Outback 2
From Hawker out to the Northern Flinders.
(Once again, I’m afraid this article will likely be too long for some emails. If you would like to see the whole of it, please take a look via your browser.)
We got off to a fairly prompt start, the following morning, from our base in Hawker. Today’s travels would be undertaken entirely in Tonka, with the burden of driving falling squarely on Pete’s shoulders. A fine job he made of it, too, as a lot of it was on back roads and rough tracks.
Things started getting bumpy when we turned off the B83 Outback Highway onto Brachina Gorge Road. ‘Road’ maybe a little optimistic, though. It was little more than a wide, stony track. Tonka took it all in it’s stride, unlike some of those on board, particularly when sitting right in the back over the rear wheel arches..
You may remember I mentioned in part one that it had been quite a dry winter. Well, as we travelled, the dust billowed and the terrain got rougher.
At a suitable point along the way, we stopped for a spot of lunch, making what we could of the shade offered by rather splendid eucalyptus, or gum tree. It was huge. Looking at the photo with Aaron stood in front, from what I can gather it was at least three hundred years old, maybe more.
A magnificent arboreal elder by anyone’s estimation. After we’d munched and rested a little, on we went, paying a quick visit to Blinman before backtracking a little and heading off up the North Flinders Road.
Onward we trundled, eventually reaching the day’s destination, Mount Chambers Gorge.
It was given it’s English name in 1855 in honour of two early settlers of that name, John and James, though it had been previously known as Marlawadinha Inbiri, part of the homelands of the Adnyamathanha people.
Just like the Yourambulla Cave, there’s an amazing collection ancient Indigenous Australian art. One downside of our visit was our encounter with countless local residents, namely flies. Oh dear, sooo many flies - in your ears, in your eyes, anywhere where they could get at your skin. Not harmful, just annoying. I could even see them buzzing around and landing on the front of my camera’s lens (I hope they had clean feet!). Still, the whole experience of being there immeasurably outweighed any irritation. It was such an amazing place.
By the time we left the gorge and started heading back, the sun was getting pretty low in the sky. As we trundled along the plateau back towards Blinman, we just had to stop and admire the setting sun as it slowly disappeared behind the distant mountains. Being in the middle of these plains with little to obstruct one’s vision, the skies were absolutely huge, the last of the sun radiant and glorious.
Looking in the opposite direction, the Belt of Venus was exquisite. Such ineffible hues of blue merging into mauve and pink above the bush. This was one of those magical moments when you feel so small, so insignificant, yet at one with it all. You might wonder why I have no photos of that moment - well, any images I may have attempted could never have fully conveyed that experience. Even my feeble attempt at the sunset, above, pales against what we witnessed in person. Pure magic.
When we managed to gather ourselves again, on we went, stopping briefly at Blinman again for a rest. Having failed to attempt a Milky Way photo at Melrose, I thought I’d try my hand here before we moved on again. It was all rather Heath Robinson, as I set the camera for a long exposure at a fairly high ISO, placed it on it’s back upon a short wooden post, then triggered the shutter on it’s delay mode. The result was probably one of my favourite attempts at photographing the night sky.
The following morning we wended our way to Port Germein and an on to an enjoyable romp at the St Kilda Adventure Playground before returning to home base in the Adelaide Hills.
Certainly an unforgettable journey.
Many thanks to my Cousin Meg for helping me recall the dates and place names, on this journey and with all the things that made our visit so special.
Outback pts 1 & 2 are also dedicated to the memory of Meg’s late husband, Pete Stephens, who was also an excellent chauffeur/guide/travel companion on this wondrous expedition.
Without them this journey into the Australian wilds would not have been possible.
Many thanks to you, too, for joining me again for this second part of our Outback odyssey.
Rock and root is so lovely! And the Milky Way is stunning.
What amazing adventures you had out there Ralph, these are fabulous!
Those 'roads' look pretty hairaising (although our local roads are starting to resemble dirt tracks themselves with all the pot holes!!) but worth journeying to get to so many beautiful places. Of course I love the resilience of nature personified by that tree's roots coming from the rock; what a giant of a Eucalyptus and that night sky photo might have been a bit 'heath robinson' but it worked beautifully...another amazing memory.
I've really enjoyed 'sharing' your travels in the Outback - you've created some wonderful forever memories made all the more poignant by the loss of Pete...this is such a wonderful tribute to the fun time you spent with him, Meg and your family.