Flinders Ranges and Lake Eyre Trip – part 2

Day 2 Broken Hill to Rawnsley Park Station

This is the follow up of Day 1: Sydney to Broken Hill

Very strange morning! First I am happy the headache of yesterday is gone and my eyesight is not pulsating any more. I drink strong coffee, and then quickly pack my stuff from the motel room.

It’s a bright, wonderful morning. Broken Hill doesn’t look dark and scary, it’s quite pleasant actually. This is essentially a slowing down mining town, but they have invested in tourism, which is something I like. There are mining exhibits, renovated buildings from the old golden age of prosperity; there is also an imposing black hill with a massive rusting monument on the top celebrating the 800 or so poor miners who lost their life here…

I enjoy my time in Broken Hill, but the open road is calling me again. With only 500 km to go, I am very relaxed. After yesterday’s 1400km, 500 seem a piece of cake. And the weather is brilliant. I set off to Peterborough and my soul is singing… until I pay closer attention to the controls. Suddenly the fuel gouge shows less than half empty, and the car computer confirms – range only 180km. But I filled it up last night, remember the dangerous aboriginal youths. Where has the diesel gone!? I am puzzled and stop to check the fuel tank underneath. There is no leak. I keep driving and consider the only explanation would be that during the night someone has drained 40l from my tank – the fuel cap is so easy to pull open… Not to worry, I tell myself, I will fill it up again with the next diesel pump opportunity. For now I drive and try to enjoy the unfamiliar surroundings. Soon I have to slow down to 70k, because there is a massive mining lorry, loaded on an equally massive truck. It takes the whole road and we are sentenced to shuffle behind it for the next 200km.

For a while this situation takes my mind away from the fuel mystery, but soon I become reckless and wander why the others in front of me don’t try to overtake the lorry? I wait for a wider part on the road and gingerly speed ahead with my tyres rumbling on the gravel. The guy riding the truck makes a bit of space and I am through and off again. The others continue to shuffle behind the lorry.

A Brilliant Day — n
Just out of Broken Hill.

Hills around Broken Hill — The hills just out of Broken Hill remind me of girls breasts with erect nipples (forgive me).

Big Mining Lorry — I am stuck behind a large truck loaded with a massive mining lorry.

I reach Yunta, which has a nice petrol station with good price for the diesel (it’s nice in my opinion, because I see a beautiful girl, sitting in the café and watching me through the window with interest). I start to fill the tank and forget about the beautiful girl, because the pump stops only after some 10l. I am so surprised, that I hardly see her getting out, walking close to me and going to her car, (still checking me out with interest). So, no one has drained my tank during the night, my cheeks are burning with embarrassment that I imagined such a possibility. And the beautiful girl is gone…

But now I have more serious problem – the car computer doesn’t recognise that the tank is full, it insists I have only 300km range, it will stop the car if I reach it. I switch off the engine; I shake the car; start the engine again, but to no avail, the fuel indicator continues to show less than half full. I panic a little – what would happen around Lake Eyre if my extra 20l in the jerry are not enough. Peterborough has phone reception and I call Land Rover in Sydney. They make me wait, while I hear them discussing the problem. Finally they call back to inform me that my Landie is from a batch of imports with known computer problem, and I should take the car back as soon as possible for a software update… I am speechless, thinking this is the end of my Lake Eyre adventure, but at this very moment a miracle happens – the slim hand of the fuel indicator simply jumps back to FULL. My Lake Eyre adventure is not finished after all. I am so relieved!

Peterborough. — Someone suggested, that I have photoshoped the sky in and I smiled. The skies are natural. This is Australia.

Historical Railway — Still in Peterborough.

Soon I get to Hawker. Because of the fruit fly quarantine in South Australia, I didn’t pack any fruit or vegetables, thinking I’ll buy some in Hawker. Yes, there is a shopping centre in town, and yes, I find a general store, but everything is so expensive. Tomatoes for $9.95! I buy a few and avoid the eyes of the lady shop keeper, who is embarrassed by my uttering that these must be the most expensive tomatoes in my life.

Then it’s easy, I drive a little more towards the beautiful mountains and find a large sign that says Rawnsley Park Station. Two nights for unpowered site in the caravan park is only $28. I choose a levelled place and set up my camp. Tonight I roast some pork chops, chicken wings and a couple of Italian sausages. I make a salad of fresh (expensive) tomatoes, cucumber and parsley dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. In addition I heat a can of beans on the warm BBQ. All of this while sipping a few small glasses of very strong liquor to counter the chilly night (-5°C). Everything tastes surprisingly good and the sky is full of stars. The alcohol hits me and I see the moon bright and shiny, but for me it’s time for bed. I have the tent pulled up, but I choose the car, wandering how would I feel. In the car I feel wonderful and fall asleep warm and comfortable and happy that I am in the beautiful Flinders Ranges. Well, just before I fall asleep, I have a fleeting thought about the beautiful girl from the café at Yunta today, wandering which bed is she warming tonight. Very brief. 🙂