South Australian Adventure Day 2

Day 2 Sunday June 12th

I woke up at 3:30am and felt refreshed after a good night’s sleep although it was only a 6 hour sleep. Poor James didn’t have such a good first night’s sleep and woke up a few times. We decided not to wait until daylight as neither of us felt we’d get any more sleep. So we got up, packed up the camper and headed off just after 4am in the pitch dark. We turned off the main highway onto a road we hadn’t been on before and it was weird travelling through a strange area and not having any idea what the countryside looked like around us.

We arrived in the historic mining town of Burra around 6:45am, it was still totally dark and none of the three service stations were open. We did find a public toilet open by a park opposite the building on the right it was also a good place to park and have a snooze until daylight.

I managed to nod off for over half an hour while James looked at messages on his phone. When daylight came around 7:15am the sky was overcast and it was cold and misty. We headed off and found that one service station, the closest was now open. After fuelling up we finally set off again around 8:15am.

I know it was Sunday, but I found it very strange that in the four or five towns we passed through, not one of them had a bakery or a service station that was open.

Around 9:30am we arrived in a little out of the way town of Stone Hut where we found a lovely bakery (photo left) that was open.

 Stone Hut Bakery

We sat in the enclosed verandah and had a fantastic cooked breakfast of bacon, tomato and scrambled eggs on two slices of thick buttered toast and two cups of coffee. The place also sold locally homemade jams and preserves and wines.

After the hassle of trying to set up camp in the dark last night, James made a ruling that we had to stop by 4pm to camp for the night in future so that we had plenty of daylight to pitch our camp. I did remind him that it was his idea that the first two days of the trip were going to be long so that we could reach the end point of our journey and then leisurely travel backwards along the route I picked out without having to rush. Of course,our travel plans are always flexible and open for adjustments and that’s what happened.

We arrived in Port Augusta via the picturesque Horrick’s Pass around 11:40am. We only stopped long enough to fuel up and then travel on. We stopped a few kilometres outside town at a rest stop to give the dogs a drink and a wee walk.

 Views from Eyre Highway South Australia

I also took over driving but instead of turning right as instructed by the GPS I veered left and we ended up on the road to Whyalla, 40km south. We were about 20km out of town when I realised my mistake. Once we arrived on the outskirts of town we turned right onto the road heading to Iron Knob on the Eyre Highway which is where we were supposed to be going to and now another 50 kilometres away. 

We only stopped in Iron Knob long enough to take a photo of their DUNNY sign before heading off again along the Eyre Highway. 

We then stopped for fuel in Kimba, which was a noteworthy landmark as it marks the half way point across Australia.

Which is just as well, as the place was so small it had little else of interest that was worth mentioning, except for the giant galah outside the service station.





 

We arrived in Minnipa at 4pm and then turned off north of town to get to Pildappa Rock, 15km away and our camp for the night.

Just as we neared our destination, the rock came into view along the road between the trees. It looked magnificent in the sunshine with its top half very dark green and its base a deep rust brown.

We drove into the camping area and got out to look for a pitch but didn’t see anything suitable. There were about half a dozen other campers already there.

We then drove around the rock and found a lovely clearing that was also a camping spot. We pitched up camp and then took the dogs for a walk around the rock via the road to where we first came in.


We found the section of rock where we could climb up on top to get a view of the countryside. On top the rock had a lot of round craters full of water and tufts of grass.

The views were stunning, north were the Gawler Ranges and south we saw open green fields of some kind of crop.

We also met a man with two little girls who were have a ball scrambling over the summit and getting their feet wet jumping into the pools of water.






 

The wind was fairly strong but not too uncomfortable and by the time we climbed down the sun began to set.

 view of our camp from on top of the rock

 The moon over the rock

 Sun setting over the Gawler Ranges

We headed back to camp and then I grabbed my camera and after climbing a barbed wire fence, I crossed over the open field to a spot where I could catch a few sunset shots with my new camera.

Back at camp, James and I collected some firewood and built a campfire. We sat around talking for an hour or so until all the thin bits of wood were all gone. Inside our camper we heated up the stew I had pre-made and we ate our dinner with some bread.

Once dinner was over I went straight to bed because I was very tired and felt exhausted after another long day’s travel. It was now getting cold but once again we snuggled down into our warm bed and read for a bit before going to sleep.



Today’s animal tally:

1 live fox, 1 dead fox, 3 bunnies - 1 I nearly ran over, a couple of mice - one I found inside our camper and had to chase out before he found our food supplies.

Well that's all the touring for today, nightie night....

from the Short (I'm short) and Sweet (he's sweet) Tourists