Buckleboo and Beyond with AJ120

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Some of the pictures from the Eclipse.


















And a couple of the Sunset.







Cheers Andrew

[Playdoh96 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Playdoh96]

Great trip report Andrew. Bring's back some great memories from our recent trip over in early August. We almost had the track all to ourselves. Only coming across another couple when pulling into Mt Finke camp ground. The high light for us was spotting a heap of Sturt Desert Pea's on the dirt rd out. Never seen them in my life and they where everywhere at one point. Only downside was the rock's on the rd out. Poor old camper coped a hammering, even with some extra big mud flap's on. Hope your's looked a bit better than our's. Keep up the good work Kris

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Unfortunately no Sturt Desert Peas out when we went through, we have seen them before but haven't ever really seen a huge spread of them like I know they can be sometimes.

Our trailer has had a pretty hard life, there is not much paint left on any of the front surfaces despite the stone guard and mudflaps, functionally its still fine but cosmetically it needs a bit of TLC, which is likely in the not too distant future. I keep talking about building a new trailer but the talk has to stop and the work has to begin pretty soon to have it ready for the next big adventure, so the old one needs a tart up before putting it on the market.

Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

After watching the moon rise over the lake and the sunset behind us we had to get up early the next morning to head back out onto the lake to watch the opposite thing happen. The sun didn't quite follow the script as it rose a bit further South than the Moon the previous night so didn't come up directly over the lake bed on the horizon.













After an excellent night and an equally good morning it was time to packup and move on, with the days destination being Mt Ive and hopefully an early arrival at camp as we only had 50k or so to travel on good dirt roads.

Not far along the tracks are some ruins worth a quick stop.







I knew what was at the entrance to Mount Ive but Trish and DJ didn't, despite trying a guessing game and me telling them it was probably the least likely thing to find in the outback they didn't guess a submarine

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Mount Ive is a working station that has also opened its gates to the public for camping and 4wdriving and bird watching etc. It has a decent camp ground with plenty of space, facilities are OK, hot showers and flushing toilets, accommodation is also available if your into that sort of thing.

Aside from the camping fees there is a charge if you want to drive the tracks, $30 to take the 2wd track out to visit Lake Gairdner or $50 for the all the tracks. They had a booklet listed with all the 4wd tracks and had them rated for experienced 4wdrivers only, pretty much all of them were rated moderate to challenging so we paid the $50.

Having arrived at camp early morning (for a change) we headed out to the lake first. Along the track out there is a side track to view some more organ pipe rock formations.




Whilst sitting and viewing the formations and pondering the universe the little fellow below paid us a visit, he didn't seem the slightest bit concerned by us, running around between our legs checking things out.




A bit further along another side track takes you to a dam constructed more than 100 years ago, once again they really knew how to build things well back then, I was really impressed with how well the structure was standing the test of time.













We arrived at the lake just in time for lunch, then a walk around, spotted a big goanna that promptly disappeared into the maze of rocks on the shore line.

Driving on the lake is strictly forbidden, unless you get parks permission, which I guess would only be for land speed records. When the lake is dry I reckon it would be great to get out on it and drive right across it, of course I realize if they opened it to the public every Tom, Dick and Idiot would be out on the lake doing circle work and ruining it for everyone else! Driving on Googs lake was also not allowed but there was plenty of evidence of people doing the wrong thing there.




This little fella must have stayed put just a bit too long!




Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

After returning to camp we decided to head out on one of the 4wd tracks, rated moderate to challenging for experienced 4wdrivers. The mud maps provided leave a little to be desired and a few times we weren't exactly sure if we were on the correct track, but the odd sign once in a while assured us we were going the correct way.

I kept waiting for the track to get moderate or interesting but in reality it wasn't either, in places it was rough, but that just meant you had to go slow. Anyway one stop was to visit some more organ pipe formations. To be honest these were now becoming so common we were just a bit over them. I quite like rock formations but none of the Organ Pipe formations we had seen on the trip were of the quality we have seen elsewhere.







When we got back to camp we had a visitor that had popped in unexpectedly.







We were quite happy for him to stay but he didn't turn out to be a very sociable Lizard and left shortly after we arrived back.

One of the drives is to the top of Mount Ive, it was a fairly short drive so we figured that would be a good spot to visit for sunset and once again it promised moderate to challenging tracks. I did find the drive up Mount Ive to be a bit challenging, not really because of the track but because we chose to go just before sunset, so I drove most of the way up with the sun directly in my face and was navigating the track from brief glimpses and then just guessing or feeling my around any obstacles such as they were.

When we arrived at the top we ran into 2 other couples who had the same idea. Since leaving home we had barely spoken 2 words to anyone as we had hardly run into anyone to speak to. They were nice people and we had a good old chat and admired the views and didn't even think to get the camera out to take a picture or 2 The drive back down was pretty straight forward, low range because it was a bit rough but not at all difficult.

Awaking the next morning we decided to head out on the Mount Scott Loop as that looked the next most likely track to offer some excitement, the mud map for this track was really pretty awful and we certainly ended up somewhere else and eventually back in camp without having seen much. So turning around and trying to find a couple of places we just couldn't find them as the map made no sense, we did however find the track to the top of Mount Scott so headed up. Once again it was rough but not hard at all. At the top the views were quite good, but they were also almost the exact same views we had from Mount Ive the night before as they are opposite each other.










it was 10'clock on the knocker when we got to the top of Mount Scott and despite having already paid for a second nights accommodation we both decided that we had seen as much as we wanted to and decided to head back to camp and pack up and head off.

So our Mount Ive experience, the trip out to the lake was really good and we thoroughly enjoyed that and the drive up to Mount Ive for sunset was nice. Everything else about the stay from the campground to the amenities to the tracks was OK, but that's all, there was nothing really wrong with it but there was nothing really great about any of it either. Maybe we were just spoiled as every other day on the trip we had several special little moments that really make your day, and we didn't get that here.

Heading off a day early wasn't such a bad thing anyway as it meant a less rushed trip home.

Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

When we travel we tend to have a fairly regimented time frame for stopping for the most important activities of the day, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea No sooner have I had one meal and my mind starts to think about the next opportunity for food! Anyway with this regime comes the usual in house jokes when food time is getting near and one of those jokes caused a classic moment for us after leaving Mount Ive. As tends to happen I said to Trish " its after 12 O'clock you know, just sayin" and there was some discussion about whether I could make it as far as Iron Knob without dying a horrible death from starvation. Anyway Trish drops one of her favourite jokes when on outback roads and says, "I am happy to stop whenever you are so long as you find a nice shelter with a picnic table!"

I swear that not more than 2 minutes after that statement we pulled up for lunch







The phone box in the picture doesn't have a working phone but is in fact a donation point for both the flying doctors and the friends of the Gawler Ranges, so I was more than happy to make a donation to both.

From here we were headed for a roadside lookout and a likely camp spot in the Southern Flinders called Hancocks Lookout. After the maps on a couple of apps leading us astray we eventually found the lookout. It's aa very nice spot and obviously a popular spot for those looking for a free overnight stop.

afternoon views were great and the sunset once again spectacular.













From here it was just a matter of a drive home along the blacktop to finish off a great trip.

It seemed to be a trip packed full of such excellent places and experiences and yet we were only gone for 9 days. It would actually be an excellent trip for anyone thinking about heading out into the more remote parts of Australia but a bit unsure of what to expect, this trip would give you a very good grounding for some of the conditions you might expect to see travelling through the more remote desert areas of Australia, but without having to travel quite as far or for as long to get the experience.

I don't think we were even unpacked and talk turned to the next trip, Trish has already booked a few days off and planning is underway for the next adventure.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers Andrew

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

I was wanting to say, "see, we didn't miss much"

But instead I will just silently hate you more......

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

I was wanting to say, "see, we didn't miss much"

But instead I will just silently hate you more......

Wait until I tell you about the next trip..................

Cheers Andrew

[spike69 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close spike69]

Thanks for a fantastically detailed, informative and interesting write up AJ. I'm living vicariously through reports like this until my rig is ready and I've got a few more kms 4WDing experience under my belt. Gotta start somewhere Look forward to the next one!

[DGW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DGW]

Finally finished reading through this, great report as usual. It really is an amazing country we live in, just need the time off work to do it justice.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Thanks for a fantastically detailed, informative and interesting write up AJ. I'm living vicariously through reports like this until my rig is ready and I've got a few more kms 4WDing experience under my belt. Gotta start somewhere Look forward to the next one!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

We were plotting the course for the next one this morning, although being a mid Summer trip plans on that one might change at the last second if the weather is unkind.

Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Finally finished reading through this, great report as usual. It really is an amazing country we live in, just need the time off work to do it justice.

Thanks,

Time and money is all that is stopping me from doing more Actually mostly money, if I had more of that I wouldn't need to waste all that time going to work every day

Cheers Andrew