We departed Broken Hill at 8.30am on the Barrier Highway, crossing the NSW/SA border at Cockburn. We intended topping up our petrol at Olay but a very friendly guy at the roadhouse told us he hadn't had any for years, but if we were desperate he would give us some from his own car. We weren't desperate, we were simply topping up as we drove, so continued on and filled up at Yunta. We had to stop along the way to let a flock of sheep, handled by guys on motor bikes,cross the road. Very flat dry landscape. No hills or mountains. We crossed a lot of creeks that were all dry.
We left the Barrier Highway at Peterborough and stopped there to stock up on fruit and veg, as we had passed through a quarantine station and could not keep the few veg we had. It was a beautiful, sunny day and after we left the Barrier Highway it seemed like we were the only car on the road - very little traffic.
As there was no radio reception, we arrived at Hawker listening to C.D's and singling along to "Land of Hope and Glory" from "Last Night at the Proms" (thanks Chris). We arrived at Rawnsley Park Station camping ground at about 3.15pm and set up camp. The ground there was hard and rocky and impossible to put pegs in.
I took a tip from friends who have done a lot of caravaning and before we left Broken Hill had made up a bucket of soapy water and put some dirty clothes in to wash. The sealed bucket was placed in the stair well of the van and the motion of the caravan washed the clothes while travelling. After setting up we emptied the bucket, rinsed the clothes and hung them out to dry. Too easy!!!
It was very cold after sunset so - a few drinks, dinner and 2 episodes of "Mad Men" (thanks Mick) we were ready for some shut eye. Apparently is was 6 degrees through the night.
Rawnsley Park Station sits in shaddow of Rawnsly Bluff, amongst lots of shady trees and rocky, red ground and is quite large. We were connected to power and bore water which is OK when boiled. We can receive 2 TV channels (ABC & 7). There is no mobile phone or internet coverage here.
We woke up to a cold morning - perfect for porridge. We drove out to Wilpena and hiked to Wilpena Pound, which is an 80 sq km natural basin, ringed by gnarled ridges. The day had turned out sunny and warm, so we climed up to Wingarra Lookout which overlooks the Pound. Beautiful scenery. On leaving Wilpena we drove along the Blinman Road for a short way to Stokes Hill Lookout before returning to our caravan.
There is a fine red dust everywhere which sometimes makes breathing difficult and gives us the sneezes. The car and van look like they have been on the road a long time!!!
Another very cold night (it got down to 3 degrees) and we didnt feel like sitting outside for too long. Lucky for us our doonas are very snugg.
Next day we decided we would do a scenic drive through the Bunyeroo and Brachina Gorges and Aroona Valley. We hesitated to do this as we dont have a 4 wheel drive, but after checking things out with both Wilpena Information Centre and Rawnsley Park reception we decided to give it a go. The road was a steep, winding, gravel road (about70km) and in places we actually had to drive in a riverbed. We had to drive very carefully as there were lots of loose rocks and in some places, shallow streams, but despite this and the dust, the scenery was well worth it. We saw a group of emu by the side of the road and took pictures of course. We stopped at Hawker on the way home for coffee and home made cake. The car seemed none the worse for its experience, but had to be washed and cleaned when we got back, as it was full of dust.
Our last day at Rawnsley Park we decided to do one of the hikes on the property, the Pine Caves Loop which was 5.4km. The track was well set out and easy to follow and passed through several dry river beds.After reaching the cave we hiked up 2 small knolls that gave us great views of the Chace Range, Elder Range and Rawnsley Bluff. Didnt see any wild life except for a tiny Red Capped Robin.
We spent the afternoon preparing to leave the next day for Port Augusta.
More blog from there.
Cheers
Sam (Rhonda) & Pete
No comments:
Post a Comment