May 2, 2013: post 7
We voted to wake early this morning after getting a good night's sleep in the Quorn Motel where we didn't have to take a flashlight to find a bathroom! We even had a tv in the room, talk about luxury. Want to know what we watched?
.. Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and Burn Notice.. Really?! I found out right away that Europeans and Aussies love American tv. We all talked about Pawn Stars, Deadliest Catch, Storage Wars, Swamp People, etc. Thus, I took the honor to introduce them to the best show on tv now..
DUCK DYNASTY!
We grabbed "brekky" and loaded up our bags on the bus to be on the road at 7am. We were on a special mission, not part of the tour, to catch the sunrise over the Flinders Ranges and spot kangaroos and wallabies in the Warren Gorge! About a 15 minute drive through the hillside, we made it just in time for the perfect nature hike. We got pretty up close and personal with the wallabies, which look kind of like a mix between a small kangaroo and a raccoon with the striped tail.
I got about 5 feet away from a kanga mom and daughter pair. They blend into the grass and rocks very easily. It took me a while to finally spot the first one we saw, but you would hear rustling in the grass as they were still taking in the shade before retreating from the blazing sun to which they have no way of cooling down.
Fun fact: kangaroos and wallabies have two sets of ears! It's true, they have ears in their feet between their toes, and that enables them to hear/better feel vibrations from the ground when predators come their way. Good luck sneaking out, teenager roos!
Driving down the road with mountains on both sides of you in the still cool morning makes you feel small in this great big world. We are headed to Flinders Ranges National Park to take a hike and learn more about the aboriginal culture here, which will actually be different than in Alice, Uluru, and Coober Pedy. I feel like I'm out west in the States, Wyoming or Montana with the cowboys, cattle ranches, and mountain ranges.
We hiked with Squatter to a couple steep lookouts throughout the Wilpena Pound in the Flinders National Park. Wow the views were breathtaking, both in beauty and the incline that made it hard to breathe. It was an optional climb, but I can't imagine missing out on something like that! It's so big that you can fit Uluru into the circular landscape 8 times!
Thus, from YOLO I've developed "YOTAO" : You Only Travel Australia Once. I hope that's not actually true, but you never know! I would come back in a heartbeat. And I could stay even longer.
The wind hit you like a breath of fresh air at the top as it whipped around roughly through the gum trees. You could hear the kookaburras laughing amongst you. Yes, people, I started singing the old camp song.
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, kookaburra, laugh.." I couldn't help but think of Lucy Wood at campfire, as Jim would glance her way and chuckle every time we sang this song. Thanks for the laugh, guys!
We passed through the Glass Gorge along the bumpy dirt roads to get to the the Prarie Hotel. Per usual trip in a secluded region, Squatter has to slam on the breaks every now and then in order to avoid hitting kangaroos hopping into the road. Same with emus, but they're faster and less intelligent. We've seen a good amount of road kill along the way since Alice. The rule here is to hit the dead on, no swerving. The bus would flip. There are "road trains" here, too, that destroy pretty much everything in their paths. Road Trains are 3-4times the length of semi trucks in America, and they're bigger in width as well. Lets just say I'm not about to mess with them!
We rode into a sunset on the prairie, the Flinders Ranges behind us. It was glowing with wisps of orange, blue, and yellow dancing across the sky. We made it to Parachilna, home of the famous Prairie Hotel. It's a cattle ranch where they brew their own beer: Fahgher Lager. It's the only place you can get it in the world, and apparently celebrities fly in just to have a beer. Not only that, we had a full plate for dinner. We feasted on camel sausage, kangaroo steak, and emu burger. I was surprised to be at such a nice restaurant a hundred or so miles away from anything else.
Being an old railway town, we slept in old train cars! That was pretty cool.
