A lot of broken sleep last night. Once we went to bed it was Ok but the wind got up to gale force during the night and just after midnight we got up and removed the fly off the top of the camper as it was just at the wrong angle to the wind and the edge of it was vibrating and keeping us awake. The wind only got stronger and by morning it was really wipping through the river bed and between the hills where we had camped.

Once we got up and had breakfast I wandered up the VERY steep hill to the cave we saw on the hill yesterday. The cave was pretty boring and very slippery with lots of loose rock. While I was up there you could see the wind coming in bubbles up the valley. You could watch the wind bubbles go through the trees up the valley, across the river and then hit the camper.

Not so exciting close up

I forgot to mention in yesterdays blog that we had fridge troubles again on Sunday. It was feeling a bit warm but we thought it was just all the groceries we had put in it. When we woke on Sunday morning everything was warm and got thrown out again. The camper was very unlevel and the fridge must have blocked up as when we got it level again it has been fine since. I said numerous times we should level up the camper but it was only two nights and we convinced ourselves it would be Ok for that amount of time. Sharon spent the time I was up at the cave cleaning out the Waeco and the fridge.

On the road quite late today at around 9AM. We stopped off at the next campsite and put a lot of rubbish in the bins before finding our first activity of the day. We are following the Geological Trail through the Flinders Ranges and there is all sorts of information boards along the way about the geology of the area as you pass it. We drove up to the Aroona ruins. There is a natural year round spring here and they farmed sheep in the area many moons ago. Like most activities in these arid lands when the drought struck most of them failed due to over grazing or poor land that could not cope. There are quite a few ruins here and we took a nice walk on part of the Heysen trail to a lookout over the valley.

Pug and pine constructed 1925 hut

Part of the old original homestead

Permanent spring near the old homestead

Lookout view

View out the other side

After this little adventure drove further along the trail and checked out all the campsites along the way for the next time we visit this area. We found a small cave in the river and some old historic grave sites along the way. The next major stop was Appealinna ruins. The buildings here are made from shale slabs and there are many buildings spread over a wide area. Some of the stone work was amazing while others looked like they had been slapped together. Reading the information signs that is about what they said. The old miners huts were pretty bad where the mine managers hut was built by professionals. Over time the morta has been leached out by the rain and elements and the rocks just sit on each other now.

Dry wall around the gardens

Some nice stone work

Even shelves in the corners

Old miners quarters

1859 rock cairn on Appealinna Hill

We stopped at the Stokes hill Lookout for lunch about 2:45PM, about normal for us when traveling. The wind was hitting the camper from behind and the car felt like it was lifting off the ground. I got out to get a geocache after we had eaten and I struggled to stand up. I had to lean into the wind as I walked across the carpark. We stopped at a few more lookouts and then turned off on a 13.5Km detour to Sacred Canyon. After 13.5Km there was a short 200M walk and several sites with aboriginal art on the rocks. We felt a little ripped off as the road in had so many drains to cross, you had to go through them in 1st gear all the time.

Blown away at Sturt Lookout

More rock art

Walking up the canyon

We headed into Wilpena Pound to check out the camping and decided to stay the night as it was much more sheltered than the sites we had checked out during today. There is a lot of trees around the campsite shielding some of the wind. It has started to rain as I write this blog and there was a burst of thunder and lightning a while ago. The wind has dropped a bit now so here is hoping we get a good nights sleep tonight. We will have a look around tomorrow morning before heading to Victoria or there a bouts. Only a week to go before we are home!