Following last nights reading of the Story So Far Ivan produced the LCOOL famous Apple Cobbler. There was divided opinion on this choice of desert. Cindy went back for a fifth serving yet Alysa refused outright any attempts to get her to even try it. Craig put on a fire works display that had the little kids spell bound, especially the catherine wheel. It wasn’t long after that that most headed off to bed.
A few people chose to get up at about 0700, those that weren’t out of bed by 0715 were awoken to the sound of Kym’s alarm going off………..Cindy!!!!!. More wood for the fire was needed and a large log brought down to camp the previous night needed chopping. Mick demonstrated his wood chopping skills but as always only got half the job done. The kids decided to finish the job with Ivan demonstrating the finer techniques of axeman ship.
Darren and Julie departed for home hoping to take a few of the back tracks to get in a little more 4WDing. Glen and Sharon decide to sit out today’s 4WD trek.
We again met up at Warraweena Homestead and headed off to do the Cockatoo Dunlop Loop track. It wasn’t far into the track when we discovered a tricky little rocky section. Again Stan was caught in 2WD and without the centre diff locked. I think it was Craig that suggested he engage the centre diff and Stan found this novel feature on his truck. Not sure if he continued using it for the rest of the drive however.
We passed a couple of goats and Ivan recounted a story about a goats skull hanging in the Birdsville museum, it’s horn had grown into its eye and this eventually killed the goat. We were on our way to Dunbar Hut for morning tea. Craig mentioned Suicide Hill had two tracks, one the left, the good track, the other to the right, the chicken track. Cindy quickly hoped onto the CB to confirm her intention to use the chicken track, only problem was, she wasn’t driving. Suicide Hill proved no challenge though we would have loved to have gone up it rather than down.
Dunbar Hut has been used in the past by shooters and the kids spent most of their time looking for bullet shell casings. We pressed on to The Waterfall. This was no Niagara but the kids enjoyed chasing the tadpoles and frogs that were in abundance. Dave put up $1 for the first frog caught, which took all of about 10 seconds, Dave still has to cough up the dollar. Whilst at The Water Fall Cindy found a new best friend in the form of a pink rock whilst Kristen found love in a rock. Kym decided rocks, frogs and tadpoles were not to his liking so he went chasing that perfect picture.
We jumped back into the trucks and headed further up the creek bed looking for the perfect lunch stop. It only took a 5 min drive to find it. Mick, inspired by the love rock wanted one for himself. He pinched $5 of mine and issued a challenge to the kids to find him a love rock, the best rock received a cash prize, every kid was a winner with Serina taking out the $2 prize and Mick has a nice heart shaped rock to take home to his girl. A little bit of friendly competition sprang up between Hayden and Cindy. Following a short foot race Hayden was heard to say “its fun to see a granny run”.
Apparently Craig has not been paying enough attention to his mudflap of late and feeling dejected it made every attempt to get off the truck. It also came to light that Craig can’t even get concrete warrantee on anything he purchases to put on his truck……..poor bugga.
As we were heading home there was a little chat over the CB. It kicked off with Ivan’s gang singing Old McDonald, the 57th verse. Cameron noted Cindy had a bit of a sweet tooth and also pointed out that she had been back for 5 servings of Apple Cobbler last night. This came about because Ivan and Lea said they were going into Leigh Creek for supplies and if he could get more stuff he’ll make the Cobbler again tonight. Cameron has been put on Apple Cobbler watch to ensure Cindy is the last in line and only gets one serving.
We decided to make note of the animals we saw today:- Mick, Stumpy Tailed Lizard, Eagle, Parrots, Corellas, , Kangaroos, Goats, Sheep, Mick (again) And the possible sighting of a Brumby.
And that’s the Story So Far, our next story teller will be Glenn No Friends (Neville) Jameson
Peter Ridley
We saw a particularly triangular shaped hill which caught our fancy
Bob Mooney's hut which we passed early on our travels on the Copper Track
And then we came across Suicide Hill - thoughts of a really challenging hill gripped most of us - it was a beautiful view, a little bit steep, and a little bit slippery - but definitely not challenging and definitely not Suicide!!
The view of others coming down
The view of Dunbar Hut at the bottom had been used many times by hunters - the kids had a ball collecting spent shells - Hayden even found a bullet that was in good shape
Ray venturing through another creek bed on the way to the property's swimming hole
Walking up the final section of creekline to the waterhole
A red dragon fly?????
Well, we found the waterhole, but no swimming on this day... Lots of tadpoles - some with legs, and some frogs - the kids had a hoot
More frog searching
The adults relaxed in the only bit of shade around
Craig relaxing after another photo session ;-)
Cam and Tim - (Cam scheming!)
Cam "Trust me Dad"!!
As the kids got more adventurous, the deeper they had to go to get the frogs..
Serena getting ready to pounce
Ben having a quiet moment
Walking back out of the creekline
Pete on a rocky section
David shows some articulation
Kym finds a nice rock to crawl up on the way through
Stan looking for that photo
This rock 'layer' was intriguing
Mike had all the kids going at lunchtime - "whoever can find the best heart shaped rock will win $2" - he was looking for one to take home to his partner.
The kids, big and small with their finds..
This Datsun had broken his steering arms coming down Suicide Hill - first attempt to fix them was to weld them up, and then second attempt to brace them. Both attempts only got him a few kilometres back home - we had been asked to disconnect the batteries for the owner..
Lauren poses for a photo on an old vehicle in the homestead yard
Another picture frame
A boring shot??
Let's do some of that shadow puppets like the kids... One way
Then the next..
Ivan and Lea had to go off to Leigh Creek to get some supplies - we stopped on the way to get a photo on the old (1881) Ghan Railway
A soulful sight at the Blinman cemetery
Life was tough in days gone by.. We checked out three or four cemeteries - the number of mothers who died giving birth, and of men in their 30s and 40s who had died was unbelievable..
