Three members of Wollundry Rotary missed the Vocational Visit to Erin Earth, but had their lunch together at Broken Hill Airport Cafeteria. Does this qualify as a makeup?
We were en route to Arkaroona for some outback discovery experiences, rubbing shoulders with motoring journalists testing tough 4 x 4 utes, Big men, with names like "Large", working away from families, Social Anthropology graduates taking Antarctic meteorologists on five hour tours of the Flinders Ranges, up rugged tracks at giddying angles to the horizontal. Rugged Individuals are drawn to this territory, and that's why we went.
Arkaroona is "off the grid" but they have been generating their own power for fifty years. They don't throw old equipment away - they stockpile it for a future museum, and Col Duff could get a call up to recommission this panel.
We took a tour, called the Ridge Top tour that went 30 km out into the ranges. The track was challenging - white knuckle stuff to hold on in the back of the Landcruiser.
After Arkaroona, we flew in cloud to Port Augusta. An aerial tour of Wilpena Pound was on the agenda, but poor visibility prevented our plan A.
We refuelled and had lunch, then headed for Renmark, arriving in fading light. We stayed in the only Hotel in town - a remarkable community owned enterprise. The founding fathers of Renmark were not drinkers, and stipulated that only one hotel was sufficient. The irony is that there are wineries everywhere, and a distillery too.
Along the riverbank there was a range of boats, paddle steamers, houseboats, Motel and Function facilities, but there was one eccentric barge that caught our attention. It was................indescribable, so here is a photo.
Back into Wagga Wagga on Friday afternoon, in good time for a drive to Leeton for the conference.Thank you to our pilot. If he had any misgivings, we never saw them.