Friday 25th April - this morning we leave Wilpena Pound and head towards Arkaroola. First stop is Hucks lookout for some more views back over the Flinders Ranges, and then continue to the Great Wall of China, a rock formation along a ridge that looks spectacular.
Then to the small town of Blinman, whose claim to fame is being the high town in SA - but not much else to look at. After a coffee / lime milkshake, we hit the dirt road towards Arkaroola, stopping along the way at Chambers Gorge, which is a drive along a dry creekbed. As it was getting late, we decided not to walk into the gorge, but continued on, arriving in Arkaroola just before 5pm. We book in for 2 nights, and also for a helicopter joyflight in the morning.
Saturday 26th - we awake to an overcast morning, and decide that we will try to postpone the chopper flight until the weather improves. Instead we decide to go for a walk along the Acacia Ridge track, and get a lift down to the start of the trail, with a 5.8km walk back to camp. The first part of the walk is all uphill, to get to the top of the ridge, but the views were well worth it, with mountains off in the distance all around, and also Lake Frome covered in salt beyond this.
We descend down the ridge back to camp and have some lunch and then a relaxed afternoon around camp hoping the weather improves.
Sunday 27th - the weather is a bit better, so at 7.30am we jump into the chopper, after deciding to get the pilot to take the doors off for our flight - much better views, but a LOT colder at this time of day. The views over the mountains are magnificent, and the area is very rugged. We fly over Barraranna gorge and see some waterholes down below. A flight over the campsite, and our 20 minutes was up and we are landing back at the airfield.
After breakfast, we book in for another 2 nights and then decide to do a loop walk through the Barraranna gorge that we had seen from above,
so we drive out to Welcome mine, stopping along the way at the Ochre wall.
This is a 7km round trip, with some great scenery, and lots of contrasting landscapes - piles of slate and then lots of river rocks, with steep gorges and sandy patches too. It was a very tiring walk, but worth it to see it from the ground. Another relaxing afternoon, followed by a group BBQ at the homestead around the swimming pool.
Monday 28th - this morning we are booked in for the Ridge Top tour - a 2 hour bunpy ride in a converted Land Cruiser ute out to Sillers lookout,
stopping at several places along the way. The track is very rugged, and the rocks would shred tyres in no time, so glad couldn't bring the Triton. The driver said that a set of tyres lasts between 3,000 and 4,000 km's only due to the terrain. Once atop the lookout, the views are amazing, again over the ranges and looking out to the salt lake in the distance.
We can also faintly see the uranium mine out on the plains. After lunch, we collect some firewood and relax chatting to neighbours.
Tuesday 29th - after breakfast, we pack the camper and leave Arkaroola, heading into the Gammon Ranges for a short drive around. After a while, we decide to drop the trailer, and continue with just the car, to complete the loop track into Grindell's hut. We stop at Gill's lookout to admire the views over the mountains,
and then continue to the hut, where we wander around in the rain admiring the stonework and the effort to have built such a house.
Back to re-attach the trailer, and we take the dirt road to Leigh Creek via some small communities. We set-up in the caravan park, and quickly migrate to the camp kitchen as the rain has continued. The car and camper are covered in red, rocky clay / cement, so I try to wipe some off, making large blobs of muck in the campsite. We meet a family who are traveling for 12 months, and also an Austrian guy who is riding his bicycle to Darwin (nutcase).
Wednesday 30th - after packing up, we drive into town and do some shopping for re-supplies, then to the post office, and then some fuel and air, before driving just up the road to Copley to the bakery to get some pies for lunch. We stop at Lyndhurst and have the chili pie, pastie, and quandong tart, before continuing to the ruins of Farina.
What was once a thriving town, is now a well preserved set of ruins of many of the old buildings, with the underground bakery still being used today. After wandering for a while, we continue north, arriving in Marree, where we set-up camp behind the pub which is a free camp. Not long after, we are met by Trevor, Bec, Sam and Olivia whom we met last night, and also a coulple we had met back in Cape Le Grande NP in Esperance WA, so it was off to the pub for a few drinks before dinner.
Thursday 1st May - we chatted to the other campers in the carpark this morning, and the concensus was that most were going to make for William Creek today, hoping that the roads to Oodnadatta and Coober Pedy would open after the rains had resulting in them being closed. This was the start of the Oodnadatta track, and we were keen to travel along it as much as we could, before diverting to Coober Pedy. Not long after leaving Marree we arrive at Planehenge, where there are some amazing sculptures beside the road.
And the local Ghan hover bus service is no longer operating, but would have been fun in the day.
Along the way we stop at the lookout over Lake Eyre South, which was fairly full with water and a nice sight to see. Next stop was Curdimurka railway siding,
where we had a wander around and then drove down to the railway bridge across the creek.
Then to some springs where the artesian bore water bubbles from the ground - called Blanche Cup and Bubbles spring.
From here it was only a short drive to Coward Springs, where we had some lunch before a short walk to the spa bath
and the museum. After leaving here, the weather started to get a bit worse, with lots of gray and black clouds, so we high-tailed it to William Creek, stopping in the camping area for the night. We managed to score a spot beside the tour group shelters, so had some reprieve from the wind and rain.
We went to bed hoping the roads would open tomorrow.
Friday 2nd - after an early morning walk for some exercise, we check the road signs which reveal that the road to Oodnadatta is open for 4WD's, but the road to Coober Pedy is closed. But a check of the website says both are open, so we try to confirm, not wanting to break the law and risk a HUGE fine. We finally track down a guy from the roads dept, who tells us the sign is broken and he forgot to update it, but due to some rain in the last 10 minutes, the road to Coober Pedy is now closed, so our only option is to head for Oodnadatta or stay where we are. Not much to do in William Creek, so we set off for the Pink Roadhouse.
The road starts out very slippery, but gets a bit better despite the drizzle and rain that continues. Along the way we stop at Algebrakina bridge where the Old Ghan railway crossed a river,
before we arrive in Oodnadatta after 207km's. We fuel up and book into the caravan park behind the pub, where we meet Trevor, Bec, Sam and Olivia again - we also meet Steve and Beccy from Marree - and sit around the fire after dinner. A nice rainbow just before dusk.
Saturday 3rd - over breakfast, we decided to drive to Coober Pedy with Trevor and family, while Steve and family head north to Marla. Another 200km's of driving, with the scenery changing several times - first it was red gibber stones, then yellow sandy soil, before turning to green with the amount of recent rain - who said the desert was all the same and boring. The last section into town is constant rain so the mud is building up again underneath the car and camper.
We book into the Big4 caravan park, and settle into the camp kitchen and TV room for the night to escape the wet.
Sunday 4th - after a relaxed breakfast, we drive into town for a wander around, stopping at the info centre, then an art gallery / jewellery shop which was underground. Then into the underground Catholic church which is quite amazing.
A bit more of a walk,
before hitting the IGA for some more supplies and back to camp. I spend some time trying to get the computer talking to the wifi, before typing this and linking in all the pictures.
Tomorrow we will continue with Trevor and family along the Stuart highway, before turning right to see the painted desert and back towards Oodnadatta, before going further north to Dalhousie Springs and Mt Dare. Then across into the NT to Finke - the adventure continues.
More to come soon.
Di and Hammo
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