Up at 6 this morning (earliest for a long time) to get ready for the ridge top 4WD tour. Our washing which we’d pegged out last night was literally crisp with ice, and the car once again frozen over. 

Despite the crispness we managed to fire up the coals and make coffee and porridge and eat it in front of our magnificent view before heading off.

The tour was in a safari-like open 4WD truck (brought back memories R&R)- 9 of us in the back packed tight with seat belts that cut off circulation- didn’t take long to realise why.

Four hours of rugged, steep, bumpy climbs (some stretches of 30 degree incline) made us grateful we were wedged in tight. Although I got so close to some of my co-travellers I may now need to marry them! 

Totally worth the ride as each crest revealed the most spectacular views.

The guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the geological history, aboriginal history and more recent European history.

There were 8 mines in the area- mining radium for commercial use in products like watch faces, florescent paint etc – until they realised its deadly properties. Areas were also used by the US for military purposes until recent decades. 

The ridge was exquisite and well with the ride- every face has different foliage depending on the direction it faces.  

Lots of wildlife to be seen- wallabies, wallaroos and kangas (although I must admit I couldn’t always tell the difference)- also a group of wedge tailed eagles facing it off with some crows- ironically the crows won (yay for the little guy).

Got back in time for a mid-arvo lunch- a bit exhausted after all our jolting actually,  so a bit of a lazy afternoon. Sun is heading down the yard arm and we’re in that sweet spot where we need to get the fire going before the real cold sets in. Steak and roast veg tonight- tomorrow will be scraps until we can get back to the general store in Parachilna to re-stock.

Parachilna Day 1

No service tonight so writing this and will post-post it when back in range (whenever that is). Took us about an hour to pack down in Quorn this morning, so despite getting out of bed at 6.3o it was still 8am before we hit the road and that’s with no breakfast.

Stopped for egg and bacon rolls in Hawker- another small historic town with general store (closed Sundays) a servo that sells just about anything and quite an upmarket cafe, open and doing a roaring trade.

After our quick re-fuel we headed north towards Parachilna. Well and truly back into the outback scenery. Vast landscapes of nothingness and the emerging rugged ridge top of the ranges.

Felt we had to stop at the infamous Prairie Hotel- outback pub that’s reinvented itself with fine dining (largely on Aussie wildlife). We couldn’t face a side of Skippy at 11am (or ever) so went for the double cooked potatoes in lemon myrtle (along with a healthy side of disapproval from the hotelier).

None the less spuds were yum and we left feeling replete. Some great cast iron sculptures around the town….

We were planning to head further north and stay at some old ruins, but heard they were close to the road (and Wikki camps informed littered with TP) so re-routed east along Parachilna Gorge road- dirt road along the riverbed,. Here we found the most amazing riverbed camp sites- picked one nestled in the gorge with craggy rock faces on teo sides. There are some other campers around but so secluded we can’t see them. 

Now sitting by the fire pit with bellies full of lamb chops (local- but not self caught) and potatoes and pumpkin roasted on the fire. It’s so quiet we can hear the blood circulating in our ears.  It’s a beautiful clear night so we are just sitting by the fire waiting for the stars to put on a show before we hit the sack.

Day 2 Parachilna Gorge

 Utter  silence complete darkness and freezing cold meant we slept like two bears in hibernation until the birds and our bladders called us into action round 8am.  Car frozen so thick with ice that the remote wouldn’t work- had to use key lock instead.

Very slow start to the morning firing up the Billy again and having a breaky of hot porridge to get ud going.  By the time the sun was fully out and flies were up (giving a whole new meaning to bush ablutions) we hit the track heading for Arkaroola.

Rugged , although recently graded roads with lots of undulations and creek bed crossings- which David, Subi and Dora all managed well.

On the way up one particularly steep hill we passed an old fella on a push bike towing trailer/camping gear. He told us he’s ridden all the way from Alice Springs- the flies are now getting the better of him.  He said he has 13000 touring miles under his belt with this current bike – he certainly looked like he had some mikes under his belt.

Now stopped in Blinmun – a gorgeous little town with fabulous cafe (beef and Guinness pies for morning tea and take away lemon and myrtle tarts for ‘ron)- we’re certainly not starving on this trip.

Posting this as incoming texts tell me I have a single bar of reception- so here goes.

Went to the inaugural Quorn Quondong festival today. For those (like me) not familiar with Australian bush tucker , a quongdong  is a small red fruit with husky exterior that grows on a low bush. Because it’s a parasite (growing on the roots of other plants) it’s extremely difficult to grow commercially.  It has a sweet/tart flavour and so is used in both sweet and savoury dishes. We tried the jam (with scones and cream of course) – quite unusual but perhaps not my first choice.

The town was buzzing from the get go- absolutely packed with locals and ring ins alike – many who had arrived on the gorgeous Pitchie Richie stream train that runs from Port Augusta to Quorn (we actually tied to get tickets to do the trip to PA but you need to book months in advance).

Stalls ranged from local artisans, plant growers and food trucks – most with an emphasis on Australian bush flavours.  Wattleseed featured prominently  and apparently has incredible nutritional value/ rich in protein, fibre and carbs. David bought some for his sour dough making kit- so stay tuned….

The festival was sponsored by the ABC with Costa as a central feature. The focus for the day was on land care and what all of us can do, regardless of where we live) to rejuvenate and nurture the land during climate change – very thought provoking.  There were also some fabulous indigenous speakers including Bruce Pascoe, author of Dark Emu who spoke about indigenous approaches to fire prevention and landcare- and more broadly about his experiences as a indigenous man.

Weather was a bit relentless oscillating between sun, wind and showers. Stopped counting how many times I took my puffa off and put it back on again!  We had planned to stay into the evening but by 5 we were freezing and exhausted and scurried back to the tent for a rest.

After a dinner of nachos cooked in the camp oven we are ready to hit the sack for an early start tomorrow- packing up and heading to Parachilna en route to Arkaroola. David has picked a free bush camp in some old ruins for our overnight tomorrow- let’s hope it’s as lovely as it sounds!

The last couple of days have been spent making our way to the Flinders Ranges.

From Andamooka we largely back tracked as far as Port Augusta and the started our journey up north.

While we were retracing our steps it was amazing how different the soils amd textures looked with the sun behind instead  of ahead of us. 

Only one stop along the way- at the Pimba roadhouse to re- fuel. We love this roadhouse so iconically Australian outback. There’s pretty much nothing you can’t buy there in some form or another. Food was stereotypically road house food- we opted for the hot chips with their special  aka chicken salt ( or something like it)- very yummy and not even the slightest bit healthy. Took me back to childhood days of fish and chips in newspaper and looking for the crispy bits on the bottom.

Arrived in Quorn mid afternoon in sunshine and set up camp ready for our 3 night stay- so nice not to have to move for a couple of days.

Quorn is a gorgeous historical town, lots of original buildings all beautifully restored. Two very country pubs with interesting characters drinking at the bar.

Totally by coincidence we found we are here for the weekend of the inaugural quongdong festival – a festival celebrating bush tucker and sustainable living. They are expecting the masses up from Adelaide and have celebrity chefs and gardiners lined up including an episode of MasterChef being filmed and Costa from the gardening show- so it looks like we are in for quite a treat.

Pubs are starting early with special fare – David and I ate at the Transcontinental last night- he had chicken with quondong glaze and I had barramundi with lemon Amyrtle ducha- both served with chips and salad of course.

Last night also went to the silo art show which projects short films by local artists onto the silo in the Main Street- a bit like the drive in- hooking into your car radio for sound- fabulous!

Today we went more physical with a 6k hike round Warren Gorge- amazing scenery but absolute mountain goat territory- quite steep and lots of loose rocks- was very glad I’d worn my ankle brace and bought along hiking poles. No sightings of the legendary yellow footed wallabies but plenty of signs that they had been there before is.

We had intended to do the self drive historical circuit- and did get part way, but rain set in and the roads started getting gliggy – after one shallow water crossing we decided we should hot tail it out of there. 

Back at camp- have just cooked steak and mashed veggies on the camp stove- rain has stopped and winds are picking up and promising to rock us to sleep,

Woke up,snapped our heels together chanting ’there’s no place like home’ and found we were back from Oz and still standing. The wind died down around midnight, leaving the tent a bit skewiff but still in one piece – 3 cheers for solid construction!

By 8am we had Dora back in her box and were ready to go.

A relatively short drive today (about 120km) to Andamooka via Roxby Downs.

Both these towns are mining towns but couldn’t be more different. 

Roxby was founded in the late 80s by BHP Billiton when they built the Olympic Dam. It largely services miners and their families. It’s well supported with schools/amenities/shops with a central cafe (although coffee pretty unremarkable). All around is absolute desert.

Andamooka is a different cup of tea altogether- an opal mining town where miners have come to make their fortune. The lady in the post office come museum come gift shop told us that  opal mining is more an obsession than a lucrative pastime.

Highlights of the town are the original row of historic cottages – dugouts really, carved into the rock face and the bottle house constructed solely from used beer bottles.

Actually even the non historic homes are pretty rudimentary here- lots of corrugated iron dwellings set amongst the big white mounds of opal diggings.

Lots of old machinery etc lying around.

Pub is closed- nobody seemed to know why or til when, but the IGA had a stock of frozen foods including ice creams! So armed with the two staples in life- a Magnum each and Bundaberg ginger beer we felt pretty happy.

The camp ground here is a big red expanse – a park anywhere and pay by an honour box affair – at 4 bucks per person per night it’s the cheapest accomodation by far. Showers are hot and immaculately clean.

David learning to suppress his inner Kiwi and becoming (kind of) used to the 50 million flies that are buzzing around- but we haven’t eaten yet…..

Winds are picking up here so I think we are in for another big night, however in this park we have been able to angle the van to minimise resistance and so far so good- we have the awning  up and so far it’s holding but we have a plan for if we need to do a quick buckle down.

It’s a hot and dry 30 degrees here today, so at least the breeze is keeping us cool.

We had intended to spend 2 nights here but have pretty much seen all there is to see, so are going to pack up and head off tomorrow- haven’t yet decided where to.

Packed up and left Melrose Showgrounds round 9. It was actually a great place to stay- had a good, albeit a bit chilly nights sleep. But with threat of rain we skipped breaky and hot tailed it out of the camp ground. We couldn’t resist going into the ‘Bike Cafe’ for obvious reasons. And what a find- best toasties ever (all in the fresh made bread and home made chutney) and great coffee.

Fuelled up and set to go we did one more once around of this gorgeous little town and headed north west – to Woomera via Port  Augusta.

Another day of diverse and amazing scenery. Pretty much drove straight through only briefly stopping for fuel. Main stop was in Pimba- a one roadhouse town at the gateway to the outback.

Roadhouse was like Bourke St as it’s the last place you can get fuel. Then we pressed on to Woomera- a 1960s RAAF town previously used for testing rockets, missiles and a whole lot of things they probably don’t tell us about. The town still functions as a RAAF base and is quirky/interestingly 1960 ish.  Well appointed with amenities like pools/playgrounds/bowling club etc but no physical redeeming features. We did get the sense there’s a thriving community here though.

We rocked up to the Woomera travellers rest- the one and only camp ground (more like parking lot) come motel/cabin site within 200km. Rudimentary but scrupulously clean and lovely guy at the front desk.

We arrived at 3.30 and so did the winds…

We had a camper half unwound (just beyond the point of no return) and a gale descended on us. Lucky for us (very lucky actually) the campground goodwill prevailed and with the help of 4 men plus David and  I we managed to finish the tent assembly  and lash it down before it literally blew away. 

Spent the next couple of hours feeling like Dorothy being blown away to Oz. 

Gales are still howling and we’ve come up to the RSL for their famous pizza night to eat what are professed as ‘the best pizzas in South Australia’ and escape the roar of the 92km /hr gusts. BOM warning says they’ll finish round midnight so if we’re not in tatters (or in Oz) we’ll get some sleep then.  I’m personally going to sleep on my clothes and wear my ruby slippers just in case…..

After a rainy evening followed by a freezing night (we were warm and toasty inside) while we were dry the camper was covered in frost, so did our first ‘wet’ pack up hoping that all inside would stay dry for the journey.

Loxton is a really pretty town right on the banks of the Murray – actually on a bit of a lagoon. The houses are built up on the hill above the river and would have fabulous views. 

We and everyone else within coo-eee of Loxton had breakfast at the one and only bakery. Fabulous coffee and hearty eggs breaky kept us going most of the day.

Today we started our drive towards the Flinders  ranges with Melrose as our planned end point (about 480k). Covered some really diverse landscapes from dust bowl/desert territory to lush pasture – mostly sheep.

When through Jamieson, home to the ‘big battery’ and the longest line of wind turbines I’ve ever seen- I personally find them mesmerising to look at.

We decided not to take the Worlds End  highway just in case it was true to name- but would love to know what it led to,

Passed through some rally pretty historic towns, with gorgeous old original buildings lining the streets. Lots of businesses not open on Monday- I guess they do most of their trade on weekends – which might be just as well or  Dora might have gone over her weight limit.

Arrived in Melrose, at the foot of Mt Remarkable round 4pm in time to enjoy the last couple of hours of sunshine and get the canvas dry. We are staying at the Showgrounds – a few other campers here but very spaced out and private.

We are right next to a paddock containing dozens of sheep with new lambs- very cute but very noisy!

Now sitting by the fire having eating wonton soup cooked in the camp oven- totally clear sky and almost full moon, so we will be in for another cold one tonight I imagine.  Life is good on the road!

So what’s the most you’ve ever paid for and orange? Want some context….read on.

Trotted down early again to see the sunrise this morning, sadly clouds hid her smiling face but view was spectacular none the less. 

With a touch of reluctance we packed up camp to leave Mungo- have loved the camp ground here- but clouds, looming rain and the threat of being rained in got us moving.  Took about an hour to pack down and we hit the road at 9.30.

David  seems to have mastered  the art of corrugations and it was a much smoother trip back to Mildura but no less dusty.
Quick coffee break in Mildura and then next stop the SA border fruit drop box where we sat at the picnic table and ate as many oranges and mandarins as our tummies could hold. We put a serious dent in the $4 bags and sadly dumped the remainder in the quarantine bin…..or so we thought…

Next stop the hard border.  We leapt out proudly and opened up our fridge to demonstrate we’d done the right thing and purged ourselves of all things fruit – but alas, one vagrant orange had slipped its net and stood there as obvious as dogs you know whats on the floor of the car. Of course that sparked a major search leaving no nook or cranny unturned – stopping  just short of a full body search! Poor David, being the only one with a drivers license then had to do the walk (and talk) of shame.  And subject himself to being photographed with said orange.

The very kind couple who had also stopped to dispose of food at the bins told the quarantine folks that they’d seen us guzzling oranges and thought it must have been accidental smuggling – but alas this is no mitigation so now we await the letter bearing a fine of no less than $400 for a single orange!

Doing a quick over-nighter  in Loxton in a pretty little caravan park right on the Murray. Got the tent set up just before rain started so now showered and cozy hoping it will pass soon. The park has a fabulous camp kitchen which saves us  setting up our awning/cooking outside.

Will be an interesting pack up tomorrow when we head off for the Clare valley.

Well if cold nights are character building then our characters are now the size of Texas – last night was a doona and 2 woollen blanket night.  Awoke with frozen noses – stepping out to find thick ice on the car.

Set off on an early walk to the Mungo lookout to watch the sunrise – or one of us did while the other (initials DB) hid away under the covers. It was worth the cold and the tramp.

Managed to coax the old boy out of bed with the promise of coffee from the Mungo Lodge cafe then we set off on a  day self drive  tour of the park.

Landscape is absolutely amazing.- vast and scrubby.  Loads of Roos and we were treated to a mob of emus running across the road ahead of us- never giving a thought that we mightn’t stop and let them through.

The ‘China walls’ were my fave for the day. With very few people here we mostly had it it to ourselves and could sit and soak in the incredible landscape. 

Back to camp to re-charge in the afternoon sun and about to head down the road to the visitor centre which has showers!!

Addendum: while the visitors centre advertised showers they didn’t say ’cold, showers. now squeaky clean and enviro rated !

Not wanting to waste all that clean we are heading to Mungo Lodge for dinner

Writing this post from Mungo National Park campground- seem to be receiving texts so hoping that my phone has enough juice to upload a post.

Had planned to set off early this morning but was sooo hard to get out of our cozy bed into the freezing air outside.

The little fan heater we bought at bigW  last night fired up well and warmed the tent a little to ease the transition to the outside (a freezing – -1. David threw himself on his sword made coffee but it was almost cod by the time we got it to our lips – next trip some insulated mugs are a must.

So all in all after a camp cooked breakfast and a much longer than expected camper disassembly we finally hit the raad round 10.30.

We certainly put Dora through her paces today. About 100k to Mungo from Mildura- with the last 80 or so on corrugated dirt roads. Flat as anything, red as red dirt- we certainly feel like we are on the edge of the outback. 

David demonstrated hi his handymanhood – stopping to let some air out of the tyres so we didn’t get a flat- and so far so good.

Arrived in Mungo round 2 and did the full set up this time as we’ll be here a couple of days. A quick trip to the visitors centre to read about the rich Aboriginal history and to the old woodshed – quite beautiful until you read about how much damage the sheep did to the natural environment.

Now sitting by our campfire, bellies full of roasted veggies cooked in the camp oven and a glass of champas in hand- could life get any better?