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Departing at 6:30am. This was a long lie for us by now though. After leaving Coober Pedy (we really liked the place), we stopped off for sunrise nearby. Sunrises and sunsets are pretty cool to watch, but we were now somewhat jaded with them. They do start to look the same and we now have copious amounts of pictures to prove this. It's still a nice way to spend 5 minutes though, and then we were off again.
After re-alighting the bus, it was going to be another long drive before we got to our final resting place for the day. One of the initial places we stopped at for a few minutes was a salt lake called Lake Hart, which had since dried up completely of water. It looked pretty massive but was actually one of the smallest in the region. Like the desert rocks, it was a hangover from the inland sea which had once existed. The only remnants left were countless minerals and silica which formed a weird white layer over the area. The depth could have gone to about 10cm, but due to the amount of unexploded artillery, we weren't going to try
and find out. On an unrelated note, for some reason there was a table nearby with some random notes on it and a weird shrine which seemed to indicate the death of a dog. Pretty bizarre really.
Getting back on the bus, we had another couple of stops for toilets and then lunch at a town called Port Augusta. We were actually able to see the sea at this place where a gulf came up from the ocean. Completely different from the outback and it was weird to see some grass again. Afterwards, it was back on the bus and into the Flinders Ranges themselves.
Flinders Ranges
Flinders Ranges itself is estimated to be the second oldest mountain range in the world, with the other being in Western Australia. Compared to the rest of the outback, it's a pretty significant area due to the fact it isn't flat and as barren. It had previously housed many sheep farms, and still has some today, although the area itself isn't the most suitable. There is very little financial gain in operating so most have become derilect. Sheep still seem to roam the road though and the bus had to
brake on many occasions to avoid them. However, there also seemed to be loads of kangeroos and emus wandering the roads too, so Ben had to be on his toes when driving the windy roads.
We passed through Quorn (nothing to do with the food), which is the capital of the area, before heading past Hawker where we refueled yet again and on to the sheep farm at Wilpena Pound that was to be our home for the night. It was bunkhouse accommodation and we ended up meeting the other Adventure Tours group who were doing our tour in reverse and also staying at the camp. Myself and Emma headed down the creek for a tranquil walk and spotted some wild kangeroos who were very jumpy (boom boom) at the sight of us. Afterwards, we witnessed another sunset (!!) after climbing a nearby hill before heading down for tasty chicken and lamb and some more camp fire time.
Wilpena Pound
The plan for the next day was to head to the main area of Wilpena Pound and hike up Mount Ohlssen Bagge, one of the nearby hills. The trip up was actually pretty taxing as there were
Fiery Sunset At Parachilna
Sauron stirs at Mount Doom. a lot of boulders on the trail that we had to climb making the inlcine pretty sharp. The view from the top was well worth it though and we sat up here for a while with some biscuits. Making our way back down proved to be just as tricky as it was hard to stop the momentum overtaking and at one point, Emma took a nasty slip on one of the rocks.
It was another Aussie BBQ for lunch and although it was supposed to be burgers, we ended up having mince instead due to an error in purchasing. Still tasty stuff though and I don't think I could ever get tired of the Aussie BBQs. The next stop for the bus down a bumpy dirt track road and we then stopped off just before a gorge and hired out mountain bikes.
Biking Through The Gorge And On To Parachilna
Emma and myself were first off and away on the bikes. It felt weird to be on a mountain bike again and adjusting to gear changing for the hills was surprisingly difficult. It was great fun cycling through the gorge as it was constant hills, both up
The Ghan Railway Line
The most famous railway in Australia, from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs. and down, so we built up a lot of speed. The road wasn't exactly the best so it was a good job the tyres were up for the task. Apparantly during other months, the road can be quite treacherous and a lot more care has to be taken. We came out of the gorge about 45 minutes later and after waiting about being bothered by a lot of sand flies (they'd been plaguing has since Alice Springs), we got back on the bus and headed to our last stop of the day: Parachilna.
En route, we noticed a sign saying that we could eat Emu, Kangeroo and Camel at Parachilna. Sounded quite adventurous, but Emma wasn't too enthusiastic about eating Skippy. The place itself was pretty cool. Completely isolated, it had just a pub and a bunkhouse for us, which proved to be one of the best places we've stayed at during this trip. After settling in, dinner was served. It was another BBQ, but this time it consisted of Kangeroo meat squares, Emu patties and Camel sausages as well as a load of salad. For me, it was the best meal of the the outback trip as it
Lake Hart
The weird salt lake, with no water. That's just mineral sediments in the picture. was quite a bit different and there was loads to go around. Admittedly, the Camel sausages weren't the tastiest food I've ever had, but Kangeroo is surprisingly tender (I had tasted it before too) and the Emu patties were great. Although the Emu meat itself did have a fair few spices on it. Emma wasn't too keen but she did try it all, although the kangeroo was a bit too rare and she really didn't like the camel!
After dinner, it was straight to the pub called The Prairie Hotel, which was very small and mainly governed by tourist sales. As a result, the beer was pretty costly, but I had some of their own brew which was definitely the best beer I've had in Australia. So, keep your eyes peeled for Farghers Lager, it comes with a high Gary recommendation. The bar man himself was quite funny, although he didn't like patrons to do certain things such as ask him to take photos or ask for music. One of the Dutch girls almost gave him her camera by accident, but remembered at the last second. We were quite intrigued to see what he would have done though.
Wild Euro
The mid-range kangeroo, bigger than the Wallaby but not the full size critter. It had a carry out policy after closing time, but we opted to head to bed to avoid spending too much more money and also because it had been another tiring day.
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