Burra Creek to Wilpena Pound

Burra Creek Gorge 26^th & 27^th November 2012

Now starting to head north towards Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges. Stopped in at Burra Creek Gorge Campground 26 Klm SE of Burra just off the Goyder Highway also known as Worlds End. Huge hollow trees dominated the area with only 1 other van in a huge campground. We are amazed by the lack of grey nomads on the road at the moment. John and I went for a walk or climb up the local hill to get a bit of an outlook and later walked up to a deserted sheep property. The climb let me know how unfit I really am and the sheep property was very sad because this beautiful property was now a ruin.

The next day we called into Burra which was a large mining town established in 1845 and is now doing a great job with tourism. A complete town block is known as Paxton Square which is comprised of 30 workers cottages built in the late 1800s and now used as tourist accommodation. This is the first time I have seen pepper trees, they are everywhere, where the hell did pepper come from, I had never thought about it.
 
There are wind turbines all through here, Trice counted over 70 along one ridge, got a feeling that they are used to a bit of wind around here.

It is very barren with many abandoned late 1800 and early 1900 houses, many have been vandalised or are just falling down from years of neglect.

Peterborough , the train town to see the biggest thing that has happened in town for many years. The town was originally the crossroad for all interstate national trains. The train known as the 907 has caused a lot of grief with the committee as they had taken a lot of interest in this train. The original driver was dying of cancer and had always thought that the train had been scrapped. He got to see it and was very emotional. The unloading of a historical train by the members of the train society at the train museum. It was a great sight and great to see the small town out in force to witness the big event. A 3 bedroom house with 30 x 40 shed here is all yours for $80,000.

 
Orroroo, this is where the Giant Gum Tree is situated. The Giant Gum is estimated to be over 500 years in age, has a trunk over 10 metres in circumference and is known as the Widow Maker for its habit of dropping large limbs on unsuspecting visitors over the years. This is our first time to drag out the fly hats. We stayed in a free stay this night just out of town. On our way to Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges we drove through several small towns. Croddock has 2 churches, 1 hotel and not 1 house. Hawker, we stopped for coffee and cake and met George, the shop owner. Originally 1881, the shop not George.

Wilpena Pound 28^th – 30^th November 2012 We have now travelled somewhat north and if you drew a line sideways we are level with Grafton. This is the Flinders Ranges and even though it is very windy making the sky quite hazy, the mountain range is spectacular. It is HOT mid 40’s making the wind very hot as well, this is coming from the desert, you can feel it but it is not humid, you hardly get a sweat up. The pound itself looks like a meteorite has blasted into the earth and pushed up the rocks to form this long elongated dish. The pound was used as a cattle property as the mountains were a natural fence for the cattle and the only way in is a small break in the towering range. The park is beautiful with numerous walks, a pool, which we used, a bar, which we also used. John and I went for one of the longer walks which included a climb to a lookout, it was not the biggest but again I realized that I have to do something about my fitness. I am sure that a better way to see this is by plane, which we ended booking the next day. They have done a great job in preserving this as a heritage site which allows you to see what it was like by seeing the old homestead and surrounding buildings. As we walked we came across beautiful ponds in an area which was very dry and arid. Emus surprised us by demonstrating their rock climbing abilities avoiding us but then seemed to have pleasure in allowing us to get closer to their chicks. Rock climbing goats, huge kangaroos and the occasional lizard but no snakes.

We went to book our flight and we were told that it is too windy to get up but he would ring us the next morning for a flight at 9.00am. The next morning it is blowing and overcast and assumed that as we were leaving that day we would miss out. Next thing a phone call asking where we were and we said that nobody had rung us, besides today is worse than yesterday. Off we go, it is blowing hard we look at this little 4 seater Cesna. Trice and I pile in with the pilot Kane and we taxi down the dirt runway before we turn around.

At the other end of the runway is a ramp of dirt right across. I asked Kane what that was for and he said to help with lift off. I don’t think we will need this today the wind is blowing so hard that we are having trouble keeping the plane on the ground. Off we go and moments later we are in the air bouncing up and now and sideways, reminded me of the exhibition rides, Trice was hanging on. Kane is saying something and I don’t know what is going on and I can’t make out what he is saying. In the bumping around I had knocked the volume control but we sorted it out. The view from here showed the enormity of the place, the height of the ranges and the massive change in geological structure in such short distances.

You really start to get a bit of an insight into the stress this tiny continent was under when the plates separated all those millions of years ago. You can see where massive rock has just been flipped up onto its side to form mountains. Kane shows us many gorges but all they are now,  are strips of sand winding through the rock, there is very little water here. It is such a shame the haze is so thick but at least the bumping around has stopped. After approximately 45 minutes we circle back to the airstrip and have to drop back into the wind. Coming into land Kane lined up as best he could and then tried to get the plane down but the wind was blowing so hard that as he got closer to the ground the plane wanted to lift again, although a little bit bumpy it was nice to get back onto the ground in one piece.



We are leaving here and heading south again to “Port Agutta”

 

 

 

 

 

Renmark 24th to 26th November

We have finally made it into South Australia, what a small state Victoria is. It didn’t seem to be too much of a drive and we have gone from one corner of the state to the other. I should have done this years ago, I would have been able to put up some great stories about state budgets for travel. Destination Renmark. A little red bridge across the Murray and a hard Right and we are in the caravan park, the bridge is a beautiful old suspension bridge with ornate iron work. On the hill in Paringa House which means Bend in the River. What a great place to sit back and have a sleep. 

We were camped right on the water’s edge which gave us a great opportunity to use the kayak once again and even Patrice felt comfortable.

The problem with being right on the water’s edge in the bush is that sometimes you get some unwelcome visitors like this Brown Snake.

This may sound strange but Trice and I have a bit of a fascination about wandering through cemeteries, we love it and you find out some great history in the smaller towns. Some remarkable things and some very sad things are always found. This cemetery was small and very colorful with the use of crush green glass used to decorate the tops of the grave sites. There was a Muslim section which was totally separate to the rest, fenced off and facing Qibla or north.

Walking back to the town centre was 1 of the 11 Black Stumps in Australia which was brought to Renmark by floating it down the Murray.

Mildura 21st – 24th November 2012

After travelling for over a month by ourselves it is time to catch up with John and Wil. John and Wil had to get to Perth for a 60^th in the first week of January so the plan is that we will travel across the Nullabor and then separate in early January.

As we drive from Nyah we can’t help but notice and much the country changes once you get away from the coast. It is an amazing place as it can be so arid and then you will have acres and acres of Oranges, Mandarins and the occasional vine yard

We pulled into the Baronga caravan park in Mildura, right on the river across from the main centre which is in Victoria while we remained in NSW. The river is flanked by houseboats, they are everywhere. The paddle steamer cruised up and down the river.

As you can imagine that night a few drinks and stories were exchanged.

The next day I went to golf with John as he is a golf nut and I hadn’t walked around a golf course in years, I was just there for the walk, I wasn’t playing. One of the fellows we played with was a local citrus grower named Bruce, lovely guy who was having a break from work and staying in a house boat on the river. That night Bruce came across to find us, have a beer and invite us to have a look at his citrus property in the next day or so. Trice and Wil went for a cruise on the river in the PS Melbourne. They got to steer have a look at engine and investigate 1 of the number locks that control the flow and levels of water along the Murray.

Being on the river, this was my first real chance to get the kayak in the water and go for a paddle, so I spent most of the day chasing paddle steamers and anything else I could find. 

John, Wil, Trice and me headed off the next day to find Bruce’s citrus property. Bruce and his wife Wendy were great hosts and Bruce put us in his ute to drive us around Mildura to show us the sites. The one thing that stood out the most was the salt. Salt is everywhere, they farm it, they try and keep it out of the farming soil. The amount of money that goes into salt prevention is huge. The salt problem stems back to the massive clearing of large trees throughout this area over the past 100 years or so.  

Time to find an old goal, Wentworth prison is not far from the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers. The prison’s main female occupants were Salvation Army women as they were seen as a nuisance for their preaching each day on street corners. Trice got to have me put where she wanted me while we were there.

We found where the Darling and Murray rivers join which required a walk through an island with long grass, once in there Trice wouldn’t move and I didn’t think that it was a great idea seeing I was in thongs, the ones on your feet. We had been told that this area was renowned for Brown snakes so I raced in took a few photos and got out very quickly.

 

 

Some of visitors were very cute.

Off to Burra for a Free Stay.