Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre

Leaving Rawnsley Park Station, we headed northwards to Marree which was our destination to board our scenic flight over Lake Eyre.  Took in some more grand vistas along the way as we travelled with the Flinders Ranges on our right, we got to see them from the other side.

One last beautiful sunrise over Rawnsley Bluff as seen from our campsite

Motpena ruins

 

We parked up at the pub in Marree - free to camp as long as you come in for a meal, so we obliged.

Marree Hotel

 We had booked a spot on the early flight (at 7:30).  The two hour flight took us in a NNW direction to the northern part of the lake to where the Queensland floodwaters are currently pushing down the Warburton groove and spilling into the reaches of the lake which is predominantly covered in salt.  The salt lake is a sight to behold stretching to the horizon in places - it's difficult to distinguish the horizon.
I enjoyed the abstract shapes, patterns and textures from the aerial perspective.  The headwaters have pushed around 50km into the lake so far and expected to start filling the southern end in a few weeks.  Pelicans, swans and gulls have begun to show up for the action.
 

The head waters pushing into the lake from the north

Head waters of the Queensland floods in March

Artesian spring in the salt lake

Wildlife moving in

Marree Man - Google it to see the story behind this largest art piece in the world

Our 'Arid Air' ride

We stayed one more night at Marree and headed back southwards to resume our originally planned tour of the back blocks of NSW.  The Flinders Ranges and Lake Eyre were not on our original itinerary but we seized the opportunity as we were in the area - almost.

I went for a morning shoot around Marree before we left.   Beautiful light!

We were originally planning a land based trip out along the Oodnadatta track to the southern lookout but decided against it at the last minute.  We thought what we'd seen from the air was going to be a hard act to follow.  

It was pretty special!!

Catch ya next time.

 

 

Flinders Ranges

We've spent the past several days immersed in the spectacle of the Flinders Ranges.  

View from our campsite at Rawnsley Park Station on the afternoon of our arrival

 

We parked up at Rawnsley Park Station - basically a caravan park in a bush environment.  

Even shouted ourselves a treat for our anniversary with dinner at the Woolshed Restaurant on site.  Main staple on the menu is home grown lamb - how can that be a bad thing?  Scrumptious!

It's very dry country in these parts but doesn't take away from the splendour of the region.  We enjoyed a few days exploring the region.  On day 3, we did a 5.5km walk into Wilpena Pound which is a pretty easy going bush walk to an old homestead and ending up with a more strenuous climb to a couple of lookouts over the pound.  You can look it up like I did - a pound is an old English term for a livestock enclosure usually surrounded by stone walls.  In the geological sense, is a rock formation which forms an enclosure on a massive scale.

During the walk, we encountered some friendly wildlife which appear to be very comfortable around humans.

 

We took a drive to the northern most parts of the Flinders Ranges highway to an old copper mining town of Blinman (population 43).  Sampled a local delicacy called the miner's pasty which is a main and dessert in one pastry - Regular pasty one end and apple pie the other.

Miner's Pasty

These two came bounding towards me when I was by the roadside shooting a landscape

Cazneaux Tree - a notable tree photographed by Harold Cazneaux in 1937 - "Spirit of Endurance"

Our last day of exploration was spent doing the Moralana Gorge Road which is billed as a scenic route.  That it was!  About a 30km (good) dirt road which bridges across between two northbound highways.

 

North Arkaba School/Church (open 1888-1918 & 1932-1941)

Monday, we are booked on a scenic flight over Lake Eyre.  Stay tuned for that one!

 

Epic SA Diversion

Well, it's a week since we left Mildura to follow our unplanned diversion into South Australia.  Firstly, I have to share an image of the ANZAC Day sunrise at Mildura the day we left.

Sunrise in Mildura the day we left - ANZAC Day

Our plan is to make our way to Lake Eyre to hopefully witness the filling of the lake with the southbound floodwaters from Western Queensland in March.  As I make this blog, I'm seeing footage of the waters arriving into the northern parts of Lake Eyre.

In transit, we crossed the state border and spent the first night at Overland Corner which is a free camp on the bank of the Murray River.  Enjoyed the best (and biggest) crumbed Wagyu steak we've ever seen at the Overland Corner Hotel.  So big, we shared it.  So big, they serve it on a tray.

We spent the night enjoying the sights and sounds of the Murray for the final time on this trip.

Onwards - our next overnighter was at a place oddly called World's End.  It's free camp on Burra Creek.  Nearby, the town of Lapford was surveyed but never developed.  Ruins are scattered around the countryside.

Ah! a thing of beauty to some

Sunset at World's End campsite with a rainbow thrown in!

These fellas came over to check out what I was doing

Old church servicing the area

Next night's stopover was at a Hipcamp called Maverick's Rest.  $20/night for spot on an Alpaca farm.  In the centre of the designated campground are these ruins of what I assume to be a modest dwelling of the times.

Wait - wait - snap!

Next overnight stopover was behind the Cradock Hotel.  The town of Cradock has not much but it does have a pub of course and two churches which are no longer churches.

Camped beside the dry creek bed behind the Cradock Pub

Check out this Giant Red Gum tree we came across on the outskirts of the small town of Orroroo!  It's estimated to be over 500 years old.  Circumference is 10.4m - 3.3m across.

 That takes us to the Flinders ranges which will be covered in the next episode.  See ya then.