Tuesday 6 February: CLARE to FLINDERS RANGES

LThe dawn chorus is exotic and unfamiliar: parakeets squawking in the gum trees. DIY scrambled eggs and coffee in the garden outside Rose Cottage before hitting the road north. The vineyards soon change into massive plains of wheat fields and the trees are lined with tall eucalyptus trees, their trunks bare from any bark. There are a few clouds but the sky is blue and we watch the thermometer rise into the mid 30s as we head north. Straight roads with barely another car in either direction. Simon feels relaxed enough to let me drive the automatic car. We stop in Laura, allegedly a picturesque town famous for its ice cream. We are perplexed and it feels closed. Wheat fields morph into scrubland and orange soil as we get further into the Flinders outback. We stop at the Quorn Cafe and I have an iced coffee which is more like a glorious milk shake with icecream and cream. Simon has the European version much to the amusement and disdain of the cafe owner. Signs warn us of kangaroos and we do see some although initially the toll of roadkill seems to outnumber live ones. As we near the Flinders Ranges however we see many of them bounding away from us. It is an exciting if somewhat comic sight. We arrive at Rawnsley Park Station at about 3pm, our Eco Villa is wonderful with secluded views of the ranges. We feel in the middle of nowhere.

We have the small pool to ourselves as we cool off in the heat of the afternoon. At 6.30 we are picked up by Rick for our 4WD sunset tour. It's just us and a couple of staff on a training expedition. We go up into the ranges, steep and off road and I hope I won't be car sick! We see Emus and several sorts of kangaroo ( experts now of course, small ones are Euros - we would call them wallabies, and larger grey ones) and Emus as well. We have sparkling wine and canapés ( as you do) watching the sun set over the ranges. Spectacular. Back to our Eco villa for a BBQ most of which we are too full to eat but it is luscious steak. The stars and Milky Way are spectacular even to my untrained eye, no light pollution in sight and an almost 180 degree view. Humbling.