Once we left the bitumen, our hearts started to sing as we travelled along a dirt road, passing only one vehicle and loving the beauty of the outback scenery. We saw salt lakes both dry and full, plenty of emus, kangaroos, goats and birds and the vegetation kept changing as we travelled through the Gawler Ranges. They are beautiful! . When we came across a submarine, we knew we were at our destination:
It's been a real station stay with lots of interaction with the manager and employees, plenty of walks and drives to enjoy and we've loved every minute (well maybe not the minus morning temperature ❄️❄️) We had booked in ahead in case we wouldn't have a spot - well we didn't have to worry about that as there was only us and one other van has since come in! So we've virtually had the whole place to ourselves - we have a camp kitchen across the way with a couple of BBQs - one like a Webber so we've even made a made bread and butter pudding with our stale bread!!
Once we were set up Darryl let down his tyre pressure and tackled the 4WD trip up to the Mt Ive summit: and we made it!!
It was a very rocky track and I sort of captured it on video - though it doesn't really indicate the steepness or roughness of the track! We had a wonderful 360 view of the area and could glimpse Lake Gairdner in the distance. We went to see the giant wombat holes and along the way saw these beautiful Major Mitchell cockatoos and a couple of wedge tailed eagles.
Darryl and I have always heard a lot about Lake Gairdner right back from our school days geography lessons, so to actually see it - with water in it, was very exciting! It's huge - 90 kilometres in length so we only saw a tiny bit of it, but you'd be sure you were looking out to sea.
This lake is known for its salt lake racing - we had thought it would be a fantastic spectacle - but when we found out it's held in February - and that over 500 people turn up, we thought it didn't sound as appealing!! The lake fills from local water and can dry out very quickly as it's very shallow. On our trip to the lake, we passed these magnificent rams - but the manager tells us they'd be feral and full of lice and worms so not as magnificent as we thought! 
We also saw this man made retaining dam wall which was actually built in 1892 - and it still is in operation today so quite a feat!! The rock formations here are just spectacular and we saw several worthy of mention - the "organ pipes" and these most amazing "pillars". They actually look like big spikes and it's hard to believe they are not man made!
Today was Dennis's turn to trial his 4WD experience and we saw more of this rugged country - and more rugged roads! Here Dennis is pondering the best way to navigate this decline!! Needless to say both driver and car survived!
We enjoyed more wonderful scenic lookouts and on such a sunny day, we could see for miles!
We didn't see as much wild life here but we've since learned the animals prefer the grasses grown on sandier soils.
Right now, Tops and I are enjoying the last bit of sunshine, and the boys are off gathering more wood - these chilly nights we've been piling the wood on and using more than usual. Tomorrow we will head off - we are 200km from Port Augusta so we may be as far as Burra tomorrow night. We plan to be home Monday. We've really loved this little taste of outback life - no phones, no iPads, no TV, no shops and hardly any people (although I must confess, we sneaked a listen to the radio and happily learned last nights footy results!)
We trust we'll find everyone is well - we are looking forward to being home and catching up.
Love from Darryl Marg Dennis & Tops ❌❌❌❌❌
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