Back Out in the Outback

The return crossing from KI was rough but thankfully short leaving us a bit queasy for our journey north to Adelaide - our decision to spend the last night on KI in a decent motel was vindicated as it poured heavily for 24hours and flooded parts of Kingscote and might have left us stranded in a bush camp site.

A commercial site near Adelaide Airport allowed Sarah to pack for her journey and left us only a quick hop the following morning - we said our goodbyes for the next 6 weeks and she has now safely returned to Pembrokeshire after a long but uneventful journey that ran to schedule.

I stocked up and drove north to Mt. Remarkable to enjoy a good ridge walk with views towards the heart of Australia dominated by the vast waters of Lake Torrens - full now after the rains a few months ago.

Heading north I explored the main Flinders NP staying at some very isolated bush camps with magnificent stars during the cool nights and day time temperatures in the mid to high twenties.

The aboriginal art works at Mt. Chambers Gorge were like the gorge itself well worth the long haul to get there.

Miles of empty gravel roads took me eventually to the Vulkathuna Ranges where I stayed at an indigenous run camping area at Iga Warta and joined the family to watch AFL on the telly outside on the verandah.

How homesteads make any living out of the harsh arid landscape is beyond me - some were so far off the beaten track that life at any point in history must be very demanding.

The road north took me to Farina once intended to be a major agricultural town and located on the route of the Old Ghan Railway but the relocation of this and a series of droughts led to the abandonment of the entire settlement.

Leigh Creek with its vast opencast coal mining operation is now the major local industry and operates on a remarkable scale - some of the older smaller plant was on display for exploration.

Meanwhile in the background nature continues to operate with emus, water dragons, colourful birds and occasional flocks of sheep scratching an existence from the land which looks barren but is apparently in better condition than for years - certainly the Google images show a very different picture.

Now its off to the Eyre Peninsula to enjoy the coast before the Nullarbor and Perth which I hope to reach in a month or so.

Piccies here and locations here.

This post's slide show returns once more to NZ.