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…but only for a short while.
In Loxton, we decided to drive westwards for a bit to meet up with our friends from our trip to South America. But first, we headed north-east through a large wine-growing region, whose produce we had already enjoyed extensively. To our minds, however, these vineyards were very large; simply 3-XL, and everything is cultivated by machine. You won’t find wineries with huge outdoor tanks like this in our country. Crazy Aussies!
In Renmark, we bought food for the next five days and filled the tank and water canisters to the brim. The rest of the journey took us back into the solitude of the outback and the Danggali Wilderness Area. Here, too, we encountered only a handful of people. The area that is now Danggali used to be a huge sheep farm, and countless ruins still bear witness to a bygone era. We enjoyed this absolute solitude once again at our first camp. Kangaroos and emus hopped past us and the birdsong was omnipresent. Only the bush flies were an almost unbearable nuisance until dusk.
West of the Danggali Wilderness Protection Area, we followed the wide pampas from one station to the next. But we saw almost no farm animals and kept wondering what the farmers here do all day. Instead, we had to administer first aid to a kangaroo that had been hit by a car. But what does first aid mean here? We moved the injured animal away from the roadside behind a bush so that it had something to eat and would not immediately dry out in the sun. That was all we could do!
We bumped along for many kilometres along a pasture fence to Caroona Conversations Park; we had somehow missed the right path and wandered across a sheep pasture. On the plus side, this time we had mobile phone reception in the middle of nowhere and were able to book our accommodation.
We paid a quick visit to the eastern flank of Mount Remarkable National Park and its southern bypass before continuing south via Port Augusta to Port Lincoln. Apart from a lot of agriculture, it is only at the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula that there are tourist highlights, which offered us a number of experiences.
We skipped the hardcore trail in Lincoln N.P., but instead enjoyed – or was it more Tom – the 4×4 tracks in Coffin Bay N.P. After three days of bumpy driving on every conceivable off-road track, the driving fun came to an end and we headed for Port Lincoln on the tarmac. Our friends from the South America trip were already waiting for us there, and the ‘hello’ on the other side of the world was very warm. The conversation went on long into the night, and we also exchanged a lot of information about Australia. We received valuable information about Western and North-Western Australia.
As our travel plans were not the same, we went our separate ways the very next day; they drove relatively directly towards Alice Springs, while we took a little detour to the Eyre Peninsula, where the Gawler Range and the national park of the same name had a lot to offer. In addition to large farms, we were looking forward to the vast outback and the countless unspoilt areas.
In the meantime, the weather was no longer as ‘desirable’ and there was frequent rain, followed by lower temperatures. So we drove a little faster towards Adelaide, hoping that it would be a little warmer there and that the weather would change in our favour. Unfortunately, our hopes were in vain; before reaching the Barossa Range, we turned off and sought better weather conditions on the coast. In the interior, i.e. in the mountains northeast of Adelaide, the rainfall was so heavy that we could only drive at walking pace in some places.
Our car was due for another service and I (Tom) really wanted to fit new springs and dampers to the rear axle. These requests required some preparation, i.e. appointments at various garages. This extended our stay in Adelaide by several days. But instead of staying in the city, we headed back into the hinterland towards the Barossa Range. This time we were able to enjoy the landscape without rain and roam through many wine-growing areas. However, the nights were bitterly cold and evening fires were already prohibited at the campgrounds; there was a general fire ban (…with this humidity!).
While our car was on the lift at the workshops, we briefly enjoyed a different life; Chantal relaxed at our accommodation, while I (Tom) roamed the streets of Adelaide and was very surprised by the pre-Christmas atmosphere. It was early November, but I had the impression that Christmas was just around the corner; crazy Aussies!
Soon our car was back in top condition; the major service should enable us to drive worry-free again and the harder springs at the rear should counteract the bottoming out. With the new shock absorbers, the rocking motion should also be a thing of the past.
The car was quickly packed up again. In about two weeks, we should be at the ferry terminal in Geelong (west of Melbourne). But there are still many kilometres to go and certainly many surprises along the way.
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