Saturday, October 19, 2013

Day 22: Beetaloo to Bowman Park

Saturday 21st September 2013



"This morning we passed through a country of an inferior
description, making a short stage to a watercourse, named by me the "Crystal Brook;" it was a pretty stream emanating from the hills to the north-east, and marked in its whole course through the plains to the northward and westward by lines of gum-trees. The pure bright water ran over a bed of clear pebbles, with a stream nine feet wide, rippling and murmuring like the rivulets of England."  Edward John Eyre, June 28, 1840.


_______________________


We have based ourselves at Crystal Brook for this weekend. The countryside is looking great and the weather is perfect.  The theme for the weekend is 50/50.

We met the bus this morning at Bowman Park, then travelled to Beetaloo to begin the walk.

The following are photos taken at Bowman Park.






A few photos at Beetaloo.




Getting off the bus at Beetaloo.

 The morning briefing.

Michael Middleton had Morris Minus for the interval between walk weekends, and made some clever additions to his gear.  MM now looks like someone we know very well.  MM could also now stand for Mini Me.


Michael awarded MM to Jane Haar for her meritorious organisation of Neville Haar's 60th birthday celebration.

Then it was on the trail for a glorious day.



We had morning tea by the road side, and I took the opportunity to photograph Dean's 50/50 flag.



 After morning tea, we came across a flock of sheep grazing by the side of the road.




The lambs were in a trailer - note the one with the black face.


A curious fence post

The 50/50 theme brought out some colourful walk gear and costumes.





Walking towards Tank Hill.


Then down to where we began to follow the Crystal Brook.  At this point we were joined by Eloise Fuss, a reporter from ABC Port Pirie.







We walked for some distance beside the Crystal Brook.  This section matched the description by Edward John Eyre, being flanked by gums and the watercourse being 9 feet wide with pebbles.  Unfortunately for us there was not a drop of water in the Crystal Brook.





Lunch among the beautiful gums lining the Crystal Brook.


Eloise took some snaps and interviewed several members of the group.


Towards the end of the day, we spotted a lace monitor on a tree trunk.



The walk today covered 19.5 km.  A few drinks and nibbles at Bowman Park capped off another perfect day on the Heysen Trail.


The tree above us had several nests. 




Friday, September 13, 2013

Day 21: Wirrabara Forest to "Beetaloo"

Sunday 25th August 2013:

The theme for the weekend was "Show Your Colours" and Dean Mortimer did that with his Sunday flag.  With the federal election only 2 weeks away, this may be an insight into the policy initiatives that could come out of a minority-controlled Senate.


The usual morning briefing was held in sunshine that promised another beautiful on the Trail.


Michael Middleton was awarded Morris Minus for notoriously leaving his boots home.

Morris Minus checks out Michael's borrowed boots
The walk-in was 2km up the TV Track.


Then we continued where we left off the day before, with lots of undulations, lots of views and picturesque sections of the Trail.





Morning tea was in a quiet spot on the ridge, but no views.



Then it was more undulations on the dirt track.



The view to the right.



The view back to the TV Tower where we started the day.


More undulating dirt track.


Our lunch stop had the views we did not get at morning tea.



Setting out after lunch.  Some of us are still admiring the views.

 Distant views to the wind farm near Redhill.



We finished the day meandering through some picturesque countryside.



The walk was 19.3 km on the Trail + 2 km walk-in, for a total of 21.3 km.