Chapter 3 - The Flinders Ranges

Day 5 – Saturday 27 May 2023 – Mt Little Station Flinders Ranges

It was slow start to the day after a cool night. Last night Shirley fell asleep while reading her book in bed, so I had to remove her book and glasses and turn out her bed light – as she gently snored.

It is around 8:30 am and similar noises are coming from the same part of the caravan.

The sun rose too late to get a sunrise photo but it has just appeared and should be working on the solar panel.

Mt Little Station covers around 24,000 acres and has around 28 camping sites, each site big enough to handle 3 to 5 caravans and around 100 metres from the next sites. We have no power or water and the amenities are a short drive away.
However, it is a magic part of the world.

After breakfast, and a shower, then morning tea the four of us went for a walk to Mayo Gorge and the permanent spring that is a pleasant spot. The 3km return walk was very pleasant apart from the small shower of rain before the sun forced us to remove warm clothing.

The birds were too quick to catch on camera, but I captured some flora and scenery.

Friends at Mayo Gorge

Spring in Mayo Gorge 

Flora in Mayo Gorge

By the time we returned it was lunch time, then a rest, then time to light the fire. Darryl was the volunteer chief chef. He lit the fire, then proceeded to cook a steak campfire dish – over 4 or so hours.

We thought that dessert may be OK, so I cooked an apple damper.

Happy hour was around the fire before we moved (thanks to the chilly temperature) into our caravan for stew and apple damper (with cream). We did not need supper.

Day 6 – Sunday 28 May 2023 – Mt Little Station Flinders Ranges

Overnight squally rain made sure that everything under the caravan awning was wet – chairs, table, wood, camp over gear & solar blanket. It was cold out but, thanks to the diesel heater, it was warm inside.

The weather was not inducive to touring Mt Little Station, so we relaxed – a skill we are fast developing (yes, even me). Shirley made sandwiches and filled the thermos in the hope that we would get away (touring the station) before lunch.

Around 10am we set off to tour Mt Little Station, most of it serious 4WD touring. Some was easy, some we decided to abandon and turn around. We drove around 28 km in two hours, that included a couple of short walks.

Harvey’s Rocks was a rocky and scenic place to visit.

Some of Harvey's Rocks

Another set of ranges across the flat plains

The station ruins were also worth a visit, particularly the underground tank that had been dug and concreted. It was around three metres deep.

Ruins of an Old Building

Underground Tank

Near the end of the station tour we able to spot and take a photo of a black shouldered kite. He played ‘chicken’ with us, letting us get close but not too close.

Black shouldered kite

We left Mt Little station and headed 60 km north to Parachilna, as Shirley wanted to see some sculptures. They were impressive.

Horse Sculpture at Parachilna

Ghan Sculpture at Parachilna

We also took a photo of the local “Prairie Hotel”, well known for its ‘road kill’ menu.

Prairie Hotel

We returned to camp and lit the campfire. After a while the lamb chops were added to the camp oven and dinner started. We rested around the fire and discussed the plan for tomorrow and beyond.

Around the Campfire

Campfire and camp-oven

Camp-oven-lamb, with mashed spuds, was followed by left-over apple damper and cream.

Day 7 – Monday 29 May 2023 – Hawker

Our plan for the day was to visit Hawker, do some 'caravan stuff' and move on to another Flinders Ranges station. Shirley and I were first to leave, around 8:30 am. About 30 minutes later we were in Hawker at the 'dump' point.

I was not happy with the car and, after investigation, found out that a rear shocker on the car had come off at one end. Not good. RACV Total Care swung into action. Ninety minutes later the car was on the back of a truck. Very soon it was on the hoist at "Chris's Mechanical" - about 300 metres away.

Kelly Prado Getting a Ride

We decided that an overnight stop in Hawker was in order. Kay & Darryl checked in to the Hawker caravan park (about 750 metres away), then came back, changed the hitch, then towed our caravan to our site beside them in the caravan park.

A Tiliqua rugosa, most commonly known as the shingleback skink or bobtail lizard was roaming around behind our caravan. It was about as long as my mobile phone

Bobtail Lizard

Chris, from "Chris's Mechanical", rang to confirm that the issue was a defective shocker ("that should not happen", he said). He hopes to have a part tomorrow morning and have the car back on the road by lunch time.

The issue was probably caused by our 4WD adventure yesterday.

Shirley and I went for a walk and saw a garden of Swainsona formosa, commonly known at "Sturt's Desert Pea".

Sturt's Desert Pea

It was a slow afternoon concluding with a bowl of pumpkin soup for dinner. 

Shirley had done a load of washing that was now on an airer in the caravan.

The TV was turned on for the first time this trip, and was on long enough to get the evening news.

Day 8 – Tuesday 30 May 2023 – Hawker

For (at least) the third day in a row the day started with a heavy fog.

Around 10:30 we went for a walk and visited the spectacular Jeff Morgan Gallery. Among many paintings and collections he has two huge panorama paintings that extend to a full 360-degree circle. The following shows one of those panoramas.....

Above & Below: Each image represents around half of the circular 'Wilpena Pound' panorama painting. The panorama is 3.5 metres high and 33 metres in circumference. The above image needs to be joined to the image below to appreciate the full panorama.

Click here to see more Jeff Morgan paintings.

After a great pie for lunch Shirley and I drove to a local lookout to test the car repairs and see the view from the lookout. We did not find the lookout but we stopped to take a photo of another bobtail lizard. It was not in any sort of hurry.

Bobtail lizard

We had pasta for dinner. It was a mild night.

Day 9 – Wednesday 31 May 2023 – Rawnsley Park Station

There was no early fog - the first time in a while.

We decamped around 8:45 am and topped up on diesel and air (the latter for the caravan tyres). Our four days of diesel heater use cost us 2.7 litres at $2 per litre. We considered that it was a cheap cost to be warm.

Rawnsley Park Station was around 40 km away and that was achieved without issue - after a final coffee in Hawker.

We both set up on unpowered sites ($27 per night) with magic views in most directions. Both caravans were 'beside each other' but the slope of the land meant that Kay & Darryl were maybe two metres higher than us.

Rawnsley Park Camp Sites

After pumpkin soup for lunch Shirley and I did the 2 km return walk to Kangaroo Gap. We found the gap but did not see any kangaroos. The views were pretty good.

View from Kangaroo Gap 

It was a time for reflection as we relaxed in our camp chairs.

Around 4pm I lit the camp fire and we gathered around. The weather ebbed and flowed as shown by the following photos.

The setting sun at 4 pm

The Sun on Distant Hills at 4:50 pm

The sunset at 5:40 pm

Our campfire with spuds in foil - yum

The weber was christened (for this trip), spuds were cooked in the coals, and some additional veggies were cooked on the stove. The Weber provided the steak. It was a meal fit for a King. The steak and the spuds were perfect.

Steak, Spud and Veggies

Twenty minutes later Kay & Darryl returned with chocolate to have around the campfire. We do it so hard.........

Day 10 – Thursday 1 June 2023 – Rawnsley Park Station

I turned on the diesel heater then headed to the shower around 7.10 am. The sun was about to appear over the hills. My phone said that it was 11 degrees.

Moments before Sunrise

We headed off, Darryl driving, around 9:30 and headed north to Wilpena Pound and Blinman. I took a number of photos from the car as we moved north. See below.

View from the left passenger window on the road to Blinman

We arrived at Blinman and were impressed with a copper sculpture in the main street.

Blinman Copper Statue

There were a number of birds in town that seemed ready for a photoshoot. I will give them all names when I have had a chance to check their pedigree.

Spiny-Cheeked Honeyeater

Maybe an Australian Ringneck

Maybe an Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Some of the old buildings in town surely had a story to tell, particularly the vertical-log cottage below.

Blinman Log Cottage

The drive back to camp was just as scenic as the drive up but I captured the following..........................

Wall of China

Above & Below: These photos were taken through the front windscreen as Darryl drove. They give you an insight to the scenery that is constantly on display as you drive through the Flinders Ranges.

Once we arrived back at camp I had two tasks. Firstly to light the fire to cook a campfire chicken dish, and secondly, to cook a birthday cake for Shirley's birthday tomorrow. Both happened on time.

Shirley's Chocolate Birthday Cake cooked in the Weber

The chocolate cake was not the best ever made, but it is the best cake that I have ever cooked in a Weber (or the Flinders Ranges).

The chicken camp-oven dinner was accompanied (again) by spuds cooked in the coals. The (soon to be) birthday girl is getting her wish of more campfires and more camp-oven dinners.

Day 11 – Friday 2 June 2023 – Rawnsley Park Station

Our last full day in the Flinders Ranges was also Shirley's birthday. It started with a breakfast of bacon and eggs.

By the time we had planned our day it was morning tea time and time for birthday cake - topped with cream and M&M's.

Chocolate birthday cake - topped with cream and M&M's

After that we went for a stiff 1.5 km walk up Twidale Top, which provided a great view of Rawnsley Bluff.

The walk up Twidale Top

Rawnsley Bluff from Twidale Top

A typical local scene on our walk back to camp

That achieved we went looking for the rock art that was around 8 km drive away. Alas the walk was declared too challenging for us (after Twidale Top) and we headed home for lunch. 

After lunch I washed the Mt Little mud off the car in the car-wash bay, then we relaxed.

Around 5:30 we admired the western sun that was highlighting the eastern hills.

Then we drove to The Shearing Shed - the Rawnsley Park Station restaurant. Both couples had a Rawnsley Lamb Platter for Two. It was magnificent.

Rawnsley Lamb Platter for Two

We drove back to camp and had chocolate cake and coffee to finish the day.

Day 12 – Saturday 3 June 2023 – Leave the Flinders Ranges

It was a day of transit, and a relatively short one. Rawnsley Park station was farewelled around 8:30 am.

It started chilly and very quickly warmed up, being around 19 at 9 am on its way to a top of 24 degrees. Carrieton was the stop for morning tea and Peterborough was the lunch stop.

We stopped at an RV camp in Yunta for the night – a day of 267 km.

*** Chapter 3 Now Complete ***

So far we have travelled around 1760 km in our car (146 km per day) plus a day of being driven around by Darryl in the Flinders Ranges. We have had 5 camp fires and 3 camp fire dinners. A good start.

Last updated at 8 pm (SA time) on Sunday 4 June 2023.

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Chapter 2 - Home to Flinders Ranges

Prologue

I sent out an email a few days ago advising of our trip. I have had lots of responses wishing us safe driving and a great trip. We would like to thank you all for those emails. We will do our best to fulfill your requests and give you something worthwhile to read.............. 

Day 1 – Tuesday 23 May – Home to Beaufort - 184 km

I said Wednesday 24th, but Shirley said Tuesday 23rd. Shirley won. Packing was easier and more organised that I had allowed for - despite spending most of Monday/yesterday on the golf course. My motives were pure - I gave Shirley a chance to pack without interruption. 

After last minute packing, switching off of appliances, and locking all things that need to be locked, we took a deep breath and moved away from home around 10 am.

It was lucky that we had a check list or our first stop may have been the supermarket for olive oil, sauces, jams, mustards & cereal.

We had our sharp axe, our new Baby Weber Q BBQ (thanks Amanda) and an additional (4 kg) gas bottle (thanks Crippsy). The centre console had a supply of mints and snakes. I had my apple nearby (one that you eat). Shirley was ready to relax. The windscreen was clean (for the moment).

The car and caravan have both recently been serviced. Shirley has visited the hairdresser. I cut my own. Shirley's looked better and there was more of it. The car is full of diesel. We have plenty of water and food. Maybe a couple of bottles of wine. Two bags of wood. Three gas bottles - two for the caravan and one for the Weber.

The forecast was for sun and a top of 16C as we headed north west, up the Western Highway towards Ballarat. Our second big trip in our new caravan was underway.

Kay and Darryl were seven days ahead of us. It's great having forward scouts, 👀👀 although they started off scouting a different route to what we have started on.

It was around 17 degrees as we left the ring road. That dropped to 8 by the time we reached Ballarat. Shirley had her first nano-nap 92 km into the trip. It did not last long, neither did the next or the next ............

We had a break for lunch and later pitched camp at Beaufort - a town that takes its name either from Rear-Admiral Francis Beaufort or a Welsh village in Monmouthshire - around 3pm. The temperature had jumped to 10 degrees.

Our home was the Beaufort free RV camp (1 Park Rd, Beaufort).

Beaufort free RV camp

Dinner consisted of lamb steaks and the remaining fresh vegies that we needed to cook before we cross the state border (tomorrow). Although the outside temperature had dropped to 7 degrees the diesel heater ensured that we were comfortable with 20+ temperature. We also needed to cook some apples that were not going to be eaten by late tomorrow.

We had a spooky moment when music started to come out of the four ceiling speakers in the caravan, despite the audio system being OFF. It stopped a few minutes later. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Day 2 – Wednesday 24 May – Beaufort to Bordertown - 329 km

Today was all about the journey, not the destination.

My phone said 6 degrees at 6 am outside. The temperature gauge said 9 degrees inside. I turned on the diesel heater. Nine degrees became 16 degrees by the time I woke Shirley. I was dressed and fed and ready to go. 

We hit the road around 8:15 am. Our first stop was the silo art at Horsham and it was very impressive.
There are two sets of art as shown below...........

Silo Art at Horsham

Silo Art at Horsham

It was then onto the Arkona silo art around 11 km north of Dimboola. It was also impressive, and has a long explanatory description - if you wish to look it  up.

Arkona Silo Art (Dimboola)

Shirley checking out some interesting letterboxes

We drove into Dimboola for a look around. We admired the Wimmera River on our way to the entrance to Little Desert National Park. We did not stay long - just wanted to say that we had been there. 

Wimmera River at Dimboola

We stopped to take a photo of Pink Lake (below), although it was not very pink.

Pink Lake

Nhill has great caravan parking in the middle of the town, so we stopped there and made a sandwich for lunch. A walk around the town discovered a memorial to Draught Horses, an animal that was very important to the establishment of Australia in the 'early days'.

My forebears had many such horses when they farmed in the Wimmera in those 'early days'.

Memorial to Draught Horses

Our third silo art for the day was at Kaniva, just 250 metres off the Highway - also impressive.

Kaniva Silo Art

Kaniva also has the "Sheep Art Trail" - a large collection of sheep statues that are all over the town. The 'real sized' statues are a huge range of colours. Two are included below. Click here if you want to see a lot more.

Sheep Art Trail

Sheep Art Trail

We ate our last piece of fruit then crossed the border into South Australia - and immediately gained half an hour. We soon pulled into Bordertown and stopped at the animal reserve that features a collection of white kangaroos.

White Kangaroos

We topped up on diesel (including five litres for the diesel heater) then established camp in the Bordertown RV Recreation Lake Park. We were about 20 metres from the water. The photo below was taken from the back of the caravan.

From the back of the caravan

We then walked around the park and took a photo of one piece of art that was on display (see below).

Art on Display

It was time to relax. Although we have had a pleasant day the quality of the Western Highway from Melbourne to the SA border is extremely disappointing. It is probably the worst major highway that we have travelled on in recent memory.

The head wind today was a pain, but we accept that there will be head winds and tail winds.

Day 3 – Thursday 24 May – Bordertown to Burra - 430 km

For the second day in a row I was up before sunrise (surprised?), and was able to get the following photo from the back of the caravan.

Sunrise at Bordertown

Two minutes later it was gone as the clouds took control. The forecast is for wet and chilly - and it was - all day. Shirley appeared early and we were destined for an early start (7:45 am).

Our first stop was the silo art at Coonalpyn. See below. I had to take the photo out of the window as it was raining too hard to get out.

Silo art at Coonalpyn

Murray Bridge beckoned and we duly visited Coles to stock up on fruit and veggies (that we could not bring across the border).

We then bypassed Mannum and headed due north. The weather was getting worse by the minute. We stopped on the banks of a dry creek and made a hot lunch - hot dogs. I include the photo below to show how typically Aussie this country is. The gum trees were magnificent.

Trees at our lunch stop

Our next stop was Eudunda, where the rain subsided long enough to get the following photo (but it did not stop). The theme was based on the author Colin Thiele who came from this part of the world. Click here for more information on Colin.

 

Silo art at Eudunda

Our last silo art before the Flinders Ranges was at Farrell Flat - a superb little town that could have had us for a couple of days, if not for the terrible weather. The small pub had heaps of cars outside - always a good sign. The GPS lady took us along 14 km of unsealed wet road. I was not impressed, but the sight at the end was worth it.

The art work depicts the last passenger steam train (RX 55) to travel through Farrell Flats when passenger services closed in 1986.

Silo art at Farrell Flats

We were only 26 km from Burra, so we completed the day's journey at the Burra Showgrounds - as the rain continued. Shirley conjured up some casserole and left over (cooked Victorian) veggies.

It was a relaxing evening, as the rain continued into the night.

Day 4 – Friday 26 May 2023 – Burra to Mt Little Station

My body said stay in bed, so I did – until 7:45. Shirley was happy with that. Then we showered at the same time, because the local amenities made it that way (we had to drive there).

We did caravan stuff, like emptying the toilet cassette and topping up with water. Our departure was around 9:30 – very late for us.

Peterborough was our first stop – a lovely old town with many magnificent buildings – large and small. The Peterborough Hotel is a fine example.

Peterborough Hotel

We did some minor shopping, had a coffee, visited the tourism centre, then headed north.

The road and weather conditions (for driving) were the best day of the trip to date.

Pea n ham soup was warmed up for lunch and we arrived at Mt Little Station around 2pm – where we booked in and met up with Kay and Darryl. We had a great private camp spot with our nearest neighbour maybe 100+ metres away.

Mt Little Station Campsite

The station had a pizza bar so we joined in and each had a great pizza. It was a superb location with two roaring fires.

Pizza at Mt Little Station

Pizza Cooker - Mountain Range at Rear

The pizza maker was happy to feature in the sunset photo with the hills in the background being highlighted by the setting sun.

Mt Little Tavern & Pizzeria

The 2 km or so drive back to camp was an issue as we nearly got bogged on the way to dinner. It was my closest call ever with this car (and three witnesses on board].

On the way home it was pitch black and we could not find our way back the way we had come. Fortunately, there was an alternative longer track that we ended up using. Our 2 km took about 30 minutes.    

So far we have driven 1216 km.

This is the end of Chapter 2. Now we embark on seeing the Flinders Ranges.

Last updated at 1 pm (SA time) on Monday 29 May 2023.

*** Chapter 2 Complete ***

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