4/10/2018
Thursday Both R & R slept well despite the windy cool night. They woke at 5:00am, again at 6:00am and then
again at 7:00am when they finally got out.
After breakfast, R & R felt a sense of urgency to get the camper
down as it really did look like it might rain.
It was just before 8:30am when RL pulled south onto the North Stirling/Rangeview
Road for the last 25km or so to Port Augusta.
Much like the afternoon before the road and rail ran closely together
with the rail going over or under the road a couple of times. The road was winding and marked by suggested
speed limits of as low as 40km/hr. The
rail line cut through the hills in places while at other times it ran part way
up a hillside and yet others at the bottom of cliff faces. It was easy to see how interesting and
exciting it would be for a rail enthusiast to journey on the Pitchi Ritchi
rail. Mallee and larger shrubbery grew
along with saltbush on the orange soil.
About 15 kms from Port Augusta the road came down to the coastal flats
through the small township of Stirling North.
A sign welcomes the traveller with the warning that the area is a Total
Dry Zone. RL had to turn west toward
Port Augusta, for the last 5kms, past the prison, Bird Lake and the salt flats,
which were both dry, and over a bridge, under which the Pitchi Ritchi rail line
ran. RA could smell the salt in the
air. Just before 9:00am R & R were
at the Waldata information centre seeking information. The morning was still cloudy and an icy wind
blasted from the south. From there, they
walked down Commercial St in the CBD to look into the op shops, where they
found a hardback copy of “Tommo & Hawk” by Bryce Courtenay, and on to Coles
and Woolies for some groceries. Shortly
before noon, R & R arrived at the caravan park along the foreshore and were
setting up. About 1:00pm, they had lunch
and a cat nap. Though the sun had come
through, the wind was still blasting icy cold from the south at about 37km/hr
and R & R were slow to be motivated to do anything. With coffee, they considered their options
for the next few days and, ended up agreeing to pay for a second night and not
be in too much of a hurry to get going.
That done, they just sat and read for an hour in the camper out of the
wind. After 4:30pm R & R took turns
at cutting each other’s hair before having showers. They helped each other prepare dinner, after
which RL helped RA read through a draft.
RL read and RA wrote the diary for the day which was not that much …
since they hadn’t done much.
5/10/2018
Friday The wind had calmed to almost still at some point during the night. R & R slept well and woke about 7:00am to
a cool 8*C but with a promise of a lovely sunny day. After breakfast, RL went for his shower while
RA did some cleaning to get the worst of the dust out of the camper. RL’s
brother, S, rang in response to RL’s message.
RL chatted a while. RA went for
her shower while RL filled the water tanks.
At 9:00am, the wash was in the machine so RA paid a couple of accounts
online and published a post, and half an hour later R & R were hanging the
wash out in the sunshine with a light breeze.
Shortly after 10:00am, R & R were standing above the orange cliffs
at Matthew Flinders Lookout. Flinders
stood there in 1802 and named many of the peaks of the Flinders Ranges at the
time. The view of the ranges and the top
of Spencer Gulf, where many set off in search of the inland sea, is picturesque
with the deep aqua blue of the water, the orange sand dunes and cliffs and an
array of green and grey arid coastal plants.
From there, it was only a couple of minutes to the Australian Arid Lands
Botanical Garden where R & R spent a couple of hours wandering round all
the different landscapes with specific focus.
There was a section which had Gawler Ranges specific vegetation and
another Flinders Ranges specific, etc. A
lookout over the coastal dune area was worth the walk and everywhere specific
plants and trees were labelled with other signs along the way. R & R were particularly impressed with
the Arid Smart Display Gardens, much like walking through a series of display
homes, where plants and features were brought together in most attractive
combinations. Each panel had several water
wise tips on it. There was a sense of “I
like that.” and “I reckon I could do that.” Look up aalbg.sa.gov.au - The
Garden – AridSmart Display Gardens. The
children’s garden was a fairly recent development with bridges, paths, natural
climbing frames, a cubby that was a bird hide, teepees made from branches and …
get this … a sandpit with orange sand!
What else? All that walking and
fresh air and experiential overload, R & R were ready for lunch back at the
camper about 12:30pm. They brought the
washing in and had a cat nap. It was
13*C and the breeze about 13km/hr. At
2:40pm, RL drove down town. R & R
had a list of things to do: they filled a gas bottle at Mitre 10, popped into
the Salvos op shop, went to a caravan repairers who had just sold the last pair
of saddles (the part that steadies the brace over the bed awning), dropped a
script at a chemist, selected a notebook for RA (She was getting desperate!) at
Big W, picked up the script, went to look at the Railway Station Murals which
depict the Indigenous and European history of Port Augusta and the mural on the
wall called “Our Story Our Pride” which featured 2500 hand painted tiles wrapped
around the wall on the corner of Flinders Tce and Augusta Hwy, popped into
Foodland looking for coffee, and, last but not least, climbed 78 steps of the
water tower at Apex Park for a fantastic
view over the city, the waters of the Gulf, the salt flats and the ranges
beyond. R & R were just returning to
the caravan park, about 5:30pm, when R, RL’s sister, rang so RA made coffee and
they chatted. RL rang their son, S, as
was the habit for a Friday about that time, before helping RA prepare
dinner. After dinner, R & R sat
together proofing a draft. RA rang S,
their daughter, and they chatted for a while.
It was too late for RA to do the day’s diary so they just quit. R & R were really glad to have taken the
time to do some sightseeing in Port Augusta.
They had already been through Port Augusta at least seven times without
actually stopping to look around. Slim
Dusty sings a song about Port Augusta remaining the same. Not so any more. R & R found it to be attractive,
impressive … progressive.
6/10/2018
Saturday. R & R slept well and woke
to 13*C at 6:00am. RA got out early to
write the diary from the night before. After breakfast RL showered while RA
published a post and paid another account online. By 9:50am, R & R were exiting the caravan
park and heading for Puma to refuel. It
suited R & R to refuel with them as they seemed happy to honour the RAC WA
card for a 4c/lt discount almost everywhere.
They parked down the back of the service station and rung their friend,
N, while having a cup of coffee. It was
about 10:30am as RL pulled out of the service station and headed south for
about 18kms before turning east towards Wilmington another 20kms. At first there was low flat coastal scenery
with small grey green salt resistant shrubbery on orange soil with only an
occasional tree. The pipeline which brings water to Port Augusta from the
south, possibly the Murray, ran close to the highway. Having turned east towards the Flinders
Ranges, the road began to increase from just above sea level to 600m within a
few kilimetres. Horrocks Pass was a
particularly winding section with suggested speeds limits of 35-45km/hr and
rose steadily for about 5kms before descending for the next 5kms. The ranges were well wooded. On the eastern side of the pass, R & R
saw sheep, green pastures and some barley cropping that was already turning
yellow. It was 11:00am when R & R
walked up and down the main street of Wilmington before popping into the
information centre and the local op shop.
In both, the ladies had plenty of information about going to Alligator
Gorge in the Mt Remarkable National Park and both were sure that taking the
camper was not a good idea. As a
consequence, R & R unhitched the camper in the main street and left it with
a padlock in the tow ball. Just before
noon, they headed south a couple of kilometres before turning east toward the
National Park. On the flat R & R saw
sheep, pastures and crops growing. After
another couple of kilometres of flat road, it became extremely winding and
steep after entering the park for about 5kms mostly up and then again for the
next mostly down. The road ran along the
top of the ridges at times and often the view down the side of the Ute was
nearly a sheer drop. The last kilometre
had drains and dips which required near walking speed. The park was well wooded but R & R wondered
that so much of the vegetation looked tired, fatigued, or even diseased, rather
than healthy. About 12:20pm, R & R had coffee and cake in the car park at
the top of Alligator Gorge to fortify themselves for the hike down the 300
stairs into the gorge, to the terraces and ripples and then back through the
narrowest part of the gorge toward Blue Gum Flat and back up to the rear of the
car park. The walk took about 1.5 hours
as it was quite steep and very rocky over the stones on the bed of the Wilochra
River. In the shaded bottom of the gorge,
it was cool and smelled damp while in the drier areas, it was warm and the
perfume of plants in bloom was delightful.
R & R saw native pine, river gums, weeping sheoak, blackboy, many
native wild blossoms as well as the domestic snowdrop that has a garlic smell
and some Patterson curse, which is a weed. They saw many little lizards and a
rainbow bee eater and could hear the calls of many birds despite not seeing
them. R & R were well and truly
ready for lunch before taking the two shorter walks, one right and one left, to
the two lookouts. As RL drove out, just
before 3:00pm, several kangaroos were already out in their afternoon feeding
pattern. At 3:15pm, R & R hitched up
the camper and set off south towards Crystal Brook where they intended to sleep
at the free camp at Jubilee Park. It was
simply a matter of hopping from town to town along the way, each only a few
kilometres apart, for the most part, following the Horrocks Highway. It was 21kms to Melrose, a pretty little town
with massive silos lying at the base of Mt Remarkable at 953m. R & R stopped out of curiosity when they
saw a sign about a swing bridge. They
could not resist walking on it which enabled them to see the number of families
staying there on holiday enjoying all the cycling tracks. RL drove on through the community of Murray
Town 15kms south and then through Wirraburra a further 12kms. RL passed a complex called Stone Hut where
there was accommodation, animal petting, an aviary and a bakery. It all looked pretty new and impressive. It was 17kms to Laura where R & R stopped
to take a photo of a derelict seed processing mill and its chimney. Laura looked like a nice little town with
lots of interesting statues. For the
most part the road had not been the best but the open farming country with
sheep (even one mob of ewes with lambs) and cropping was a welcome change from
the outback dryness that R & R had seen so much of … and further it
reminded them, very much of the south west and home. From Laura the 24km journey to Crystal Brook took
an easterly turn toward the coast following the scenic drive. Indeed, it was scenic, back through some
hilly country with more cropping, a vineyard and some cattle. The road rose up to and over Hughs Gap. At the top there were at least four tanks of
a huge complex with a Water Station and a view directly to the sea in the
Spencer Gulf near Port Pirie. RL also
noted the wind turbines, to the south west, which on previous trips to
Melbourne, R & R had only seen from the western side of the range. The
Navigator helped R & R to locate the rest area and by 5:30pm, the camper
was set up next to the railway line on Railway Tce. R & R chatted rang their daughter H and
chatted with her, and R, their grandson and S, their other daughter as she was
with them for D’s birthday party. R
& R prepared dinner together before reading and writing. Over the course of the evening three trains
had passed heading north and one south.
Three of them were marked Australian Rail Group moving freight from
Adelaide to Darwin and one of them was a passenger train. R & R knew it was
change over day for daylight savings in South Australia so they set their
watches forward one hour before retiring.
It had been a long day but delightful … to see green fields again.
7/10/2018
Sunday Neither RA nor RL slept well. It
was not the trains passing that was the issue.
The rest area was close to a hotel so as the patrons left in varying
stages, they walked home past the rest area talking and laughing loudly in
several groups before closing time. R
& R’s restlessness may well have been sparked by the time change which
meant that they felt alert so as not to be up late for Mass at 8:30am. They were aware that it had tried to rain
overnight. Anyway, R & R were out of
bed about 6:30am to a pleasant 14*C and were breakfasted, packed up and parked
outside the church well before 8:30am.
After Mass, R & R parked back at the rest area so they could walk up
and down Crystal Brook’s main street and take in the explorer sculptures which
focused, not on specific explorers, but on methods of transport used for
exploration, from walking to space craft.
The town was quite large and had several big machinery sales and service
centres. There were many very attractive
and well-kept buildings, both domestic and commercial, which reflected the
stone work of days past. Several of the
buildings in the main street were antique or memorabilia outlets and others had
vines growing along their verandahs. It
was relatively quiet being early on a Sunday morning, but one café was already
busy and shoppers were popping into Foodland.
About 10:30am, RL headed back through Hughes Gap to Gladstone 20 or so
kilometres away. The area boasts being
home to the Lace Monitor (a reptile) and the Peregrine Falcon. R & R saw a falcon, hovering above the
green cereal and lupin crops, shortly after setting out. The countryside was flat to undulating and
everywhere as far as the eye could see, there were sections of different crops,
in different stages of green with different textural quality depending on the
direction they had been sown. When R
& R arrived in Galdstone about 11:00am, they rang RL’s sister, E, to see
how things were going. They chatted for
ages in the shade of a willow tree while they had coffee and cake. After that, R & R walked up and down the
main street and enjoyed reading about Gladstone rail history. It was a point in the railway system in South
Australia where trains of all three different rail gauges came together. Nearby, there was a very impressive Anzac
memorial. Many items of significance
were displayed in a mausoleum made of only one solid wall and three of
glass. It was most unusual! Gladstone had many silos, a witness to the
fact that it was the state’s biggest point of grain receival. R & R were just about to leave Gladstone
when G, RL’s brother rang to give an account of his week. It was 1:20pm when RL drove the next 12kms to
Georgetown where they intended to sleep at the rest area. The temperature was near 30*C and energy
levels were seriously flagging. The rest
area looked great with a toilet and some shade so R & R had lunch before
even contemplating setting up. As soon
as the camper was set up, they had a rest for at least an hour. The difference between cat nap and resting is
the difference between 20 and 60 minutes.
When they surfaced about 3:30pm, it was still so hot and uncomfortable
that R & R just looked over maps to come up with a plan for the next few
days. About 5:00pm, R & R had a
shower before reading through a draft post and selecting some photos for
it. RA prepared dinner while RL chatted
with his other sister, K, for a while.
At 7:30pm it was still 27*C and not a puff of breeze but shortly after
is cooled a little, for which RA was grateful.
R & R were just about to retire when S, their daughter, rang. She was unaware that R & R were on SA
daylight savings time and would be ready for bed. RA suggested she make it short and talk quickly
so that R & R could quit on time.
The rest area was quiet despite there being a couple of others in it …
and all looked hopeful for a better night’s sleep.
8/10/2018 Monday R & R were out of bed just after 6:30am having
slept well. It was very still and a
pleasant 19*C. RA was attracted to the
lovely old buildings backed by a delightful pink morning sky. For a while RL read and RA published a post
and paid an account online. At 8:30am,
they breakfasted and within the hour were packed down and at the local store to
make a donation for their sleep in the rest area. RL drove back the 12kms north to Gladstone
which they had driven through the afternoon before. As with yesterday, RA noticed the delightful
pine smell emanating from the pine nature strip at the entrance to Gladstone. R & R saw the massive Viterra grain
silos, some Hereford bulls and drove past Gladstone’s historic stone goal,
built in 1881, which was last used as a prison in 1975. RL drove through Caltowie which was a neat
little town featuring grain silos and on to Jamestown about 30kms in a north
easterly direction. The rail followed
the road closely at some stages and again there were delightful green crops
including canola with the wind turbines on the range to the west and to the
north east. R & R saw a kangaroo but
the crop was so tall that only the shoulders and head of the kangaroo could be
seen. It was 9:30am when R & R
arrived in Jamestown. As they drove in
they saw the Morgan saw mill, which is an industry other than agriculture in
the area. The Bundaleer State Forrest
while being a tourist attraction provided timber for the industry and is
considered the birthplace of forestry in Australia with trial plantings
beginning in 1876. Jamestown was a big
centre providing services to support agriculture as well as tourism. It had several coffee and antique style shops
and several pieces of interesting public art.
R & R took a long walk around the town and were delighted with the
spring blossoms, and perfumes like the pittosporum, in well-kept gardens. It was 21*C and quite a strong breeze had
blown up. They ended up at the fountain
and Digger’s Walk before driving out, about an hour later, on RM William’s
Way. RM Williams grew up on the family
farm near Jamestown and went on to become one of Australia’s most famous businessmen. RL headed for Peterborough first north about
20kms, then turning north east for another 24kms. There was more cropping with sheep and
cattle. The road ran near the rail and
up to and through the ranges with the wind turbines and massive power lines
which drew a line NE – SE. “That’s a
lovely tank!” RL exclaimed when he passed a square tank, a couple of metres
tall, made from stone just inside a paddock.
After about 10kms, the road took a long slow incline up for several
kilometres up from 500m to 600m before making a similar decline for several
kilometres, before the turn off. After
the turn off the road ran up to a ridge and ran along it at the top for about
10kms. Then suddenly! There was no more cropping! There was bare orange soil with little or no
feed for the stock that was running on it.
Sheep feed on a partially green crop, so low, that it would never be
harvested. Near Yongala, a tired little
town with silos, R & R saw many horses. At the southern entrance to
Peterborough there was a solar farm and one of the four different ‘train
themed’ welcome signs. It was just after
11:00am when R & R went into the information centre before driving up the
hill to the lookout and then parking the Ute in the main street. R & R enjoyed the next couple of hours
wandering around, taking in, and taking photos of, all things train. Their favourite was the museum in a passenger
train carriage which had a seating compartment.
It was fitted with looped audio, visual and motion to give the visitor a
virtual ride from Peterborough to Broken Hill. Totally awesome! RA was taking photos of RL riding in the
carriage with different scenery and rail platforms even though he wasn’t really
going anywhere. Then they swapped
places. R & R returned to the Ute
for lunch about 1:30pm and were away shortly before 2:00pm on the Barrier Hwy
heading for Broken Hill. RA checked the
weather as the sky had darkened and it looked like it might rain. True, there would be a chance of rain towards
the east in the afternoon and overnight but it should clear early the next
morning. Anyway, there was little R
& R could do about it. R & R
planned to sleep at a rest area called Olray (170kms east, about 110kms short
of Broken Hill), one of the many small settlements along the highway. Each of the settlements had a water tank for
the old steamed railway or a disused station or platform, remnant of days long
gone. Nothing remained at some station
stops while Yunta had a roadhouse which claimed to be half way. RA figured it would have meant half way
between Broken Hill and Port Augusta. For the most part the road was flat to
undulating with mountains more or less close by, with The Cone at 661m most
notable for its shape while the others were rolling or round in
appearance. The vegetation, on orange
soil, was mostly grey green shrubbery with some taller trees in creek lines and
a few sections of mallee early on and also some prickly pear and acacia. At one point, R & R though that it looked
much like the scrubby country near Dundas north of Esperance in WA. It was sheep station country but R & R
saw that the sheep had to compete with goats, emus and kangaroos for feed. It was not long out of Peterborough before
the first few drops of water fell on the windscreen and then not much longer
before RL need to use his wipers. It
continued to mist and, at one point, RL was driving through some sort of flying
insects. H, R & R’s eldest daughter,
rang so they were able to chat as they drove.
It was 4:15pm and still misting when RL pulled into the rest area behind
the toilet block and next to the railway line and the disused tank and old tin
shed of a station. R & R set up
quickly, within half an hour, and were not too damp when they sat for coffee
and rang their other daughter, S. A
Pacific National freight train with about 40 carriages rolled east while RA was
preparing dinner but, for the most part, and despite being just off the
highway, all was quiet. After dinner, RL
read for a while before ringing S, his brother.
RA wrote her diary. Despite the
cool and mild dampness, RA felt comfortable … much better than the exhaustion
caused by heat
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