OODNADATTA TRACK

Sunday 15 April – 5:12 pm.

Had a beaut day. We’d set up our avan on Saturday at about 4 pm. Unfortunately we set up camp while the sun was hidden behind the clouds. When it came out we reckoned we shoulda been several metres over that way. Too late. Then last night, after we’d had a lovely Spanish dish (diced spud, onion, peas, chopped up cooked sausage and 4 eggs. Hhhmmmmm. Lovely. Anyway, after that we joined 2 couples at their campfire. What a great campfire! As per usual, we scavenged a bunch of wood to help the worthy cause. The stars were out in full bloom once the flies decided to turn in for the night. The campfire owners also had 2 dogs who were friendly kinda fellas. Coffee and port by the fire. Does it get much better than that? Sorry... no pix.

So today was an avan-free day. We locked up Matilda, drove to Blinman and then headed on to Mt Chambers Gorge. We’d covered about 90 km by the time we stopped at the designated “this is as far as you drive” spot. Saw two beautiful blue flyers (roos) and one owl. Then, spraying ourselves generously with the fly repellent and having some grapes before departure, we ventured off into the unknown.

The trail was quite easy to follow, although I did resort to putting some arrows here and there in the event that the police or the rescue squad were called in later in the day. We walked sometimes in the dry creek bed and sometimes beside it. The blue slate was everywhere and I couldn’t resist picking up some pieces and writing my name etc on some of the flat palm-sized bits. At times the trail was actually quite high and required some skill to avoid slipping down the side of the bank into the dry creek bed. The flies hadn’t realized we’d sprayed ourselves with fly repellent, which was unfortunate for all concerned, especially us.

Finally we reached the spot where there was a heap of Aboriginal art on a rock face. Yep, this is where that 14 year old kid told Fay to come. Well, we’re here buddy! Photos. Then we wondered whether we should go on a bit further... so we did. Meanwhile we’d not seen another soul for ... well since we arrived at the “this is as far as you drive” spot.

Walking further proved unsuccessful. Actually we saw 2 roos and 2 small lizards in the gorge. When we reckoned there was no point in going onward we turned back and headed for the car. I wonder of my “markers ” would prove helpful as we headed towards the fly-free zone (the car.) 

Uneventful trip back. Fay drove a fair bit of the way back to Blinman, counting the creeks that we crossed and also including “floodways”. By the time we reached our camp we’d counted 168! Lucky there hasn’t been rain for a while eh?

Blinman was an interesting spot. Not much there. Last time we went into the store, this time to the cafe. Guess next time we’ll make it to the pub (further along). We ordered coffee and scones with home-made quandong jam. Very tasty, but the scones had to be the smallest in captivity. The sort that you can plaster with jam, then load with cream and still be able to stuff into your mouth in one go.

 How's that for a tree? Yeah... guess who took the damn photo??

 Parachilna Gorge campsite. Not a lot of company here Al.

As our avan is in a gorge (but not too low down), we are beside a mountain and thus lose the sun earlier than other areas. Good choosing! Once the flies depart, we’ll light the campfire tonight and enjoy our last night in the area between the Southern Flinders Ranges and the Northern Flinders Ranges. Maybe they might call this the Central Flinders Ranges.

Tomorrow, Monday, we’ll head for Parachilna, Leigh Creek and Marree (photo of pub included below). Think I checked with the GPS and found it was 280 km to Marree from here. Too easy. Now, will we need to buy diesel fuel, and if so, when? We’re under a half at present and we have a spare drum which holds 10 Litres.

Another night without power, toilets or water. No phone coverage. No internet. We have extra water and it looks like a “portable wash” outside the van tonight. There are other campers not too far away, but I think we’re private enough here. Back to the Sudoku and the Chardonnay! Reading Richie Benaud’s Over But Not Out. A good read. Especially if you like cricket. I’ll check with Fay to find out if the flies are around or not. I can wait. 

ggg

Fay reckoned I was depressed! Maybe I was despondent???? Who knows. Better now as we're actually on the bitumen!!!! And we just picked up internet connection here at Marla! Last place before heading to NT.