After a long drive to the start point, the morning briefing was held with our support vehicle present.
Dean's flag shows Stage 3, but the weather has delayed this stage until the fourth day of our trip to Burra.
Carol Clark is awarded the Morris Minus award for having been notoriously 'legless' for the first time in 30 years.
Our walk commenced on fairly flat tracks, with sparse mallee scrub and small rolling hills all around.
Early in the day, we found this area of significant erosion in Newikie Creek. This may have been the inspiration for Dean Mortimer's worst joke ever, told when we found a better section of the creek a short time later. Dean joked that Oldikie Creek was worn out and had to be diverted, and they called the replacement Newikie Creek.
Not far into the walk, we came to Blackjack Shelter and the platform erected by the Friends of the Heysen Trail group.
 |
| Blackjack Shelter |
 |
| Rodney left his mark at Blackjack Shelter in July 2011 |
As always, Mary Cartland impressed by going over every stile.
Margaret Schmidke made this superb map of 'Le Tour de Burra' trimmed with the colours of each pennant awarded during the event.
Morning tea was on the side of a desolate track. This was no grassy knoll, but we did have views to Mt Bryan.
Our support vehicle was always a welcome sight and Barry was never far away during the day.
Easy, pleasant walking early in the day, with gentle undulations increasing to roller coaster undulations, and picturesque countryside all around.
Lunch was on top a the second big hill of the day, where we enjoyed the expansive views.
After lunch, we tackled the significant undulations approaching Wandallah.
 |
| A super size latch kept this gate closed |
Hills, hills and still more hills after lunch.
 |
| A sleepy lizard taking in the sun. |
With so many hills, there just had to be great views. We paused to take in this magnificent scene.
Our second lizard for the day.
More hills. By now it was late in the afternoon and the kangaroos were out. They were not bothered by our approach.
We reached the Wandallah Creek Shelter late afternoon.
Wandallah Creek was flowing gently.
The group climbs the last hill of the day.
After walking 23 km, we celebrated another milestone. Albert Schmidke is all smiles as he completes the Heysen Trail at Wandallah.
Dean then awarded the pennants to the stage winners for that leg of 'Le Tour de Burra'.
Thanks again to Jan & Barry Matthew for being the support crew. We all headed to their vehicle to check out the port and nibbles. Their generosity lifted everyone's spirits at the end of the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment