Wednesday 9th April, 2014: A very wet pack up in Warren Gorge

Our plan was to spend today doing the 5 km walk through the area of Warren Gorge and generally explore a bit more around this area.

However we awoke to a very wet morning and although this in itself was not really an issue as it is so very beautiful wandering exploring this location even in the wet. 

Moores had not slept very well as she was a bit spooked during the night by another car coming into the camping area up behind us about 10pm last night and waking her up. This is a fairly out of the way campground and their was only one other camper in the area a bit of a way down from us and another car coming in late in the pitch dark to this spot was a bit unnerving for her.

That plus the fact that the forecast was for heavy falls of rain throughout today - we decided to pack up and head on to Rawnsley Station earlier than planned. 

I have to say that Warren Gorge has been the highlight of the trip so far for me. 

It is for me a place of spectacular natural beauty - so quiet - and with no one else camping near you. Everywhere you could see sitting at your campsite was just serene and peaceful.

I was sad not to have been able to enjoy it for longer.

Well this was the first time that we have had to pack up the tvan in the rain and all the canvas was already very wet. We had also put up the full awning so we had this very wet canvas awning to pack up as well.

But - we got ourselves quite well organised and managed the pack up without even letting the awning get on to the ground where it would have ended up muddy.

We set off back into Quorn - as the back way to Hawker that we had planned to travel through was all dirt road and we were unsure of its condition after the rain we have been having.

Once back in Quorn we decided to go to the Quandong Cafe for a light lunch. The owner tells us that they have now had one and a half inches in the last couple of days since it started raining. 

The farmers are ecstatic!!

After a quick lunch we head off via Hawker, to Rawnsley Station in the Flinders Ranges.

It was a very scenic drive with the Flinders Ranges park looming into our view ever closer and some interesting ruins along the way to check out as well.

The ruin is the old "Wilson Stationmaster's Residence" - I guess the railway must have come through here at some time - there is no evidence of this anymore around the ruins of the residence

It was interesting to note that every room on the building had a fireplace.

On arrival at Rawnsley Station we had a great view (coming in off the main road) of the Rawnsley Bluff -  we plan to wlk up to the top of this bluff on Saturday morning with Russ, Cindy and Neil and co.

Let's hope this inclement weather clears away for us by then.

On checking in we are lucky enough to be able to get onto one of the sites already booked for the arrival of our group on Friday.  This means we can set up and not have to move sites and we can get all the wet gear up and get it dried out.

The rain was threatening again as we backed into our site - and we were quickly into action to get everything up before the forecast rain hit the area again ( another widespread bank of heavy rain could be seen on the radar coming across this area)

We had to get the big awning up again to dry it out and all the canvas on the tvan tent was very wet right through from being packed up in the hatch when it was still very wet from the previous 24hrs of rain on it.

This meant that it was wet on the inside as well as the outside - so with more rain falling on it - and no chance of drying out - it was dripping a bit on the inside of the tent.

Lucky that our sleeping area is not under the canvas tent of the tvan as it dripped quite a bit during another wet night.

Tuesday 8th April, 2014: Fantastic free camp at Warren Gorge

Well it started raining last night before I hopped into bed. First a few spits like we had the night before -  but then it started in earnest and I had to run around closing everything up as Moores was already sound asleep.

Then I checked the radar and knew that we were most likely in for more of the same throughout the night - Yes it did certainly pour down all night. Fortunately it did stop in the morning long enough for most of the canvas to dry out - all the same we got packed up pretty quickly.

We decided to check the Quandong pie that everyone has been raving about at the "Quandong Cafe" here in Quorn. One couple told us that they had once driven up from Adeaide to Quorn just to have some of the pie from this cafe.

It was barely morning tea time - but what the hell we were not leaving without trying it and we did. It plan to come back into Quorn after heading out to Warren Gorge.

Well we have never had Quandong Pie before so we had nothing to compare it to - but we did very much enjoy it and would highly recommend it.

Whilst in the cafe we were told by the owner that they had half an inch of rain last night and the farmers for the first time in the twenty years she has lived there would not be complaining on Anzac Day that they were still waiting for rain to start their planting.

We headed out of town the making for our free camp for the next few nights - a council campsite about 25km out of Quorn at Warren Gorge.

It started drizzling rain again on our way out of town - but had stopped when we arrived.

There is a sign as you reach the day use car park that says fees apply and it is $7.00 /day for camping. But there was no where that we could see to make / leave your payment nor telling you where you should go to pay the fees. So we figured maybe someone would come around to collect from people.

We drove on through this narrow stunning gorge with its vertical stands of rock - that look as thiugh they might fall at any moment.

The details below here provide some information on the Geology of Warren Gorge - explaining the unusual vertical pattern in the gorge.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to this campsite was the possibility of catching sight of the endangered "Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby". I have read that there is a colony here and your chances of seeing one are quite high. Also another camper at Quorn Caravan park had seen one only yesterday when they came out here for the day.

We were absolutely wrapt in this scenic location. 

We selected a campsite and set up camp. It was looking as though there was a good chance of more rain and this was the forecast so we set up the full awning planning to be comfortable from the weather and stay a couple of nights here.

It started drizzling again - but with our umbrellas we set off to explore a bit and take in the grandeur of this spectacle from a few higher vantage points.

Yes that little spec down there is our ute and tvan!

We walked the couple of kilometres back through the gorge to take a better look.

And then just explored a bit more hoping to catch sight of the wallabies

We did not however find any of those elusive "Yellow footed" rock wallabies. But we did enjoy this gorgeous part of the country - such a magic natural location.

The weather started closing in on us and we settled down for another wet night. 

Monday 7th April, 2014: A Relaxing day in quaint Quorn!!

It looked somewhat overcast and I neede to do a load of washing and keep an eye on the weather once it was hung out - so we took a good look around the township of Quorn this morning.

Here are just some of the historic buildings you find in this lovely little township of Quorn.

It got quite hot and the washing dried without a problem. It would still have lived to do the walk at the 'Dutchmans Stern' but we decided since we were heading out of town that way tomorrow we would consider doing it then.

So we did some more planning for our food requirements and went to the local IGA to get a few more supplies we needed - as once we leave here we have no access to any type of supermarket for a good while. Whilst we can drop into the mining town of Leigh creek when we start our journey up to Mount Dare - we expect things will be quite pricey there so we are trying to minimise what we might need to purchase at the supermarket there.

Sunday 6th April, 2014: We're in Quorn!!

Another glorious morning waking up in Mt Remarkable NP - refreshingly cool - but just waking up in this beautiful bush land setting is heaven.

We had ourselves a nice relaxing breakfast of porridge this morning and then packed up and headed for Port Augusta to do some shopping at the supermarket before heading for the little township of Quorn - our stepping stone into the Flinders Ranges NP further north of here.

We said goodbye to Mt Remarkable NP - and the great Mambray Creek campground 

We did not see much of Port Augusta really as it is a biggish place (with a population of around 17000) that we were not really prepared to try and negotiate our way around.

One interesting fact about Port Augusta is its water supply comes mainly via a pipeline all the way from the Murray River. The laying of this pipeline assisted greatly with the growth of this city as it has always struggled for a good permanent water supply.

These days with 2x huge power generating stations it supplies 40% of SA electricity requirements.

It is also known as the "Crossroads of the Outback" with it being a hub to places both east and wets of here as well as North and South.

But we can't see everything - there is just not enough time and we prefer to be out of the bigger towns and in the countryside, the bush and the outback areas where we see a different lifestyle to the city life we lead.

We actually succumbed or a MacDonalds lunch on the way out of town as they have free wifi and I was trying to maximise my opportunity to upload some more of this blog. 

After we turned off the highway, heading for Quorn, we quickly started winding our way through the foothills of the Flinders Ranges.

We drove into Quorn at about 1.30pm - checked into the caravan park and went off to do a quick look around the town. This is a great caravan park where the owner/managers of some10 years now have apparently taken it from a desolate 10 acres to a park with lots of bushes and 'arid happy' foliage. They tell us it is still a work in progress and they are doing everything without any fertilisers and poor quality water (the water comes from a council bore just out of town and is high in calcium and such minerals which is not great for growing plants). They also have quite a lot of River Red Gums that suck up a lot of any moisture in the ground.

We had the "Sydney Opera House" style going with the sail awning today as you can see in this photo of our little "humpy"

And here we have a photo of the 'Quorn Wattle' - there is lots of this bush growing around the caravan park.

This afternoon I started our cook up of meals for a trip across the Simpson Desert. We are cooking and freezing meals so that we do not have too much rubbish to carry with us and we have next to no preparation for our nightly meals. It will simplify things for us heaps. 

Thanx for the idea Cindy - it worked well for us on the trip over form Brisbane to SA as we did not need to cook at all on our overnight stops after a day of lots of driving.

The reason we came to this caravan park is because I had checked out a couple of places and this one had a good camp kitchen and a full size fridge/freezer that maximised our chance of being able to freeze our prepared meals and also meat we have bought today. Freezing it like this works really well and then the our freezer section of the Evacool fridge does the job keeping it frozen relatively easily without having it work too hard.

It turned out to be warmer evening than we had previously been having in our last few campsites. So the warmer coverings were getting thrown off last night.

I would love to walk to the summit of what they call the Dutchmans Stern tomorrow - but will have to see how the weather pans out as it has got quite overcast tonight - hence it being warmer.

Saturday 5th April, 2014: Hidden Gorge walking trail!!

It was a fairly cool night and equally chilly morning to start - until the sun peeped over the hills behind us.

A load of hand washing (undies and stuff) done and hung out on Ruth's "Undie" tree we were ready for our planned hike here in Mt Remarkable NP. Sorry no photos of the infamous "Undie" tree this time round.

Hidden Gorge hike was our ambitious selection for today - a 18km loop starting and ending at the Mambray Creek campground.  We were promised lovely gorges and spectacular views along this hike.

We were hopeful of seeing some of the endangered Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby along the ways - but alas we were not that fortunate today. We did however catch sight of a wedge-tailed eagle.

It's unfortunately not a great photo as he was some distance away and in the shade of the tree.

The walk was graded moderate - but I would have to say that it was a pretty tough walk mainly because of the many dry creek beds we traversed which make for very uneven walking paths. Your feet start to feel the harshness of the rocks underfoot after walking most of the day over this sort of terrain - despite them being encased in a good pair of walking boots.

We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in a cool overhang in one of the gorges.

And here is my latest attempt at a "self-portrait" - whilst holding the camera out at arm's length.

Fortunately it was not a hot day - probably around the 26 degree mark I'd reckon. 

We saw very few other people on the walk but at the top where we came out onto the fire trail we ran into two guys who suggested that we could continue down the fire trail instead of going back via the bluff and another gorge. 

We thought this sounded a good option as we could see that we were going to have some spectacular views along the fire trail heading down from the ridge line. We came around a corner and turned west and the vista opened up for us at the top of the fire trail - it was just so clear and you could see to the top of Spencer Gulf and to the other side and way down south as well. 

We stopped part way down in the shade, ate our apples and just absorbed this enormous vista.

The walk down the fire trail was so steep that they had secured a wire mesh (rheo I think) on to the track held in place by large metal nails. We assumed this was probably to help the vehicles get up ther and to stop the track getting washed away too much.

The only trouble was the track seemed never-ending and we started to worry that we were not going to end up anywhere near the campground. 

Moral of the story is either keep the faith that you have been given good advice - or maybe that you should never stray from the marked track you are on.

Anyway it all ended well when we finally turned a corner and the sign said "to camping area" - we just were not sure which camping area - but by that stage anywhere remotely near where we were supposed to be was going to be okay as far as I was concerned.

In actual fact it came out to the main camping area where we were camped and the walk had not taken us any longer than we had factored that it would when we set off in the morning. 

So all's well that ends well I guess.

We were very tired and foot sore as we have not done such a long walk for a very long time and it was very hard underfoot. After a very welcome cold drink of water from the fridge we headed for the showers and a bit of a "Nanna nap" before getting sorted for an afternoon cup of tea. 

(Seeing as we have become tea totallers now)

Need less to say it was an early night in bed!!

Friday 4th April, 2014: Let's go walking in Mt Remarkable National Park!!

It was another cool night with that damm cold wind blowing at Wallaroo last night.

So we hot-footed it out of there this morning and headed North up the Spencer Gulf coastline stopping into check out Port Pirie and Port Germein along the way.

Port Pirie is quite a sizeable port town with huge silos for the grain storage before it is loaded onto ships. We had a bit of a wander around here and checked out the Regional Art Gallery which although small was very nice.

We headed out of Port Pirie for Port Germein - but the GPS took us down a street that ended at a caravan park - that was fun backing up and turning ourselves around to get out of that street.

Once we got that sorted we just headed in the direction we thought was right and the GPS got back on track for us then.

Well Port Germein was a very small quaint little seaside village that has an extremely long jetty - it was originally 1676 metres long. It is one of the longest wooden jetties in the Southern Hemisphere and in its heyday Port Germain was the largest grain shipping port in Australia.

The Port Germein jetty and goods building are state heritage listed.

It's a long way out to go before you hit water deep enough to go fishing

This is the cute old lighthouse at the jetty - we dubbed it "the coffee pot"

We walked the jetty all the way out and back - a lovely 3km walk (the jetty was damaged years ago and now is 1500m long) and then enjoyed a coffee at the waterfront.

We reached our campsite at Mambray Creek Campground in Mt Remarkable National Park around 1pm. Patter a quick camp setup and leisurely lunch we set off for a short hike.

We walked the Daveys Gully Hike where we were treated to views of Spencer Gulf. 

Like this "selfie" we took along the path

After that we took a stroll around the "Wirra Water Loop" which takes in the dry creek bed that runs along the edge of the campground - where there are many magnificent River Red Gums.

This campsite has some of the best examples of River Red Gums in South Australia and it was a delightful way to see out the afternoon walking the interpretive trail provided for the "Wirra Water Loop".

These old Wirra giants can have sinker roots as deep as 9 metres which is the key to their survival in the long droughts in this area. These sinker roots tap into deep groundwater reserves and pump water back up the to shallow roots near the surface.

We were well a truly ready to settle in for a late afternoon wine in the magnificent environment - but disaster!! - we had run out of wine.  Not sure how we managed that?? 

So it was a lovely cup of tea instead! - with emus feeding in the vicinity of the campsite around us.

The amenities here are very good - with flushing toilets and hot showers - but they don't miss you with the cost for the camping.

But on the whole It is a great campspot as usual in the bush - very dark and very quiet at night.

We were off to bed early as we have a long walk planned for tomorrow.