Lake Gairdner Road

 

Lake Gairdner.

Arriving back at Kingoonya we topped up the water tanks and fuel, then

 proceeded south to Lake Gairdner and Gawler Ranges.

Having been recently graded, the road was refreshingly smooth compared to

 what we had been travelling on.

Along the side of the road were scatterings of wild flowers. Large patches of

 Sturts desert pea at fairly close intervals, as well as the now familiar wombat

 homes.

First point of interest came to was the old Camel Camp Tank, A water tank

 set up with a low roof over it, specifically built to channel rain water into the

 tank.

Up a track leading away from the track, which beckoned us to follow it, was a

 terrific view of a small lake, hidden behind a hill.

After exploring, as we do, it was back to the main road and onward south.

Next stop, Skull Tank Camp. Another water tank with roof, set beside a dry

 salt lake. Found a track heading to the lake and set up for the night.

Kept travelling two days later. Obviously the grader had not long been on this

 road, lovely to drive on. Skull tank is at an intersection where you can go

 south east or south west, We went south west. Some time later we came to a

 gap where the road goes between two small lakes, and on the southern side a

 track beckoned us again. At the end of the track was a nice camp spot, so, not

 wanting to waste it, we stopped and set up camp. Another couple of days,

 spent relaxing and cooking up a roast meal and cake for desert.

While flying the drone for a view of the lake and campsite, it suddenly

 wouldn’t respond to my controls. Thinking back, I had not set the home point

 properly, that is, where it automatically returns to if signal is lost. Well, I had

 lost signal with it and it immediately took off to it’s last known home point

 which was some 50 ks north. Luckily there was a tall tree in its path and last I

 saw of it, it was scooting behind a stand of trees a long distance away. After a

 long and frantic search I found it at the base of said tree. Fortunately only

 one prop was damaged and all else was working fine. Tough little bugger.

 Note to self, do pre flight checks thoroughly.

Travelling again, we came to Hiltaba Nature Reserve. A former sheep

 property, sold to a conservation group and offering camp sites and

 SHOWERS. After pulling up at the former homestead and enquiring about a

 camp and shower we were directed to a shower block down the road and so

 off we went. It was a gas heated shower and Din went in first. After a short

 interval she stuck her head out the door and said, no hot water. I went to the

 water unit and inspected it, After tapping the bottles and trying to light the

 unit, came up with the conclusion it was out of gas. Just then the manager

 came walking down and asked if all was OK. Din just looked at him, very

 restrained I do say, and I informed him of the problem. After a long attempt

 at getting it going he conceded it might be out of gas and invited us up to the

 homestead to use that shower.

After a wonderful shower and chat, off we went to Pretty Point campground

 for the night.

Refreshed and rested we moved off the next day. About 50k before Wirrulla,

 where the road meets the Eyre Highway, you cross the edge of a couple of

 lakes, having had good rainfall lately the road was wet and boggy.

We slipped and slid our way for most of that 50k, but finally came out at the small town on the highway. Went to the little shop and celebrated with a pie and ice cream.