Heading Bush, Day 1 - Adelaide to The Flinders Ranges

---

When we had first arrived in Australia and went to the Work and Travel Company who set us up with jobs, bank accounts and other useful stuff they also had a guest in from the outback travel company Heading Bush, a proper country Aussie called Jim. We had already decided that we wanted to get into the outback but when we saw the slide show and heard Jim talking about the tour we were instantly sold. It would involve sleeping in swags, camping proper bush style and getting to places that other tour companies would not go to. We booked this tour on that day back in August and had been looking forward to it ever since.

Finally the beginning of the tour arrived and we were picked up outside our hostel in Adelaide early in the morning of the 25th of November, having only had a few hours sleep after our late drop off from the Kangaroo Island tour the evening before. Our guide introduced himself as Ian and we jumped on board the very strange vehicle that was somewhere between a bus and a huge four wheel drive truck. We later christened it The Bruck.

First stop, somewhat bizarrely, was the boss's house. We had to sign some forms as well as pick up the sleeping bags that we needed to hire. We also decided to wisely invest in a torch and fly nets as we'd heard that the flies become a real pest once you're out into the bush. Formalities completed we headed off!

The first couple hours were spent eating up the miles and getting clear of Adelaide. On the way out of town Ian pointed out the Adelaide Hills in the distance and after a while everyone dozed off. We stopped off at a truckers' rest stop around 10am where we stretched our legs and Ian showed us the planned route on a map. A little while later we also stopped to see the second longest jetty in the southern hemisphere in Port Germein. It used to be the longest until a fierce storm washed away some of the end sections a few years ago and now has to settle for second behind one in Western Australia. It was originally 1,646 metres long but is now down to a mere 1,532 metres. The ocean stays very shallow for a long time which is why the jetty has to be so large.

Finally, after another couple of hours driving we pulled into Mount Remarkable National Park. In case you hadn't guessed, it is home to a remarkable mountain called Mount Remarkable. Genius in its simplicity. We all stretched our legs and helped Ian to chop the various bits of salad, cold meats and other sandwich ingredients before enjoying lunch in the warm sun next to a dried up river. After lunch we took our first of many bushwalks, heading up a walking trail to a lookout point over the Flinders Ranges. The sea actually goes quite a long way inland at this point of Australia and we were able to see where the hills met the ocean. This would be the last time we'd see the sea for quite a while. The view was gorgeous and in the distance we were even able to spot a few wild emus.

After a couple of hours walking through the bush and enjoying the view we walked back to the bruck and drove for another couple of hours down the deserted outback highway to a camel farm in the south of the Flinders Ranges. In the mid 1800s, and all the way up to the beginning of the 20th century, camels were imported from the Indian subcontinent to help with transportation of goods and the setting up of the inland infrastructure. Clearly the early European settlers saw the dusty outback and realised that camels would be a huge asset in the unforgiving climate. These camels were guided and cared for my Muslim cameleers from a variety of countries but were almost always called Afghans, regardless of whether they actually were from Afghanistan or not. These Afghans and their camels were so important to the development of Australia in the 1800s that one of the most famous railways in the country, the inland line from Adelaide to Alice Springs, and later Darwin, was named The Ghan in their honour. In fact, up until the line was complete between Adelaide and Alice Springs in 1929 camels were often used to complete the final part of the journey. In 1980 the old line was closed and a new, stronger and more reliable line was laid 160 kilometres west of the former line. Ian explained that for a lot of our journey we would be running alongside, and occasionally crossing, the original disused historic rail route. Anyway, back to the camels.

Ian warned before we arrived at the farm that the guy that ran it, a true outback Aussie called Graham, was quite a character and that those people in the group who had English as a second language might not understand him too well. Sure enough Graham was a very amusing guy and introduced us all to his beloved camels in an accent that I could tell was throwing most people in the group. Even I had to listen closely. He said we could pet the camels while he was saddling them up so we to introduce ourselves to one and found it very friendly and docile. Graham decided to put me and Amy on one of his older trustier camels called Feral. All of the camels had brilliant names, Crystal, Myrtle and Moon were some of the others I can remember. When everybody was sat on a camel Graham gave the command we they all rose in unison and set off on a walk around the bush. The ride was surprisingly smooth although the flies hanging around the camels were a bit gross. We walked through the bush for a while enjoying the scenery in the fading evening light, marvelling at how obedient the camels were and trying to avoid low hanging branches. Graham amused us all by talking to his camels as if they were people while we walked, occasionally admonishing one for stepping out of line and then calling back down the procession to one who was doing particularly well and praising him. They actually seemed to listen to him! The camels walked us to our campsite for the night and we disembarked, thanking Feral for the ride. Graham talked to us for a bit about how he cares for his camels and that they don't deserve the reputation of being the unfriendly, smelly animals that they are often viewed as. He explained that with proper care they are obedient and clean creatures. I have to admit, I had been a little wary of them, having heard stories of spitting camels in Egypt and other tourist spots, but these guys were quite happy to be petted and were clean and healthy looking. We thanked Graham and started to set up camp with the "help" of Bailey, Graham's lovely dog who was so excited to have visitors he wouldn't leave us alone all night!

We all grabbed a swag each and set off into the bush surrounding the fire pit that we build to find a spot to sleep. A swag is the true outback way of camping. Swagmen were Australian itinerant rural workers in the 19th and early 20th centuries who would walk from farm to farm looking for work with their belongings wrapped in a bedroll on their backs. Modern swags haven't really changed much and simply consist of a tough canvas sheet that has a padding of foam inside that acts as a matress. You slip a sleeping bag inside and that's your bed. No tent required. In the morning you simply roll it up and move on. Amy and I found a suitable looking spot and laid our swags out before heading back to the fire pit to help out with the cooking. Just before dinner was ready a lady from the local Aboriginal tribe, the Adnyamathanhas, arrived and talked to us about some of the traditions of her people and some of the old stories and songs that they used to pass on from generation to generation. Sitting around a fire just as the night closed in and listening to a Aboriginal lullaby being sung was quite an unsual experience and after dinner we were shown how to make traditional Aboriginal desserts, Johnny Cakes. They are very simple, just milk, flour, water and a bit of salt mixed into a paste and put over the fire to bake. Once they are cooked you break them open and cover them in a jam made from quandongs, a traditional bush fruit that thrives in the arid bushlands around Australia. The cakes were nice but it was the jam that made them special. Quandong jam tastes like rhubarb and, despite the fact that we were all stuffed from our dinner we all managed at least two johnny cakes on top.

Stuffed and exhausted after an early start to the day we cleaned up the dinner stuff and retired to our swags for a good sleep. At first it was very strange laying in the open outside and the obvious concerns over bugs, snakes and other bush creatures prevented us getting too comfortable but once we settled in and noticed the stars above us we relaxed. Due to the low humidity and the virtually non-existent light pollution the outback sky becomes incredible at night. As soon as we lay down we realised quite how many stars we could see and we spent ages just looking up until we got to sleep. Around 3am Amy nudged me awake and told me to look up. If the sky was impressive before, it was uttery incredible at 3am. The moon had gone down, the earth had rotated to show a different set of stars and the milky way was clearly visible above us. I have never seen anything like it and wish that our camera was good enough to capture it. It sounds like a cliche but I actually had to check I wasn't dreaming. We stared at the galaxies above us until we drifted back to sleep.

---

Comments

[MARK KEAN]

Been there and done that
Memories Memories, athough I believe I was accompanied by 5 Women not camels.....