June 19th

The blue sky was very welcome this morning after the recent rains have freshened the countryside,  especially the crops.
 Gradually the country is becoming more arid in appearance as we come further north.

A common sight are the many old stone and brick buildings. Sadly they have been abandoned by early settlers who must have worked so hard and then experienced tragic disappointment with unsuccessful farming.

Enjoying lunch at the Prairie Hotel, Parachilna

Emus and kangaroos are part of the scenery and luckily we have only seen a few dead animals on the road , this is a relief as I hate seeing road-kill

Flinders Ranges from west side

We arrived at the Prairie Hotel at Parachilna just in time for lunch. We enjoyed a kangaroo burger while sitting in the sun outside the hotel. An empty coal train went by heading back to the mines of Leigh Creek. It was pulled by 3 huge engines and must have been nearly 1 kilometre in length.

Food shopping was successful at Leigh Creek. We are preparing for our excursion into more remote areas. The tyre which troubled us yesterday has been abandoned as the hole in it cannot be repaired. It is difficult to buy a large new tyre out here so we will run with one spare tyre until we can arrange for a new one further down the track.

We have camped at Farina Campground this evening and were able to have a hot shower. There is a ‘donkey’ heater to stoke for the heating of water.