Winter 2019 OZ - 24 Driving to Adelaide

2019 OZ - 24   Driving to Adelaide

It was a long distance from Quorn to Adelaide. 

Remnants of Field Stone Homes

We noticed lots of ‘ruins’ along our drive back from Quorn to Adelaide. Abandoned farms mostly, or houses along the roads that were just left to their own demise. This happened especially in the foot hills of the Flinders Mountains. I wondered why, so I asked folks and they told me that those buildings were abandoned after the influx of immigrants to the area. 

An unusual phenomenon had happened when the first European settlers arrived. The whole area had received lots of rain and the flora was exceptionally green and lush. Even in the early

Another Abandoned Home

days of their settlements, the rain continued for maybe a decade or more but then, the ‘regular’ weather returned, which is closer to desert conditions. The lush fields no longer yielded anything, the herds of domesticated animals, sheep, cattle, goats, etc. could no longer find fodder. People, mostly farmers, had to abandon their well-built, kind of newish housing because this area was no longer suitable for farming. Hence the ‘ruins’ we passed.

Flooding Sign

Strangely though, the closer we got to Adelaide, the more we saw flood markers. We passed through areas with 2-meter-high sticks in the ground that indicated the high water marks of the frequent flooding that occurs here.

Water Level Stick

You would not know it, since when we drove through, it was ‘desert’ and some areas were even burned to ground level. Just very low, small greenery was trying to grow again but yes, this area we drove through ‘can’ flood.

Lunch in the Park

Balaklava was the town where we stopped for our picnic lunch.

Magpie Joined Us For Lunch

A Nice Picnic

We reached Adelaide in the late afternoon and then had to drive through the many suburbs to find the motel we had booked on line. We finally found the Best Western Hotel Granada Motor Inn but it was a bit away from the center of Adelaide.

Unknown Bird Looking For a Handout

The drive ‘through’ the suburbs of Australia’s Adelaide was an eye opener. It was not a British look, not an American look, but the traffic was heavy, the stop lights one after another, the roads narrow and trucks were blocking the reading of road signs. I was glad when we came to our hotel, which we would never have found without a GPS.

Being not in the center of town meant that tomorrow; we would have to take the local bus into the city proper to explore Adelaide. And it also means we are here for 2 nights. 

 

Well, we have not been in a ‘big’ city in Australia since Perth, so this should be a good way to explore what many say is ‘enchanting’. 

Luckily there as a fairly good restaurant immediately across the street from the hotel, a Thai place.  

I’ll tell you about wonderful Adelaide in the next blog.

Winter 2019 OZ - 23 Hawker and More

2019 OZ - 23   Hawker and More 

Remember, we were driving a normal, everyday car, a Toyota Carola. When we arrived at Hawker (north of Quorn), we saw that from now on the ‘road’ was pure rocks and sand and dirt. Hmm, do we chance it to go and see the next small, nothing town (Blinman)? 

Tire Puncturing Road Surface

We needed a Pow-wow so we had a coffee and just sat there… thinking…. (And more thinking)… and…?   NO!

It is a bit dangerous to take a chance on those forlorn roads. It is not our car.  It’s a rental car and we do not have ‘emergency’ equipment with us.  Not even a proper supply of water and food if we get stuck. Yes we would have liked to drive these roads, somehow the danger had an allure, but then practicality set in and we made a U-turn.

Driving Up Stokes Hill Lookout

Especially after we ‘tried’ to drive up to an outlook (Stokes Hill Lookout) that had a fantastic view of the area but also showed us that there is nothing to support us should we get into trouble. We drove in for about 5 of the 8 KM, before we turned around again.

It Should Have Warned Us

These lookout setups were created to make people aware of the fragility of the land. Efforts are made today to reverse the damages created by former occupants of the land. Australia is trying to find a balance between progress and ecology. But that means also creating roads that are just barely drive-able for ecology’s sake.

View From Half-Way Up Stokes Hill

And how was this trail road? Even on this short ‘excursion’ I was expecting a tire puncture. Sharp rocks formed the base for the road, and we had only regular street tires. 

And yet, the area in the Flinders Mountains is worth exploring. Next time we might rent an off road truck.

A Shoe Tree?

I wanted to see the ‘Sacred Canyon’ which is near Wilpena (north of Hawker) but I will have to make do with the YouTube report above that other folks posted. 

We got to Hawker  after our ‘trial’ off road tests in a just normal car. 

We passed a running shoe tree and wondered why do people this?

We took pictures of Wedge-Tailed Eagles in the sky and on the road, of other birds we know nothing about. We are in a foreign landscape. Each corner on the road gave me things to look at I had never seen before.

The Wedge-Tailed Eagles Are Huge

We had a good time and arrived in Hawker early afternoon.

The town of Hawker is on a tarred road, a normal town, a town that is small but neat and full of the pioneer spirit of Australia.

In this town was a gallery that promoted the artist Jeff Morgan, hence the name Jeff Morgan Gallery. I took loads of pictures in this gallery not only of the ‘famous’ panorama, but close up pictures of the myriads of minerals on display. 

Panorama Video 1 - 360 Degrees

Panorama Video 2 at Ground Level

Panorama View From Above

Quartz With Gold In It

In my mind each mineral contained its own universe within. The multitude of possibilities just struck me as amazing. I used to see a rock and thought that is just a rock, but here I saw, that when you analyze this ’rock’ it turns out to be beautiful, different from any other ‘rock’ anyplace.

Amethyst

Opal Matrix Andamooka

I had an epiphany that the world is so large, so big that it’s impossible to see it ‘all’. Especially if one looks at each object in deeper detail, even looks at it under a microscope.

How small am I?

Fluorescent Minerals

We ended the day back in Quorn.

We found an apartment in the Great Northern Lodge for the night, a very new place but a weird place. It had for example a shower with 2 shower-heads but no shower curtain! With 2 sinks in the shower! The carpeting in the living space was cowhides! 

Emily's Bistro - Part of the Great Northern Lodge

Inside the Bistro

At night we went to the owners’ restaurant, right next door, the place is called Emily’s Bistro. 

Again, it was a strange place. The food was good; the place was ‘antique’ to the point that it did not even feel like a restaurant. 

         The Flying Fox. Cash Is Put In the Cup, the Handle Pulled and It Flies to the Cashier Who Makes Change and Sends it Back

Overhead were a few ‘flying foxes’, a contraption from the past that had to be explained to me.  I cannot even explain it to you, read the description of how it works by clicking on the ‘flying fox’ link above.

Flying Fox In Action

And the Food Was Good Too

We kind of got into the Australian mood in Quorn. Quirky, different, yet understandable if you take your time and go with the flow and think about things.