Just the World as We See It
Thank god its Sunday. We checked out the local, not so well known artists and their galleries today (The Chocolate Factory was closed for today). Also checked out the collectables and antique shops, had apple pie and a spider at Bell’s Milk Bar, visited the Visitor Centre to view the lookout and then went out to the Solar Farm for a squizz. A laid back day finished off by relaxing in the warm sun back at camp. Life is surely sweet.
Woke to another chilly morning – 0º, but we had prepared for it by putting on the thermals before going to bed. A great roadside camp. We had a freight train pass in the night, lovely to hear that sound in the middle of nowhere. Left camp a little later this morning and made it into Broken Hill about 11a.m. It was interesting passing the Broken Hill Solar Farm on the Barrier Highway coming in, massive array of collectors reflecting the sky – quite an artwork in itself. Jenny managed to get some shopping in before we booked into the caravan park, even finding another contender for the fruit bowl.
We left the camp and the Morris clan behind at Parachilna and headed down the highway toward Hawker, covering ground we hadn’t seen before. Still chasing the elusive fruit bowl, we stopped in at Orroroo (where I bought my new hat and a new belt) and then onto Peterborough where we found a possible candidate for the fruit bowl. Continued on until we found a bush camp just north of Yunta
Left Marree bright and early and headed south along the Oodnadatta Track. We called into Farina ruins, which is the remnants of an entire town established in the 1890s but which started returning to the earth after about twenty years as the dry climate killed local agriculture. It is a well maintained site and they are gradually restoring it. From there it was on to Leigh Creek which is a modern day ghost town. The nearby coal mine (for which the town was established in the 1960s) has closed its operations and the town is virtually empty.
Our last Port of call was Parachilna where we set up camp in the old schoolyard before heading out for another memorable night at the Prairie Hotel (also known as the Roadkill Hotel). After enjoying Grant the barman/waiter’s repartee it was back to camp for the fire and old tawny – a great end to another great day.
Drove the torturous sixty odd kilometres back out from lake Eyre and headed south on the Oodnadatta Track, which, by contrast, had been rolled smooth by heaps of traffic after heavy rain. We stopped in at a couple of ruins and the South Arm of Lake Eyre before making our way down to Marree arriving after 5.00.
We headed out to William Creek and Lake Eyre today. The run from Coober Pedy to William Creek was beautiful smooth road and a tail wind (we were getting 8.6 litres per 100 kilometres at one stage). We got into William Creek at lunchtime so we had a break before heading out to Lake Eyre North Arm. That road was totally smashed, a eal introduction for Kylie and Matt towing a caravan over such bad corrugations.
Unfortunately there is no water in Lake Eyre but it is still an impressive sight and we enjoyed a great outback night sky as we camped out at the Lake.
Day off today. We got into Coober Pedy yesterday lunchtime and decided to take the day off today before we head down to William Creek, Lake Eyre and Marree tomorrow. Ran into the Morris clan at Coober Pedy so teamed up in the caravan park and they asked if the could accompany us down the Oodnadatta Track so Kylie and Matt could get some experience on gravel roads before they head out by themselves. They will probably leave us at Parachilna where we plan to head Peterborough then over to Broken Hill. Its been a very restful day.
Did the run up from Wirulla to Kingoonya and onto Tarcoola before heading back out to Glendambo for the night. The roads were, shall we say, interesting. For the most part the road from Wirulla to Kingoonya was really good, dropping off to bad and very bad. The road out to Tarcoola was pretty good on the whole as was the road into Glendambo. Let’s just say that the descriptions on Wikipedia do not match what you find on the ground. When we arrived at Kingoonya we weren’t sure where the pub was. It looks more like a house and it was surrounded by a couple of houses and yards full of wrecked cars. The caravan park behind the pub has just been taken over by new management but the weeds have overtaken the caravan park. Tarcoola, even though it is heritage listed, is falling apart. But in the end it was an informative day and one I would do again.
Oops, slept in this morning – first day back on Central Australian Time. Didn’t leave camp till late so it was lunchtime before we hit Ceduna. We did the usual restock – bread, sausages and booze before hitting the road to little old Wirulla which has this secret. We set up camp in the town caravan park right next door to the toilet and shower blocks, only $10 for a powered site. We just have to keep our eyes out for the keeper of the secret…
Well we well and truly hit the Nullabor Plain today. Non stop. All day. The wind picked up later in the morning which meant we had blustery conditions right through until we pulled into camp at 5.00 pm South Australian time. Today was just one of those “watch the K’s go by” days, nothing of any import happened today. Ah well, there’s always tomorrow.