The canola fields were looking spectacular, - this was between Orange & Bathurst:-
My first sighting of a Sturt Desert Pea, on the road to Grindells Hut, this was definitely a highlight for me, the only others I had seen were cultivated in a garden in Alice Springs :
More flowers alongside the same road:
I climbed off-track and walked along the top of some of the hills, they look very dry, barren and foreboding at a distance but close up there are heaps of flowers:
Self -portrait:
This Blue-Tongue Lizard thinks I can't see him:
This is a Shingle-back lizard crossing the road. They look a bit like straightened out black puddings from the distance. Some of them sadly end up as pudding on the road.
Next day (Wed) after a lie-in I set off late for Broken Hill. Evening closes in as I approach Broken Hill under this ominous sky. There is a bit of wildlife on the side of the road at this time and extra care was needed. I spotted an emu and a kangaroo which came close.
I set off on the dirt road to William Creek not too sure how the caravan will cope. This section is quite smooth and all looks well. The rain has held off.
I take a joy flight over Lake Eyre. These are people on the banks of Halligan Bay:
Another view of Lake Eyre North:
This is a very large cattle property up to the boundaries of the Lake Eyre National Park and as far as the eye can see. We could not spot a single cow and mustering is a difficult task. This is William Creek "township" where I stop for one night:
This shot is out of sequence, I drove down to the lake's edge later in the afternoon and got this shot an hour before sunset. Sunset would have been better but the road in (65km) is rough and best done in daylight:
My pilot, the boss of Wrightsair:
A very low Australian (Me), posing by lake Eyre North at 20m below sea level. before going in for a paddle. The beaches are pure white salt here and get wider as the lake dries up. This is the largest salt lake in the world, when it has water. When it doesn't its all beach.
These seagulls are a long way from the sea, its amazing that they found their way here:
Typical flat landscape on the way back:
Next day I head down the Oodnadatta Track and this is Lake Eyre South approaching. The two lakes are separate and connected by a narrow channel which only flows in major floods. Lake Eyre Sth is higher.
To offset the featureless landscape someone has created some nice sculptures. The dog's head is a car chassis:
The old Ghan Railway has long been closed down, no doubt due to this high-tech rival:
They have vertical take-off planes out here despite the infinite space for runways:
This hitch-hiker appears to have been waiting a long time for a lift:
One of the more decorative windmills around:
A disused railway station:
This is a mosque at Marree used by the Afghan cameleers and is kept as a memorial to their contribution to that era:
Marree station:
This guy uses the two camels above to pull him around. He has no plans, just to stay away from the big cities. He told me he has been on the road for 16 years. His little vehicle has a fridge, that may be a solar panel on top:
Further south trains go to the coal mine at Leigh Creek. They are very long, this one is going to fill up with more coal for China to help them meet their carbon emission targets:
We stopped at Mataranka for one night and I managed to do some snorkeling in a deep and very clear river in Elsie National Park (of the "We of the Never Never" fame).
The termites at Mataranka prefer to build their cathedral mounds in a deep red colour.
The wallabies are similar to the small Euros found in Western Australia:
Some campervans are well built for off-road and come with all mod cons including a roof-mounted crane for lowering the boat:
We then headed further south to Tennant Creek where we stayed again for just one night. This is the landscape at Tennant Creek viewed from Battery Hill:
The old telegraph station at just north of Tennant Creek:
These words say it all:
We then headed south towards Alice Springs stopping at the Devils Marbles near Wauchope on the way:
What a difference a few days traveling south makes! It is now quite cool at night here in Alice Springs. Whilst before it was too hot to sit comfortably outside now it is quite cool at night. This view is the Todd River in Alice Springs. The Henley-on-Todd Regatta was held here last month:
Thanks to recent rains the desert is now in bloom:
Our ballooning flight was cancelled due to high winds so we went sightseeing and saw:
I had previous wrongly described this as a Horned Toad, and since reliably corrected by the Director of the Alice Springs Desert Park that this fellow is a Thorny Devil:
Likewise the aforesaid director has advised me that what I had described as a "Cute Bird" at the Alice Springs Desert Park is a White-Faced Heron:
Young River Red Gums:
More desert in bloom:
Poached Egg Daisies:
More birds, Alice Springs Desert Park, also since advised by aforesaid director that these are Princess Parrots (Thanks Gary, its nice to get the feed back and to get the names right, its a great park that you manage.):
After two nights in Alice Springs we took a long trip to Coober Pedy. The rest stops on the way are a deep red colour:
At CooberPedy we stayed three nights and did a tour of the sights. This is part of the "Breakaways" a local beauty spot:
The Dog Fence is the longest fence on the planet. It is over 5000 km long:
The fence is well constructed and maintained. The roads crossing it have grids which we understand are not dog-proof.
Coober Pedy has lots of underground buildings dug in the opal fields, including homes, hotels and this Serbian Orthodox church:
Bedroom in home:
Altar in Serbian Orthodox church, all the icons are sculpted in the native rock and were done by a parishioner most in the last few months of his life (he had cancer) :
