Sunday, Oct 30 - A Drive through the Wine Country

 (pic: Black Swan &

Royal Spoonbills)

We had scrambled eggs and bacon in our little trailer and then walked across the street where we found a lovely trail overlooking the River Murray with lots of ducks and parrots and other birds. We packed up and checked out of our very nice trailer park and drove 25 miles to Banrock Station, a former sheep ranch, now an eco-friendly winery and wildlife sanctuary! What a combo! We made a reservation for lunch and then took a four-kilometer walk along the river, on boardwalks and trails with several bird hides. We got great views of the very elusive Australian Reed Warbler, which has a wonderful loud song but rarely emerges from the bulrushes.

. At noon we returned to the winery and got a nice table overlooking the river. Bob had a pumpkin risotto cake with sautéed shrimp, and I had a twice-cooked egg (soft boiled egg, peeled, coated with crumbs and sautéed) with parmesan cheese on top of asparagus in a pool of green pea puree, along with a couple of glasses of their very nice wines! Our first real lunch of the trip and an excellent one.

We returned to Waikerie and headed southwest to the town of Nuriootpa and drove south through the Barossa Valley and the Adelaide Hills wine districts: vast vineyards lined with palm trees and red roses, lovely trim little towns. We didn’t stop as we’d already had enough wine but just admired the lovely scene, and came to find out later that we should have bought a bottle somewhere!

About four we reached the tiny town of Aldgate, and, with the aid of Bob’s downloaded map, found the narrow twisted street of Wilpena Terrace and our B&B, the Cladich Pavilions, which turned out to be three units built into a hillside and positioned so each has a private view of the surprisingly lush vegetation. Weeks ago when I booked I guess I picked the small unit because of the price, and it is very elegant, but not very practical for our purposes. It has a refrigerator stocked for a continental breakfast but doesn’t have a sink or hotplate so we can’t cook anything. The owner was away, we couldn‘t get on line and there is no phone so in the complete absence of local information decided to go out and seek food while it was still daylight.

We found one restaurant but the music was so loud and the seating outside so cold (Antarctic cold front just came through) that we went across the street for take-out roast pork and chips but no wine available. We got back to our room and discovered that gravy had been poured all over the fries…the pork was good, however. I went to make some tea and toast for dessert and managed to set off the smoke alarm! Helen, the owner, arrived to greet us: I can use her computer, so we’ll see if I can blog with it tomorrow. Also she grabbed my bag of very smelly laundry and said she would do it as there is no laundromat in town! That was nice and unexpected!

We’re going to organize our gear tomorrow and then leave for the Adelaide Airport very early Tuesday morning in hopes that we can make it to Brisbane for our trip Wednesday to PNG!

Saturday, Oct 29 - The Gluepot Reserve

Before I tell you about our day at Gluepot, I have to tell you about the Qantas disaster, since I don’t know if it’s been reported on US TV. There was a Qantas stockholders meeting on Friday at which the Qantas workers were protesting and the stockholders voted a 70% increase in Alan Joyce’s (the CEO) salary! Today when we got back at 7 PM and turned on the TV, we found out that Joyce, without telling anyone in the company or the government, had cancelled all Qantas flights all over the world!! This is a company that has been very profitable through the world-wide recession, while paying decent wages to its employees. What Joyce (who is not even Australian, but Irish), wants is to make even more money by screwing the Aussie workers and unions by hiring cheap Asian labor. Really outrageous!! Qantas and Australia are synonymous - the government has to step up and settle this and protect the Australian workers!

For us, its not certain if we can get to Brisbane on Tuesday (we’re officially on Jet Star, a subsidiary of Qantas, and according to the TV, Jet Star is still flying. Who knows about returning to the US on November 15? More later!

Anyway, we got up at six, and cooked breakfast in our little kitchen. We had bought bacon which in Australia is bacon, plus the Canadian bacon attached, so quite a treat; plus eggs and a roll, and then I made up sandwiches out of left-over chicken from last night, and we set off for the Gluepot. We drove through town to the ferry which, like yesterday’s ferry at Cadell, was free and operates 24 hours…what a service!

We drove to the turn off to the Gluepot Reserve and got on the dirt road north. We drove past orange groves and grape vines and through four gates, each with a different type of latch (my challenge!). The washboard surface of the road was quite rough and continued on for about 30 miles. As we approached one farm, a truck flew out in front of us, obviously going on the theory that flying over washboard is easier than bumping slowly along, but just barely avoided a nasty crash with us…very scary! As we approached the Reserve, it became clear that the rain that we experienced yesterday was even stronger here as we found ourselves driving through huge puddles. Even though we were driving the Monster in 4wd, we found ourselves sliding and skidding through some of the mud, but finally got to the visitors’ centre and got some trail maps so we could orient ourselves.

We first took a botanical walk which identified about twenty typical mallee plants: four different eucalyptus, flowering shrubs, plants used by aboriginals, etc. We then took a three mile hike to a bird hide overlooking a pool of water where we watched Mallee Ring-necked Parrots, Mulga Parrots and Yellow-Plumed Honey Eaters coming in to drink. There was a box of forms that requested that we record all the species we saw, so I went over to get one and reached in and a huge grey spider leapt onto my hand. Bob says I shrieked and the poor spider fell to the floor boards which fortunately were widely spaced so she struggled to get her fat brown body though, but she finally did! Needless to say, I added Giant Grey Spider to the list of species observed!!

 (pic: Mallee Ring-necked Parrots)

We returned to the car and ate our chicken sandwiches and drove on to another trail on which the rare and very desirable Scarlet-breasted Parrot has been seen. We parked with another car that was full of birders with very large camera lenses, tripods and very good binoculars. We suggested that they take off first, but they demurred and we set off. After a bit, we looked back and they were nowhere to be seen…..they obviously had some secret mission (probably the SB Parrot!)and didn’t want us along!!! If you’ve seen the terrific new movie, “The Big Year” with Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin, you know how competitive birders can be!

We did a bit more birding and saw some beautiful Rainbow Bee eaters, and parakeets, just like my childhood pet, Flip! A lovely day with beautiful scenery and birds, and four new life birds; White-browed Wood swallow, Yellow Rosella, Brown Tree Creeper, and the beautiful Chestnut Quail-Thrush!

We returned to Waikerie at 6:30 and before returning to our trailer park, dashed into town and ordered a pizza at a cute little shop and picked up a bottle of wine at the Woolworth’s. As we were sitting in the car waiting for the pizza to be ready, the charming girl in the pizza shop came out with our pie, and delivered it to our car! Aussies are so nice and friendly! Back to our trailer for dinner and Qantas news!

Friday, Oct 28 - Driving South

We got up at 6:30 went into breakfast and split a delicious plate of Sweet Corn Fritters, seasoned with sweet red pepper and cilantro, with a drizzle of cream and a side of sautéed spinach. We added an order of thick-cut raisin toast with marmalade for a great breakfast! The bar was full of cowboys getting their morning coffees. What an hotel! Bar for locals and city types, art gallery, and gourmet restaurant - too cool!

We set off south and drove for a couple of hours past scrub land with emu families and kangaroos, with dramatic mountains on the horizon.

We stopped in the town of Hawker for gas ($100 for the Monster) and water, and headed southeast through Orroroo and Peterborough, and entered wheat fields and agriculture and left the bush.

We stopped in Burra for a walk around town: quilt shops, second-hand shops, pubs and no chains! Some of these little villages are fading into ghost towns, but most have spirit and pride and promote their historic sites and have pretty gardens.

We entered the Murray River area of fruit orchards, orange groves and vast vineyards. The area has recently come out of a ten-year drought and the Murray River is flowing strongly now, but there was some evidence of dead orchards and leafless Red River Gums. The river is crossed mostly by ferries, free and running 24 hours! We drove down a small road and there was a little four-car ferry chugging across the river for us! The lady ferry captain waved us aboard and off we went! Up the other bank an off to the town of Waikerie and our next stay at the Waikerie Caravan Park. We were only able to reserve a small ensuite unit, a single-wide with bunks for six (!) and small kitchen so it will do very well for us! We unloaded our bags just before a brief violent downpour, and then set out to explore town. We ended up at a Woolworth’s (a supermarket chain) and got wine, a roasted chicken, potato salad and coleslaw, plus eggs and bacon for tomorrow. We are here to explore the Gluepot Reserve, a private reserve that is the largest original mallee preserve in the country.

Thursday, Oct 27 - To Arkaroola, sort of...

We got up as planned at 5:30. Arkaroola, in the North Flinders Range is three hours away, so we figured we’d leave at six, get there by nine and be able to explore and bird in the cooler, more active, bird and animal hours.

Well, we got out to our car to find a flat on the rear right-hand side! Usually this would not be a big deal, but on our car, El Pajero, it was quite a project. Fortunately the car came with the owner’s manual so we could figure out how to release the fancy, but pointless, spare cover, and put together the powerful, but not obvious, jack. Bob crawled under the car trying to find the exact spot to place the jack and got it the second time. The jack requires about a hundred pumps to move this huge car. The tyres (in Australian) were very heavy and it took some maneuvering to get the new one on, but finally we did and set off pretty dusty and grimy!

We headed north to the town of Leigh Creek, the prosperous town from which the coal train comes by our hotel every evening. We turned into town to find it was exactly like a nice little neighborhood in Tucson: all the houses the same color, very trim and a big shopping center, but with nothing practical like a garage! We continued on to little, humble Copley which consists of a café and a garage! They fixed our tire for $40, and we lowered the pressure in all the tires from 50#s to 35...no wonder we had had a flat!

We drove about 80 miles of dirt road across a vast plain of salt bush and other plants, resembling our sage brush, and finally got into canyon lands , through aboriginal reserves, Gammon Ranges National Park, and just before noon, into the private Arkaroola Wildlife Sanctuary. It was once a sheep station, but is now a nature tourist destination. They offer jeep tours, helicopter tours, bush walks and even have an astronomical observatory! It would have been a great place to stay for a while, but, at least, we got to see it! We had some beers and design-your-own sandwiches, avoiding the classic Aussie hamburger with beef patty, onion, tomato, bacon, egg, beetroot, pineapple, cheese and lettuce!! I was tempted to order one just to see how they could stack all that food on one bun!   (pic: Corella Parrots cracking open Cypress Pine cones)

We took one short walk to the Ochre Wall which was a colorful dry river wash with amazingly colored rock! Part of the wonderful Aussie movie, “The Tracker”, was filmed near there.
Bob was trying to see the Red Throat, a small rare bird with a orangey throat, but while we managed to ID a Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, the Red Throat eluded us.

We started back at three; I drove the monster for a while, and we returned to the Prairie at 5:30, and washed the morning’s grime off and went into dinner.

The bar scene was noisy and cheerful as we settled into our usual seats in the dining room and admired once again the aboriginal paintings and Peter Coad’s. Bob had creamy chicken curry and I had the lemon-myrtle scented goat curry with a bottle of Wicks Sauvignon Blanc 2011 from the Adelaide Hills - really excellent. For dessert we split a marvelous chocolate-muntries pudding with port; muntries are tiny local desert apples.

Wednesday, Oct 26 - Exploring the Southern Flinders Ranges

We got up at seven to a completely clear sky! We had a delicious breakfast of homemade muesli for me and a cheese, bacon and egg-filled damper (large roll) for Bob. We set off right after breakfast as it is a long ways to drive anywhere. We had tried to get reservations at the two resorts within the parks, but six weeks before our trip, they were already filled. But the Prairie Hotel is a gem, so we’ll just have to drive.

We set off east to the town of Blinman, stopping at a seasonally-running stream to watch a kangaroo and a sheep with twin lambs foraging along the stream while Australian Ravens gave out their unique mournful cry and Kookaburras chortled and laughed. Quite idyllic!

(pic:  Long-billed Corella)

We reached tiny Blinman, complete with cute café and general store and drove into the Blinman Coppermine Historic Park for a walk around the old mine site that was in operation from the late 1800s to ~1930. We also came across a field of camels! Australia has the most feral camels in the world.                                                                          

We then headed south along paved roads to the Wilpena Pound, the highlight of the southern Flinders. There is a gas station, store, campground and resort there, plus a bus to take you into the Pound, a round valley of ~20,000 acres surrounded by steep small mountains. The Pound was settled in the late 1800s by the Hill family for sheep grazing as it is a natural corral, but the periodic droughts ruined the family and finally the Pound was left to return to its natural state of Red River Eucalyptus groves, spinifex (bunch grass) and small shrubs.

(pic:  Mallee Ring-necked Parrot)

(pic:  Australian Ravens, adult with two young)

We had a very pleasant walk along the one stream that flows through the only break in the circle of mountains into the Pound and saw several male emus herding their chicks along. The female emu deserts the nest after laying her eggs and the male hatches the eggs and raises the young - Mother Nature at her best!

We hiked 2.5 miles into the Pound to the Hill homestead where Bob rested his foot and I climbed up to a lookout to get an idea of the extent of the Pound. Bob’s foot was still bothering him so we waited for the bus to ride back to the resort. We started back and reached the Hotel at six, had beer and coke, cleaned up, and went in to dinner at seven.

I had a delicious Mediterranean pizza and Bob had a large T-bone with salad and chips, with a bottle of Adelaide Hills Nepenthe Pinot Noir 2009. At eight, I joined the others to dash outside to see the coal train pass by!

Tuesday, Oct 25 - Into the Southern Flinders Ranges

(pic: Zebra Finches)

The day started overcast and got thicker through the morning. We split some ham and cheese croissants, checked out and drove a short ways to the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden, a wonderful unspoiled area of original scrub landscape with plantings of drought-resistant plants from all over Australia. It was really well done with well-designed buildings and gardens. They also have good café where we should have had breakfast, but managed to fit in a snack. The weather was cool and blustery, so it was nice to get out of the wind. Bob had hot chocolate and I had a lemon-myrtle pancake with quandong sauce and ice cream - quandong is a fruit the aborigines use, and very good.

We filled our monster car with plenty of diesel and headed up into the Flinders Ranges. The land flattened and was covered with sage brush-like plants, and the mountains rose along the horizon. We stopped to explore some old ruins of pioneers’ houses. This area was first settled in the mid 1800s and resembles California of the same period. It must have been very difficult for the first pioneers to survive with the huge distances and constant threat of drought.

After passing through the town of Hawker we entered the Flinders Ranges National Park…much of the road indicated on our maps as dirt is now paved, making our behemoth vehicle even more useless! We finally managed to find some slightly rough road through Brachina Gorge and slowed down to see several families of emus with chicks and kangaroos along side the road. The hillsides are beautiful red rock which will be really gorgeous if it gets sunny!

                               (pic:  Black-tailed Native Hen)
We worked our way up to the town of Parachilna (pop. 7) and the Prairie Hotel. A couple of bearded geezers were drinking beer out front; I went into the tiny bar and checked in. we drove around back and found Room 5 in a new section attached to the original hotel building. Our room is partly underground, fairly plain, but quite comfortable. I got some beers from the bar and we settled in. We’re going to be here for three nights so we unpacked most of our stuff. I bought a 5-hour card from the bar, so we’ll have internet which is great.

At 6:30 we went into the dining area next to the bar and saw the walls were covered by great aboriginal art and paintings by Peter Coad! What a coincidence…we needn’t have struggled so hard to get to his gallery if we’d only known!! And the food we out here in the outback, was fabulous! I had a chicken curry and Bob had goat. We drank a very respectable bottle of local Southern Flinders wine: Bundaleer Shiraz 2009. And had a delicious quandong crumble with ice cream for dessert. During dinner almost everyone left their seats and rushed outside for the big event of the day: the passing of the coal train from Leigh Creek! Said to be the longest front-pulled train in the southern hemisphere!

Monday, Oct 24 - To Port Augusta

We got up at seven to find it had rained during the night and was still very cloudy. We walked over to the motel restaurant and received the breakfast we had ordered yesterday: one omelet with bacon, tomato and mushrooms and extra toast so we could split it. We failed to get on the internet but otherwise a very nice motel with very friendly staff.

We set off in light drizzle, and north of Clare the vineyards gave way to rolling wheat fields, beautiful green and gold with the Flinders Range slowly appearing on the horizon. We stopped in the village of Laura after some patches of heavy rain and went into the local IGA mini supermarket to stock up on crisps, cookies and chocolate so we can, at least, have a snack since we never seem to find lunch at a convenient time.

Near Melrose we turned off into a picnic area and walked around a bit and birded. It was an area of pasture where the farmer had left the giant old red gums standing along a dry creek. The trees were full of pink and grey galah parrots screeching, flying around, courting and looking for nesting holes. It was just beautiful!

After about 60 miles we reached Mt. Remarkable National Park on the southern edge of the Flinders. We drove up a steep road, saw our first Kangaroo for the trip(!), and parked near several trails. We walked to an overlook through a forest of skinny Eucalyptus and Grass Trees until we came to an overlook on a small canyon of deep red stone with Eucs growing out of the rock and beautifully contrasting with the stone with their white trunks and green foliage.

(pic: Euc flowers, grass tree)

We descended from the mountains onto the coastal plain towards Port Augusta, the northernmost point of Spencer Gulf, and got to our hotel, Standpipe Golf Motor Inn about four. It’s supposed to have excellent northern Indian food, but I‘m not sure about alcohol as the town is supposed to be dry, so we shall see.

We walked around the golf course looking for birds but it was pretty cool and windy. At seven we walked over to the Motel restaurant which may be part of the original hotel built in 1882; it was a large high-ceiled room and pretty well filled with customers. Well, we had the best Indian meal of our lives, not that we’ve had that many, but this was just perfect! We had dishes of prawns in a cardamom and coriander light curry sauce, Kadai chicken masala (curry chicken in a dark gravy of onions tomatoes and spices), Katchumba, a bowl of chopped cucumber, onion and tomato, rice and a basket of roti bread. It was just fantastic and the perfect amount. We had a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from the Elderton Vineyard in the Adelaide Hills ,and for dessert a dish of mango and pistachio ice cream. Great dinner!