Happy Birthday Peter.
Today, we finally feel that we are along way from home. Immediately we left the caravan park in Port Augusta, we turned north on the Stuart Highway and immediately things changed, we were in the outback.
Gone now are the green, gentle hills of Burra and the Mallee scrub that we have been driving through. In its place, salt bush plains interspersed with low scrub, stretching to the horizon. Not that it is a flat, uninteresting landscape. Far from it. We see red soil and low, wide, flat-topped mountains. Every now and then we get a glimpse of ephemeral lakes and water courses and the water they have gathered in the recent rain. We also experience a slightly undulating road that sometimes gives good views of the distant countryside.
There is something else, apart from the landscape, that makes this place different. About 60 kms north of Port Augusta, there is a rest stop called range view. Obviously named because it gives a good view of the Flinders Ranges, far in the distance and of the flat-topped hills, the inselburgs we first encountered just after leaving Port Augusta. This rest stop is located on Kootaberra Station, a 1200 sq km sheep station. The country round about is typical of the country we drove through the whole way to Woomera. It is possible to leave the stop and walk into this arid land. As I did so, I was overwhelmed with a glorious sense of boundless freedom. I have experienced this feeling before, when walking through the Austalian bush, but never to this extent. And this is what makes this place different. As you stand in this unchanging, immense land with horizons that seem a lifetime away, the rest of the world seems to disappear and its problems seem so irrelevant. While taking all this in, you also have to remember that this country will kill you as soon as look at you if you are not careful.
Now for some more mundane stuff. First, the road. Just one lane wide in either direction and with no dividing median strip, it is nevertheless, very good. The surface is in very good repair and we had absolutely no trouble pulling the 'van at a steady 93 kph. The traffic was light and the road trains that we came across were all travelling in the opposite direction. Not that any that may have travelled in our direction would have caused us any trouble. There were plenty of places where they could have passed us.
The road is not boringly straight. Gentle curves come up every so often. Nor is it dead flat. Instead, it is has many gentle hill climbs. The car even changed down to fourth on a couple of this uphill sections.
We also saw our first emus this morning. This complemented the two kangaroos we saw by the side of the road yesterday, as we left Burra.
We are now off the road and safely set up at the Woomera Caravan Park. In fact we have been here since 11.30 this morning. I will tell you about Woomera in tomorrow's post. From what we have seen, I don't think it will be a long post. There is just one thing I need to tell you about this caravan park. It has a Bar. The bar is set up in a converted shipping container with chair, tables and gas heaters set up for the patrons outside.
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| These a photos of a Sturt's Desert Pea growing outside the amenities block at the Port Augusta caravan park |
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| The Stuart Highway at Kootaberra Station. The blue hills in the distance are the Flinders Ranges. |
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| The mountains from Range View rest stop |
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| The horizon doesn't need straightening; the land slopes slightly upward from left to right. |
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| It is great privilege to be able to travel through this magnificent country |
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