Day 12 – September 12 2012

Our journey this morning was back to Blinman again on the bitumen before turning off onto the dirt road for our trip to Arkaroola.  The trip was interesting with the Flinders throwing up some more interesting shaped ranges before we got to the flat land of Lake Frome, a very large salt lake to the east of the Flinders.  The countryside was very dry with none of the emus or kangaroos that were so prolific around Wilpena.  We travelled at a steady 50-60km/hr as there were many small dry creeks & dips in the road that can catch you out, so it took us a good 4 hours to reach Arkaroola from Rawnsley Park Station.

At Arkaroola we are camped on a ridge looking straight at the side of a very interesting small peak, with the different geological structures exposed & glowing in the late afternoon sun.  We took things easy this afternoon, resting after the drive & exploring the options for tomorrow’s activities.  A joint BBQ finished the day off nicely, with a bottle of champagne & some wine amongst our friends.

The trip to Arkaroola was quite scenic, the mountain ranges always on the sides & even though the land had insignificant sorts of vegetation it still looked good in the hot sunshine.  We passed some big sheep stations (you very rarely see any buildings or even sheep as one sheep needs about 15-17 hectares to survive out here).  Once again we have only seen grey nomads on the roads. The temperature got up to 32C as we were driving but on arrival at the camp site it was 28C. This camp site is a more outbacky type than Rawnsley Park was, but it has electricity, nice clean toilets, showers, BBQ area, bar, restaurant & even a swimming pool somewhere.

Our meals – it has so far mainly been BBQ but still gourmet – salmon, mango marinated chicken, pepper steak, gourmet sausages, vegetables & nice salads so we are not really roughing it as far as eating is concerned.  I prepare it all & Ron with a red in the hand happily cooks & chats to the other men. It is amazing that not too long after it gets dark we say good night.