Mike and Alana's big drive: From somewhere on the Yorke Peninsula

Since we left Adelaide, which seems more than a week ago, Alana and I have darkened the door step of the great Australian outback at a town (and I use the term liberally) called Lyndhurst; flew over Lake Eyre, and a detour on the way back at a town called Maree; had the Flinders Ranges for company on our right shoulder on the way up; crossed wild flood ways over the bitumen on our way back down to Rawnsley Station, which is near Wilpena Pound; did a fair bit of hunter/gathering at Woolworths in Port Pirie a few times; stayed overnight at this place on the coast of the Yorke Peninsula for no other reason than, that we liked the name, COOBOWIE; roughed it in the Innes National Park for a day or three before ending up at this little " byroads " town on the way back up the peninsula called Minlaton. Where exactly is Minlaton you might ask, well it seems even in the town no one knows. They have the towns name printed as a signpost on those souvenir tee shirts, that says Minlaton: where the hell is it!.

One of the many highlights of last week was the drive up along the foot hills of the Flinders Ranges to Lyndhurst, the overnight stay and the flight the next day.
The bituman ends at Lyndhurst, pretty much outside the Lyndhurst Hotel/Motel/Caravan Park/petrol station/flight booking centre/tyre repairs, etc (you get the general picture).
The Caravan park, and I'm sure that I'm not going out on a limb here; is the most unique one you are ever likely to find, well worth the trip up here alone to experience it. 4 powered sights, that's it, 3 patches of carefully laboured and maintained grass to pitch a tent on, corrugated boundary fence line, crushed pebble rock surface dominated the ground on which to park your van. A pre-fab toilet and laundry block, under lock (probably for your own protection judging by the appearance). Old rusted bins full to the brim, conveniently located for you to squeeze your rubbish in. Showers in the main Hotel going for $3.00 a pop. All this for $15.00 a night. Bargain!

Most of the action takes place outside the pub on the verandah, where all the truckies gathered. There had been some flooding seeping it's way down from further up the line and as such there were about 10 b-doubles waiting for the dirt road out of town to firm up a bit.
No beer on tap in this pub. The barmaid flicks the ring off a can with a nice smile and tells you to get the lemon, lime and bitters from the soft drink fridge which is located next to the ice cream cabinet.
After a couple of drinks Alana and I settled in for the night across from the pub which was only a quick smart comment coming from the verandah away. We had the Caravan park to ourselves that night (and the mozzies). We cooked our steaks and faced the table towards the sunset. Magic!

Early next morning we packed the van up and waited for our pilot to arrive. There was five of us ready for the flight. I chose to sit in the front next to the pilot. Her name was Jane; as she arrived to pick us up for the flight she went into the pub to check the bookings. One of the truckies hollers, "she's just gone in for a couple of quick rums, she wont be long."

Soon enough we were airborne in the little six-seater Cessna for about two hours with a little stop over at the pub in Maree on the way back. It's no stretch to the imagination to see the landscape below and look at it as a canvas with the most amazing patterns painted across it. There is a certain beauty to it's starkness. I was mesmerised by all the patterns that I could see. We followed the water ways and vegetation till we reached the southern part of Lake Eyre. As we flew over the water below was pink. In the distance the water was blue grey, the colour of the horizon and sky, with the faintest strip of land separating the two.

We touched back down at Lyndhurst, Jane the pilot gave us a landing that we all wont forget in a hurry. Alana and I jumped into our van and headed back down the way we came, this time with those impressive Flinders Ranges on our left.