Thursday 28th August

Thursday 28^th August.

We decided to stay at Wilpena for another 2 nights. There is so much to do here and from then on we will go back via Peterborough and Mildura to Canberra. The thought of holidays over is very sad.

Got up not too early as I just didn’t wake up at dawn for a change – yesterday was such a big day. However I had lots of energy and couldn’t wait to see what was over the steep grassy hill on the back of our camp.

I jogged up half of it until I was puffed out and walked to the top. A vista of rolling hills and mountains so pretty that I took photos on my IPhone and sent good mornings to everyone. Then I went further but realized this walk was more than a few kilometers and turned back. Running shoes aren’t exactly good walking shoes over rocks and things. I did a round trip of the complex and returned to camp by which time Greg was up. We decided to have showers in their amenities block which is not far. We found they had the best hot showers we have had on the trip yet. Actually any caravan park.

The camp is quite peaceful but there is a girls school group here making so much noise, I thought they were going today but they are going tomorrow. Bum

Also I was hoping to put my blog up on the site but the resort internet is broken. Bigger bum. So I just told them the reason we are staying here is the internet and they said hopefully it will be going tomorrow. It was supposed to be going this afternoon. We had the nicest coffee this morning and the worst muffin. Where to people get off selling stale food and not offering to put it in the microwave rejuvenate it. At least try and disguise the fact it was made last year and had been in a freezer ever since. That’s when we found the internet wasn’t working.  (after walking over to the kiosk lumping my laptop and his IPad with us. Of course his smarty Ipad thing works as he stuck the independent internet in it.

That has really irritated me as Greg is having a snooze now and tomorrow we will be driving to the various gorges around and seeing Blinman and so forth so after driving all day, having to suffer a slow outback internet to try and upload story and photos as well as having to cook tea is a drag to say the least.

The easy walking track to
the Homestead

We were told that it often comes on line in the afternoon. It wouldn’t be a problem except for the fact that Greg wrongly assumed that his little Telstra internet thing he got for his IPad would work on my computer. It doesn’t. then he said that I could “simply email my word files to his IPad” which also requires the internet. (Really!?)This blog’s entries are getting further and further behind and I should have just got my own dongle internet thing. Personal hot spots are well and good until they run out of data. What do you call them then? Cold spots? Useless as a Zit spots?

Anyway, it was a splendid day so we went for a walk to the homestead which is 6.5km return. I did worry about Greg and his energy levels so decided to pack a picnic lunch and water etc. Why he decided to wear jeans and a black TShirt is beyond me as it didn’t take much walking before he was very hot. Jeans aren’t exactly the best walking attire. I had my hiking shoes, shorts  and shirt originally worn on my Kokoda trip so very was comfortable.

logs piled high swept down in a flood

Anyway Cameras, spare batteries and memory cards, off we set. Greg needed a few stops along the way for a rest. We walked past the river bed that had so much dead wood in it. Fallen trees washed into enormous piles. I have never seen so many logs. Apparently there was a massive wild fire up stream, so hot that it burned down to the roots of the trees. Then there was a flood that just picked them all over and washed them away as they had no anchor point. They all banked up here and there is so much wood its amazing. None able to be chopped up as it’s in a National Park. Apparently now a little marsupial mouse lives there and the termites are doing their best to remove the trees.

the back of the homestead.

We finally reached the homestead which I thought would be a lot larger. Very cute. It has been restored but there is mesh on the windows to stop idiots getting in which ruins a good photo and it was further ruined by a dozen or so water bottles there, left temporarily by people gone somewhere else for a minute. Not far from the homestead were a lot of information panels about the people who lived there and why they eventually abandoned the homestead. Although they grew a good crop of wheat in the valley of the pound, the shear distance from where they had to transport it and the state of the roads or rather the roads they had to create – all to be washed away in the next big flood got the better of them and they gave up and went back to other regional centres. There was also another statue like we saw at Chamber’s Gorge of the two aboriginal fellows and the dreamtime story of the pound. The story of the pound was so interesting.

A waterhole not far from the Homestead

Dreamtime Story

Yurlu Ngukandanha – the Kingfisher Story

Yurlu, the Kingfisher, decided to go south for a ceremony. On the way he made a big fire, a sign that he was coming. The remains of that fire is the big heap of coal still at Leigh Creek today.

As Yurlu was travelling, there were also two big Akurras (Dreamtime Serpents) going south. Yurlu continued down the valley still making smoke, leaving coal behind him. The two serpents also went on southwards and entered the Pound through Edeowie Gorge and camped at a large waterhole.

That night some people in the Pound were holding a ceremony. When they looked into the sky at the stars to see if it was time to start, the stars they saw were actually the eyes of the two Akurras.

The male Akurra told his mate to go to the south-west, while he went north-east to surround the people. When Yurlu reached Mount Abrupt he stopped and looked into the Pound. He could hear the sound of the ceremony. He threw a firestick into the air; it turned into the red star, Mars.

While this was going on, the two Akurras came up on each side of the ceremonial ground and ate up all the people except two initiates and Yurlu.

St Mary Peak is the head of the male Akurra and Beatrice Hill is the head of the female serpent, both watching the flight of the initiates. Their bodies form the two sides of the Pound.

 I wish to acknowledge the Adnyamathanha people of the northern Flinders Ranges as the owners and custodians of the Kingfisher Dreaming and the Yurlu Ngukandanha story, and to express respect for their heritage and culture.

 I copied the above from the sign. Hope I don’t breach copyright.

 

This statue we saw in Chambers Gorge is here too. Different colours though.

There were other walks further on and there was a walk to the look out. The look out was up a hill so we decided to do that one first. There were 2 stops at the lookout, one was looking in one direction and enough climb to get the old cardio system going, the other was further and it was very steep although the track excellent and the view was to the other side and of a valley between the two ranges that made the pound – so called as it looked like an area to keep things in. Its circular except for an opening at one end. Just like the story.

Both Greg and I walked to the first look out and then we started climbing to the second where it became apparent that it was a lot further than first thought – there were no signs saying how far to the top so I asked Greg if he wanted to stay where we were while I went to look and see whether more climbing was worth it.

 

Inside the pound - the mountains form the boundary

I must say it was a challenging climb as in gradient but lucky for me I had my hiking shoes on and the soles of them just grip and you feel very secure in footing. I call them spiderman shoes. The track must have gone for another 200 meters or so but very steep and the view from the top was wonderful, You could see down through all the valleys for miles. Conscious of the fact that Greg was waiting, took it in as fast and quick as I could, took photos and started the return trip.

Met up again with Greg who had found a brown snake sleeping in the rocks about 3 feet below. I decided it was high time to get going. Greg had appreciated a rest and we continued on to the bottom where we had the 3.5km return to camp. The longest walk Greg has done in over 6 months. Hence we came back and he had a snooze. Me thinking that I could get all my internet blogging done. WRONG!

Met a lovely family on the way back to camp so I had a chat to the Mum. They took their kids out of school for a term and did some travelling but had to be in Adelaide for the weekend as they had pre booked some accommodation and didn’t realise they were running short on time having done so much other stuff. They were from Lismore so have quite a journey home to the north coast. She is doing a blog as well which I will have to look up – I think it was called ‘Doing a Blockie’ like as going around the block. They had 3 boys who were all very well behaved aged 9,7 and 5 – about to turn 6.

Back at camp the girls on the school camp were so noisy – nobody speaks to each other they all yell. Anyway they must have been called away to do a quiz as there was relative silence except for a teacher’s voice. Then they were let free to do as they please so the noise resumed. The teacher offered a game of cricket to the girls and they improvised the bat by using a 3litre water bottle which was empty and from somewhere an old tennis ball was found. They had a great time and so did I watching from my camping chair in the sunshine, whilst typing. They only stopped when it started going dark by which time it was time for Greg to get up and I was in the shade and getting cold…. and it was happy hour.

I had decided to make lasagne out of the milk that had been open a few too many days and the cryo sealed mince from Marree. I must say the little oven in the van is really good and the lasagna turned out really well, although thrown together in haste must have done the trick. Our choofer fire was lit and I didn’t want to be stuck indoors!

We have been thus far so lucky with the weather as the sky was clear and the stars again magnificent!