TRIPS FOR 2019

1. Booleroo Centre. Including Steam & Traction open day. 28th – 31st March.

Leader Phill

Trip Report:

Thurs 28th @ 5pm saw 20 fit and happy folk assembled, with drinks and
nibbles, in the brilliant autumnal 25° sunshine, for Happy Hour, at the Laura
Caravan Park.
Disaster!
We were informed that the whole expedition had come within a whisker of
being called off when both Phill and Bazza, the 2 organizers and originators
of the trip, had been separately and unfortunately, carted off to hospital in
the preceding week.
However Keith, at the last moment, graciously agreed to step into the
breach. (His physique may be slight but his shoulders are broad).
Fri 29th 9:30am saw 6 vehicles set out, using Phill's and Bazza's notes, for
a cross country journey to Hornsdale wind farm. The instant we stepped out
of the cars we discovered why someone thought this might be a good place
to site a wind farm! Off to the left was Elon Musk's recent erection (not that
impressive from 250m away), and to the right, wind towers to the horizon.

Heading towards Orroroo we checked out the deserted Black Rock Railway
Bridge over the floodplain and then on to the Lions Park/Orroroo Golf Club
picnic area for lunch. A walk up the dryish creek bed to see the town's
original water supply and some rather ordinary rock art and we were off again to check out a giant river redgum, another railway bridge, the old Pekina Station
homestead ruins, and the current (empty) town reservoir.

Heading back to Laura we stopped for afternoon tea at the (dry) Appila Springs picnic area.
Fri night Phill was released from custody and promptly asked Rhonda to drive him north so that they could join us Sat am. (Can't keep a good man down for long!)

Sat am Phill and Rhonda lead 8 vehicles N. into the Wirrabara Forest. We stopped to check out another giant redgum (the King Tree) and an abandoned sawmill before morning tea at the old forest HQ picnic/toilet area.

Prior to lunch at Murray Town, we explored more forest that had been severely burned in the last major bushfires and Curnow's Cave. Once upon a long time ago a remote orchardist, Curnow, had dug a large cave into the old riverbank to act as a cool store for his produce. Afternoon tea, on the return journey, was taken at the Stone Hut Bakery, home of the self-described, but probably accurate, best pies in the Universe.

Sun 31st was the "raison d'etre” for the whole trip; The Booleroo Steam & Traction Open Day. Even the non-mechanically minded had to have been impressed by these huge puffing, clanking, smelly, lumbering and noisy behemoths from a time long past. In addition there were multiple exhibits of noisy standing engines, farming memorabilia, and restored cars.

Barry & Chris had to leave Sat arvo and Cecilia & Kent on Sun arvo nonetheless 18 turned up at the historic old Laura Hotel for an enjoyable Sun eve meal.
An enjoyable and informative look at places less travelled. Much thanks and best wishes for a speedy recovery to Bazza and Phill.

Trip Participants: Phill & Rhonda, Keith, Les & Brenda, John & Dawn,

Bob & Margaret, John & Dilys, Jeff, Glenda, Alec, Kent & Cecilia, Kevin, Ron,

Barry & Chris, Jim & Fae.
Report written by Kent. Photos by Keith.

2. Murray Sunset Camp 12th to 17th June

Trip report.

The group only consisted of Chris and Pat with Neil.
Wednesday we meet at the BP garage Tailem Bend and then proceeded to the
Murray Sunset National Park to set up camp at the junction where the long
distance walking trail crosses the Mount Crozier track.
The decision to camp there was because of ample fire wood and none existed
close to the Mount Crozier camp site. As cold nights were forecast we thought
that would come in handy, and it did.
Thursday we walked from Mt. Crozier back to our campsite along the walking
trail, a distance of over 12km with a few sand hills to cross in the morning just
to make things interesting.
Friday we drove to Mopoke Hut for lunch and a small walk of the surrounding
area which was interrupted with a little rain.
Saturday saw us doing the second days walk approaching our camp from the
other direction with Chris out in front setting such a fast pace that he shot past
our camp site. The last day was taken up with a tour of the pink lakes area and
up to the Mt. Jess lookout.
The days were mostly fine although it was cold overnight and that meant early
to bed.
A good time was had by all.

Neil (Trip leader).

3. Broken Hill to Hervey Bay, Fraser Island, and Western Qld. Early July.

Leaders Phill & Craig.

4. Flinders Ranges. Mid July.

Leaders Raelene & Rodney.

5. Alpana Cactus Kill. August 10th - 17th.

Join a working party to assist with cactus control at Alpana Station in the Flinders Ranges. A reasonable level of fitness is required, but drivers to help with
transportation of workers and equipment are also needed.

Leader Keith.

ALPANA CACTUS KILL REPORT 2019
Venue: Alpana Station, 5km south of Blinman in the Flinders Ranges, SA.
Dates: Saturday August 10th to Saturday August 17th 2019.
Participants: David H, Brian, Mal, Katie, Trevor, Rodney, Lorraine, Robert, Stuart, Raelene, Rick, Bernice, Ruth, David F, Edith, Tin, Syd & Keith (Coordinator).
A good mix of old hands and new ones. The station vehicle and 5 other 4WD vehicles were available for use.

Saturday August 10th.
During the afternoon, participants arrived and settled into pre-allocated accommodation in shearers’ quarters or en-suite van sites. A welcome/thankyou BBQ evening meal was provided by Alpana personnel, and a brief safety induction together with the necessary paperwork was completed. It was decided that, due to harsh seasons experienced over the past years at Alpana, cochineal spreading would not be used this year, only poisoning. Holes would be drilled into cactus pads and stems and these would be filled with herbicide.

Sunday August 11th.
A very frosty morning – frozen pipes in the en-suites (so much for the hot morning showers!)
At about 9am David H led us to Sunset Hill 665 lookout, GPS (31°7’44” S, 138°39’4” E) approx.
The group divided into 5 teams with 3 or 4 workers per team, each team carrying backpacks with poison, drill & spare battery, spray can of paint for marking treated cacti, UHF radio for team to team contact, GPS unit and notepad for recording location and number of cacti treated, food & water.
A bitterly cold wind and slippery loose stones made working conditions a little tough at the start. The teams proceeded roughly in a westerly direction working basically along the southern side of one range until lunch time, then turned to work back along the northern side of the opposite range. A distance of about 6km was covered by each team.
We returned to camp at about 3pm, to clean the poisoning equipment and relax before dinner.

Monday August 12th.
Another frosty morning. After taking a group photo we set out for Nungawurtina Paddock which is roughly west of the homestead, and parked the vehicles at GPS (31°9’30” S, 138°38’29” E) approx.
The same 5 teams set out roughly in a westerly direction to poison cacti on the south side of a range until lunch and then returned to the vehicles along a different line, poisoning any cacti found along the way. It was interesting to find some cochineal infestation in this area.
The ground was drier today and there were many loose stones, which caused some workers to take a few slips and falls Two relatively serious injuries were sustained: Keith rolled his right ankle (diagnosed later as “high grade sprain”), and Robert fractured a bone in his left hand attempting to save himself in a fall. Keith was able to continue the week with ankle bandaged, but Robert returned home the next morning for treatment.
All teams arrived back at the cars by about 2.30 after walking about 7km during the day’s kill.

Tuesday August 13th.
Another cold night and frosty morning. A 5km drive down the bitumen Hawker road, a right turn onto a station track, and a long drive culminating in a steep climb up to Mt Nielsen in the Bald Range found us at the GRN tower for the start of work. GPS (31°9’ S, 138°37’ E) approx.
From here the teams again set out in a roughly westerly direction along the northern side of the range until lunch then returned along the southern side of the range, where there was an abundance of cacti to be poisoned. Time ran out on us and we had to return to the vehicles leaving many cacti to be treated on the next working day.
Many cacti had pieces chewed or scratched off them, presumably by kangaroos or goats seeking moisture during the recent harsh drought.
We returned to camp at about 4pm after a very long day.

Wednesday August 14th.
Rest day. An opportunity to sleep in, relax, visit Blinman for morning tea, lunch and re-stock supplies. Most of the group went to the Blinman Hotel for dinner this night.
Thursday August 15th.
Matt and Chris from the SA Govt Department for Environment and Water joined us on today’s kill.
We departed camp at 8.30 and returned to Mt Nielsen to attack cacti which had to be left on Tuesday. Some teams remained at the bottom of the hill and worked on flatter ground there.
Again, the teams worked in a westerly direction until lunch time and returned to their vehicles over different ground after lunch. We returned to camp by 3.30.

Friday August 16th.
After a milder night the day was mainly sunny with a light breeze. Setting off at 8.30, today we tackled cacti in the local area, teams working in various patches around the station homestead. GPS (31° 8’ S, 138° 41’ E) approx. Some worked a patch on the other side of the bitumen road.
Teams began arriving back to camp from about 1pm.
Most of the group enjoyed a pizza at the Blinman Hotel to cap off a busy week, and Sally presented certificates of appreciation.

6. Grampians. 4 or 5 days in September.

Leaders Raelene and Rodney.