Tuesday 29 May
Today we left our wonderful campsite at Brachina East campground
(no. 7 in case you’re interested) Quite private at the end of the road, sunshine
by day for our solar panels and protection from the worst of the wind at night,
good campfire pit, and not too far from the toilet. We checked out almost all
of the bush campsites in Flinders Ranges National Park and were impressed with
the consistent high quality of the bush camps, and we would have been happy to
stay at any number of them.
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| What a difference a day makes - above and below. Note the hidden mountain |
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| Our campsite from the hill above |
Our destination was Parachilna Gorge to the north of Brachina
Gorge and outside the national park. We had been told that there are many
lovely campsites there and that firewood
is abundant. We found a fairly protected site near a bend in the creek,
but the wind often roared up the gorge. Someone must have spread the word far
and wide about the abundant firewood because there was hardly any available.
However, someone had very considerately left a bundle of 4 by 2s from a
demolition job just near our campsite. They were very welcome.
En route we stopped for lunch at Blinman, a small town in the
northern Flinders which was previously a copper mining town, like many in South
Australia. Blinman has few facilities, not even fuel and no longer a school. It
has a café in the old schoolhouse and loves to relieve travellers of their
money with inflated prices.
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| The Old Schoolhouse - now the Wild Lime Cafe |
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| Old pug and pine cottage |
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| Blinman B and B |
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| The old Police Lock up and cells |
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| David and Rob on the town grader |
The next day we had a lay day, sat in the protected dry creek bed
and soaked up the 20⁰ warmth, strolled along the creek, checked out the
birdlife and did boring things like the washing. We notched up a first at this
camp site. While respectable Rob and Carol set up their shower tent and had
their not quite daily showers, I suggested David use our new shower pole and
have our showers in the open air but away from the view of any passing vehicles.
No photos allowed. It was a bit breezy so it helped with the water economy.
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| The view from our campsite |
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| Mature river gums shining white in the sunlight |
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| A rock in the riverbed or ET? |
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| Gum seedlings by the thousand taking advantage of any moisture they can find |
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| The willy wagtail was finally still enough to photograph |
Did you really shower in the open air, Joy?
ReplyDeleteOh be still my pounding heart!
TG
Were you showering out there too, David? Be still MY pounding heart!
JG
Seemed like an easier task than setting up the shower tent. But it was a touch chilly. And it was well out of view
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