On Boxing day Matt wanted to take us on the Ridgetop tour, but my back couldn't stand four hours of bouncing around in the 4wd. To compromise, at 8 am he and I set off for Coulthard's lookout, which is the first half hour of the track. I still thought it was pretty rough, but Matt said it had been graded since the rains, and it was good going. I did a lot of hanging on and gripping the phone tightly as I tried to take photos; if I'd lost it out the window it would have been smashed on the rocks, or fallen hundreds of feet down the slopes.
Matt was driving a Land Cruiser, and he's fallen in love with these vehicles, they can go places that look utterly impassable.
We kept climbing higher and higher, and I ran out of adjectives to describe the views, amazing, stunning, incredible, awesome...
The track twisted and turned and climbed and climbed until we reached the lookout, which Matt really wanted me to see. Yes, for the views, but also because one of his jobs had been to completely replace all the wood on the structure, which had rotted and was becoming unsafe.
He'd had to make the trip to Adelaide, 630 miles each way, dragging a big trailer, to buy the wood and fixtures, the stain and paint and take it all back.
Then when he started the work he had to drive up here every day with the wood and all his tools until the job was done. He's so proud of it, and I think he did a fantastic job.
The view wasn't bad either!
I forget what this hill was called, but if the photo is enlarged you can see a pale strip running across the horizon. That is Lake Frome, an enormous inland salt lake.
The scale of this country is hard to take on board, and I wonder at the reactions of overseas tourists who come out here.What do they make of such harsh conditions and the remoteness of the area?
When we were driving up to Arkaroola Lily lamented that she'd left her purse behind. We explained that it didn't matter, because there were no shops anyway. All three girls said "No shops?!' in astonished tones. I suppose shopping is a part of the culture now, more's the pity.
Keryn and I and our brother Greg made quite a few trips to the northern Flinders area when we were in our teens and there was a school camp to Arkaroola when we were 16 or so. How the teachers managed thirty teenagers in a bus on the dreadful roads, setting up tents every night, feeding us all, making it such a fantastic experience I'll never know. They were either brave, or foolhardy. I'd taken the boys to a camp at Angorichina when they were younger, and neice Seonaid worked at Parachilna so we knew what the area was like, but some people must find the country a bit of a shock to the system. I kept replying to the kids complaints (bull ants, heat, dust, insects etc etc ) ...You're in the Outback now!!
And this was a good season, with lots of rain, when there's drought it's even harsher.
We bumped back down the track and then Matt turned around and took Rob, John and Logan on the whole ridgetop tour. He really does love driving and he's learning all the information so that he can become one of the regular tour guide/drivers.
For the rest of us there was swimming and reading and later in the aftrnoon (fortunately after everyone had come back) there was a thunderstorm and rain which cooled us down a bit.
One last meal of Christmas leftovers and then an evening swim at sunset. Perfect.
They went together quickly and I chose sashing colours without too much fuss. I thought I was cheating because the pale yellow I used wasn't vintage, but then I realised it's thirty years old anyway, so it was getting on in age.
(Excuse the dreadful photo, my design wall is always in shadow)
