7th October 2014
A pleasant day as the wind had dropped, clear blue skies and moderate temperatures. Perfect for bush walking.
We climbed to the Arkaloo rock art site. The art is a dreamtime story describing the creation of the Flinders ranges, but unfortunately no interpretation was available to describe the meaning or age of the art. At least it is well protected from vandals with an iron cage around the rock overhang.
 |
Arkoola Rock Art
|
The views from the hill were lovely, the rocks are very red and everything is so dry. On the plains where the water sometimes flows after rain, there are magnificent river red gums following the creek lines. Further up the slope there is a forest of cypress pines with some eucalypt mallees.
 |
| Slab and pug workers accommodation 1853 |
After lunch we wandered around the old Wilpena station which was in operation from the mid 1850's until the mid 1940's. They ran sheep but the country is so dry it was hard work. The oldest buildings are slab and pug construction, which is to say they are built on a frame of cypress logs, the walls infilled with cypress logs and the gaps filled with a mixture of gravel, mud and lime. Sometimes this was refined with whitewash inside and out. The roof was thatched with native grasses [later corrugated iron was added over the top of the thatch] and the floor was usually compacted earth. Must have been awful to live in. The temperatures around here can go 8 degrees below freezing in the winter and 55 degrees in the summer.
 |
| Blacksmiths shop |
Most of the old pens and fences are gone, but there is a little triangle left where the rails were nailed directly to a tree by way of a corner post. The tree has continued to expand and the ends of the rails are now engulfed inside the trunk.
 |
| Emus in the Flinders |
There were large flocks of emus around, including a Dad with chicks. The male emu incubates the eggs and looks after the chicks until they are about 18 months old.
No comments:
Post a Comment