Where's Hervey now: Naracoorte to Flinders Ranges 1April to 1 May

1 April – 2 April Left Naracoorte caves camping ground and after stopping at the entrance for a few choice photo opportunities with the fossils ,no not the in-laws, we detoured to the main building where the boys got some souvenir coins. We continued onto Naracoorte itself where we stocked up on some cheap meat and peaches the size of a small babies head. We departed the pleasant Naracoorte and headed north along the A66 to Willalooka (where they get some of these names I do not know) where we headed west along a dirt road to meet up with the coast and again ventured north along the B1. We had a quick look and walk around at Chinaman’s Well after which we had lunch and continued on our travels. We turned off at Meningie and made our way to Narrung Narrows. It was right at the point where Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert meet. A small ferry went between the East and West banks. A small jetty also broke up the scenery on our Narrung side. This was another free camp which turned out to be a great spot with lots of room and toilets but no showers. Had a chat to the ferry operator and found out that it was a free service operating 24 hrs. . Had a great fire with a fantastic tea of crumbed lamb chops that night. The following day we took a drive to Pelican Point where we would have had a look at the barrages that are across the mouth of the Murray River keeping it separated from the ocean. Unfortunately this was not possible as they had closed the area off. Some of the info in the guide books definitely needs checking before going. We took a drive along a 4wd track and found some other great free campsites for future reference right on the beach overlooking the eastern side of the Coorong NP. An old windmill caught our attention and after reading the plaque found it to have been used for watering sheep and cattle on their way from Adelaide to Melbourne. Did a bit of schoolwork with the boys before heading over on the ferry to have a look at the lighthouse on the other side. Boys enjoyed the ferry ride and got a few photos of Hervey leaving the barge.

Matty Liam - Narung camp

Windmill and trough at Mark Point

Narung Camp from Lighthouse at Point Malcolm

Light house at Point Malcolm

Tony Liam Matty at cave Point Malcolm

Hervey and Tony on the ferry at Narung

Hervey on Narung ferry

Liam and Matty in Hervey

Hervey & Bay getting off the Narung Ferry

Hervey & Bay in line for the Wellington Ferry

3 April Left Narrung behind and travelled to Wellington where we traversed the Murray on yet another free ferry service. We continued on our merry way to Strathalbyn where we did a shop and had some lunch. A very nice looking town with lots of old building and a large park area. Lots of people there and must be a very popular spot for Adelaidians to go to for a Sunday drive. We made our way to Meadows and drove north to Rocky Creek Hut where we had a quick look and the decided to check out Jack’s Paddock on the south side of Meadows. The gates at Jack’s were locked so returned to Rocky creek and set up camp under some pine trees and out of the wind. Both these parks are in the Kuitpo (pronounced Kye-Po) Forest reserve. When we arrived back at Rocky creek there were lots of scouts just packing up from a weekend camp and several horse riders going into the park. No other campers around the place which was a bit unusual but just allowed us a lot more spots to pick. We set up camp for a few nights intending to use Rocky Creek as a base to travel into Adelaide. We went for a walk through the Eucalypt forest near the camp grounds that the forestry dept. had left as a token gesture. Lots of butterflies lifting off from the track as we walked along. Towards dark the boys and I took a walk up to the road in to read some of the info on the signs that were there. As I got closer I noticed that the gates that were apart when we drove through were now together and appeared, with my dodgy eyes, to have a chain and padlock keeping them together. This was very interesting. I surmised that the scouts that had been there had left and locked the gates on us presuming that we must have had a key ourselves. Wasn’t the joke on them. I took a walk for a kay or so down the gravel road to see if there was any other forms of egress from our present location – alas there was not. We were locked in! Exciting and a bit reckless you might say , even law breaking. A pain in the proverbial I called it. Don’t like being locked up – at least when I’ve done nothing wrong. I did have a backup plan in case of emergency and needed to get out – a large pair of fencing pliers in my toolbox. When I told Tracy that we were guests of Kuitpo FR until someone came and unlocked the gates she immediately got the heebeegeebees and wanted to leave the place in the morning. We spent an uneasy night listening to the wind through the pine trees around us and imagining the worst.

4 April – 6 April We awoke to the same problem we had gone to sleep with – we were locked in. We packed up camp looking towards the entrance for anyone that might let us out. We parked near the gate when we had finished and I rang the Info office from the ph. number on the sign. On the 3^rd attempt ,when I was walking to get my pliers, someone answered and after listening to my hilarious tale gave me the code for the gate lock (5051 for those that might be in the area)which gratefully worked and led us to freedom. We drove straight to the park office near Jacks Paddock where the fella there told us that Rocky creek was mainly used for scouts and that they should have had the gate shut while they were using it and that the campground that we should have used was just down the road – Chookarloo. We left Kuitpo behind as free people once again and headed for Adelaide. We stopped on the way at Hahndorf where we purchased some fine tasting dips and had a delicious lunch while watching the guys dig up the park for some cabling. We got to Belair NP where we checked in and setup camp at the Belair Cvan park. $36 for pwered site. We drove into Adelaide the following day where we had some trouble finding a carpark. We finally set down at Repco where we purchased a couple of token shackles and the went walking into the city. Very pretty place with many old buildings and lots of gardens and green areas around. We returned to Belair where we found more evidence of life – other than human- residing in Hervey. There had been some signs of life in the form of chewed packets of bread , chip packets eaten and some veges munched. The evidence got to much for me and as we were going to be here a couple of days I decided to locate the lifeform. I proceeded to empty the back of Hervey to find the little (or big ) prick that was in my truck hitching a free ride. I finally located him in the top sliding drawer in a burrow that he had made from bit of a label he found somewhere. He was too quick to get a photo of but there is photo evidence of his nest. It was a damn Mouse. 4 hours later I had everything back in Hervey and found some space that I had made in the process so some good did come of it. Port Adelaide was our port of call for the next day which we arrived at after stopping at the beautiful Henley on the beach. We took a break and had a walk on the beach and jetty there but decided not to go swimming as it was a bit cold for us Queenslanders. We drove past the airport where we stopped and took a few snaps of the planes as they went overhead. We got to Port and had a look around the centre precinct and climbed the lighthouse which I didn’t like due to its height above the ground. Got some good photos of the place after which we had lunch in a park nearby and headed back to the city. We parked this time in Macca’s car park on top of a ’30 min only sign’. We went for a tram ride followed by a bus to Chinatown. We arrived back to find Hervey had been locked into the car park by another chain. Drove over the concrete walkway and were on our way again back to Belair.

Leather shop - Hahndorf

Such a beautiful family - Hahndorf

Liam - Hahndorf

Matty - Hahndorf

Haigh's - adelaide

Matty and a friend - Adelaide mall

Liam and a friend - Adelaide Mall

Matty on thong - Adelaide

Matty , Liam and freind - Belair Camp

Liam at Henley Beach - Adelaide

Matty at Henly Beach Jetty - Adelaide

Tony matty on Henley Beach Jetty - Adelaide

Tony Matty Liam - Port Adelaide Lighthouse

Port Adelaide Lighthouse

Liam Matty doing some art work - Burra Camp

Hervey & bay at Burra Gorge Creek Camp

Matty at Burra gorge Creek

This is where we keep him

Hervey on the way out of Burra Gorge Creek

7 April – 9 April Packed up and left Belair back through the mountains and headed for the Barossa Valley. We stopped at Jacob’s Creek and had a quick tasting and then moved onto Wolfblas for the same.

Hervey & Bay at Jacob's Creek

Hervey at Wolfblas

We made our camp tonite just south of Burra at Burra Creek Gorge. Another great free campsite. Lots of room and went for a few k’s along the creek bed. Unfortunately there wasn’t much water but looks like there is the occasional high flow along it due to the amount of material caught against the trees. We spent the next couple of days trying to do some schoolwork with the boys. It’s a bit like pulling teeth – painful at the start but once it’s underway it seems to progress fairly well. We’ve done about half of what we are meant to have done. We went into Burra as well and had a look around at the old mines there. Fixed up the kitchen tap and repaired a few of the tent stays while we were at the camp. The weather has been alternating between rainy and blue skies. Still a bit cold at night.

10 April – 11 April As we packed up camp we came across a scorpion that had been hiding in the chair covers under the trailer. The boys were very interested in it. We had a quick stop at the loos before we left where we met a couple of travellers that informed us that most of the tracks in north SA were closed due to the rain from QLD. Can’t get from Innaminka to Birdsville and parts of the Birdsville track is closed. Very annoying news as will have to change travel itinery ( didn’t actually realize we had one ) to accommodate these wet areas. Drove towards coast and headed north at Port Perie towards Germein where we stopped and had lunch. Apparently Germein has the longest wooden jetty in Australia according to info that Matty read. We proceeded to Port Augusta but continued onto Whyalla when we found the price for camper on unpowered site for the 4 of us was $54! When we got to Whyalla the info centre was closed but had left packs out for latecomers like us. The two cvan parks in the town looked alright but we decided to take a drive by the showgrounds and when we saw that there were a few other vans in there we went in for a look. The other vanners had been there for a few days and had spoken to the caretaker , who wasn’t around when we arrived, and had been told that they could pay later. Sounded good to us so we parked under some trees and set Bay up. Took a drive to Nissan in Whyalla and was directed to Jarvis trucks in regards to the injector and arranged to drop back Wed morn for a look at it.. After this we took a drive to Port Bonython and had a look for camp spots for the school hol period. We found a few likely spots with one having a couple from Maryborough staying in it. We returned to Whyalla info centre and joined the tour around the nearby steel works. Very interesting with lots of photos taken. We went from here to Nissan to discuss injectors but they were less than helpful. We then dropped Tracy at the shops and me and the boys went to The Hummock Lookout and the playground by the sea.

Hervey & Bay Matty - Whyalla Info Centre

Hervey and a big toy - Whyalla

Whyalla showground camp

Steel works - Whyalla

Fitgeral Bay

Matty Liam - Fitz Bay

Shower day

Matty Liam fishing - Fitz Bay

Tracy -Fitz Bay

Campsite - Fitzgerald Bay

Shale bank - Fitz Bay

Kite flying - Fitz Bay

Hervey and Bay - Fitz Bay camp

Fitzgerald Bay

The Family - Fitzgeral Bay

Iron knob

Iron Knob with Dragline on top

Dragline similar to one on Iron Knob

Hervey

Iron Knob aerial shot

Iron Knob Museum

Iron Knob

Iron Knob pit

Gravity ramp - Iron Knob

Camp - Fitzgerald Bay

Fitzgerald Bay

Matty fishing - Fitz Bay

Liam in a tree - Fitz Bay

Matty Liam - Fitz bay

Hervey - Fitz Bay

Camp - Fitz Bay

Whyalla harbour

Loading conveyor belt

Steel works pier - Whyalla

Hummock Hill - Whyalla

Whyalla

Hervey

Fitzgerald Bay

Camp fire - Fitz Bay

Tracy Tony Liam Matty Donna Graham - Fitz Bay

Dead Calm

Tree - Fitz Bay

Graham Tony hard at it

Matty Liam - Fitz Bay

Liam - Fitz Bay

Sandcastle fun - Fitz Bay

Matty - Fitz Bay

Matty Liam Graham Tracy Donna Liam - Fitz Bay

Graham Tracy Donna - No flash

Graham Tracy Donna - flash

Liam's aboriginal shelter

Aboriginal Spears and bush tucker

Aboriginal Campsite

Hervey & Bay leaving Fitzgeral bay

12 April – 15 April present (finally up to date) Pack up this morning is getting quicker and more organized each time.We came back out to Port Lowly and set up camp on the beach near the shingle banks. Went into town the following day to see the mechanic about the injector but no real help at present . Will have to try and source a new one and get the thing replaced to give me peace of mind. Came back to camp to find a camera crew interviewing a Ranger about people driving over the shingle ridges and how they are trying to stop them but not having much success. Fire tonite and Pictionary with the boys afterwards. They are both getting good at it and really enjoy it.We’ve done a bit more schoolwork and Tracy and the boys have been to the movies at Whyalla and McDonalds for lunch while I stayed at camp and did all the chores. Have been trying fishing but with no success. Ive relocated our loo and have started a sundial. We still don’t have any neighbours. Not sure if it’s the smell or the nakedness that is putting them off.

16 April – 26 April Spent the last ten days at Port Lowly and Fitgerald Bay. Absolutely fantastic week and a half to spend somewhere for the SA hols and the Easter and Anzac day break. Did lots of things with the kids – fishing where we caught 9 whiting one day and then one each day after that. We cooked the whiting in alfoil in the camp oven and they turned out pretty damn good. Caught a flathead , by pure chance , that was just legal but we let it go just to be kind. We made a trip to Iron Knob and had a look at the museum which was well worth a look surprisingly. A lot of history about the mine and the surrounding area. Went and did the tour of the town and the mine which was extremely interesting. Hard to believe that at the peak there was about 3000 people and at present only 180. They pay rates to themselves and generally look after the place as a community. There is no servo, hospital, doctor, shops, etc so only the houses and people to loo at. Well worth the trip. We had visit from Tracy’s school friends Graham and Donna Curly. They arrived the Thursday before Easter and behind them turned up a house sized van and a bus. I thought that they were with G & D but they weren’t and we all stood and watched as these two behemoths parked in front of our view!! They of course were a couple of grey nomads with no regard for anyone else. Fortunately they stuck to themselves and stayed in their vans most of the time. Over the next few days G & D came over for the nightly fire and a few drinks and we had a fantastic time for two couples that had never met before. The boys were very taken by G & D and especially liked the Easter eggs that they gave them. Matty returned the sentiment by presenting both with their own personal friendship bracelets. Liam did in kind as well although his was some of his easter egg. Other things that we did while at Fitz Bay were to build a castle with a water slide and an aboriginal shelter (miniature) for one of Liam’s school units. We had a day at the Whyalla Fishy Festival which turned out to be a good day for the kids with a few rides and lots of junk food for them to fill up on. The Whyalla Snapper festival was on at the same time so there was a few people around the place. We had a drive up to Hummock Hill and a look at the cannons that were put there to protect the BHP jetty that supplied the ships for the war. There are some bunkers at the top which I only saw from below the hill itself. Not sure if they did any tours through them or not and unfortunately didn’t get time to check it out with the Info centre. On the final day at Fitz Bay we started to pack up and had showers and did some washing in preparation for departure. Had a final fire and drinkies with D & G and had an early night ready for an early start. As an addit don’t buy a Coleman mesh toaster as the one that we purchased in a Whyalla camp shop disintegrated the first time that Tracy toasted on it.

27 April – 28 April Big pack up this morning. Said our goodbyes to Graham and Donna as they were heading south to Port Lincoln and further on to the Eyre Peninsula. We unfortunately had to leave Fitz Bay about 10:30. We made our way into Whyalla where we did a shop and filled up with water at the showgrounds where we had spent our first couple of nights in Whyalla. It was like going home. We got out of Whyalla about midday and made our way through Port Augusta with a lunch break just on the other side. We stopped at the Quorn Info centre and had a chat to the lady there that informed us that all the roads north were open. A bit rough from Innaminkla to Bville and there were plenty of washouts but semis were getting through so should be alright for us to give it a go. We left there after stocking up with fuel and beer and them headed north to Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges. We camped at two nights at Wilpena for $28N and enjoyed having a hot shower. The second day we got up after a long night and made our way to Arkaroo Rock just south of Wilpena where we had a pleasant 1/24 walk to a rock cave where there were several rock paintings portraying the mythical serpents that had formed the Wiplena Pound area. After that we made our way just north of Wilpena to Sacred canyon. Down a short dirt road bought us to a dry creek bed where we took a 1/2 hour walk to see some rock carvings. Starting to see lots of skippies and emus around the place. We made our way back to Wilpena pound and got the shuttle bus , it was getting a bit late , to the head of the Wangara lookout walk. The walk took us fo a energetic walk up the inside wall of the Wilpena Pound to a couple of great lookouts that oversees the interior of the pound and its surrounds. Definitely worth the exertion if you’re in the neighbourhood. It was a bit cloudy so the photos definitely don’t do it justice. We took the shuttle back and packed up a bit for an early start for the Skytrek tomorrow at Willow Springs just north and east of Wilpena.

Flinders

Wilpena resident

Wilpena campground

Another Hervey - Wilpena

Wilpena pound

Flinders

Arkaroo Rock walk

Rock art - Arkaroo Rock

The boys - Arkaoo Rock

Sacred Canyon

Etchings - Sacred Canyon

Liam Tracy Matty - Sacred Canyon

Sacred Canyon

Lunch inb the canyon

Wilpena Wangara walk

Hut on Wangara walk

Matty at Wangara lookout

Wilpena Pound

The boys at Wilpena Pound

Liam Matty Wangara walk

Matty and Liam

Wilpena Pound

Leaving Flinders

29 April Woke up at 0600 thanks to Matty’s alarm but to cold to get out and get clothes so stayed in bed until Tracy got out at 0630. I love my wife. Had a quick brekky and stuck some washing in the buckets for the trip and got away by 830. Arrived at Skytrek at about 0930 and unhooked Bay while Tracy went and had a chat to the owner about the day to come. I should have kept Bay hitched up and went on to the next point of interest. People that know and love me know that although we have embarked on a 4wd trip around Oz I am a big woose when it comes to heights. Skytrek is not the place to be for heightophobic people like me. It was a long 8 hr day with an intense few hours of white knuckle 1^st and 2^nd low uphill/downhill driving. Not sure how steep the inclines on either side of the ridges we were driving on were as had my two blue eyes glued to the rocky track and my brown one puckered up. For those that know telecom hill near Toogoom it has nothing on some of the runs at Skytrek. Absolutely amazing scenery when we did stop along the way at the many outlook points and I prised my fingers away from the steering wheel. Took lots of photos of the mountains around but as usual they just can’t do justice to the place and you should really come here and ~~suffer~~ enjoy it yourself. At $75 for the day it might be a bit dear but is a must do no matter how scary and god forbid I say it I would probably do it again. After getting down to a bit flatter and lower ground , which I must say I really wanted to kiss but too much dust, we took a side trip to Skull Rock. If you close one eye and stand on you head you can just make it out. The photos that Tracy took actually show it better than just looking at the real thing. We made our way back to the Willow Springs homestead and as it was getting on a bit we have camped here tonite. Been a great and exciting day and my nerves will never be the same. For those that have been following the blog you know that Hervey has suffered a few problems but he handled the terrain extremely well without a hiccup so it was a great way to get to know him in a real 4wd situation. Look forward to the next . Bring it on….