Over the Range

 

Friday 12 August 2022 – Over the Range

Hendrik very kindly offered to do the driving today so we piled into the Discovery about 9.30am and headed north and into the Gawler Ranges.  All of the rain yesterday and the showers overnight made the roads very slippery and soon all the cleaning of the car the rain had accomplished was undone as we drove through puddles and slewed through mud.

The unpaved roads became more like tracks by the time we made it into the National Park and there were a couple of time we aquaplaned around corners and we skated along the surface for a bit.  Hendrik safely guided us through and we made it to the old Paney shearing quarters where the ranger there admitted he had pretty much come around the same corner sidewards as we had!  He also advised not heading further up the same track to a waterfall that wouldn’t be flowing anyway (“Not after only 10mm!”) so we drove instead along the main east-west road across the bottom of the ranges and checked out the old Paney homestead.  You can go inside as long as you shut all the doors on your way out and although most of the rooms were empty the kitchen had a table with vinyl tablecloth with chairs and a number of information panels hung around the walls.  As it had started raining again we decided to make full use of the furnishing and eat our lunch out of the weather so that all worked out well.  After lunch it had stopped raining enough to walk around the homestead and see the little collection of dog kennels under a shady tree which kind of reminded me of the dog runs at the Jasper farm at Pannoo.

Back in the car and we continued west with a stop at the Peterby rockhole which did have some water after the recent rain and then on to Yandina falls where we saw that the ranger had been right in not bothering to go to the other falls.  While there was water falling down the rockface it was barely a trickle and you certainly wouldn’t bother coming all the way out here if that was the only thing to see.

We continued on with numerous sightings of emus and kangaroos but our day was not blessed with a single wombat although apparently they are quite commonly seen here.  We had had patches of rain and sunshine all day and had tended to get most of the rain whilst in the car and by our last stop in the NP at the Organ Pipes there was actually blue sky and sunshine as we walked up the trail.  We still had to watch our step though as it has rained here recently and well so that the walk trail, which obviously served as a bit of creek bed, was pretty wet and the rocks very slippery.  Still the Organ Pipes were pretty spectacular and the weather was calm enough for Larry to send the drone up and get quite good footage of the sun shining on the rocks and showing lots of different colours up.  We sat in the picnic shelter and had our cuppas and finger buns from the Wudinna bakery and enjoyed the serenity and the bird calls.  Amusingly, the minute H decided to walk a little way away and try to record some of them they all went completely quiet!!

It was getting on in the afternoon so we headed south out of the National Park with only a brief stop to check out Pildappa Rock.  This is a big rock in the style of Wave Rock at Hyden and our original plan had been to camp here tonight after spending the previous night in Kimba.  Our change in plan had meant we had had the whole day to spend in the Gawler Ranges instead of the afternoon and we would have got both cars and vans muddy again getting out here so it all worked out for the best.

We eventually popped out onto the Eyre Highway at Minnipa and sailed back along the tarmac and to Wudinna.  Even more accommodatingly, the clouds had all blown away and we had clear skies.  There had been nothing telling us we couldn’t have a fire, there was one fire pit on the other side of the oval and when we rang the helpline there was no answer so we figured it should be okay to get out our portable firepit and build up a fire so that we could still have the campfire meal we had planned to have at Pildappa Rock.

The weather stayed obligingly clear with only one light shower going through and we were able to cook up our tried and true beef, red wine and mushroom casserole which always goes down a treat and never has any leftovers to deal with.  We then all stood around the fire and toasted marshmallows but eventually the cold, icy wind drove us indoors and to a bit of blogging, footy watching etc.  Most of these little country towns have good internet which is a bonus.  Diesel heater on and hot showers before bed.