Saturday  21st April 2007

   When I crawled out of  my tent in the morning, I was delighted to see a large number of sheep grazing in the early morning light and several kangaroos. The sheep took no notice of me but the kangaroos all stopped , lifted their heads and waited to see what would happen. I stopped too, to see what would happen if I did nothing. We all stayed still until, after a few minutes, slowly, one by one, the kangaroos started to nibble on the slim pickings around them. When I moved again to start packing up they slowly dispersed away from me towards the trees following Arkaba Creek and disappeared into the thicker shrubbery there.

   My tent outer was absolutely drenched and at first I thought that it must have been a heavy dew overnight. But when I checked over on the bare ground away from the parking area, I could  see that there had been some rain while I slept. It must have been pretty light or I think I would have heard it. I unclipped the tent outer and spread it over the picnic table to dry a bit before I packed it away. I transfered some water from a 3 litre cordial bottle in my pack into my "day" bottles, the re-used iced coffee containers.

   After a brief radio session with Roger and Bill, and say hello to a couple of hams that "dropped in" (by radio), I pulled down the radio aerial and packed everything away.  With a smile I started towards Rawnsley Park,  less that 15kms ahead. I really am enjoying the walking part and I am starting to consider such a short distance between stops as a bit of an inconvenience. As it is, I will be able to have a "sit down" lunch.

   The road continues to follow the Arkaba Creek just 20 metres or so off to the left with relatively flat countryside in between. And up ahead I can see the road is turning slightly to the right to go between a significant hill to the right of the road and a range of hills running away to the left. Quite pretty actually. I stopped for a break about 10 o'clock and had a look at the map. The feature on the right has the unpronounceable name of  Yaltaordla Hill and and is 570m high. To the left is the beginning of the Ulowdna Range that starts just a few hundred meters away and runs off into the distance to the left..

   And, straight ahead I can see the first view of the outer hills of the Wilpena Pound. This is  one of the "must see" tourist attractions in the Flinders Ranges and the resort/caravan Park provides aerial and 4WD tours for hundreds of visitors daily.

   But I am a bit ahead of myself. Although I can see the structure of the Wilpena Pound starting to rise from the ground ahead, Rawnsley Park is just ahead and then a turnoff to the left for about 1.5kms. This loverly caravan park and restored, modernised Woolshed Restaurant is tucked into the foothills of "The Pound" which provides the perfect backdrop.

   When I arrived at the restaurant it was 11am on a Saturday and there was just one other person, sitting at a table on the verandah enjoying a cool drink and taking in the spectacular scenery.

                

   While I was tucking into a pretty good hamburger and chips, the owner, Ron, came over and introduced himself.

   Then he  asked "How long are you staying?"

   I replied "Just overnight. I have already spent 7 days in Hawker and I've gotta get on with it."

   "That's a shame, you'll miss the opera singers we are having here tomorrow. We're expecting quite a crowd."

   I am not an ardent fan of the opera but I had read the publicity posted onto the door and walls. I couldn't have missed it. Besides the quarto sized posters on the door, there were metre high posters on the walls. I looked around and there was one car in the car parking lot and a few cabins snuggling in amongst some small trees but, besides the one customer around the corner, there was no indication of the expected opera crowd invasion. Still, when something like this is organised for an out-of-the-way location, they surprisingly drag in the numbers.

   He noticed my DeafBlind "T"-shirt and said "You're welcome to stay and move among the crowd and collect for your charity."

   Damn. I was really only going to stay the night at the adjoining caravan park and head on to Wilpena tomorrow. In fact, I had contemplated not coming in here at all. As it is I have only walked half a day.

   Several thing finally changed my mind. Ron was looking at me for a positive response. I did have an obligation to at least spread the word about the DeafBlind Association and here was an invitation to take up a collection. And, there was the self-promise to "stop and smell the roses" instead of pushing on at all costs.

   "Righto," I said "I'll stay the night and come over in the morning. When's kick off?"

   "Come over and join me for breakfast, about 7 would be ok."

   Breakfast is my favourite. All that cholesterol. Hmm. Drooling already. "I'll be there."

   I told him that I would be trying to get onto the ABC "Australia All Over" radio show tomorrow (Sunday) morning. How did he feel about having one or some of the opera singers perform for Macca (the program host), he is into that sort of thing. Don said that he was sure that William (Bill) Snell, the Bel Canto Opera owner, would jump at the chance for the publicity. Don walked off grinning as though he had won something.

   As it turned out the caravan park was actually several kilometers away. The few cabins I saw were attached to the restaurant to cater for the visitors Ron attracted to his well run establishment. This place was starting to grow on me.

   Over at the caravan park I was double expected. The managers, John and Vivienne had taken a call from Janne who arranged for me to stay overnight. And, they told me, Big John had also rung asking them to "look after me". They allocated a spot "up the  back" where I could hoist my antenna up into the trees without annoying anyone and even leave it up tomorrow to save the double handling.

   "You made it?" came from behind me as I was leaving the office. I turned to see a beaming smile on a pretty young lady and it took me a few seconds to recollect. A couple of days ago (or was it more?), a small sedan pulled up with the inevitable "Have you got enough water"? There were 3 quite young ladies on board casually draped within their "things" and not the usual 4WD or caravan "tourists". When we exchanged stories, it turns out they were returning from a trip to "the big smoke" on their time off from the caravan park where they all worked. They drove off with "Come and see us when you get to the park." And here I was and one of them, Kate,  had recognised me (or at least my unusual getup). I caught up with a second of the girls while I was there, but did not see the third. But, 2 out of 3 aint bad!

   I spent nearly an hour in the phone booth trying to contact the "Australia All Over" show but came a miserable last. I wanted to talk to Macca to spread the word and now I have "promised" Ron that I can heap publicity onto his restaurant and the opera company. I called Janne who had told me that Tony, one of the volunteers at DBA had an "in" to Macca and/or the ABC. Unfortunately Janne was not available because of personal commitments but I spoke to her colleague Paula and got Tony's phone number. I called Tony to ask him to do whatever he could but contacting me back would be difficult. I gave him the number of the caravan park and the restaurant as the sat phone was not yet a viable option.

   I phoned all the numbers I could find for the ABC but, although they tried, they could not give me a contact number other than the 1300 number for the show which would start tomorrow morning at around 4.30am South Australia time. Oh well. Looks like a really early start. I will get on the public phone outside the caravan park office in the morning, in the dark, and make whatever arrangements I can over the phone and see if they will interview me "on air" at 7 or 7.30.

   I set up the tent and met Neil Drummond & Lorraine Breust and got on with them immediately. They invited me to join them for stir fry for dinner in their van. We had a good evening talking late into the night. They had run a successful landscape supply business and were enjoying the results of their labour, tripping around Australia for six months. And to top off  a day of walking surrounded by some of the best scenery in Australia, meeting another bunch of interesting people, Neil and Lorraine gave me a cheque for $20 for "the tin".

                    

   
   Tomorrow, Macca? and the opera comes to the outback