Safari 2019 August 26th

Monday August 26th 2019

 Another tyre!! Yes, just to finish off the lovely day we have had.

 

We departed Arkaroola after 9.00am. It had been a great couple of days in this very arid complex. Drought is ‘rife’..trees and animals are dying. The roads are excessively dusty so everything is dusty too- our rig, our shoes & clothes, my hair- yes there is a fine layer of dust over the world of Arkaroola. John and I visited the area over 40 years ago. The season was green as rain had fallen, plants were in full bloom and there was water in some streams. What a contrast.

Fresh and well watered Curly Mallee tree

 Mid-morning we called at the Headquarters of the Balconoona National Park. It looked to be much brighter but only because plants were being watered by a dripper system of hoses. Volunteer workers were busy with upkeep of the many hoses as well as making some new plantings of local trees such as Mulgas (acacia aneura), Curly Mallee (eucalypt gillii) and Salt bush were being planted with new watering systems to support their growth. I was lucky to speak to a young trainee Ranger whose name was Jouely Coulthard. She had grown up in this area and was delighted to be back working in the National Park. This small enthusiastic young lady was part aboriginal and spoke very clearly to me. She was very familiar with the area.

Beautiful muted colours of the stones of Chambers Gorge

Lunch time found us sitting along the creek bed of Chambers Creek. A great spot for lunch but would be even better with a little water flowing like it had been in 2007 when we were here with the ZigZag Art Group…What a difference a little water makes to the scenery, the trees, birds, animals and the general country! It must be very hard living in these dry conditions.

We explored the Gorge and again viewed the many examples of Aboriginal art on the massive rock wall of the gorge.

Tonight we are staying at Blinman but will move further south tomorrow to Wilpena. John and I will probably go further to Hawker investigate the tyre problem. 

NB..Hopefully this is the last overview Post. We will be camped at Wilpena tomorrow night.