Time off….

 

After seven straight days of work it’s time for a break. We head for Dalhousie Springs, but as we approach Bloods Creek, we encounter two Colorados that appear to be broken down. They instantly recognize us, as they spent the previous night camped at Mt. Dare Hotel.

Colorado breakdown

One vehicle is incapacitated, having dropped its tail shaft as the result of a broken differential pinion, the other continuing to have troubles with a leaking after-market fuel tank.

They have already been in touch with Dave and it is not long before we see a Mt. Dare vehicle approaching. Dave is in the process of delivering fuel to the ranger station at Dalhousie Springs, and having assessed the problem, will return to tow the stricken vehicle back to Mt. Dare. Meanwhile, the vehicle with the leaking tank is able to make its own way back.

Windmill at Bloods Creek

Bloods Creek is marked by a large windmill which was originally constructed to draw water from the sub-artesian basin to an area that included the overland telegraph and rail head of the old Ghan railway. Close by is the grave of Mary Bailes who lived in a tent with her husband and two young children. One evening when her husband was away, the tent caught fire when a candle overturned. Mary was able to save the two children but her clothing caught fire and she was badly burned. She died two days later.

Walking around where a general store and pub existed in the 1890s, we hear singing fence wires, the result of harmonics set up by the wind. When the fence terminates at a hollow metal fence post, or a rusting tin leans on the wire, different notes create an outback orchestra.

Dalhousie Springs is the original location of Mt. Dare Station.  The natural springs rise from the artesian waters deep under the Australian outback, and provide a large lake where the water is between 34ºC and 38ºC. That’s about the temperature of a hot bath. Recently completed by Friends of the Simpson, a large platform and steps provide easy access to the waters.

There is a scattering of campers in the well organized camping area, which includes toilets, cold showers, and a rain water tank. It is not long before our camp is set up and we are heading for a dip in the springs. The depth starts at about 1.5 metres , and is as deep as 14 meters in places. In the water, hundreds of small fish (Dalhousie goby) about 3cm long nibble at the hairs on our skin.

Dalhousie Goby

Camp hosts, Dot and Graeme, visit us, and are happy to talk about the volunteer work they do for the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.

Morning mist

Our Weber Q provides us with a sumptuous roast lamb and roast vegetables dinner before we retire to the sound of light rain on the tent roof. In the morning, we find that the rain has settled the dust and a mist rising over the springs.

A morning swim and we have the springs pool all to ourselves before decamping and returning to Mt. Dare.

That’s it for now. Time for a bourbon.

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go...

Not a lot of time to settle in, but after quick introductions to Dave Cox (owner), and to Brian and Kirsten (workers like us), Stuart and Candice (stranded travellers), it’s straight into helping with dinners, twenty-eight a-la-carte meals altogether on our first night.

Our home for the next ten weeks is in an old three bedroom house on the property which we will share with Brian and Kirsten. It has very squeaky floors, probably as a result of floods (more about them later).

It’s on-the-job training, learning to deal with meal sales, bar sales, souvenir sales and fuel sales. We quickly settle into the rhythm of Mt Dare Hotel life, sharing the duties, as well as hotel, toilet and cabin cleaning together with camping ground maintenance. Bet and Kirsten are soon joined by a new staff member, Elise, and together they organize a roster around themselves for hotel cleaning and servicing the cabins. I get together with Brian for rubbish collection and trips to our own tip where anything that can be burned is fired using a mix of petrol, oil and diesel as an accelerant

Brian and his apprentice

The dinner travellers’ menu is a choice of scotch fillet, chicken breast, crumbed fish and fisherman’s basket, with chips and vegetables as accompaniments. The scotch fillets are some of the best I have ever seen, and are sourced from a wholesale butcher in Alice Springs. Naturally being so far from the source, food is generally frozen or is long-life product. Staff have a more varied choice, and arrange their own meals from whatever produce is available. Additional to this, we bake fresh bread in breadmakers which is served with dinners.

Most of the cooking is done by Dave, with Brian as a backup. At the same time, I am serving my apprenticeship to these accomplished chefs.

Stuart and Candice have been stranded here for six weeks, while Stuart repairs his Navarra after damaging the engine after losing all his coolant when his radiator was holed. It’s a quid pro quo relationship with Stuart and Candice working around the hotel for accommodation and meals, and use of the workshop to effect repairs to their vehicle.

Power to the property comes from two diesel powered generators, a 50KVA unit powered by an Isuzu diesel engine, and a smaller unit powered by a Hino diesel engine. By day we run the smaller unit which is adequate to keep all vital components, such as fridges and freezers, operating. Late afternoon we switch over to the bigger generator to support the additional load required for the operation of water heaters and kitchen equipment, before reverting to the smaller unit for overnight running.

That’s it. Time for a bourbon.

Getting there....

Not a flying start on Monday morning as the Pathfinder has a flat battery. Curses to the local battery supplier who twice tested it and said it was OK, Jumped started from second battery and off to an alternate supplier for a new one. That out of the way, the journey to Mt Dare begins.

It’s cold and raining and we leave Melbourne behind us, traveling through fog around Ballarat. A nights stay at Nhill and its back on the road to Port Augusta. North of Snowtown, the highway runs beside the railway where The Ghan and Indian Pacific travel. We catch sight of the The Ghan as it waits on a parallel section of track to allow one of the many freight services to pass by. At Port Augusta during the night, we can here some of the freight trains rumble by with up to 1.8km of freight carriages behind.

Coober Pedy underground accommodation

Leaving Port Augusta we venture on to the Stuart Highway for the first time, stopping at the Pimba roadhouse for morning coffee. The highway now starts to enter desert-like country, unfenced as we pass from one grazing station property to the next. One more stop at Glendambo for lunch, and soon we are in Coober Pedy and our underground accommodation.

It’s warm inside and cool outside, the opposite to what I suspect summer is. Our original intention was to spend a day exploring Coober Pedy, but after a visit to the museum (free) and a meal at John’s Pizza Bar & Restaurant, the experiences available seem somewhat limited. Interestingly, a restaurant patron asked if the fish of the day was fresh. Alcohol restrictions in Coober Pedy limit one bottle of wine per person per day from takeaway outlets, with no sales of casks.

 

Coober Pedy

This is the last of the black top as we leave Coober Pedy in the morning and head towards Oodnadatta. We travel 50 km before encountering another vehicle, the recently graded road being in good condition, and a two and a half hour drive brings us to Oodnadatta. 

 

Hamilton Station

The Pink Roadhouse provides an opportunity for a break and morning coffee, then its off the Oodnadatta Track and onwards to Hamilton Station, passing through Mt Sarah Station along the way. At Hamilton Station we stop beside the road for a picnic lunch of the freshly baked rolls that we purchased just as we were leaving Coober Pedy. The road conditions remain the same and this is a relatively comfortable ride for an outback road. Three hours after leaving Coober Pedy we arrive at Mt Dare.

That's it. Time for a bourbon.

Beginning soon....