Blogs from Wilpena, South Australia, Australia, Oceania

Desert Ship Territory Log Day 7 Well the Maree Hotel sure aint the Hilton but it sure is an outback experience. After I tackled the temperamental plumbing in the shower, we headed down stairs for a continental breakfast and got a bit stuck there watching the The Netherlands vs Argentina FIFA World Cup matchwhere The Netherlands lost in a penalty shoot out. After we packed the car, we went on a bit of a walking tour of Marree which used to be the main area where station cattle were mustered from as far away as Queensland and sent by rail to Adelaide to market. The Afghan cameleers also worked from here and there is the relics of Australia's first Mosque made from mud brick and a thatched roof. We feulled up and fuel is still not ... read more

Today we went for a lovely drive through Bunyeroo and Brachina Gorges. Again, we travelled along dirt road and across lovely dry river beds. The scenery was beautiful, the rugged mountains and lovely red river gum trees. From the Bunyeroo Valley Lookout we had a fabulous view of the Razor Back Mtn range and St Marys Peak which are part of the Northern wall of Wilpena Pound. We then stopped at the Razor Back Lookout and enjoyed more views of Wilpena Pound and had a lovely chat to some men who run camps for kids. The kids were on a long hike through the valley below and we could just see them, hiking along, from our spot at the lookout. We passed walls of greeny grey limestone, which was deposited around 570million years ago which verified ... read more

Sorry for the delay in the blogs - we have had no internet access. It is nice to be able to catch up on some blogging tonight. Today we travelled from Orroroo to Rawnsley Station. We headed off towards Hawker via Carrieton and Cradock. We stopped at Hawker and we went to the Art Gallery. We stopped for lunch at a lovely lookout, with mountains in the background. We arrived at Rawnsley Park Station just after lunch and set up the caravan. It is beautiful here, it is right at the base of Wilpena Pound in the foothills of the Southern Flinders Rangers. This is a big property with plenty of caravan and camping sites. There is also a lovely big camp kitchen, which is indoors and has a fireplace. The little shop, at Rawsley Station ... read more

Geo: -31.3612, 138.654There is something so alluring about the outback, a harsh, rugged and desolate place at times which is also extremely beautiful and amazing. By now the generational gap when it comes to visiting the outback appears. All you see along the roads are campervans and caravans and behind the wheel are two older retiree's in most cases, setting off on their trip around Australia. And the odd family or two, but they appear more frequently in the school holidays. So why is it that you see so little of our age group there? I am not sure but after visiting the Flinders Ranges National Park, we are eager to see the rest of the outback. We set off from Broken Hill to the Remarkable National Park, driving through some deserted and flat land. After ... read more

Geo: -31.644, 138.625Todays Challenge - To see if Iron Knob looks like a Knob?We depart Kimba at 10.00am and it is a cool 14 degrees celcius but very sunny. The stretch between Kimba and Port Augusta would have to be the most boring, desolate, disillusioning drive ever. Nothing but cleared land, grain silos and a long pipeline.The trip meter ticks over to 8000km as Deb spots a flock of Emus on the side of the road outside of Iron Knob the birth place of Australias steel industry. What we though was a mountain range turned out to be a chiselled mountain of mining substances and depending on ones definition of a 'knob' we decide that Iron Knob is in fact a knob and we pass todays challenge. Are we still suffering Nullarbor madness?Next stop is Port ... read more