Hawker

Hawker

Arrived in Hawker after leaving Port Augusta.  The rain followed us! It was wet overnight, but we were told that all roads were passable for all vehicles via Wilpena and Blinman through to Parachilna. So off we set, determined to go "off road" to sightsee in the Flinders Ranges. Visibility got down to just a few feet, due to the heavy mist and rain clouds. The lookouts were shrouded in mist and visibility was non-existent, so there was not point leaving any of the main roads. The roads to all the gorges were closed to all traffic, due to bad road conditions. The road from Blinman to Angorachina was awful. Only about one kilometer in we were stopped by a woman driving a bus, who advised us that round the next corner someone has "lost" their camper trailer. Not surprising given the thickness and slipperiness of the mud. It was so wet that the normally red dirt was "black".  Dried red of course - concrete to the underside of the truck. So we had to use low-ratio four wheel drive to get through, although the road was listed as open to all vehicles! So we were a little worried by the information we got at Angorachina, which was that the next lot of roads were 4wheel drive only. It was very pleasant surprise to find that they were relatively dry with occasional wet spots. We arrived at Parachilna it time for lunch! It is the gourmet dining spot for the outback. People fly in from all over Australia to eat at the Prairie Hotel. We were not disappointed! It was really delicious - different sorts of "feral" meats. My Red Goat Curry was flavored with outback bush herbs and spices! Peter ate the National emblem :( - kangaroo and emu. 
From Parachilna, we turned onto the Oonadatta track. Road very good! But too much speed is a real issue here, with many people rushing through creek bed crossing and through slippery mud flats. Someone lost their Kimberley Camper by traveling just too fast. It rolled over and lost a wheel and broke the axle.  It is now abandoned by the side of the road.

Forgot to tell you what happened in Port Pirie. I was happily sitting inside the camper when it suddenly started to close with me inside it.  Peter had put the remote in his pocket and accidentally touched the "close" button!


Stopped the night in Maree behind the old sand stone pub.  One space left for us thanks to some very kind people from Brighton who moved up to make room. Here it started to rain again. It's generally been very cold with dark threatening rain clouds that keep following us! We have only seen the sun for a few seconds just before we left Maree this morning.
After having a very simple sandwich for dinner, we went to join the others in the pub. More to find out about road conditions ahead than anything else. What a terrible stink in the pub! A combination of the stink of a shearing shed and human excrement together. It turns out they had- you guessed it - the mouse plague! There was evidence of the publicans trying to rid themselves of the problem, with several decaying carcasses outside the neighbors' campsites!

Coward Springs
The Oonadatta track goes past the lower end of Lake Eyre. So we could get out of the truck and walk down to the water's edge. An amazing sight! Water everywhere. It smells like the sea complete with seagulls! Lots of small  dead fish were dotted on the shoreline. These apparently are fresh water fish that have been brought in by the fresh water creeks and rivers, and of course they are unable to tolerate the salt



Sent from my iPad

Hawker

Last night when we parked the truck, the clutch started to slip and made a terrible smell. It only had to back up and over a very small bump! So just to be on the safe side we drove into Port Augusta to have it checked out. We had to wait until after lunch where the local RAA mechanic test drove the vehicle and put a camera into the clutch to make sure it was safe. So we haven't got far today. We are in the very picturesque village of Hawker - beautiful old sandstone buildings and houses and the start to the Flinders Ranges.

It rained solidly all night and everything is very, very wet. Vehicles coming into Hawker from further north are covered in mud! Some roads are closed. We hope that by tomorrow the rain will ease off enough for us to explore this beautiful area. The clouds are really low, so not much can be seen. Flights over Wilpena Pound were cancelled due to foul weather.

We haven't yet figured out how to share any photos as the blog obviously runs on " flash" and iPad doesn't do flash. Also tried to download to Facebook - but again not able to. Still have to work out where my contacts are in googlemail.

Port Pirie

We had the long range fuel tank installed today in Mt Barker. It took over 3 hours, so we didn't make it as far as expected. So we drove in to Port Pirie caravan park. Here the truck started to smell like it did in Tasmania when the clutch burnt out after only 11,000 kms. So we will go to Port Augusta to check it out. The caravan park overlooks the main beach, which is really a mangrove backwater. Much warmer here!

Hahnorf

We are now sitting in the camper with the heater on and a glass of Gotham 2006 Cab Sav. So we are warm on the inside as well as on the outside. Dinner was cooked on the gas burner, so we now know it works admirably! And Sue knows how to turn it on now! We are staying in the Hahndorf Resort and camping place. It is a "run down" dive of a place - overpriced and run by the most officious staff ever!

We left early this morning from Wendy and Gordon's house in Melbourne having spent 2 lovely days with them. Thank you Wendy and Gordon!

Mum and Dad came down from Healesville to help celebrate both Nigel's and Zalea's birthdays. It was really lovely that they made the effort! Nigel, Zalea and Johnny all seemed well. We all tucked into a HUGE yum cha and then ordered egg tarts to finish with. We were still waiting for the eggs tarts some 45 minutes later. They had been shared out amongst all the other tables!

Well it's goodnight from me and it's goodnight from him!

Malacoota

Despite our best intentions, we didn't leave home until well after 1.00pm. So we didn't end up going to Cape Conran. We would have arrived too late. We stayed in the foreshore camping area, which was beautiful. No rain, but the wind did come up some time in the night. Very cold last night, so will need to do something about the bedding for the coldest part of our trip. Have purchased some "eggshell" overlay so will se if this helps.

Tonight we are staying with Wendy and Gordon. So lovely of them to have us stay again!

Kimberley trip

Peter and I have purchased a secondhand slide on camper. We are currently packing it ready for a long safari to the Kimberley coast. We have booked a camping cruise with One Tide that leaves from Derby on August 4. We will travel first to Melbourne for the kid's birthdays. then we will go to Adelaide to have along range fuel tank installed before heading off to the Flinders Ranges. We intend to travel to Maree, along the Oonadatta track to William Creek, having first visited the shores of Lake Ayer. We hope to catch a plane to view the lake from above before traveling on to Alice Springs;Tanami Track; Halls Creek and on to Derby.

We hope to be able to keep an account of out travels on this blog. but as it will be written on an iPad, we'll see how successful that will be. It will depend on operator ability and Internet acces!

Jacket

This coat was the result of a wonderful workshop with Catherine O'Leary. My efforts were in vain during the lessons as none of the silk would adhere properly to the needle felted batts. So I ended up making a sample piece which I brought home and added to with more sample pieces. The resulting jacket is a work that I will wear myself. Peter even said it looked beautiful!! High praise from him!