Safari 2019 August 18th &19th

 August 18th & 19th 2019

Here we are in Quorn this evening. It is pouring rain so we are pleased to be settled in at the early hour of 4.00pm.

Eremophila

This morning we left Kimba mid morning and were in Port Augusta for lunch and a big shop at Coles.
 There is little else to say apart from the fact that it is very cold and wet. Luckily we are booked into the Quorn Caravan park with mains electricity and water. 
There are a couple of trees within the park which are interesting. One is a young Eucalyptus Leucoxylon which has very deep red flowers, a much stronger red than the tree we have at Milawa. The other bush is quite spectacular. It is a type of Eremophila or Emu Bush, with a huge red flower. There are many types of this bush scattered through the deserts of Australia. I think this one has been propagated and planted in the area.

Monday, August 19th 

Thankfully the weather has improved. 4 deg at dawn but a fine day to follow. We left our camp and headed off to explore the Conservation Park called Dutchman's Stern. We set off for quite a ong walk to the Terrace Viewpoint which is really only part way to the Dutchman's Stern. John walked the full distance to the Viewpoint, which was quite steep toward the end. I pulled out of the really steep section of the climb. This meant that I was able to enjoy the beautiful bush which was really showing a lot of spring flowers. The 'Queen' of the bush today was the beautiful 'Acacia quornensis' or commonly known as Quorn Wattle...seen here in full bloom.
The track today took us across the Hans Heyson Trail, named  after the well known Australian Artist.

Willochra Creek

The picnic lunch I had made was really enjoyed being an hour later than usual. We then continued further north along a Scenic Route, visiting Warren Gorge, and the Bucharinga Lookout. This area west of the Flinders Ranges is also quite remarkable. 
Suddenly we came across the Willochra Creek. It was flowing quite strongly and we could see a couple of lakes further down stream. It was a surprise to see water as the surrounding hills are very dry and rocky. Eventually this creek flows into Lake Torrens.

Hans Heyson Trail seen through the bush