We were woken to the quiet mumbling of the friendly apostle birds who were scratching around with their family of five near the camper. It was chilly but not overly cloudy or raining.
After a leisurely breakfast we packed up and we’re pulling out of camp just on 10 am. Our only goal was to be at the ranger’s office at Wilpena by 2 if possible.
The road took us up to Orroroo fairly directly and we found ourselves there for a well-timed loo stop at the memorial toilets. Do other countries also have these toilet blocks in country towns erected by or in memory of pioneer women???? It was a very clean and spacious loo and we were happy to make use of it anyway. That’s probably already too much information.
Just out of Orroroo we found the old Pekina rail bridge- an impressive structure with some very large trees nearby offering a home to what seemed to be a varied bird population. I wondered how many hollows one tree like that one could offer. And what other critters beside the birds are living in there?
On past our lovely Cradock Hotel stay from a couple of weeks ago before arriving at Hawker, where we found the popular public toilets now re-opened for business (excuse the pun) and the new cafe across from them beckoning us. How could we say no? It’s always nice to take advantage of convenient food offered at the right time, so we sat in a window seat and ate hot pies followed by a good hot cup of tea while we wondered if that man over in the car park was our friend Regina’s brother. It turned out he was-but we didn’t figure it out till after he had left town. Sorry to miss saying hi Peter.
We were comforted in our disappointment by the arrival of our easily spotted orienteering trailer trundling into town pulled by Barry, so had a chat with him instead, and made new plans with him for an earlier meeting a bit further up the track.
We left Hawker as the convoy of travellers built into a steady stream. We hoped they weren’t all going where we were. The RV park in Hawker is basically just a big flat hard bit of land. Very disappointing following our recent wonderful discoveries. I guess they make up for it with their great toilet block and shelter area on the other side of town.
We had a bit of trouble finding the ranger station at Wilpena. It is signposted “Parks Administration” and well off of the main entrance road, down a road marked staff only. Alan the ranger was there for us though, and we were able to pick up our special key from him to allow our orienteering event to be set up appropriately. (The assembly area is beyond a locked gate, so we are allowed to let a few vehicles in for equipment and toilets.)
We met Barry and traipsed out to the event site with him to drop off the Tintookies trailer beyond the gate and check out the state of the road and potential parking areas after the recent rain. it looks OK to park off road. The worst thing will be the road out there-which has a few rather wet patches.
We drove in to Rawnsley and checked in before heading back out the Rawnsley track a little to the cabins area, where we were seeking Jack to pass on the key. He wasn’t there yet, but we did catch up with a number of Orienteering friends who were all staying in that area. We passed a lovely half hour or so before our expected meeting, then left to find ourselves a shower on the way to the campground. Craig and Ev had told us where to find them, so we were able to find a spot in the busy campground area with very little effort at all. Along with us, Craig and Evelyn already had John and Carol Such camping. Zita and Al arrived in their van just before dark, having done some orienteering work with a teacher at Clare on the way up.
It was good to be around a fire under the stars with friends again. The impressive sight of Rawnsley Bluff hanging over the campsite always helps us to feel small and to wonder at the magnificence of the Flinders Ranges area.
It was a noisy night with kids excited to be camping out, friends all catching up, music playing and some extremely late arrivals too. We were glad that we didn’t have to be up extra early on Saturday morning.
Luvapuzzle 