After the Barossa Valley region we caught up with our friends Tim and Nat as they had just returned from the northern regions of the Flinders Ranges. Their troopy came back full of mud which turned rock hard from roof rack to wheel hub and like the immature kids we are, we desecrated it. We caught up at a little port town on the Yorke Peninsular of Wallaroo for some yummy fish and chips on the beach. We found some dirt tracks to our camp ground which is always a preferred route for us and especially to dirty Tim and Nat’s car even a little more. The camp was right near the beach just behind some sand dunes which made a lovely barricade when the wind picked up. The sunset was beautiful over the western waters and the company wasn’t too bad for the long night of drinking and catching up.
Both Dave and I found it hard to get up the next morning, I wonder why? We cruised up along the coast to port towns for lunch and great scenery which is becoming more and more greener the further north we go. Heading towards Port Pirie we could see the south end of the Flinders Ranges which looked amazing; eventually we’ll get there. We broke off with Tim and Nat around Port Pirie as we continued onto Port Augusta to camp at a caravan park for the night. Once at Port Augusta CP we noticed how security orientated they are with massive 8 foot steel bar security gate and at least 7 foot fence with 2 lines of barbed wire around the whole caravan park. I was wondering the point of all this extra effort only until night fall when we heard a lot of local drunks walking around the beach just out the front plus the use of way too many advertisements stating the common thieve.
So after a night hoping nothing would get stolen, we drove off towards the sheep station 300km north. It was a beautiful drive with so much greenery. It was like a huge green blanket has covered the red centre of Australia, even lucky enough to see puddles of fresh water near the side of the road.
One thing I’ve noticed in the outback is their signs and how many bloody gunshot hole they’ve got. Evident in the photo.
To be truly part of the outback you must master the art of the ‘wave’. As cars go by whether they are a Toyota working Ute, a Holden cruising sedan, or a Nissan 4wd towing a caravan, there must be a wave of acknowledgement. When you see a car every 10minutes you are actually excited to see something go by which is evident by our wave and their wave. When we don’t get a wave, we shout and raise our arms in anger stating how un-Australian they are but when we do get a wave either by a full hand or by the index finger something more than ‘hello’ is said; it’s a more Australian laid back recognition of ‘g-day’ and the ‘take it easy’ attitude.
We saw the sign for our station that we’ll be calling home for the next 3 months; it was a 34km sandy and congregated dirt road which the troopy found fore play. We came across 3 emus, 4 kangaroos and numerous foxes on our way into the station but weirdly NO sheep. We shook that off quickly when in the distance we saw the homestead. We’d already been notified that no one would be home so we drove in and made ourselves comfortable in our white and cute ecohut. In our own house we have 2 bedrooms, a lounge, a working kitchen, and a bathroom. We were so excited to have a house with 4 walls, a permanent roof with the luxury of a queen mattress! We checked out the main part of the house which is clearly a homestead; a 1930’s sandstone house with all the rustic qualities you would expect. There were old rabbit traps, Akubra hats, iron sheets laying around, the abundance of Landcruiser utes, spider webs in all corners, large handmade table setting, and a wide open planed layout. It was a pure classic farm house which we fell in love with straight away. The family arrived later in the arvo and was happy to finally meet us; they were so friendly and very giving sort of people. They drilled into us that we were part of the family and had access to everything from the fridge to the internet which was so warming. The farmer Dave is pretty laid back sort of guy which appreciates a beer after a hard day of work, and the wife Megan is so lovely and is one of the best cook I’ve met (not as good as my mum!). We work with the farmer and another young guy Josh who is a quiet guy but he’s slowly coming out of his shell.
Our first day involved feeding young lambs (I really enjoyed that...so cute), dealing with the bull dozers, fixing fences, batting kangaroo meat with 1080 poison for the foxes, fixing windmills, and pulling down a 1km long fence. I thought if this was our first day what would tomorrow bring.
Tuesday involved digging a hole, driving 50km down the road to get free sand and grinded rocks, and cementing a wall. Who would have thought in two days Dave and I would have done all this, there is still more than 2 months left. This is definitely an experience where we will learn so much in such a small amount of time!
The deal here is we work from around 8am to 5/6pm with plenty of breaks in between when we’re around the house. Dave the farmer said that sometimes we will be camping out in swags under the stars because of how far we will be away from the house and how much work we will need to do which sound frick’n awesome. The farm is at least 80km by 40km wide with roughly 17000 sheep with more to come in the lambing season. In the winter season the temperature is actually quite nice with days averaging 25 degrees and nights around 10; it can get warmer during the day and also very cold during the night with a record of -4 degrees. We get breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided with heaps of snacks and drinks plus a reasonable wage :) We cannot complain one bit about their hospitality.
Thanks Tom and Amy for the heads up about this job!
I'll post some more picture up in a few days
We knew this period would be busy so heading off early Wednesday morning gave us a head start into the national park. The sites within the NP are very well maintained with clean toilets, great camp fire pits (plentiful wood), and large individual sites. The area around us was absolutely spectacular with views of both ranges and gorges not far from us. The highlight was the ability to drive through Brachina Gorge having 70m sheer cliff faces on both sides, the sight of 100 year old gums lying flat on the ground from the pure force of rain water, and the great 4WD tracks through them. The photo can describe better than I can.
Friday came and so did the holiday makers, so we headed further north to the Gammon Ranges to escape the mad rush. We based camp at Arkaroola Village which is pretty much a reception building which has all the facilities like accommodation, bar, fuel, general info centre etc. The caravan park was basic which meant I literally had to take a back pack with my shower gear up to the toilets. Along the dry creek bed then up heartbreak hill just to have a shower, it was compensated by the breathtaking views thankfully. We also noticed how vague their driving signs were; something stated as 2WD was instantly recognised as 4WD with lowered tyre pressure. There were many creek crossings which had sharp rocks and vertical climbs which needed the extra traction. It just wasn’t us either; many of the other travellers were commenting on how difficult it was considering what the driving signs were suggesting. All Dave’s driving and my stressing because of the vehicle angles did pay off in the end when little oasis’s popped out with luscious greenery and fresh water gorges. 
