day3-06

Day 3 Monday, June 28 2006

Broken Hill - Peterborough

The next destination was in the Flinders Ranges. Dennis's 4-Runner had a slight mechanical problem and while Graham was driving Andrew's Landcruiser, got the first flat tyre for the trip, earning them the "Fool of the Day" vests. The scenery is spectacular along the way to Brachina Gorge where we camped and enjoyed the first of a number of roast dinners. After dinner "Court was in funds to be later given to the Royal Flying Doctor Service and lots of laughter for a very enjoyable evening. Later in the evening a very gusty wind blew through the campsite that brought the kitchen tarp down and a couple of the tents, but we all managed to survive the night okay without any real damage.

The 4WD track through the Flinders Ranges into Brachina Gorge was nothing short of spectacular. First shredded tyre of the trip was on Andrew's car with compliments of Karl's dad Graham, that makes him the honourable (that's questionable) Orange Vest wearer for tomorrow. Set up camp at Brachina Gorge with Mother Nature blessing us with a view that simply takes your breath away. The show she puts on when the sun hits the red earth on the walls of the gorge is amazing grace! The bush camp meal was yet again a magic 5 star performance with roast pork and vegies cooked slowly over four hours in an old Telecom transformer box…. Can't beat it. If we could compare the kitchen crew to a bottle of grog, they would be the Moet sitting on the top shelf. The Flying Dutchman Oki Dokie put his engineering degree to good use to make the Taj Mahal of fires, which kept us toasted and roasted till we were ready for the dream fairies. All was quiet on the western gorge and just as the bugs were snug in thier rugs, a gust of wind at 100 km's an hour, rip snorted through the camp and played a little havoc through the camp kitchen, crushing it and flinging it all over the place. At the same time, Karen's tent collapsed with arms, legs and wheelchair flapping in the breeze. Chrissy to the rescue, relocating Karen to our camper - grabbed the double bed air mattress, took one foot out of the tent and she was off …. The mattress became her cape and she was doing a superwoman across the paddock. Ten minutes later, she was back at the camper, tucking Karen in for the night once again.