Amazig colour palette forever!
Deep red mystery in the middle of a glistening salt lake.
Salt lakes lie at the feet of moss green ranges
Beach-front at WhyallaWHYALLA TO WOOMERA
Hello folks, I trust everything is going well in your lives – I certainly hope so!
Us? Well, we finally managed to tear ourselves away from Arno Bay – believe me it wasn’t easy. We truly did enjoy ourselves there and it would have been all too easy to extend our stay yet again.
However, we did manage to leave and make our way leisurely to Whyalla. TBBITW had constantly told me that ‘there is nothing in Whyalla’ so I had very low expectations. Well, what can I say – his credibility is in tatters. We did only stay overnight – our bay was right on the waterfront – even closer than at Arno Bay! The inlet there however is vastly different. The water is so shallow you could comfortably walk out for around 500 meters before the water reached past your waist. We met up with fellow travellers there, two different couples who we had met previously on two separate occasions. I am beginning to see how it is that you constantly ‘bump’ into the same people again and again. One of these couples very kindly offered to take us out in their boat to feed the dolphins. Apparently, there is a mother and bub who habitually meet the outgoing boats and cadge a fish or two from the boaties. As much as I would have loved to do this, we declined as we really felt that having finally made the move towards the ‘centre’ we didn’t wish to dilly dally any longer. As far as dolphins go, I was totally spoilt at Arno where on the last day, a baby dolphin took the opportunity to check out we weird, dry, two pronged beings on the jetty, not once - but twice – it was very special and I felt blessed indeed.
We moved out of Whyalla early in the morning and made our way towards Woomera. I am really sorry, but my poor abilities can in no way even begin to do justice to the incredible landscapes we drove through that day. You know I am amazed, I know it’s different strokes for different folks, but I just don’t get how people can be unmoved by this country. One woman we met briefly as we were leaving Whyalla, commiserated with me because we were travelling through the middle – she informed us she knits coat hangers during that drive – obviously the lady had no soul whatsoever.
I don’t know exactly what I expected, but I think I thought the landscape would be flat and monotonous. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I didn’t realise at the time, but most of the drive to Woomera is around and along side of the northernmost reaches of the Flinders Ranges. As a result the scenery is far from monotonous. The colours are vivid and incredible, deep reds, oranges, blues and greys and some of the most vivid greens I have ever seen. These colours were daubed liberally along the roadside and surrounding rugged hills with absolute abandon. The hills were extreme in their shapes, sizes and situations. We saw a vast brilliant white salt lake with a deep red perfectly conical hill rising from the middle – absolutely surreal! We are told that this is the best season these regions have seen for some 40 years. The unusually heavy rainfalls here and further north have resulted in much better plant growth than usual. We are just so lucky to be here at this time. I am including some photos, but sadly they just do not do the colours justice – you really need to come out here and see them for yourselves. I am in awe of the beauty and splendour I have seen over the past two days. We also saw numerous emus along the sides of the road and were very nervous to see that there is stock (mainly sheep and cattle) unfenced along the way. We saw an absolutely enormous Wedgetail sitting atop a recent road-kill – he was very reluctant to move.
Now I am a bit embarrassed and rather guilty here as I have to tell you we saw nothing of Woomera. It really was very bad of us, as it is an iconic place. Once again, I was led by the judgement of TBBITW – I didn’t realise until it was too late that his advice was based on the fact that he had been there many times before and therefore was not particularly interested. From now on I will not be following that advice!! I think we should have at least had a look at their museum – I’m sure it would have been full of interesting information. We did drive past and it appeared to be chock full of all sorts of aircraft and rocket paraphernalia. The caravan park there was quite good – neat and tidy – they even had a little rather upmarket bar – it looked pretty ordinary from the outside, but proved to be quite posh on the inside. We were a bit non-plussed by the decor, as we felt that outback Aussie would have been more appropriate than the New York type atmosphere created by the rather flashy bar etc. However, they did succeed in creating an interesting ‘water-hole’. We left Woomera early in the day and headed off for Coober Pedy – a much anticipated destination. I am actually writing this entry from Coober Pedy, but will leave the description for the next blog entry.
Just on a personal update, mum came through her little op very well and apart from the ‘bug’ seems to be doing well. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all will continue to be well. It is her birthday in four days time, so we are hoping to be back in communication range by then.
Until the next time – stay well and remember to laugh, especially at yourself. Steph.
Hello folks, I trust everything is going well in your lives – I certainly hope so!
Us? Well, we finally managed to tear ourselves away from Arno Bay – believe me it wasn’t easy. We truly did enjoy ourselves there and it would have been all too easy to extend our stay yet again.
However, we did manage to leave and make our way leisurely to Whyalla. TBBITW had constantly told me that ‘there is nothing in Whyalla’ so I had very low expectations. Well, what can I say – his credibility is in tatters. We did only stay overnight – our bay was right on the waterfront – even closer than at Arno Bay! The inlet there however is vastly different. The water is so shallow you could comfortably walk out for around 500 meters before the water reached past your waist. We met up with fellow travellers there, two different couples who we had met previously on two separate occasions. I am beginning to see how it is that you constantly ‘bump’ into the same people again and again. One of these couples very kindly offered to take us out in their boat to feed the dolphins. Apparently, there is a mother and bub who habitually meet the outgoing boats and cadge a fish or two from the boaties. As much as I would have loved to do this, we declined as we really felt that having finally made the move towards the ‘centre’ we didn’t wish to dilly dally any longer. As far as dolphins go, I was totally spoilt at Arno where on the last day, a baby dolphin took the opportunity to check out we weird, dry, two pronged beings on the jetty, not once - but twice – it was very special and I felt blessed indeed.
We moved out of Whyalla early in the morning and made our way towards Woomera. I am really sorry, but my poor abilities can in no way even begin to do justice to the incredible landscapes we drove through that day. You know I am amazed, I know it’s different strokes for different folks, but I just don’t get how people can be unmoved by this country. One woman we met briefly as we were leaving Whyalla, commiserated with me because we were travelling through the middle – she informed us she knits coat hangers during that drive – obviously the lady had no soul whatsoever.
I don’t know exactly what I expected, but I think I thought the landscape would be flat and monotonous. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I didn’t realise at the time, but most of the drive to Woomera is around and along side of the northernmost reaches of the Flinders Ranges. As a result the scenery is far from monotonous. The colours are vivid and incredible, deep reds, oranges, blues and greys and some of the most vivid greens I have ever seen. These colours were daubed liberally along the roadside and surrounding rugged hills with absolute abandon. The hills were extreme in their shapes, sizes and situations. We saw a vast brilliant white salt lake with a deep red perfectly conical hill rising from the middle – absolutely surreal! We are told that this is the best season these regions have seen for some 40 years. The unusually heavy rainfalls here and further north have resulted in much better plant growth than usual. We are just so lucky to be here at this time. I am including some photos, but sadly they just do not do the colours justice – you really need to come out here and see them for yourselves. I am in awe of the beauty and splendour I have seen over the past two days. We also saw numerous emus along the sides of the road and were very nervous to see that there is stock (mainly sheep and cattle) unfenced along the way. We saw an absolutely enormous Wedgetail sitting atop a recent road-kill – he was very reluctant to move.
Now I am a bit embarrassed and rather guilty here as I have to tell you we saw nothing of Woomera. It really was very bad of us, as it is an iconic place. Once again, I was led by the judgement of TBBITW – I didn’t realise until it was too late that his advice was based on the fact that he had been there many times before and therefore was not particularly interested. From now on I will not be following that advice!! I think we should have at least had a look at their museum – I’m sure it would have been full of interesting information. We did drive past and it appeared to be chock full of all sorts of aircraft and rocket paraphernalia. The caravan park there was quite good – neat and tidy – they even had a little rather upmarket bar – it looked pretty ordinary from the outside, but proved to be quite posh on the inside. We were a bit non-plussed by the decor, as we felt that outback Aussie would have been more appropriate than the New York type atmosphere created by the rather flashy bar etc. However, they did succeed in creating an interesting ‘water-hole’. We left Woomera early in the day and headed off for Coober Pedy – a much anticipated destination. I am actually writing this entry from Coober Pedy, but will leave the description for the next blog entry.
Just on a personal update, mum came through her little op very well and apart from the ‘bug’ seems to be doing well. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all will continue to be well. It is her birthday in four days time, so we are hoping to be back in communication range by then.
Until the next time – stay well and remember to laugh, especially at yourself. Steph.
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