The Pattos – Tagalong Tours

Well a little under a week to go and as per murphy’s law if it can go wrong it will and we will be in the firing line and it will be my fault it happened anyway, has kicked in. The Paj, which I have been less than happy with since the gas conversion, dumped half the contents of the cooling system on the road yesterday and was flat topped out to Bayden’s for fixing. I won’t bore you with all the other crap that complicate the issue, suffice to say it all turned to shit. Anyway just under a week and we head off to Tassie. The map shows our project route so we will see what happens. The weather was supposed to be ok but it seems my friend at the weather bureau is not so sure now. Life could be interesting.

Well Janyce has gone – first couple to see her took her so we hope they get as much enjoyment from her as we did. I never finished the reno’s but the couple didn’t seem to mind. Week to go before our Tassie trip but we aren’t talking Abby with us just Shirl (mother). We are heading over on the boat so that should be an experience. Will keep you post on our travels and “adventures”

Well today’s post is a bit of mixed feelings really as we have put Janyce the Jayco up for sale. It was not really a planned thing -well not at this point anyway. We brought Janyce as a test to see if we still enjoyed caravaning as it was quite a few years since we had done it. And the short answer is yes we loved it and we had planned in the future to upgrade. Well the future caught up with us. We had been looking around at what’s out there and developing a strategy about what we would like and what we really need when the time came. We saw an ad for van for sale which sounded pretty good so though it would be a useful exercise to have a look and that would help our future deliberations. Well there are no longer any future deliberations -we brought the van. (Thanks to David and wife the current owners of our new van). A 17ft tandem axle A Van Tayla which Di has already named Abby.

I haven’t finished the reno’s on Janyce yet so I guess that won’t happen and she is not the prettiest or flashed van around but she did reinvigarate us and gave us the thirst for more travel and she served us well. I took a few photo’s for the ad and Di rekons Janyce doesn’t look all that bad. Pictures are of Janyce and Abby

Well it was up early today we wanted to try and catch the sunrise before we left. We managed this but it wasn’t as spectacular as yesterdays.

Sunrise over Hawker photo 1

Sunrise over Hawker photo 2

We have the packing up down to fine art now and it only takes us about 30 to 45 min to be ready for the road. Breakfast came and went and we rolled out of the Hawker van park about 8am which was the time we wanted to be on the road. First 15 minutes were ok from then on to Renmark we had rain, wind squalls, strong winds and more winds mostly either cross winds, head winds or front quarter. It was a shit of a trip; our little van is quite light so it got thrown around a bit which made my job a little harder. As a consequence there isn’t a lot to tell. We managed a break in the weather as we came into Morgan and got a picture of the “boot tree” which I guess is similar to the thong tree in Qld.

Boot tree north of Hawker

We followed Gaz and Shaz as far as Peterborough. They are heading to Mildura and had a bit further than us to travel so wanted to keep going. Tomorrow will be much of the same I think, we will drive from here (Renmark) to Bendigo. So our trip is all but over and with the weather we have had I can live with today. We have had a fantastic time all round and Gaz, Shaz, Pete and Robyn have been good company and we have shared many things on this journey. We are now starting the planning for the next one, maybe the Eyre Peninsular I have to get the fishing rod in on the next trip. So watch this space and come and join us if you dare. Life is too short to sit and wait. 

Sunset over Murray River Renmark

Sunrise over the camp

Well we woke this morning to our first overcast day (well Di did I was still snoozing). I had been up at 6.30 (toilet stop) and as I was returning to the van noticed the sunrise first one I have seen these holidays if you don’t count the one when we went in the hot air balloon.  It was not cold just overcast.  Pete & Rob left us at about 9.30ish.  We headed of not long after for Quorn it was to be our last shop and I had requested a visit to the drapery for coffee and cake (Emily’s Bistro Great Northern Emporium)

Kanyaka Homestead Ruins

On the way home we stopped at the ruins of the Kanyaka Homestead. The old homestead which must have been magnificent in its time and quite large.  There were other out buildings, also men’s kitchen, overseers’ quarters, toilet etc.  Like most other settlements it had its own  cemetery.  By all accounts people did not have a long life back in the 1800’s so we need to be thankful for our lives now and how luxurious and easy our lives are today.  This afternoon we decided where we would be staying on the way home and how long. Gaz & Shaz have decided to go onto Mildura and spend a couple of nights.  We are heading to Renmark and then straight home which will give Dave a couple of nights in Bendigo before heading back to the big smoke.

Main House

Dougal we have to go home

Wedgie in full flight

Last night we planned today’s trip with Gaz, Shaz, Peter and Robyn and after much discussion it was decided a 9am departure would be good with the prospect of lunch at the Prairie Hotel at Paranchilna a spot in the middle of no where which is, apparently, one of the top 100 restaurants in Australia. Our trip was north on the Leigh Creek road to the Geographic Trail then east to Blinman, back west to the Parachilna, along the Gorge rd then back down the bitumen to Hawker. We figured that we would end up at Parachilna for a late lunch. Wrong!!! We had figured that as we had already done half of the Geographic trail in an earlier drive then that would be a drive through. Wrong!!! About 40 kms into the trip, on the bitumen we came across 2 huge wedge tail eagles feasting on a recent road kill.
They were absolutely magnificent and so majestic our cameras were going off like fire crackers. We spent a bit of time there just watching them. Back into the vehicles and off we head again. Not 20kms on we came across 3 wedgies sitting gracefully in a shrub about 10 mtrs off the road. So we stopped again more photo’s, more watching and the we headed off again. Once we turned east off the Leigh Creek road we had about 8kms of bone jarring, teeth rattling corrugations up to the entrance of the National Park.

From here the next section to the Bunyeroo Gorge road we had not been on so we stopped many times to photograph Brachina Gorge, the hills, wild flowers, trees etc etc. Part of the beauty and intrigue of the Flinders Ranges is that it changes so rapidly and even when you have seen or been to a place and you approach from a different angle its completely different. Consequently we didn’t even make Blinman for morning tea, instead we opted for lunch.

Creek Brachina Gorge

Refreshments concluded we head out of Blinman to the Parachilna Road this would take us west to Angorichina Village then onto Parachilna though Parachilna Gorge. Again the scenery and its variety were amazing changing constantly as we progressed through. We passed and were passed by a fair number of off road campers etc and noticed many had taken up residence in many of the camp areas along the road. At a water crossing we had stopped to photograph, a Subaru and off road camper pulled up to tell us of a couple of emus and chicks were up ahead. The occupants of the car were 2 ladies in there early sixties heading for a free camp site in the gorge. It just shows you the diversity of people you met on these travels. Go ladies! Along this road is where we also came across (we think) 3 yellow footed rock wallabies. Gaz managed a couple of pictures before they took off. Onward through the gorge, back out onto the plains and into Parachilna we went arriving at 3pm. So much for lunch. Here is this amazing pub in the middle of no where with such a reputation.

Prairie Pub Parachilna

At the rear  of the pub a fairly new accommodation area has been constructed, whilst the inside of the old part is adorned with indigenous art and craft. Peter and I tried an antipasta plate of roo, goats cheese and a few other niceties and it was a very pleasant surprise. Di had Belgian waffles and vanilla bean ice cream none of which was left. After that we pumped up the tyres (we had been advised if we didn’t want to destroy another tyre then run 28lbs in them over the rough stuff) and headed back down the bitumen to Hawker. It has been another wonderful day full of surprises and fun with all of us tired. I am truly amazed by this place and this has been a fantastic 2 weeks. Peter and Robyn are heading off tomorrow homeward bound. This is their first outing with us and I think they enjoyed “tagging along”.    

Sign at the approach to Parachilna

Hawke Rail Station

Compressed straw house

After lunch (well not really as after breakfast no one was all that hungry) we headed back into town for a look at the emporium and the art gallery to see Jeff Morgan’s panorama of the Wilpena Pound. Jeff’s gallery, and particular, his panorama and “Outback on Canvas” are phenomenal. Words are really not capable of describing the images you see. The panorama is 30 mtrs in circumference and 4 mtrs high. It took 4000 hrs (or about 13 months) to complete. It is housed in a circular building and you view it from a raised platform in the centre, not unlike going up to a lookout. It is a fantastic assault on your senses and the visual impact stunning. From there we went into the “Outback on Canvas” paintings. These are 3 large individual paintings of various locations in the Flinders Ranges. One in particular titled “Ron’s Creek” took 3000 hrs to complete and is 15mts x 5mtrs, but the most astounding part is the way the landscape changes as you walk along in front of it. These words do not in any way do justice to the works if you come here then you must have a look at it.

Part of Jeff Morgan’s Panorama

This morning we had our first real look around Hawker when everything was open. We all went to the general store, had coffee, brought a few trinkets then meandered around a couple of streets to get our bearings. We decided to purchase a self guided tour of Hawker for the princely sum of $2.50 which we have decided to do tomorrow while the car is being fixed. Next stop was the “I” centre (information centre) to check out a couple of 4by tours and also a couple of other spots we wanted to check out. This was on the recommendation of the dweller of the art gallery. We haven’t done the artist studio yet but its on the list as we believe the panoramic painting of the Flinders Ranges is fantastic. We did however meet the resident who habituated at the gallery, an incredible bubbly person. I don’t know what she was breathing but I want some and she was very helpful to boot. As was the lady at the “I” centre which Gaz and I had headed for while the girls ordered coffee. They also were pretty helpful only problem we encountered here was the lady helping us didn’t have an on/off switch so by the time we extracted ourselves, politely, our coffee was nearly the iced variety.

Jarvis lookout looking east

Cairn at lookout

The merry band of travelers at 5 ways

Cheeky dragon

Head stone at 5 ways

Fathers day today and our day we had planned for sometime which was a trip on the Pichi Rchi Railway which ran from Quorn (spelt with Qu not C) to Woolshed Flat and return. I say we had planned for some time because the train is very popular and is limited in the days and times it travels. The train departed at 10.30am and returned at about 1pm so we left Hawker around 9ish  in convoy (Pete, Robyn, Gaz, Shaz Di and myself to make sure we gave ourselves enough time. Today Di and I are being chaffeured. The rail station has been restored and looks a treat, it also has a rail fan shop attached for the enthusiast.

We arrived around 10 so we had a bit of time to look around and inspect our mode of transport. Our loco seemed to be much “later” model compared to other steam trains we had been on and had a much more modern appearance. Apparently in SA they were still building new steam loco’s around the late 50’s early 60’s. The rolling stock was a different story. All 6 or so carriages came from a different vintage between the early 1900’s to about 1930. Our particular carriage was built around 1906 and had a number of functions over its life including and infant welfare carriage and hospital carriage (it contained 32 beds) to name a few. The volunteers have done and re still doing a marvellous job retaining this part of our heritage. The journey out and back was very relaxing and went through some great country – always changing as it seems to do up here. There were a number of cuttings through hills that were only just wide enough for the train to pass through and would be a bit of a shock to you if you had your head out the window, that is if you woke up. Our conductor on the return journey told of a story of an ABC radio host who was made keen on trains and recorded the sound of the wheels on the track. Normally the bogies (thing that attaches the wheels to the train) have 4 wheels but on this occasion they had 6 wheels and made quite a distinctive sound. He was trying to figure out how to record them when he disappeared. They found him some time later in the toilet with his recording mike down the toilet chute recording the sound. And for those that don’t know in the old days the toilet was just a chute that dropped the contents of the toilet onto the tracks as the train went on its merry way.

One of the cuttings

The town of Quorn is very quaint and has many old buildings in very good condition. On our return from the train trip we ventured into the town looking for lunch. We came across this place, which from the outside was not all that appealing, but once we ventured in had character, charm and intrigue. On first impressions Di thought we had walked into Lucas’s in Maryborough where her mom worked. The food was good and we spent a fair bit of time just looking around the place. It was also appeared very popular which you would not have known from the outside.

Inside the “emporium”