The storm raged on for a while last night but luckily most of it was going over the top of us high up in the trees and we only got buffeted a few times, we did not get any rain either. A few other campers came in late and one left during the night. The one that left was a Freo supporter as his number plate was ‘FREO-200’ and there are heaps of them on the road trying to get to Melbourne for the grand final. They have painted guide posts and signs purple all over the Nullabor. We had decided to have a look at a few local attractions nearby that we did not know about after reading the info board.

Just down the road from Minipa is Tcharkulda an impressive rock formation and strange cracked egg like rocks just sitting on a rock outcrop. There was also an old hut here that was used by surveyors workmen in 1915 when the towns water supply was being constructed. We had a rough map off the info board in town so we followed it and it took us right to our next stop Pildappa rock formations. The rock is a wave formation on one side. Here and the rocks at Tcharkulda had ingeniously constructed a small dam around the base of the rocks and it was channeled into underground tanks. It is amazing what the early settlers came up with. The surface area of the rock is huge so they would have captured a lot of water when it rained. They had even built small dams on the top of it to direct the water to the side they were capturing it on.

Pelican rock?

One side of the wave rock formation

The other side

Even small dams up on top

Small dams below to channel the water off the rock

We had decided to venture into the Gawler Ranges National Park with only a vague plan to stay at least one night as we were going past and it seemed to have a few interesting attractions for us. Most of the road was great until we crossed a sign signifying we changed council boundaries and it quickly became obvious one council looked after the road and the other didn’t. With our dodgy suspension it was a slow trip in places but we made it into the park Ok.

First stop was the under whelming Organ Pipes. Those of you who have seen the Organ Pipes at Mt Wellington (see a previous blog post) would know what I mean when we turned up to see rock formations some 10’s of meters high. It was still a nice place and good view but not what I was expecting. I climbed to the top of the dry waterfall and the view was not bad. On the way back to the car I almost trod on a monitor lizard about 1.5M long. Just after that we got back to the carpark to meet two Tassie ladies. There is virtually nobody here at this park and it looks like it does not get much traffic either. Most of the track require vehicle clearance to negotiate them. Most of the park was an old property. We did not see another person for the rest of the day after the 2 Tassies this morning.

There version of the Organ Pipes

Waiting for me to return from the top

Just down the road we came to the first camping area and Yandinga Falls, also dry but they would look spectacular if the water was flowing over them. Off down the road to find a lunch spot as it was getting close to 2PM, our usual lunch time on the road. We had a quick look at the stone dam on the way past to Old Paney Homestead. The rock building was open and there were chairs and a table in the kitchen so we made ourselves at home in the cool for lunch, very civilised. Out the back of the homestead is an old grave from the 1800’s and a track leading off to Policemans Point. No sign anywhere had a distance or any other information other than the name so far. No idea why a little dry waterfall in the hills is called Policemans Point but there you go.

The Paney homestead

Lunch at a table, inside!

We headed onto a 4WD track up the middle of the park hoping to reach Kolay Mirica Falls but along the way be decided to have a look at the Mattera campground on the way through. It took so long to drive into it that we decided that we would not reach the next campsite or the falls with enough time to make it worth while so we picked a spot and settled down. We have a lovely little campfire, nobody around at all and it is so quiet again. A beautiful starry night and a few things lined up for tomorrow.

My selection of fly head net shots for today…..

First try

Frogs in this pool on top of the rock

You can’t drink through it, she tried!

Ok and me shaving my beard in the mirror of the truck….

Farmers tan!