All Downhill From Here

It was hard to let go of my little spot at Panchillna Gorge, not that there was a que of course. But, Monday was going to be stinking hot, with the promise of violent winds and rain later in the afternoon. So on the Sunday morning, got up early to ready the van before the flies buzzed in to “help”. Had bumped into a fellow camper the afternoon before who had been coming every year for as long as he could remember. Just a Honda Getz, a little tent and an assortment of umbrellas under a large river gum. He wasn’t quite sure how long he could continue to make this annual pilgrimage from Adelaide. “Not as flexible as I used to be“’ he said ruefully. He is 86 years old!

I did have one more stop to make before I headed back down to the plains.
Just a fraco this side of Blinman, I called into Wadna. Lured by the coffee and hot bush tucker sign on the side of the road and curious about what else lay at the end of the track. Kristian, using skills learnt from his Dad started making craft pieces for the Wilpena Pound gift shop in 2014. Five years later Krisitian and Gabby had expanded their reach to cultural awareness tours for schoolkids, commission work and a social media following.

The arrival of Covid in 2020 inspired the building of a workshop cum gallery and now employs a network of 50 artists and crafters throughout Australia, most with an extended family connection. Kristian now does tag-along tours and cultural awareness workshops for universities and corporate groups, and a reach for his work as far away as Alice Spings.

Now the only sad part is that the bush ‘Mai’ is not a regular feature of Wadna. I was lucky to lob in on a long weekend. The ‘bush tucker van’ spends most of the time on the road doing festival, shows and special events. Kristian and Gabby were delightful people and clearly, living the dream(time).

And that was that. I did spend one more night in the carpark of the Arkaroo Rock Trail. Another dawn start the next morning to make the climb to the Aboriginal rock galleries. This time however, it was pretty disappointing. Nice way to get your 10,000 steps in, but without the assistance of interpretive information, it was just a bunch of lines and crosses. I figured out that the more rest benches they provide on these walks, the less satisfying the journey. Hence that’s why climbing to the Wilpena Pound lookout was soooo amazing (lol).

Two hundred clicks later, pulled into the caravan park at Peterborough, connected the essentials, hunkered down and waited for the approaching storms. There was a lot of rockin’ and rollin’ in the early evening, the van copping a serious buffeting. The temperature plummeted, and it rained on and off through the night. The upside was a prediction of a cool and cloudy day, perfect for my run to Broken Hill. But in the midst of that storm the previous afternoon I rediscovered a lost treasure and slept well that night.


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