Trip 3:Friday, September 8, Part 1

We’ve decided to stay where we are, since it’s a nice little cabin and quite near the Flinders Ranges. But first things first. After a hearty breakfast, we jumped in the ute, took our damaged trailer to the repair shop, and spent a couple of hours immersed in insurance forms (though I was just there for moral support—Nikki and Richard did all the work). But that out of the way, we headed for the mountains.

Approaching the Flinders Ranges

Road into Flinders Ranges

On the far side of Pichi Richi Pass, with stopped in Quorn, to buy train tickets for tomorrow—because Pichi Richi is not just the name of the pass, it’s also the name of the railway that was built from Port Augusta northward. The Pichi Richi Railway, opened in 1879, was originally intended to stretch all the way to Darwin, though that never happened. However, it did make it to Alice Springs by 1929, and it became an important route, especially during World War II. Service on this line ended in 1957, but that was not the end of the railway. Local train enthusiasts formed the Pichi Richi Preservation Society and, since 1974, the rails have carried historic steam trains filled with visitors to the area. (I wondered if Pichi Richi Pass was named before or after the train reached Alice Springs, where Heavitree Gap, the break in the mountains that gives access from the south to the Alice, is also called Pitchi Richi, with the added “t.” It was explained to me on my first trip that Pitchi Richi means “break in the range,” which is certainly also appropriate for Pichi Richi Pass, so perhaps it was geology rather than the connection that led to the similarity.)

Quorn Railway Station

We drove across the Willochra Plain, passing the Kanyaka ruins, which we visited on my list trip. Showing nothing of the harshness that led to the ruins, the plain today was very green, with orange, yellow, purple, and white wildflowers running riot over the rolling terrain. Birds were everywhere, not just here but throughout the day: galahs, corellas, kites, eagles, kestrels, magpies, Port Lincoln parrots, and more.

We stopped briefly in Hawker, where Richard was greeted warmly by friends from his days as a guide in this area. The roadhouse at the center of town had a display of souvenirs and photos from the making nearby of the film “The Lighthorsemen.” One of Richard’s friends pointed out the locals who had bit parts in the movie—all much younger in the photos than they are now, as they movie was made a while ago. But it was a remarkable bit of history, and I have no doubt taking part in reproducing it would be a memory not readily given up. (If you have any interest in the history behind the movie, as well as a clip of the key battle, I posted about it after mentioning a monument to the Light Horse that I had seen in Western Australia. You can see it here.)

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Saturday, September 7

Started the day cheerfully. We were invited into the kitchen, to have our breakfast with the owner and his wife. (Nikki and Richard have been here before.) Good breakfast in good company, but then we were off.

Rolling down narrow roads, we passed through some charming, small towns as we crossed into the foothills of the Flinders Ranges. Richard kept up a remarkable flow of information as we drove and whenever we stopped. First stop (more of a pause really) was the tiny town or Orroroo, which has the odd distinction of sitting on the Goyder Line.

The Goyder Line is a line that was drawn in 1865 by then Surveyor-General of South Australia, George Woodroffe Goyderis a line drawn in 1865 by then Surveyor-General of South Australia, George Woodroffe Goyder. Goyder was a remarkable gentleman, who explored widely and understood Australia’s environment long before others did, but despite his many accomplishments, drawing this line is the thing for which he is remembered–and with good reason. This is the line that marks the boundary between land where there is enough rain to attempt agriculture and the land where it is not safe to raise crops, as rain is unreliable and sometimes completely absent. Those who ignored the line discovered that Goyder got it right. However, between having land on the good side of the line, along with a nearby creek that was dammed early on, Orroroo has survived as a farming community.

The scenery changed fairly dramatically as we continued north from Orroroo to Carrieton, transforming from green rural to red outback. After Carrieton, we reached Cradock, a town started in 1878 with high hopes by those who thought Goyder must be wrong and that the old saying “rain follows the plow” would prove true. It didn’t. The town burst into existence and after a few years of drought was largely abandoned. There is still a hotel with a bar (built in the 1880s) and a few other buildings, some closed, but not a lot else.

Then on to Hawker. This rugged little town is doing much better than Cradock, largely because it’s a wonderful place for people who plan to explore the nearby Flinders Ranges. Though the town dates back to the late 1800s, and I enjoyed seeing the older buildings at the town’s center, our stop also considered a bit of more recent history. Richard guided us to Hawker Motors and the Fred Teague Museum.

First, Richard pointed out the display of photos from the filming of the 1987 movie “The Lighthorsemen.” The film of the astonishing World War I story was shot in this area, using many locals as extras, and the actors, extras, and action were captured by the folks in town. The rest of the museum offers a delightfully quirky collection of everything from mementos of early settlers to a splendid collection of local minerals, all carefully collected by Fred Teague over the decades he lived here in Hawker. The museum is at Hawker Motors because Teague founded that, as well. However, before he ran the garage, he did stints as a gold prospector, drover (Australian cowboy), and, most impressively, spent 18 months driving the Marree-Birdsville Mail, the mail route along the stunningly difficult, 322-mile Birdsville Track, which even today tests (and often wrecks) modern 4WD vehicles.

Richard suggested that, if I can get back to Australia again, we could take on the Birdsville Track–which would make up for my having missed my chance on my last trip, when I got stuck in that flood. Something to keep in mind.