About Me

My photo
Life on two acres of arid dirt, on the edge of the Australian outback.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Gawler Ranges and Googs Track Pt 2


After the Pondanna Ruins we headed further down the road to Lake Gairdner where we were to spend the night.

The wildflowers were putting on a beautiful display.








At Lake Gairdner we climbed a granite hill to take in the view.


More flowers growing in amongst the granite rocks.


Granite...

Everywhere...


An active anthill nearby our camp.


The camp...

This is where we slept, in our swags. The night and morning were very cold with ice on everything when we rose in the morning. Brrrrrhh...

In the background you can see our little camp

Lake Gairdner



Sorry that there are so many photos to share with you all.

A piece of Australia that not everyone will ever get to see.


xTania

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Gawler Ranges and Goog's Track Pt 1

DAY ONE



Last weekend we went on an adventure of a lifetime with some friends from Port Lincoln.


Phil had always wanted to "do" the Goog's track. Map here:


Early Friday morning we set off for Kimba where we were to meet up with our friends who were travelling to Kimba from Port Lincoln.


After having breakfast with my parents we were on our way at last.


This is the information bay in Kimba, it has a beautiful display of pictures of the Gawler Ranges.



Phil all set to go, waiting for the others to arrive outside of the local police station in Kimba.


Out into the outback country of the Gawler Ranges...


First stop for a break from driving and lunch was at the Thurlga turnoff.


Recent rains have turned the red dirt to green with lots of wildflowers. How lucky we were to be out there while they were flowering.


A sign post, just so no one gets lost!


Off we go again...


Next stop was at the Pondanna Ruins..


Lots of activity would have went on here at one time.


The old chimney in the kitchen?
Not too many rooms, only two. One for cooking and one for sleeping.


Underground tank to catch the much relied on water out here in the middle of nowhere. Not holding much anymore though.




Above and below: This little ruin sitting out by itself would have probably been the shearers quarters at one time.


I have had to divide the posts otherwise there are just too many pictures. We had lots of fun and the weather was absolutely perfect for the four days we were away. Tomorrow I will post the next section of our journey when we camped the night at Lake Gairdner. This lake is where the dry lake racing is held.

I have spent the week trying to catch up with the washing from our camping trip. It takes so long to organise to go away for a few days, not much to make everything dirty and days to reorganise everything ready for the next camping trip, which I have been informed could be the Simpson Desert! (dont know what I think about that yet!)



I think spring is nearly sprung here, as yesterday was 32C (89.6F). There were strong winds with lots of dirt blowing. It's nearly time to get the garden ready for the vegies I hope to grow, and the flowers are putting on a nice display at the moment. Sadly there was little rain following the dust storm. A few spots and that was all!


So on to my news.


I am not sure whether I have made the right decision, only time will tell. Due to becoming very stressed by different happenings in my life and a visit to the doctor to find my blood pressure was up I have decided to resign from Family Day Care once and for all. I find it a very stressful job with big responsiblilties and I really don't think my mind and body can take too much more. It is disappointing that I won't be finishing my diploma but I have decided to move on and do something else with my life that doesn't cause me so much stress. It has been a lot of things combined that has brought me to this decision. So for now I am a stay at home mum for a while. I am sure my family will appreciate that I am able to prepare wholesome meals once again and not be so tired (and grumpy) at the end of the day.


Our son has also been having trouble at the school he is enrolled in, so as of Tuesday he will be going to the only other high school in town. As parents we are concerned that the same will happen there, I guess we will have to wait and see. Bullying is a real problem at schools, as it was back in my day, but at least they try to do something about it nowadays although most times the bully still wins.


See you all soon,



xTania


Thursday, August 13, 2009

Wind of Change


Just a quick post letting you know that I will be back soon. I have many photos to share with you all, these are a sample of what is coming.


I am hoping to do a big post this weekend...

There have been some changes in my life...

that I will share in my next post...

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods,


xTania