15. – 20. May

Now it was time to cross the border into another state – South Australia. We had to pass the check-point for fresh fruits and fresh vegetables as they’re not allowed to be taken in. We stayed in Peterborough in a caravan park which had a guard cat – actually the cat was just lying around and you had to come close to check if it’s alive or not.

Later we drove to Port Pirie – we wanted to see water again but just saw the harbour with some coal/oil vessels. From Port Pirie we did a daytrip into the southern Flinders Ranges – via the Germain Gorge to Melrose. The Mawson and Heyson Trail (long distance walking and push-bike track from Adelaide) are going through this town. We did a little bit of the Mawson track – actually we walked to the lookout to the Cathedral Rock but were disappointed – there was nothing which resembled a Cathedral or everything was covered by trees. It must be great to do the push-bike track as it meanders through the forest. We returned via a Scenic Route and stopped at another Gorge hoping to see a yellow footed wallaby but we were not lucky.

We drove further north to have a look at the Northern Flinders as well. From Hawker we followed the road to Wilpena and then turned left into the Brachina Gorge a scenic dirt route going through the mountains. At the first stop we met a tour guide and he included us into his tour – so we received some background information about the mountains, the animals and other events which occurred in that area. One side track is actually called “geographic track of the Flinders”. In one area it is possible to see some stone pieces which were blown into this area by a meteor crash some hundred kilometers away. In another part you notice that the rocks have been under water as they show the typical wave lines. We saw a little mite which eats ants… it creates a little crater and when an ant tries to walk through/ over it, it normally falls into the middle and can’t escape. And we saw some yellow footed wallabies – at least there were some wallabies and they looked a little bit yellow through the camera lens. They were only 45m away but were so small you could hardly see them – well camouflaged and tiny.

Hawker has a seismograph at the Information Centre and of course we had a good look at it. Unfortunately it didn’t record anything while we were watching but anyway it was interesting and informative. One bloke explained that it even recorded the 2004 Tsunami. The seismograph is so sensitive, it records when the kangaroos eat the grass close by. Normally it gets two or three shock waves each day – when the coal mines in Leigh Creek and Roby Downs blast. The coal mine in Leigh Creek is an open cut and you could have a look at the hole. They even have two big machines on display – one tip-loader and a crane plus one old tyre. It was possible to touch the tyre and crawl into it as well as walk through the crane and sit behind the steering mechanism. – Leigh Creek is a mining town which means that all the grocery and petrol is sponsored by the mining company. With other words, you can get all the essential stuff for a decent price. In any other place out here you have to pay at least 50% more.

Have fun, Tom and Anja