13 August 2013 - Gawler Ranges Motel & Caravan Park, Wudinna, South Australia

I woke to remember the birth of my youngest, a whole quarter century ago. Just saying that now surprises me, as it does each year, or each month of family birthdays. It is just as well I get no older! I made a quick call to Olly interrupting his busy work day, but kept it brief. Some do have to work.

The Australian Farmer

Mid-morning we headed off back into Wudinna in search of our favourite newspaper; I had little hope but Chris was forever hopeful. Alas, he had to settle for The Advertiser; this is one of the downsides of travelling interstate and into more remote areas, however we are well used to that.

Right beside the Eyre Highway, stands The Australian Farmer sculpture, a magnificent piece of work fashioned from 400 tonnes of granite and standing eight metres high. Unlike many of Australia’s “big things” such as the crayfish, bananas, mangoes and sheep, this is far more tasteful.  It took seventeen years to produce from the initial proposal to the final unveiling in 2009, and two years for the artists, Marijan Bekic and his son, David. The stylised work of a farmer represents the early settlers of the region, with carvings symbolising grain and sheep found within the sculpture. We were both equally impressed.

We then took the road toward the Gawler Ranges National Park, with detouring a little to the east of the more direct road, to take in several of the granite outcrops which are so numerous throughout the area. We passed Polda Rock, Little Wudinna Rock, Parsons Rocks, finally pulling into the picnic area at the foot of Mount Wudinna Rock. Here we read a board that boasted this to be the second largest monolith in Australia (haven’t I said that before?) and rises to 261 metres ASL. All of these, like the Haystacks visited yesterday are inselbergs, weathered by wind and time, and all impressive.

Back on the main gravel route through to the National Park, we passed through many kilometres of cropped land, the bright flowers of the canola crops so bright that if one represented them thus in a painting, the brilliance would be criticised as exaggeration.

Wudinna lies more or less fifty kilometres south of the Paney Homestead entry pay station although the park boundary crosses about halfway. Here the road became as undulating as a roller coaster and we crossed through many birridas, clay pans easily made treacherous with rain.  Most of the road we travelled was shown on the map as being suitable for two wheel drive vehicles however there would be many times when this would not be so. We were therefore particularly surprised to encounter a vehicle towing a caravan through the park later in the day. The rig looked no more off-road capable than our own; we wondered what damage had been wrought even today.

The Gawler Ranges National Park comprises 165,000 hectares, the former Paney Station, and areas of Pine Lodge and Scrubby Peak Stations, ranging from native grasslands to mallee woodlands. The park had first caught my attention when we were staying in the city of Gawler back in November 2011, the city and the park named after a former Governor of South Australia. Posters of the Organ Pipes seemed to be everywhere, however I soon realised that this was a long distance from where we were at the time, but stored the information on my wish-list for later reference.

Much of the country we travelled through today were wide gentle valleys between the fairly low mountains, all far lower and less striking than I expected. In fact, the Organ Pipes themselves, volcanic rhyolite long exposed to the elements, apparently one of the largest in the world, were less impressive than others we have seen during our travels around Australia. We have obviously been spoilt, a shame really, but I do have to say that the Sawn Rocks just out of Narribri in New South Wales would have to be superior.

The park is home to over twenty threatened animal and plant species including the yellow-footed  Rock Wallaby, Malleefowl, Major Mitchell Cockatoo and Crimson Mallee. We saw none of these but did encounter kangaroos and emus, the latter a little too close for their own comfort. I do hope we can complete our travels without wiping out one of these fabulous funny birds.

After paying our obligatory $10 entry fee, we called into Paney Station’s now abandoned woolshed, wandering through the pens and along the board, sorry to see what had been a well maintained relatively modern operation now disappearing under grass and saltbush, as are the extensive pasturelands. The pastoral lease was acquired by the South Australian Government with assistance from the Commonwealth in 2000 with the addition of Scrubby Peak’s 420 square kilometres in 2001. I was surprised that the intervening twelve years has not had a greater impact as far as the wilderness taking over years of grazing. Perhaps the government farmed the park for a while?

Paneey Station's woolshed

We travelled westward to the Old Paney Homestead and Policeman’s Point, and pulled in beside the old house, long abandoned but home to William and Margaret Crawford between 1877 and 1898, and later to William and Jessie (nee Crawford) McKenzie. The latter couple lived in this very modest house with their eleven children. Further up the hill, when searching for the “Police Precinct” we found graves for two McKenzie children, aged three and seven, and a seventeen year old Crawford, reminding us that life must have been hellishly hard in those years.

We sat on the edge of deep poorly covered water tank at the back door, surprised that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources allows such a hazard to remain. Today it served as a sheltered spot out of the wind, and a bench on which to place our little portable gas burner. Both our thermoses given up their effectiveness and will have to be replaced; however there is a certain charm in “boiling up the billy” for a cup of coffee.

We never did find out what the “Police Precinct” was all about, although did enjoy a wander up through the pasture and wild flowers. It defied logic that permanent police presence was ever required in such a remote place with such a small population at any point in the years gone by.

 
Nine kilometres further on, we found a narrow track up to a “Stone Dam”. A short walk took us up a gully where a dam had been fashioned by hand from the rocks there. Remarkably the dam still manages to hold some water back, however a small shake would soon change that. Again we enjoyed the countryside around and marvelled at the wild blooms; purple, blue and yellow.

At the northern entrance to the park, we turned back up toward Yardea Homestead which lies beyond the northern park boundary, and turned into the 4WD track to the Organ Pipes, about which I have already commented.

Even when we left the park, we had met only three other parties; perhaps it is more popular in the summer. There are certainly many camping spots available to those who enjoy minimal facilities.

We drove south west through more grain and sheep country, arriving at Minnipa after about forty kilometres, turning onto the Eyre Highway and travelling the final thirty eight kilometres to Wudinna.

Tomorrow we will head away yet again, this time heading south to further explore this surprising Eyre Peninsula, promoted as “a breathe of fresh Eyre!”.