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27th Apr 2023 7:06 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
Few pics from todays wandering around CP. Lovely day, nice 25c and the wind’s died down dramatically! Mail run trip was postponed until tomorrow, vehicle blew a radiator and replacement transport being sorted for tomorrow. Touch wood it goes ahead.
We did 2 of the 3 “mine” tours available, both different and learned a fair bit. Armed with knowledge gleaned today and from 6 series of Outback Opal Hunters we’ve got the expertise to know it’s waaaaaaaaay too much like hard work. Something I’ve discovered I’m allergic to!
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This chap is from the last tour, hanging around for a second jolly.
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And what they were all looking for it. This is pretty low grade stuff. How do I figure that out? It’s still in the wall for us tourists to admire.
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Between tours, but if a drive up the Stu Highway to see the old and present mines.
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No wandering off into the mullock heaps, many hidden dangers there. As this sign says. Though if you merge it all together it really just means no running backwards. Not a risk for me!
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Down the other mine, Tom’s working Opal mine. Was good talking to Tom, the miner, who was busy salting the mine with Opal and potch (worthless colourless Opal) for the kids to find with black lights. Good chat and showed us the workings and Opalised fossils, plus confirmed what we’d found was a fossil!
Opal, prob potch.
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Digging machine. The round pipe fixing (the one at the back of the digger, the one I missed in the pic) connects to the blower in 2nd pic to pull the rubbish out.
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Needless to say divining rods didn’t earn me a fortune.
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Tom loves them though as he earns A$500 in drilling fees every time someone thinks they’ve found Opal through them. Good little earner, for Tom anyway.
Back to round CP, this is the drive through movie screen. Neither of us have done a drive through movie, unfortunately they only show on Sat nights and this Sat we’ll be back in Port Augusta.
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And the HOLLYWOOD type sign that we’d missed every time we either walked or drove out the hotel.
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And yes that’s a pizza place and yes that’s a big box being liberated!
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And I give you the 18” Spartan. Really, really scrummy! Part dinner, supposedly part tomorrow’s breakfast, well that was the plan!
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Now tucked up in our cave room digesting pizza and enjoying a rather nice Coonawarra Shiraz and watching re-runs of JAG.
27th Apr 2023 7:41 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
Fantastic day out in the Outback on the Mail-run Tour, about 650km (London to Edinburgh) mostly (95%) off tarmac. Load of pics and tales but knackered and flopping for the night so here’s a teaser for now.
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28th Apr 2023 12:21 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
Evening all, back down (or is it up ) south in Rawnsley Park Station in the Flinders range. Stunning views and looking forward to fantastic sunset and starscape tonight. Will bung some pics from the last couple of days, meanwhile I’ll enjoy this view for you all.
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And yes, that’s a glass from the bottle of lovely wine waiting for us. Lovely change from Coonawarra VC.
30th Apr 2023 7:35 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
A few pics from the Mail Run Tour, a AusPost contractor that carries a few peeps along with the parcels. This route went from Coober Pedy to Painted Desert to Oonadatta, down the famous Oonadatta Track to Williams Creek then back to CP. Mostly on dirt roads or tracks, some pretty rough, longer on the rough stuff than we did yesterday on tarmac from CP to Port Augusta!
The longest man made thing on the planet, the famous dog/dingo fence.
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Then to the Painted Desert, via a farm to drop off the parcels, and some pretty wet and muddy roads. It had just rained very heavily the week before. Luckily all tracks were passable.
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To here, Oodnadatta, though it wasn’t that hot nor that dry!
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They did like their old landies here, loving the back wheel mod!!
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Saw this muddy D4 there, saw it again with 2 of the 3 original buddies between Hawker and Quorn today. It did the Oodnadatta Track off-road in the same time as we did the Stewart Highway on Tarmac!
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And one of our steeds at the railway museum.
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The down the famous Oodnadatta Track. Lots of abandoned stations from the original narrow gauge train line up to Darwin.
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And this long railway bridge. The train line had to cross lots of river channels, once they realised running the rails through the river beds wasn’t a good idea.
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The locals used the bridge to cross the river when it was full. Unfortunately it’s not a good idea to get stuck on the bridge when a train is crossing. This is the result.
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One of the occupational hazards of the track. In daylight it’s a hassle, in the dark (we had 90 mins driving in pitch black) it’s plain scary!
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Then to Williams Creek. Pub and airstrip in the middle of nowhere, needless to say the pub was packed!
Local fire dept, and I don’t think it’s a joke!!
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Yet another golf course, clubs supplied.
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And then sunset. Before long slog back to CP. Glad I wasn’t driving, hard enough as a passenger!
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Not much to report from the Stewart Hwy back to Port Augusta. Apart from the SWEEEEEEEEET versions of the signs warning re livestock.
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Today was a drive from PA to here.
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Good advertising on the Highway.
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And here’s the Feral Mixed Grill in person, with a plateful of slow cooked goat.
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And it was all really nice, roo was like a cross between liver and beef, goat tomahawk was like like lamb, gorgeous, and the emu rissoles was lovely. The camel sausage was like …… sausage. The other plate was slow cooked goat and that was scrummy. And thought out the meal I resisted telling the “waiter, waiter was this goat wild” joke.
On the drive there we saw a few Emus but nothing much. On the return to Hawker prob 20 kangaroos, some way too close to the road and one jumping out right in front of our rapidly slowing car. Also saw 9 or so emus in a group and a couple of Wedgetail Eagles at the side of the road, watching us drive past. Lovely sight, as they paused from carving up a road kill wallaby. Luckily, for them, all wildlife was heading away from the Prairie Hotel.
Now it’s dark, enjoying the start of a 2nd bottle of vino while watching the Big Bang Theory, at some point the lights will go out to get night vision for a bit of star gazing. Well that’s the plan!
30th Apr 2023 9:20 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
Great photos Del
Hope you managed to stay awake for lights out, nightscape is spectacular! When we were in Uluru Many, many moos ago) we spent a night under the stars with a guide showing us the stars and planets with next to no light pollution. Fantastic view of Saturn, could even see the rings!Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
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1st May 2023 1:50 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
We haven’t done any more night scapes for last couple of days, combo of BTDT (been there, done that), too many mossies out there and working our way through all that VC.
Loving the Flinders Ranges! Fantastic hills, great walks even though we’ve seen the odd snake track, and good bit of history. We are in a desert/arid area but as they had rain recently it’s all green. Deserts don’t play by the rules!! And for and ex-part time/amateur/academic/playing at it geologist it’s an absolute toy shop. Eidiacarian fossils, Precambrian & Cambrian rocks that haven’t been too screwed up, a Victorian era copper mine where you can see the minerals in the walls, suuuuuuuuuuuperb at joggling the old grey cells into action to remember lectures give a quarter of a century ago. Really enjoyed this part of the world, after Opal fields of Coober Pedy.
Blinman historic copper mine. All done by Cornish immigrants and looked seriously hard work!! The boys were considered men at 14 and worked down there, none of yer snowflake generation then.
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We’re just S of Wilpena Pound and had a good hike into there yesterday.
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Inside The Pound.
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Didn’t see any quolls, apart from on the sign.
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Ring necked parrots.
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Golden orbed spiders, luckily not the poisonous spiders.
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And a lovely echidna that had just crossed the track, we just missed that but caught the rear end view as it went into his/her burrow.
And today was a Land Cruiser tour of the scenic gorges that we just can’t do in Harvey. Lots of wildlife and views, more emus than you can shake a wombat at.
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This is a “family” group of little ‘uns, all looked after by one adult male bird. The lady emu’s only input is producing the eggs, thereafter dad looks after the eggs, and the eggs of any other lady emu they lays there, and even takes any wafes and stays under his vestigial wings. He’s seriously not got the memo re having an easy Aussie life!
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Getting a bit artistic.
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And a geological first for moi, ejecta blanket from a meteorite impact a few hundred km away. The “lump” is a piece of granite from the impact site. Note boot for scale, it’s a size 11.
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Plus our absolute faves, yellow footed rock wallabies!! They were hiding in the caves out of the wind as it was a bit nippy. SWEEEEEEEEEET is an understatement!!!
As they were a bit elusive, pic c/o Google.
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There’s one in there, honest!
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And saw lots more turbo chooks, some peeps call them emus.
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Saw a fair few Wedge-tailed Eagles and a grey ‘roo that sprang across the road about 20m in front of the LC. No pics, but did happen.
And a pic of Rawnsleys Bluff from near our lodge, on our afternoon walk. Lovely walk, good exercise but didn’t see any wildlife.
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Off tomorrow back down, or up, south to Barrossa area, we’ve heard they make a nice drop of vino.
2nd May 2023 11:42 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
A few pics from the last few days.
Ediacaran fossils, from 635–538.8 Ma so a little bit old.
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On the road down from Flinders to Barossa an Aussie icon, the good old windmill. This one looks pretty new, was all shiny and working. Most are being replaced by solar panels and leckie pumps which just don’t look as cool.
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An an aside, it used to be the Flinder’s Ranges but in 1941 possessive place names were banned so the humble apostrophe became redundant. Strange the minutia that politicos love to dabble in when war is raging across much of the planet!
And down to Barossa. There was one winery, Barossa Vale Winery, that was a few hundred metres from our cottage.
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Bit of tasting.
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A little snack, with a rather precocious 2019 Grenache.
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Then admire the local hedges.
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Somehow managed to spend half the day there!
Today was a bit of a drive down to Maclaren Vale. Not a long distance but we’ve gotten out of the way of driving in big cities. The main N-S road doesn’t go round, more like ploughs through the suburbs. And after that it was piddling down most of the afternoon. This is Australia, it’s not meant to be like this!!
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Luckily the AC unit has a heating mode.
5th May 2023 5:50 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
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Not much to report, just a couple of days in McLaren Vale wine tasting followed by a couple of days in Barossa, you guessed it, wine tasting.
Pic of the vines in MV. Not a lot of scenery apart from vineyards.
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And you know you are in a posh wine region where you have to make way for those not arriving in rental cars or, like us, on foot.
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And back up to Barossa via the Adelaide Hills, avoiding the grind that is driving S-N through the Adelaide suburbs.
We do wine tastings on foot, save a fortune on tours and don’t upset the local boys in blue, and it gives you great views. Well of vineyards anyway.
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Note sunbeams in background, not a lot of sun around then, it seems Aus does have this thing called winter!
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Great tasting at the Rolph Binder cellar door. And it’s not a load of bull!
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Links back to the original Bull’s Blood vino that we used to enjoy in the 80s. The Aussie version from 1880 vines was lovely! And to finish off a lovely bottle of Riesling with pizza. It’s strange that some of the best white wines we’ve tasted have come from red wine areas.
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And on the way backed one of the best wrapped vans EVER! And the driver wasn’t even a SW fan!
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Today was one of the best wine tastings we’ve done in Aus, Two Hands winery within an easy walk of where we are staying. With tastings some are free, some charge, this one was A$15 each for 10 wines and worth every cent. Fantastic wines, up to stunning!! We also bought a bottle, we’ll someone has to contribute to the “keeping the LR running” fund.
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We’re heading off back to near Sydney tomorrow, taking about a week to get there. To paraphrase WC, this is the beginning of the end of the Aussie chunk of this jolly. Gonna miss South Australia, it wins the Best State in Aus prize by a country mile. And we no longer think they are 30 minutes out, it’s RoTW that out.
10th May 2023 8:25 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
I'm amazed at the coherent posts you are making considering the amount of wine you appear to be are consuming! Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
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10th May 2023 10:07 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it.
10th May 2023 10:11 am
LT
Member Since: 31 Dec 2005
Location: South West
Posts: 23866
Great pics Del.
I’m suddenly feeling very hungry now though!2006 D3 HSE (Original & still the best)-GONE
2010 D4 HSE (A bit bling)-GONE
2014 D4 HSE (Almost too bling)-GONE
2015 D4 HSE (A heated what?)-GONE
2016 D4 Landmark (Written Off)-GONE
2016 D4 Landmark (Surely the last!) PD1881 rims-GONE
2017 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography (now semi-retired)
10th May 2023 10:14 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
And to rub salt in, those pizzas were absolutely fantastic!! But look on the positive side, it’s not far off lunch time with you lot. And almost time for pre-bed snack here, while watching Aussie Masterchef.
10th May 2023 10:18 am
LT
Member Since: 31 Dec 2005
Location: South West
Posts: 23866
Elevenses. 2006 D3 HSE (Original & still the best)-GONE
2010 D4 HSE (A bit bling)-GONE
2014 D4 HSE (Almost too bling)-GONE
2015 D4 HSE (A heated what?)-GONE
2016 D4 Landmark (Written Off)-GONE
2016 D4 Landmark (Surely the last!) PD1881 rims-GONE
2017 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography (now semi-retired)
10th May 2023 10:27 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73134
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would love to come over
Law of Mechanical Repair:
) south in Rawnsley Park Station in the Flinders range. Stunning views and looking forward to fantastic sunset and starscape tonight. Will bung some pics from the last couple of days, meanwhile I’ll enjoy this view for you all. 
