Coffin Bay turned out to be sooo windy that we didn’t really
get to enjoy the place and Gary you were right, the oysters aren’t the best ☹
Time was running out and we were due to start work at ‘Merna
Mora’ station in a few days so we headed up inland through the Eyre
peninsular. Now Cummins – what a pretty
little old railway/wheat belt town. You
could easily spend a couple of days here just looking around at the old
buildings.
From Cummins we headed East (back on gravel roads) to check
out Butler Tanks (Moody Tanks). Now we knew nothing of
this except it was on the map and we thought : Why Not? It is pretty poorly signposted but just
fascinating place once we found it. The
large natural stone hill face was utilised as a water collection point for the
railways back in the 1800’s. They
concreted the sides and put a large partially covered tank at the base. Water was then piped a short distance to the
railway. Such a clever idea in an area
that gets excited when they have 5mm of rain!
 |
| Moody Tanks |
 |
| Rock face for water collection |
 |
| Tank at bottom that stores the water |
Next stop was Cleve. 45c
and windy – we had a short stop over in town and lunch in a beautiful
park/creek bed and then continued onto Kimba.
Kimba is the home of the big Galah and is also the half way point from
Sydney to Perth. Still a strong gale
like wind blowing and we didn’t like the look of the camp spot in town so we
kept going until we found a free camp on the road to Port Augusta. Had a great
night, we were the only ones there and enough protection from the wind to make
it comfortable.
Time to get a move on or we were going to be late for work,
so we had a quick stop in Port Augusta for supplies and headed on out to the
station.
 |
| Welcome to our new home for the next few months |
We are working for the Fels family comprising of Donald (4th
generation) and his wife Kaye, and Phillip (5th generation) and his
wife Sonya. They own around 540 square
kilometres, with ‘Merna Mora’ approx. 50km from Hawker & includes the
Western rim of Wilpena Pound and
‘Wintabatinyana’ further West towards Lake Torrens. In good times they run approx. 3000 Merino
sheep and 700 Shorthorn cattle. The Fels
first purchased ‘Merna Mora’ (it was smaller then) in 1889 and it has been in
the family since. They are a tough crew
out here with a good year bringing only 350 – 400mm of rain. They haven’t had any significant rain since
October 2016 (Hey Bec & Glen we remember that don’t we!) I haven’t been out to Wintabatinyana as yet but
Rob tells me it’s mostly rolling sand hills but here at Merna Mora it’s all rocks. They sold off a lot of their stock last
winter when they didn’t get their normal winter rain, and then sent a lot off
on agistment. The lucky ones that remain
seem to live off a burr a bit like a clover burr. Pretty tough gig I can tell you. They tell me that you have to keep your
breeding stock as introduced stock don’t know to eat the burr.
The Fels are just lovely people, and we are loving working
here. When we started we were both
working on the Station, along with me doing some cleaning with the tourist
side. However there has been some
changes with Donald & Kaye’s daughter Jo and her husband Jason and their 3
children coming to live on the station for awhile. A long story but the short of it is that I am
now the Governess/Supervisor. I have 3 pupils –
Lachlan (12), Riley (10) and Lucy (6).
I’ve had some challenges during my working life but I think this is
going to be one of the biggest. Poor
kids – I look at some of the work I’m to teach them and wonder if I even know
what it means. It’s like School of the
Air but actually called OAC and is delivered from Port Augusta and Melton. Seriously I know why I was bored at school
when I look at the stuff they send me to work with.
Rob on the other hand gets to do all the ‘fun’ stuff. He got to go down memory lane when the
shearing was on and played at Rouseabout and Wool presser. Then he gets to go out on the motor bike and
muster the cattle over the sand dunes.
And his personal favourite – he spends a lot of time building / fixing
fences. Then there is the daily hand
feeding of stock, checking bores & tanks & cleaning water troughs. AND he won’t swap with me ☹
 |
| Location of new feedlot yards |
 |
| View from the yards |
 |
| New side loading ramp |
 |
| Building progress's |
 |
| Then concrete on top |
 |
| And smooth it down |
 |
| Finishing touches - stock to be loaded in a few days, |
The view here at the homestead is dominated by Wilpena Pound
to the East. It doesn’t matter what time
of day you look at it – it is just so impressive and beautiful. Our original agreement was we would work 10
days on and then 4 off. However as school is Monday to Friday, we are now on a normal working week with
weekends off. Now whilst this has it’s
advantages it really narrows down how far we can explore on our time off,
especially as every 2 – 3 weeks we have to head to Port Augusta to stock up on
supplies.
 |
| Looking at Wilpenna Pound/Flinders Ranges from the airstrip |
Trip 1 – We headed down the Moralana Scenic Drive, stopping
at Black’s Gap along the way and walked some of the Heysen Trail towards
Spicers Gap. We then went into Wilpena
Pound and did the Homestead Walk & Lookout.
This takes you through Sliding Gap which is the only ‘easy’ way into the
Pound. Incredible story of the hardship
they endured trying to farm within the Pound.
Next we headed through Bunyeroo Gorge – just spectacular views all the
way. A detour took us to the Aroona
Homestead ruins which were pretty amazing as the homestead was built close to a
natural spring and the first thing you notice is the remnants of the garden
they planted over 100 years ago – preserved by the permanent water supply. We then headed home through Brachina Gorge
(pronounced Brachna) Wow this is a
beautiful spot and one we have returned to several times already.
 |
| We saw several echinida's at Wilpenna Pound |
 |
| View at Black's Gaps |
 |
| Walking up the creek bed / part of Heysen Trail |
There are these beautiful green parrots around here which
are a cross between a Port Lincoln parrot and a Mallee Ring Neck. They are slightly smaller in size to a Port
Lincoln but beautiful to look at. You
can only find them within this immediate area (one for the bird lovers out
there). Emu’s and Kangaroo’s abound and
are a real hazard when travelling anywhere night or day. But have you heard of a Euro? It is like a Kangaroo (smaller size) but has
hair instead of fur. They are quite
distinctive once you start looking.
 |
| Old stock yards |
 |
| View at Bunyeroo Gorge |
