The Great Australian Outback - Part II

 

When in Australia, do as the Aussies do. And when you visit the North Blinman Hotel, pin a business card on the wall and shout the bar for your mates. Our posse rolled into the Blinman Pub and made our contribution to the local economy.

Well before dawn, the distant crow of a rooster resonated through the shearer's quarters like a natural alarm clock. In the darkness, the aroma of camp coffee drifting on a light breeze let our minds drift back to a time before jumbo jets and automobiles, to a time when the world seemed a simpler place and priorities were less cluttered. The sound of footsteps on a creaky wood plank floor reminded us that we had an early rendezvous this morning.

The sun broke through the clouds as our Cessna 182 banked left over a jagged rift on the eastern Flinders and a full view of Lake Frome stretched out on horizon, and the Strzelecki Desert beyond. We had come almost full circle since our departure from

Our final day on the trail provided us time to explore artifacts and ruins left over from the past century of mining and ranching.

Broken Hill eight days earlier. Reflecting back, we'd traversed Strzelecki Track and stood on the corner of three states at Cameron Corner, dodged deadly brown snakes, kangaroos and emus, carved red crescents in ARB's fleet of 4x4 on the Simpson Desert tallest dune, and followed dusty hoof prints of early drovers on the Great Australian Cattle Drive. We would be trekking another five hundred kilometers back to Broken Hill this day. As with all good things, ARB's Outback Experience was coming to an end. However, in this seemingly timeless land where tradition and culture coexist with the natural world, the friendships developed and memories shaped will last a lifetime.