well in the end.  Momo and the boys returned, we had coffee, packed a handful of things, locked up and headed off to Arno by with J&J. The overnight trip turned out to be great fun, we all got on like a house on fire, their shack turned out to be less of a shack and more of a mansion overlooking the dunes and bay.  Walking out of their back door you walk across the dunes and you are on the beach. We went to the hotel for dinner and conversation and laughs didn’t stop, the following day we went for a huge walk along the beach & boardwalk, a lovely part of the world which we didn’t do justice to the first time we passed through.  The boardwalk was built with the aid of the local community and meandered through the mangroves, about 2-3kms long, it was lovely and well worth it.  I also found Johns weak spot in the form of the most comfortable recliner, which I took up residence in much to the dismay of both John & Colman, Joyce thought it funny I had usurped “the Chair”, but even now on “holidays” in Arno Bay again many weeks later typing the blog, I am in The Chair, so there John!!

We returned to Kimba the following evening and talked about what we planned and what they were planning on doing.  We were offered to stay on the farm in their (well actually now belonging to someone called TC’s) backyard as long as we wanted.  So at this point in time we decided to hang around, we were going to Adelaide for Easter in about 3 weeks so it all kind of fitted in.  Joyce needed a bit of a hand packing, so the two of us stayed put and helped out where we could and basically had a great time doing it.  J&J made sure we met lots of people including the new owners, some of their friends as well as the son of a lifelong mate of Johns, who turns out might be looking for someone to help seed in the near future.  Colman had the ‘interview’ with RL around the kitchen table at the farm, and a couple of days later was told the job was his.  The start time depended very much on the rain, and the duration also was weather dependant, but it seemed like a good opportunity and RL seemed like a very nice guy.  We spent most of the time with J&J and only did a little bit of sightseeing to start with.

The one bigger excursion we did was to Mt Ive station which is up near Lake Gairdner, this is the Mt Ive adventure and then I will return to the excitement of Kimba & country life…

We left Kimba in Suzi, this was going to be a camping & four wheel driving trip, Momo was being looked after by Joyce.  It had been coldish in Kimba so we both took warm things and 1 pair of shorts & 1 singlet each just in case. How does that saying go, don’t think it’s not your strong point what can I say!!  We headed north, John said to go via Buckelboo and then passed the silos and go straight, you can’t get lost.  Well refer to above quote again.. We did some geo-caches, one of them needed to be done it was on Buggery road, I wonder if this was named by Matthew Flinders on an inland excursion, for those in the know, I have an obsession with old Mat, and this road just fitted (as such) into his life style, well according to me anyway.  So having done the GC I decided we could continue on the road because according to the satellite photo on my phone this road eventually links up with the one leading to Mt Ives.  I hadn’t thought too hard about what a satellite photo is and it only dawned on me as we were 30 minutes into the drive that the image picks up everything, including farm tracks, private tracks, cow tracks, sheep tracks and tractor tracks.  We were basically heading straight through farmers paddocks, Colman had to take down fences for us to get through (putting them back up again after of course) and we went through gates that hadn’t been opened what looked like years.  Colman was not really happy and I just kept a look out for the farmer with the gun.  Luckily we mounted the last ditch and there in front of us, through another fence was the road we were meant to be on.  When we looked at a proper map later, not one road is to be seen anywhere we were driving.  John was horrified when we told him and thought it very lucky we hadn’t encountered the aforementioned crotchety farmer.  Never mind on we went.  We eventually arrived at Mt Ive station, and as advertised, it was an outback station, nothing more or less.  Mt Ive station is 900 square km and was established in 1862, it is a pastoral sheep station in the heart of the Gawler ranges, bordering on Lake Gairdner. 

We went to check in and a woman wandered over from one of the houses to sort us out.  Admittedly, checking in tourists every so often would be fairly tedious, but less enthusiasm you’d be hard pushed to portray, we managed to get a couple of bits of information, “yes its hot”, “yes we have 4WD tracks”, “no we don’t sell bread”, and other assorted ‘yes’ and ‘no’s as Colman persevered to talk and get info.  We ended up buying a book of the 4wd mud-map tracks to be done around the property, all up there was about 8 tracks that could be taken, we decided to do them all!!

One of the things your one did manage to impart was that the shearers were here and had taken over a toilet block and the kitchen, fine by us so no big deal, shearers are usually happy people with campfires, sing-along’s and good stories – little did we know.  We headed off to set up, found the single tree in the area, well not so much a tree as a scraggy looking tall bush and put up our tent.  We had brought along the mosquito tent my mother bought No1SIL and after much protestation from himself we put it up.  Best thing ever, flies, now I’m not talking a handful or two, this was serious, more flies I have rarely seen, a few juicy details later!!  I would say if you ate outside the tent half your protein would have come from these beasts.  Ughh… it was getting late so we went for a walk, came back and organized dinner and then had a glass of wine and watched the world around us.  We saw a girl and a guy (we presumed the shearers) heading off on trail bikes up into the hills, on the way back the girl stopped and had a chat to us.  How cute, she was a Kiwi Maori, she was wearing short denim shorts, a singlet, a couple of strings of pearls, a bright red scarf and thongs, all on the back of a 400 Yamaha her name was Billie.  She told us that her and the group were here for another couple of nights and if we wanted to come and watch them and say hello the next day we were more than welcome.  That sounded good and would go on our agenda for tomorrow. Bed sounded good to so off we went for the shower.  The shower was clean but primitive would be an understatement, the hot water was heated by a donkey.  Spending several minutes pondering how a donkey would heat water my confusion was cleared up.  The donkey a big wood powered water heater which the guest are requested to feed with the supplied wood.  Here is a little prose about the donkey:

I’m a beast of burden and I’ll work just fine, as long as you are out there, all stay in line

If perchance I’ not lit bet there’ll be a shout or kick, cause when it’s time to hit the shower, I’m sure you’ll learn I’ve got no power

I like to be fed regular that’s true, but please not to heavily or I’ll spew.  A log in time will be just fine, so keep me burning is all I ask.

Don’t stoke me up, and boil my ass.

 Day 2 - Good night sleep until 6am, when the generator kicked in, it was at the other end of the campsite but it was huge, oh well up we got.  Someone had turned up the temperature, it was substantially warmer then it was yesterday and it was only first thing in the morning.  Hmm, 1 tee-shirt, one pair of shorts each and 4 days to go. After breakfast we went off to the shearing shed, Billie saw us and we got a big hello and introduction to the gang manager who then invited us in.  Turns out there were 5 shearers (including a couple who will get a mention a bit later, 2 roustabouts (one of who was Billie), a wool classer and a bailer (he who makes up the bales – obviously) as well as the head of the team.  After the introduction I wandered about a bit while Colman talked to the classer, Billie took me to sit and watch one of the shearers.  So I sat and watched.  To say the air was thick enough to cut with a knife would have been an understatement.  Sitting and watching the interaction between the younger crowed (the shearers & roustabouts) would have been any psychologists dream, not a civil word was heard, well in fact not a word was spoken by these guys. What roused me from my reveries was a massive bang, which turned out to be one of the shearers(1 half of the couple) smacking the shed wall.  The atmosphere (if possible) worsened and Colman and I decided to say a big thank you and left with a “we really must be off so much to do so little time” comment.  As we left the big black cloud stayed behind, we took time to look at the shorn sheep and decided we could possibly to a better job than some of these based on the cuts on some of the poor sheep.  The grading is based on a number of things, density of wool, cleanliness, bugs in the wool as well as amount of skin on the wool. This farmer was not going to get a lot of money from this lot.  Anyway we headed off to do the first of the 4WD tracks, down to the wombat holes. There was a field with wombat holes created by the hairy nosed wombat, some of these things were huge, the entrance area would be about 2 meters across and the actual hole about 1 meter in diameter.  Would hate to meet this guys on a dark night.

We did a GC which was at a submarine built right next to the entrance of the station.  From a distance it looks pretty realistic emerging from the ground, with the conning tower (the big sticky up thing on the submarine) just breaching the surface, someone had some time on their hands.  We then took off to  Kath’s castle which is actually a formation of rhyolite rocks, they have 5 or six sides and look like organ pipes and were a result of volcanic eruptions about 1600 million years ago.  We also saw a dam called The Embankment which was built in the late19th century and still holds water now to the delight of the local goat herds, emus and kangaroos, all of which are in plenty supply, we’re talking hundred.  It was fairly warm, fully fly ridden but we had fun nevertheless.  Came back to camp, relaxed (in the fly tent), which I must actually talk about a bit more.  Whilst in Adelaide Colman got a electric fly zapper, sounds fairly silly but Colman liked it and brought it on our trip – thank god.  The method for getting into the tent was as follows, done in the steps as described and in a maximum of 30 second period.  Unzip tent, whip off fly screen hat and turn it inside out to trap flies, brush flies off back, leap inside, waft hands about lots, zip up fly screen, get out zapper and start waving it about like a lunatic and spray whatever flies are missed by the zapper with fly spray, collapse into a chair and pour a stiff drink!  You made sure you didn’t do that too often cause it was more exercise then was really needed.  The next day proved to be an interesting one. 

Day 3 - We were awoken somewhat differently this morning.  The smack I had heard the previous day had turned out to be the male half of the couple smacking the wall after an argument with the female half, who had proceeded to storm off while we were around. Colman saw this as I was busy contemplating shearing!  The previous evening we had watched the guy heading off doing 70kmph on his trail bike up into the hills, and her stalking off into the other direction. This morning we were awoken to the sound of yelling, one “F” didn’t wait for the next one (don’t forget these guys were staying about 100 meters away from us), more yelling, more screaming and then another thud and silence.  Then the generator kicked in.  Ahh, mornings in the country – what can you say.  Now my theory is as follows boy asks “other” girl to come for a ride on the trail bike, “other” girl puts on the pearls and the red scarf and they head off, girl finds out that boy and “other” girl have gone for a trip into the hills and goes ballistic and that’s how it all started.  I was explaining my theory to Colman at 6.15am, can anyone think of another way to spend the first 15 minutes of a new day.  We did laugh over coffee, but all delusions about happy happy shearers were out the window, scary bunch!  We got ready and headed off for our next 4WD trip.  We went to the east side of Lake Gairdener, a little about the lake.  Is about 160km long, 48km wide, 4800square km and is Australia’s 4^th largest salt lake and usually dry and the salt cover is about 1 meter thick, no need to bring the salt shaker here.  It is famous for several things, the Dry Lake races are held here annually in March and includes cars and bikes, and the fact that many speed records have been broken.  The top speed at one of the races on a bike was 218.9mph, 352.39kmph, apparently they advise not to walk around the track when these guys are racing.  The races were cancelled this year cause it’s too wet, damn global warming!!  It is also famous for having a Bollywood film made here as well as several commercials, for something we all know but have now forgotten (sorry).  We walked around a little, had a picnic in the car as there was way too much protein in the air and decided to head home to Mt Ive.  We went for a little wander around, until the flies wore us down and we did the tent dash.  Colman did wander over to some new comers to say Hi, 2 caravans had turned up and he wanted a chat so off he went.  I settled in for a bit of reading but he was back in 5 minutes, very unusual.  Turns out they were the miserable sort of campers you sometimes have the misfortune to run into, Eyre peninsula was overrated, Streaky Bay was over crowded, Gawler ranges national park was messy(?!?) and Ceduna was boring.  We never bothered going back to say Hi, why waste perfectly good breath on people like that!

Day 4 –  Did the Billy can track where you follow black Billy cans (paint pots!!) strategically placed throughout the property, some lovely bits of scenery and it makes you realize just how vast the area is.  We also went up Mt Ive with Suzi, a rougher dirt/rock track we had yet to encounter but after about one  hour of being tossed pillar to post we arrived at the top, an extra encouragement was the fact that this was the only place in the area where you could get telephone reception, so the first 5 minutes up there were spent listening to our phones beep and whine will it updated everything there was to update.  Interestingly enough this is where I received an email advising me that I was one of the lucky Apple winner of $900,000USD, all I had to do was send my name, date of birth and occupation and they would start the proceeding for me getting the money, ehhmmm, I sent off the info as requested. Rang mother, answered another couple of mails and then we noticed the weather was turning and big black clouds rolling in, the rain was starting and there was that clap of thunder, time to head back down.  Something that cannot be done in a hurry, and when we got back the fun started.  How exciting, a thunderstorm was my comment, I poured us a glass of red and suggested we sit down and watch the weather.  Colman looked a little concerned and started to tie things down, put things away and generally do sensible things while I told him not to be so silly and just enjoy it.  Just then the heavens opened seriously, the wind started and kept on going up and up, we abandoned our mossie tent and legged it to our sleeping tent which at this point was almost horizontal, in we went and attempted to prop up the corners that the wind was hitting the hardest.  I went into the bedroom part and there I stood on our mattress with a glass of red in my hand trying desperately not to get blown over (and spill the wine quiet apart from all the other dire consequences) Colman was in the other section of the tent also struggling not to get blown away. We both eventually had to slug our wine, throw the glasses down and put some serious backbone into keeping the tent poles from snapping and the whole tent disappearing into the distance.  While all this was happening the rain was throwing down, this in turn kicked up all the red dust which was turning into a red quagmire as we watched and covered everything on or vaguely near to the ground in red muck.  Don’t you just love nature! After about 20 minutes of this the rain stopped, the wind stopped and the sky turned a lovely color of blue followed by a most spectacular sunset.  And we were in hysterics, nothing was broken (pure luck), half our stuff was covered in red muck, half our clothes were wet but hey – no flies, right where’s the wine?  We decided at this stage we would make dinner and just ignore the rest until the morning.  It’s not something that could be washed at the tent, we needed to head over to the camp kitchen and tomorrow is another day.

Day 5 – up and at them, packed up all the assorted stuff and headed over to the camp kitchen.  Now this was early morning (thanks to the generator) and my morning temperament is only good as long as no one hassles me, argues, disagrees or just generally annoys me (this does include stupid looks or smart comments to no one in particular).  We arrived in the kitchen/dining room area to find the shearers cook had commandeered the whole thing.  Colman did the nice thing and was told by this stupid looking skinny runt of a Sydney mardigras participant that we couldn’t wash the dishes there but would need to do it elsewhere, surely we had the gear in our camping setup.  I tried to stay absorbed in the great selection of books that they had in the dining room but it all overcame me, as Colman walked off to find somewhere else to wash up, I advised this wee git that the options were as such, he shift and we wash or we’ll be back in 15 minutes to collect our clean dishes.  Choice was his but not doing the dishes was not an option, so deal with it and get over it.  By this stage Colman had returned and the aforementioned runt told him to talk to the campground owner and maybe she would let us wash in her kitchen, otherwise we would work something out. Colman and I went next door to find the owner, Joy to see what next, she turned out to be a lovely lady. 2 hours later we went back to our tent having heard all the latest.  Shearers were crap, receptionist who booked us in was leaving, someone else who had worked there was threatening someone else, etc, etc, etc, it was a bit like days of our lives outback style.  We had a great few hours chat, coffee, washed the dishes and then were invited to come back after we had packed up for lunch. We did just that and came back for lunch, which the shearer cook had made for her, A) he did not know we were to partake in lunch so no poison included, B) I can see why the shearers were unhappy, who in their right mind throws cauliflower, broccoli, raw beacon and eggs and cheese into a pot and shoves it into the oven for a couple of hours?  Anyway the conversation was fun and we were invited back if we were ever looking for work, something to remember.  After all that we headed off for a night near Lake Gairdener, I really wanted to see it by sunset and sunrise, and really why not.  The campsite had no facilities but for 1 night we decided it would be fine.  Did a couple of GC on the way and eventually arrived at the lake.  Stopped the car and Colman had a chat to a 4WD crowed that was camped there, right at the entrance of the park and nowhere near the lake, I wanted to be down by the lake, so we headed down and found ourselves a perfect spot overlooking it  and then about 50 million flies found us – included the dreaded horse fly (or March fly as it’s called).  Now I hate these things and when one lands on me I usually do a little dance involving screaming, smacking myself and anything within distance with a thong ( I almost lost a thong (the plastic kind) out the car window one day when a horsefly came into the car, Colman almost crashed the car he thought it was hysterical – not nice I say)) and jumping up and down like one of those African tribes.  Colman usually just stand still and laughs until it all gets too much and he sends me inside where we are both safe!  We set up, me doing the inside part and Colman setting up the outside, we then kitted up in our mossie face nets etc and went for a walk out onto the lake, it was spectacular.  Everything is white and glistening, it’s like walking on crunchy snow except its 30 degrees, the salt carves itself around everything that is on its surface and turns it crystalline, it looks spectacular.  Apart from that you can see the tracks of the emus loping across the lake surface.  The funny thing was the distances, there was an island in the distance and I thought it would be something we could walk out to, at the same time I looked at some GC in the area I had downloaded and one of the comments was “do not attempt to walk out to the island unless you have plenty of time, it looks close but it is almost 6 km away”, very deceptive.  You can just imagine these explorers coming over the hill and seeing this huge lake glistening in the sun, you get closer and you think something might not be quite right, its glistening like ice, then you get to it and its pure crystal salt.  Bugga!!  Apparently there are 6 fresh water creeks that flow into the lake, as well as some fresh water sinks, to find out where they sinks are you need to look where the animals congregate to drink.  We never did see it but it was still beautiful, sunset was not as spectacular as I hoped but still lovely.  One thing I do have to mention is the flies, now I know I have been whining about the amount of flies, but I was wrong (yes  I know…), the amount of flies was phenomenal.  Colman was wearing a white (will now kind of browny grey) tee shirt but the back was black with flies, my hat and mossie net were black with flies.  I took a photo after I brushed them off Colman’s back and it looked like someone had dropped a huge bagful of raisins in front of the camera.  It got to the point where the feeling of a squillion flies on your skin made you feel sick, but imagine if you were one of the early explorers, there is always a worse story than yours!  However here are some details on flies as promised earlier (always educational), flies can produce several generations with the space of one year.  Let’s assume that a fly lays 120 eggs per generation and half of these develop into females, a single female fly can give rise to 5 million flies within a year.  See the dilemma!   We managed to get back to base before it got completely dark and ended up sitting around watching the moon come up over the lake, drinking lots of red wine and taking heaps of weird and wonderful photos of which we deleted most in the cold light of day!! 

Day 6 - We got up early the next day because we wanted to see the sun come up over the lake and that was well worth it, it’s funny when you look at nature and the colors that it manages to mix together.  Being a quilter (as such) there are colors I would never thought to put together, but here mother nature tosses them all in and the whole affair looks absolutely brilliant.  The camera was not spared.  We then headed back to the camp, packed up in record time, managed to avoid most flies and hit the road.  We had now been wearing the same cloths for 4 days (excluding knickers), had not had a shower and had sweated none stop since yesterday morning’s shower.  Sorry guys.  We headed back to Kimba via the Gawler ranges and stopped at the Paney Homestead, a 3 bedroom house in which lived Mr Murdoch McKenzie with his wife and 11 children, hmm almost like the Herbig tree but posher!!  A poem by one William Crawford McKenzies which I like and was at the front of the cottage, a ‘restored’ National trust house. 

A Dream of the Past

We travelled down past Scrubby Peak along the sand hill track

We mustered all the twelve mile plains ad brought the shorn sheep back

The ridge of Paney Bluff recalled those halcyon days of yore

Brought back familiar faces and the scenes I knew once more

Then back to Kimba via a couple more GC including a early 19^th  century de-salination plant, an old school site with a huge water tank still holding water as well as an original old horse buggy from somewhere 1920.  So much to learn from geo-caching, mind you sometimes half wits out there put stuff in places you just need to scratch your head and wonder why.  Another piece of trivia as you are hurtling down some dirt road outback – don’t hit any sleepy lizards, they actually mate for live, so be careful!!

We arrived back at J&J’s place and basically told them, don’t come near us you may not survive, could we just use your shower and then we can have coffee/wine and talk.  Joyce said she was surprised we lasted that long with the heat and the flies – but we’re made of tougher stuff (I think!!) a lovely night, clean, in clean sheets, in a soft bed and no flies – does it get better?  We were then asked if we would like to attend their farewell from Kimba organized by their friends from their church.  It was a very good night and we managed to meet a lot of the locals and taste some lovely country home cooked food, but no alcohol(!!)

J&J had visitors from Hahndorf (Joyce brother Edward & wife Di) who also help pack and we all had a great couple of days packing and eating & laughing.  J&J left Tuesday afternoon and it was sad, weird, unsettling to see them leave and know that after all this time of threatening to come visit we did and they left, yes I know!  We rolled around like a ball in an empty box for a day and then got our act together.  I started work at the Library a couple of days later and a couple of days after Colman started seeding with Rhett. 

Now after all that we both worked so not that much happened but a few things that made us laugh need to be mentioned, so here is a little snapshot of the country way of life.  Kimba is a great place, most people are very friendly, some people are lovely, some you see and avoid, kind of like the city except everyone knows everyone else – so rule number one – keep mouth shut.  Problem number one – it’s me were talking about!!!

Life in the country, names have been altered to protect the identity of the innocent, oh and my butt also!

I have discovered there are several rules in country life, and first and foremost is that everyone knows everyone else, and even if everyone doesn’t like everyone else, they still prefer these individuals to anyone from the “outside”.  And based on that one fact, keep your mouth shut, and if you can’t do that at least think before you put your foot in your mouth.  Based on that all my dear friends would know, I tend to open my mouth simply to change the position of the foot, and nothing has changed…Having said that, luckily the people involved have seen the funny side.  As I said earlier we were invited to attend J&J’s farewell at the local church, although it was held at the church by their friends who were in the church it was not a church thing (whatever I mean by that).  My first laugh came when I asked Joyce what I could bring, not even wanting to compete with Joyce’s cooking skills I suggested we could bring some wine.  Well apparently, this was a tea-totler occasion, and so it began.  The first person I saw on the evening was someone I worked with and let’s just say we never did agree on anything – At All.  Turns out to be someone of consequence that everyone appears to know and like, Strike 1.  Then I had a great conversation with another lovely lady who then asked me if I would like to join the congregation, I think my somewhat hysterical squeak of “No No thanks” gave her a fright, and thankfully Colman jumped in to say he was a lapsed catholic and wouldn’t feel right joining, Strike 2.  I then started to chat to the wife of the person who now owns the property we were to stay on after J&J left, I thanked her for allowing us to stay and that we would look after the property and if they wanted anything done to let us know and we would be more than happy to help out.  She had no idea who I was and had no idea what I was talking about – Strike 3.  Colman also had plenty of funny stories but the one that does appeal to me was when we were cross examined about our hobbies, reading – yep reading club please join, sewing – yep sewing club please join, photography – yep there is someone into that will let you know, I think at this stage Colman had enough and told them his favorite hobby was scuba diving.  The silence was deafening and then everyone went to get another drink (coffee of course), food, piece of cake or whatever. We both had a good night, not sure what sort of impression we made but there you go.

The rhubarb story.  On the day J&J were due to leave Joyce asked Colman if he would mind digging up the rhubarb for her as she wanted to take it with her.  No problem.  After about 20 minutes Colman came back in looking a bit the worse for wear and asking Joyce for another bucket cause there was a lot of rhubarb around.  Joyce looked perplexed, both because Colman was looking a bit shattered but also because we wanted more buckets, she only had 1 little rhubarb plant, what on earth was he doing.  So upon further investigation we discovered he had been digging up that which looks like rhubarb but is not, Joyce had many of these plants!!  Well wouldn’t you just think that an Irish country boy knew his rhubarb –wrong!!  It certainly was the cause of great hysteria, and I suspect he will never live it down.. and I think everyone was able to use a good laugh.  They left late afternoon after the removalists turned up about 4 hours late, assorted friends came round to say goodbye and we eventually waved them off about 3pm, I believe the ‘Rhubarb’ kept them laughing a part of the way.  The removalists eventually left about 1am!! So a long day was had by all.

So after J&J abandoned us in their backyard we were due to experience some country life and I have just listed a few highlight stories below.

Went into the local grocery shop on Monday morning, milk – sold out, OJ – sold out, bread – sold out, garlic – sold out.  Fail.  The groceries are restocked on Tuesday and Thursday, if you want something that is not tinned or frozen, that’s when you shop.  Interesting fact, the Kimba Backhouse was built in 1923, prior to this Kimba got its bread by train Monday & Fridays.  Move forward 90 odd years, Kimba gets its bread by truck Tuesday & Thursday the Backhouse is now the local supermarket and there is no bakery!  

I decided on my first Saturday morning alone to head into town, pick up the paper, have a browse through the shops and then have a coffee & read the paper.  Fail.  Had to go to 3 shops to get the Australian (not everyone sells that here!), the shops as well as the coffee shop were solidly closed.

We thought we would go out for a nice dinner at the local pub, luck was with us we got a parking spot right in front of the pub.  Headed in full of anticipation.  Hmm, were do I start, atmosphere – fail, waitress service – fail, food – fail, the best thing was – the waitress did not ask us if we enjoyed our meal or why I had eating 2 calamari rings and left everything else.  Watching some of the other patrons was a bit scary, enough said.

I did head to one of the local get together that I had been invited to which was an eye-opener, within 10 minutes one of the younger attendee informed me of every bit of gossip in the town.  I was able to go home and explain to Colman where the local lady of the night lived, her hours, and what she charged for what service and the names of a few locals who could vouch for her ability.  I never did go back!

The people I worked with at the library were wonderful and thanks to them I also met & got to know assorted other people including Anna who is from Austria and her partner Stoney who told me one day that many years ago him and his then wife walked out to have a look at the unusual cloud in the distance, turns out it was the mushroom cloud associated with the testing at Maralinga.  Apparently when they let the bomb off they had miscalculated the wind & weather and instead of harmlessly (!?) heading off inland it turned and came to Kimba.  Also turns out the many of the sheds that had been abandoned at Maralinga were carted down to the farmers here and sold to them. Scary.

T’s sister & her husband parked their caravan on the other side of the house and did some work on it for a while and we got to know them too.  After much too do in the local pub (which they managed for a while) they now plan to travel around Oz also, so we will very likely run into Di & David along the way, our port collection (or theirs as the case may be) will never be the same.  We found out a little while later we shared a great liking for port & laughter, so again some fun times were had.  We hope to catch up in Roxby somewhere down the track.

We also had Ike & Sandy come visit a couple of times for dinner and coffee, they were the 4wd drive crowed we met in Port Lincoln and the ones we are heading off with mid July.  It was great to see them and we have organized lots for our trip.

The other side of the coin is that you meet so many people and (especially me being scatty) remember only a handful.  The amount of conversations I have had with people where I walk away afterwards and thinking – “I have absolutely no idea who that was”.  Luckily I have discovered that if I talk to Katrin who I work with in the library and give her all the details she usually puts names to faces for me – phew

So while Colman heads off daily starting somewhere between 6 and 8 am and returning after 6pm and cruising round in ever decreasing circles I flit around.  I will try and get Colman to tell me a few stories to put in here, but that sort of stuff is always a bit difficult.

I did spend an afternoon on a tractor so have some idea what it’s like.  I had set myself up in the house to sort out all my quilting & craft stuff so during the day I would spend a couple of hours in there sorting.  One afternoon T walked in (frightened the bejesus out of me) and asked if I wanted to hop on the tractor.  He took me down where TC  (the other TC)was seeding, asked me if I had met TC and then basically dumped me to make my way over to do ????what???  Anyway, TC looked as confused as me but we ended up having a great afternoon chatting and him explaining some of the finer details of seeding and the machines used.  The one I was on was 50 foot wide (in meters -  pretty wide) but apparently in the US some of these things are up to 150 foot wide, you’d really want to know what you’re doing.  These things use air pressure to push the seeds and the fertilizer into the soil.  Having said that after  hours of going round in ever decreasing circles I was pretty much over it, fun was had but if I had to sit by myself in a tractor doing this it would not be nice, I feel for Colman…. I did end up getting both Colman and TC a Listening book, where someone reads a story on the CD.  I think TC listened to his, but sods law – as few books as Colman reads, the one I got for him – he had read! Bugger!   

Now about the ongoing saga of the winning Apple lottery, I received an email from someone to tell me that as I reside in Oz the easiest way for me to claim my winning was to have it organized by a lawyer in London.  There were certain fees involved including Power of Attorney, International insurance and transport/postage costs, a small fee totaling $1395.00 which compared to my near million win was nothing.  Anyway, I suggested that I’d fly to London, we’d meet up and I would collect the winnings and then leave him$2000 as a thank you gesture.  I received a short email to say I would need to be there within 7 days, I wrote back saying “no problem’ would that be calendar or working days – never heard from them again. Strange….

While wandering around the supermarket one day I ran into M who invited us to her 40^th party in a couple of weeks. It was at the local golf club, we chatted to many interesting people including some where you walk away and wonder why??  It appears that some people are considered lucky and some appear not to “Get Lucky”, it was a very entertaining story but something maybe not for publication!  Another amusing incident revolve around my memory seeming to be somewhat shot, especially when it comes to people, faces and names (that really hasn’t changed I hear you say!!!), so I spent the whole night looking for someone I had met a couple of times and who I had actually had a great chat to on the night.  It was only when I talked to Colman about it and the fact that I did not see that person the whole night that he looked at me very very strangely and wanted to know who I thought the person was I had been talking to…. Oh dear, luckily I think I got away with it, but it did give a few other friends something to laugh about when I told them.  One thing to be said for the golf club, their volunteers cook better then the “chef” at the local pub – sad really!

We also had a little Momo dinner party when friends from the library rang to say they were coming around with food and happy to eat on their laps.  It was a great night, Sangria was had and much great food was eaten and many stories told by everyone.  The weather was absolutely shocking on that night and just as everyone was packing up someone asked about the water pouring in through one of the lights in the kitchen – oops, not a good thing.  Interestingly enough it has not done it again since that night, mind you the heavens have never opened as comprehensively as they did that night either.

The night before C’s birthday we had dinner at The Bosses place, their place is identical to J&J which makes it very weird (well there is one difference), and it sits up on a hill overlooking Kimba, which from that view point and with the lights on looks huge.  D&O were also there and some great conversations were had and lots of red wine was drunk and good food was eaten.  There were a couple of funny moments including when D tucked into her dinner and was promptly rebuked by her son for “being worse than the children about waiting to start eating”.  As we had the conversation very early on about joining the local congregation she was trying to be diplomatic but got into trouble with son instead!!

Colman’s birthday in Whyalla – oops Port Lincoln.  I spoke with a friend about heading off to Whyalla for Colman’s birthday and she looked a little surprised, apparently there isn’t even a good restaurant there.  Having only ever been there diving with the cuttle fish (of which there are none this year!!) I couldn’t say and hadn’t really thought about it.  After a little chat we decided that PL might be a better option and so the great subterfuge started.  I contact some of our friends to see who was available and when and ended up planning a busy weekend (we unfortunately didn’t get to see everyone we wanted to).  I told Colman when we left Kimba that K had given me a better road to Whyalla, kind of via Lock.  As this meant nothing to him he was ok about it, when he saw the sign for Cummins he became skeptical, once we had passed through Cummins he had worked it out.  We then went down the track of, are we meeting up with the crew at the Church?  Nope, main instigator is away, where are we staying – campsite, how about R&S, nope they were busy, and I didn’t have T&L number so couldn’t contact them, but did manage to make a few other plans.  So we booked into the Lincoln Hotel, room with balcony & ocean view, straight to Del Giornos for coffee & a nibble and then back for a cocktail.  Then we headed over to the Pier (aka The Church), where the whole gang awaited us!  A great night was had, sadly The Greek Sheila was still in Adelaide but we did manage to chat on the phone.  Next morning we headed back to Del Giornos for a great breakfast and some fantastic coffee and then off to Coffin Bay to get some oysters, place was closed but after a quick phone call we got our 4 dozen oysters ($7.50 pd).  Back to the hotel, nana nap and then off we went again.  Dinner  at R&S, great food, great drinks and wonderful company, we eventually dragged ourselves out of there well after 1am.  Yet another successful surprise.  Up the next morning and a little breakfast at the hotel and off to T&L’s place, where they piled us into the car (this was a surprise to me also), blind folded Colman made him put on a wig, a pink boa, badges and assorted other silly things, cranked up the music and off we drove direction Coffin Bay.  Got lost on the way a problem which was solved by Toni half charming half bribing  one of the locals to escort us to Gino’s place which was probably 10 Km’s away, all the time C…  is in the back with the wig etc on  (T is amazing) .  Gino lives in Kelidie Bay, his property spans the two kilometers between Kelidie Bay and Dutton Bay and is about 800 acres with about 2 Km’s of shore line on each bay belonging to him (worth an absolute fortune) .  His house is like something out of Dynasty and the Porsche he has parked under the house is beautiful.  As is the yacht, assorted other vintage cars, the D900  bulldozer,  the 2 graders  & enough other huge machines to put in a small highway  The house with  its 4 two meter chandeliers, polished everything, grand piano ,probably 20 ft ceiling has to be seen to be believed.  He was a very nice, genuine & interesting man who had in the 60ties & 70ties had been a racecar driver. He had even raced among others against Sterling Moss in a Tasmanian rally .We had a great afternoon being wined and dined next to an old forge which he had set up as a covered “outdoor bbq area” with the view to die for.  After about 5 hrs of wine and food  we then headed back to T’s place for coffee and cake before driving back to Kimba.  I think C enjoyed the weekend and we certainly had heaps of fun.

We are now a couple of days away from leaving Kimba for me to go to Quilt Encounter and Colman to house sit and socialize before heading off  to the 4WD trip around Alice Springs.  It’s been a great stay here on Chapman Road, we’ve met some wonderful people and have thoroughly enjoyed it.  It has made me realize (think about) the life of a farmer and I think it’s very different to how me (and probably a lot of city folks) perceive it.  I still find it terribly hard to get excited about the rain, or to even wish for it, but I now see why.  It’s much harder work then I expected, with hours that are just ridiculous but there really isn’t much of a choice about it if that is your life.  As for living in a small town, we were lucky that we became involved with some great people and this really had much to do with our introduction by J&J.  I can see how difficult it would be to try and become a ‘local’ but we never actually felt like real outsiders either but I think that was more due to luck than anything else.  Another thing which this episode on our travels has thought me is to accept that some things don’t happen today, they may not happen tomorrow either but they will.  If you really want to cook Ouso Bucco tonight and you find the butcher apprentice has thrown the cut away because “well who would eat that anyway” , there is only one choice, Get Over It!  So much more to be said but it will start to get boring so I will stop, however I will say that I’m sitting here typing with a grin on my face and ever so happy that we had these 3 months here in Kimba.  Well we are now back in Adelaide and Quilt Camp is imminent, have organized to catch up with lots of friends and then straight after camp we head off to Kimba and 3 days later join the 4WD crowed for The Bush.  Can’t wait.  MoMo&Co.xx