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| mikehzz Member Since: 04 Sep 2009 Location: Springwood Posts: 749   
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Leigh Creek has the best supermarket when you are leaving the Flinders so stock up there. Marree has a little one and William Creek has a pub with everything imaginable pinned to the walls and ceiling left as souveniers by overseas back packers. There is a good collection of girls underwear pinned up |
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19th Jul 2012 3:20 pm |
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| duckworthparts Site Sponsor Member Since: 02 Mar 2009 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 1131 |
great photos (i'm sure some wouldn't look out of place in a Land Rover Brochure) and a cracking write up |
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19th Jul 2012 3:34 pm |
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| iain cooper Member Since: 27 Aug 2007 Location: north of Glasgow Posts: 1989 
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yes agreed, brilliant reading, much appreciated Vesko Iain |
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19th Jul 2012 5:10 pm |
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| J T Member Since: 21 Mar 2006 Location: Don't tell em Pike Posts: 207  
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Love it. |
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19th Jul 2012 6:28 pm |
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| taztastic Member Since: 03 Feb 2011 Location: North West Posts: 8652
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Excellent work, stay safe and enjoy the trip |
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19th Jul 2012 9:47 pm |
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| djwhyte Member Since: 24 Aug 2010 Location: Brisbane Posts: 336 
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Yeah, lovely work with the camera. I normally can't seem much of a difference between good and bad shots, but your pics do look amazing! 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame. |
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20th Jul 2012 11:10 am |
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| SimonB Member Since: 23 Feb 2011 Location: Berkshire Posts: 202  
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Great photos! Do you photoshop the skies in, they don't seem natural!? |
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20th Jul 2012 2:16 pm |
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| Vesko Member Since: 18 Jan 2012 Location: Sydney Posts: 184
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This week I am working hard like a dog! Dead tired, sorry guys I am not very clever to come up with smart replies (thank you all), but for SimonB - the skies are not photoshoped, that's why there are so many (seemingly the same) shots I included, because I like them so much. The skies in the Australian outback cannot be described, cannot be even shown with my poor effort. They can only be experienced. Vast spaces in contrast with the lonely microscopic self! That's one of the things that pull me in there... |
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20th Jul 2012 3:05 pm |
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| Pegleg Member Since: 15 Apr 2010 Location: Deep in mid Wales Posts: 3114 
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I thought the same as you. Obviously we were wrong  Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.
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20th Jul 2012 7:34 pm |
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| mikehzz Member Since: 04 Sep 2009 Location: Springwood Posts: 749
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The first thing I noticed when driving around UK and Europe was that the light was totally different. Sort of dimmed down compared to here. There was also more haze in the air so the view into the distance was fuzzy. The colours in the Outback are very vivid and the light is very bright, enough to burn you very easily. We have the highest skin cancer rate in the world so it's not all good |
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20th Jul 2012 9:48 pm |
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| Vesko Member Since: 18 Jan 2012 Location: Sydney Posts: 184
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How true! When it is so bright, I use a polarizer filter to kill the light a bit. It intensifies the colours and increases the contrast. This might explain the vivid skies.  Last edited by Vesko on 23rd Jul 2012 10:51 am. Edited 1 time in total |
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21st Jul 2012 1:08 pm |
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| mikehzz Member Since: 04 Sep 2009 Location: Springwood Posts: 749
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The other thing I noticed in Uk was how beautiful the English girls skin was due to the softer sun exposure. It does have some advantages. |
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21st Jul 2012 3:31 pm |
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| djwhyte Member Since: 24 Aug 2010 Location: Brisbane Posts: 336
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I put that down to a diet that was heavy on Fish n Chips. Moisturising the skin from the inside to out 
Though maybe that was just what happens where I came from in Blackpool 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.
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21st Jul 2012 3:59 pm |
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| Vesko Member Since: 18 Jan 2012 Location: Sydney Posts: 184
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Day 3 Flinders Ranges
After Wilpena Pound I drive to a massive, half dead, but still standing tree, which is very special. Those who love photography would recognise its distinctive silhouette with the mountainous background. This is the Cazneaux�s tree. It brought him international fame in 1937 for his photo �Spirit of Endurance�. Yes, I agree - the tree is impressive.
A few hundred meters after the Cazneaux�s tree is the turn to the Sacred Canyon, where (the brochure promises), you can see real aboriginal rock art. It�s my first taste of a bush drive in the Flinders and I like it (with the gravel mode engaged). The canyon itself is interesting, but I am a bit disappointed with the aboriginal art there. I see some engravings on the rocks, but somehow I am not impressed. They look like graffiti done by a silly schoolboy. Maybe I am cynical or maybe they are real aboriginal graffiti. At least, I am grateful I can come to this place and wander about it. I walk along the dry river above the canyon, hoping to get to another, more impressive aboriginal �sacred place�, but except dry, hostile bush and sharp rocks, there is nothing else. For a moment I wander what would I do, if I am stranded here without water and food. How would I survive? This thought brings me some kind of desperation, which floods my mind and I rush to get back to my beloved Landie as soon as possible. A strange thing happens exactly the moment I get to the car. The sole of my left hiking boot rips open. Stepping to the car I wander if this could be repaired, but then at the same time the other one also flaps loose. How bizarre � just at the end of my bushwalks. Obviously the sharp rocks of the Flinders were too much for my trusty old hiking boots. I start to pray for my Landie tyres, because I have a great plan for the afternoon.
First I go to the office of the caravan park to pay $45 for the Arkapena scenic drive (following the good recommendations of Mikehzz) plus $10 deposit for the key. The receptionist says I don�t have enough time, because it is 2pm and I have to be out of the property by five and bring the key back by six. I insist a little and get the key. She might have a soft spot for me (or my money). I change shoes quickly and grab some leftovers from last night�s BBQ which I gulp down on the way to the entry gate of the drive - I am so excited, this is my first real off road experience. The beginning of the track is quite innocent, flat and grassy with some close bushes and eroded turns, but then it starts to go sharply down and up. Some of the dry creeks are so narrow and steep - even if I crawl by millimetres I cannot avoid the front plastics landing on the rocks. And what rocks! They are really sharp. Some sections are covered with them, so narrow; you just continue slowly, praying your tyres will not burst. Just when I start to regret my eagerness to undertake this drive, I get out of the bush and immediately understand the meaning of this drive - the country is stunning! It deserves all the risks. My Landie works hard and earns its reputation. I use mostly the gravel mode, but there are sections, where mud and ruts are more suitable. Hill decent comes in very often for the steep hills.
I finish the All-Wheel Drive section without much drama - my tyres are still holding. There is a public road that would take me back to Rawnsley Park Station and I decide against going into the 4WD section of the Arkapena scenic drive. It�s getting late now and I don�t want to push my luck too much. Better to get back on time for a celebration. O, yes dear friends. Tonight I open a special bottle of Barossa Valley Shiraz (Chris Ringland CR Shiraz) and cook myself a feast on the charcoal BBQ: lamb cutlets, mushrooms, haloumi cheese. I am so happy with my achievement and with what I have seen so far. Very happy indeed! Tomorrow I will drive some more around the mountains. Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated  Last edited by Vesko on 23rd Jul 2012 11:09 am. Edited 4 times in total |
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22nd Jul 2012 12:04 pm |
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