Gawler Ranges Trip, South Australia "part three"

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Visiting the Siam Station shearing shed brought some wonderful memories of my childhood back. I was disappointed though to find that the old shearing plant had been dismantled for a new one before I managed to get a snapshot of what it used to look like. The shearing boards were very silent but gee I do remember the hustle and bustle of people working and the sheep moving around in their yards as well as the diesel engine running the shearers plant along with many other sounds that happen during shearing, some of which consisted of swear words when things did not go right. Oh what memories!!!

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Can't have a shearing shed without the old cane basket.







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Walking inside the sheep pens at the back of the shearing shed where there are many windows for ventilation; a picture framed says a thousand words of how good the scenery is when this recent trip was made down memory lane.







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Gawler Ranges Trip, South Australia "part two"

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This catchment of water on Siam Station is known as Government Dam. During the summer it wasn't uncommon for us kids to swim in this dam with a blown up tyre tube to keep afloat and yes there was adult supervision around at the time. I still remember the slime on the edge of the dam squishing through my toes. I now cringe at the thought of that goo wondering what was in it.



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This little dam is what is called the 'Catch Hole' that feeds the water from the landscape into the main Government Dam. As you can imagine this water is the 'blood' for the station country because without it, the sheep and cattle will not survive and that includes a vast reduction in native and feral animals, as they will only have what nature provides them; which in this part of the country is minimal.


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Moving on from from the previous catchment we come to what is called the Two Mile Dam. Don't worry my posts are not going to be all about dams but did want to make you aware of the importance of them "out bush", especially for those that are not familiar with the Australian landscape.


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Gawler Ranges Trip, South Australia

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On Saturday my brother and his wife as well as Malcolm and myself headed off for a trip down memory lane in the Gawler Ranges where we spent quite a bit of our childhood growing up. Other members of the family also had worked in the Gawler Rangers in the past over many years.

As you can see from these images the day was rather damp with rain often obscuring the far distances. This had us wondering if we should have been making this journey because this trip consisted of two nights of roughing it with tents in the bush not far from the road we traveled on.

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I have always had a great love of the colours in the bush and after good rains at an earlier time the area was looking lush and vibrant.




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This catchment to the main dam near the homestead of Siam Station had memories flooding back of the times as a kid laying heshen bags at the edge of the dam to catch frogs and tadpoles.

Strangely enough my siblings and myself never ever had problems looking after our own safety around the many dams that we visited. I believe myself that growing up in isolated areas as children we were very much aware of the responsibilities of our own safety.

There will be many more photos of this trip along with much finer weather as by lunchtime of our first day the cloud started to lift much higher with only the odd scuds of rain that cleared by late afternoon as we made our way North.


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MacCullochs Range Rest Area - Part two

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As the sun was going down this magpie was soaking up the last of of the suns rays on his back wondering what all the fuss is about with the new arrival running around with a camera. See previous post.


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Once the sun was low on the horizon the red soil became redder and bounced back up into the trees.





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There are advantages of towing a caravan and pulling into rest areas like this; communing with nature with food and wine to warm our bellies and feeling at peace with our surroundings and a nice soft bed to sleep in.



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Even though we had one more night at Broken Hill before arriving home, Malcolm and I both felt that this lovely spot was the last night of our holiday. So as the sun sets I will say a big thank you for following this journey along with us.

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MacCullochs Range Rest Area

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As promised in my previous post this entry and the next will be of images from our free camp East of Wilcannia. The first images shows you the BBQ area, play ground for the kids and an eco-toilet plus fresh water for drinking.


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The bushland around us was so relaxing. This Rest Area is also popular for the truckies to pull over for much needed sleep.




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The feral goats are used to human visitors to this area. These guys ignored me until I made a loud enough noise for them to lift their heads instead of every photo of them munching away.




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Talk about popular! It didn't take long for the bird population to come and visit waiting for a handout of crumbs.





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This snapshot of a Butcher bird is one of many birds who paid us a visit. There were also Ringnecks, Magpies and Apostle birds.

Tomorrow I will post the last four snapshots; I hope you will join me.

Cheers!


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