The Trek North Begins

 Rain, did it rain, so lucky to have got out of Parachilna Gorge when we did as all roads through Finder's Ranges are now shut.  The water on the road heading back into Pt Augusta was unbelievable, but a fantastic sight to see, and more rain on the way, apparently.

             The eerie orange glow that settled over us in Leigh Ck after it had been raining all day

Really weird

                                                             More rain coming

                                             The dry Flood ways were full on our return trip

So topped up with fuel, alcohol and a bit more shopping and North we head, straight up the Stuart Hwy.  Have been making the most of just over night roadside stops, or gravel pits, we can usually get further off the road than the stop allows, thank goodness for the offroad capabilities of the van, and we can tuck ourselves away from any passing traffic.

                                 Our camp between the Hwy and rail tracks, neither could see us

Detoured into Woomera for water top up and to have a look around, last time we were here it was like a ghost town, not a soul to be seen, but this time there was quite a bit of movement which was good to see, the museum was open so enjoyed a few hours wondering around the exhibits. We were planning on another roadside stop this night as well, however the wind was blowing hard, straight on, so ended up calling it a day and staying overnight at a donation camp in Pimba, a really neat little stop.

             The rockets of Woomera, apparently Grace came to earth on one of them.

Then back on the road and ended up just south of Lake Hart for the remainder of the week, found ourselves tucked in behind sand dunes from a gravel pit and ended up staying there for a few nights. One of our friends saw where we were camped and thought it looked like a meteorite crater not far, so set us the mission to find it, thanks Jen & Worm, a 2 hour hike later mission accomplished, but it wasn't a crater just a natural formation, but worth the walk.

Our camp, and can you see the crater off to the right??

Proof, we made it

and found an old bore and not sure what at the top of Eucolo Bluff

An old well, maybe????

View from the top

And did I mention the spectacular sunsets at this site

And having drinks enjoying said sunsets

Espresso martinis, Mmm....

Getting out of our hidey hole.

Now on the road again, and a lunch time stop at Lake Hart sees us enjoying this impressive view.

On the other side of this salt lake is the rocket launch site used by RAAF at Woomera, but the massive size of Lake Hart, there is no way of viewing it.

Chillin" in The Flinders

 Well, so much for plans.

Found a cheap camp in Pt Augusta, to fill up with water, empty the toilet cassette and lets head North.

$10 for a patch of dirt, but water and dump site available, all good, probably a dozen vans in by the end of the night.

 So North we head through Hawker and a quick stop to look at the Pichi Richi Railway Museum and  Memorial park.

         

And onto Parachilna, a quick stop to "Air down".

                                        

And a few dry creek bed crossings

And found a wonderful camp besides the Parachilna Creek, right at the Gorge in the Flinder's Ranges,  stunning views.

Our morning view from bed.

We have done a couple of day trips, looking around, just up the road is the start (or end) to Heyson's Trail, an epic 1200km trek down to Cape Jervis.

We Did It, Ah gottcha, Of course we didn't

                   And also into Blinman, an old mining town, and enjoyed a coldie at the pub.

Blinman, old Kibble Bucket sculpture.

 Roads aren't too good and have spoken to a few who have done tyres on it. We were planning to head into Arkaroola, however the weather has turned extremely hot 35+, and the nights not much better, still a bit of a breeze so coping ok, only 1 night which was nearly unbearable but have pulled the pin on Arkaroola, you can't do any hikes in this heat. And then to add salt to the wound, as we plan to make a move and head on, the heavens have opened up, thank goodness we left the Gorge, although it would be beautiful with water in the creek.

The down side to this however, is they have shut the Oodnadatta Track, which of course was our way North, so now we are in Leigh Creek caravan park, getting tthe washing done, topping up with water and ahaving a bit of a clean up, before now, turning around and heading back to, yep you guessed it - Port Augusta to access Stuart Hwy to drive straight up the centre.

So disappointing as we were both really looking forward to doing the Oodnadatta track again, to get back to William Creek and see some of the sights we missed the first time around 12 years ago.

As they say, you always have to leave some things undone for next time round, so now there is Arkaroola and William Creek on that list.

All in all though, can't complain with views like this for the past week.

     

But I cant sign off till I do this.

 

♫      High On A Hill was a Lonely Goatherd,

                 Lay Ee Odl, lay ee odl, lay hee hoo     ♫

Still on Yorke's

 Yep, still here.

Its a beautiful part of the world and have earmarked a few camp sites for next time. These being Daly Head and Len Barker Campground very close to Point Turton. 

The views from Daly Head Campground

This week our travels have taken us down to the southern part of the peninsula, and around its foot, to the historic lighthouse at Corny Point, 

over to Marion Bay, Foul Bay, named thus by Mathew Flinders as we was unable to find anchorage and called the place foul, but how any one could call this place foul is beyond me, look how clear the water is.

A locals fishing throne

How's that for a view, even if the fish aren't biting

We also paid a visit to Port Vincent and up to Port Julia, but decided west was best and after a quick one nighter in a tiny town  called Arthurton, we ended up in a quirky camp site at Port Broughton.  However it was not all smooth sailing, again, as it was here in Arthurton, the tiny town, camped beside a cemetery, which sounds quite odd, but surprisingly wasn't (Very quiet neighbours, thank goodness) where disaster struck. Well, disaster struck the drone, a bit of a mishap with a gum tree has seen the  drone damaged unrepairably and the pilot much annoyed with HIMself. Hence to say Les is under flight instruction again ("L" Plates) and may not fly solo for a little while with a new drone.

Arthurton however was a beautiful town with the neatest cricket ground I think I've seen, the curators of MCG< Sydney and Adelaide would have been envious

                                                             Arthurton Memorial Oval

The RV Park at Port Broughton was as quirky as they come, we got to meet the owner and artist, Wayne Dennis, behind the installations, he has big plans for the place but its just a hobby, so he says.

The air conditioner has arrived, however Dometic have sent the wrong part, it may take another fortnight for this to be corrected, so we have pulled the pin, and have decided to live without the A/C for now and will start to make our way North.

So here we sit planning the next and final stage of our travels home with a new drone on board.