I wasn’t planning on doing a walk today but after breakfast I set off for a stroll anyway. I intended to do the Drought Busters walk which was only 2 kilometres. I started this walk and saw emus again. They really are mad birds! Anyhow about a quarter of the way into this walk there was a sign for the Mount Ohlssen Bagge walk. I had thought of doing this walk yesterday but had decided on the walk to the Wilpena Pound lookout instead. Anyhow what swung it was the fact that the signs for this walk were in orange and the trail was shown as orange on the map. I just had to do it then! For those of you who don’t know my favourite colour is orange. This was a 7 kilometre hike and the signs warned that it was very steep but with rewarding views. It was about 30 degrees but I had loads of water so I set off. It wasn’t too steep at first. About half way up I met a British couple coming down. They told me that the climb was worth it as the view was great but that I had a couple of really steep sections to come. They weren’t wrong! Shortly after there was one particularly brilliantly steep section where you had to scramble up the rocks. There were 360 degree views at the top and a great view of Wilpena Pound. It had definitely been a good decision to do this hike, so thank you to the colour orange! I had climbed to 923 metres. I had half expected to find Germans at the top, but thankfully they weren’t there! This wasn't as high as Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Range in WA but still a decent climb. I was the only one at the top and didn’t see any other people coming down. I did see a beautiful eagle though. The temperature at the top was a bit cooler and I noticed the temperature going up again as I came down. It was around 35 degrees now. My plan was to stay in Parachilna tonight. It was a long way round by sealed road but the lady at the information office showed me a route I could take through the Brachina Gorge. It was about 30 kilometres of dirt road but she said the scenery around the gorge was great and that the road would be fine for my campervan. The road was a bit bumpy and corrugated in places but overall it wasn’t too bad. The road got quite narrow and winding through the gorge itself but it wasn’t a problem. I saw loads of wildlife roaming about, emus, kangaroos and goats. It took about an hour an a half to do the 30 k’s on dirt road and I was glad when I got onto the sealed highway that went to Parachilna. I was heading for the Prairie Hotel which is famous for it’s feral food menu. It has a great write up in Lonely Planet and I had been led to believe that it had a camp area. Parachilna is in a very remote spot in the middle of the bush and with a great view of the mountains in the distance. I went into the Prairie Hotel and got a powered camp place and found out about the food. As it stood at the moment I would be the only person camping tonight and the only one eating as well! I was told to come across to eat at about half 6ish. Parachilna is a really tatty place but I loved it. The camp area was among some old freight containers, some scruffy old cabins and next to bush land with rusting vehicles and farm machinery strewn across it. The facilities were good though and I loved it. Parachilna has a permanent population of about 7 and I met at least half them by the end of the day. I did my blog for a while and before I knew it it was time to get a shower and go across for my feral feast. The pub and restaurant inside are lovely, a wonderful combination of traditional and contemporary. I had a pint of Coopers Ale and had a quick look at the menu whilst talking to the owner, a guy called Locky Fargher. He had run the place for a long time and had won awards for the food. It was the quiet season for them at the moment. I ordered the Feral Feast Mixed Grill for which they are famous. It consists of Kangaroo steak, Emu steak with bacon, a Camel sausage and creamy mash. I also ordered some feral olives and bread to start. Whilst I was at the bar I got talking to a guy who was already there. He seemed to be a regular. He was a proper Aussie bloke and was called Bruce - a proper Aussie name! He had his dog with him who was waiting by the door. It was a really cute and friendly small dog and it was called Pig. I love it, Pig the dog! When my feast was ready I went through to the dining area. I wasn’t the only one eating though as there were a couple from Victoria there and also Bruce who came through with his food. The mixed grill was simply fantastic, the kangaroo was very tender and tasty, the emu was a light pink colour and a bit like a cross between a tuna steak and pork. The camel sausage was a bit beefy. It went down a treat, 10/10. When I’d finished I went back through to the bar and had another couple of drinks. I spent the time talking to Bruce and Locky and later on the chef, a lady called Mo ,and a big guy who turned up later on in a ute called Trev. I had a wonderful conversation with them all and later on Bruce bought me a scotch. He was getting quite sozzled. Here are a few things I learnt tonight:-
*The railway in front of the pub goes to a coal mine. The trains go through twice a day. At one point the train was the longest single engine train in the world. The carriages were 3 kilometres long. Apparently it wasn’t good to be stuck at a level crossing when this train came past!*Bruce used to run his own pub in the outback. He recorded a temperature one summer of 55.7 degrees!*It is not uncommon for Parachilna in summer to have temperatures of 45 degrees plus for two weeks solid or more, with overnight lows of 30!*Australians don’t eat Wombats as they are very tough.* They do a lot of filming nearby. Wolf Creek was filmed here and they are doing the sequel Wolf Creek 2 at the moment. A scary film and not one to really watch if you're travelling through the outback!*You would think from the advertising in Britain that Fosters Lager is very popular in Australia. Bruce told me that you can buy it but not in very many places. The Aussies think it tastes of ****!*VB (Victoria Bitter) is Australia’s best selling lager. It has a reputation in Australia like Stella does in Britain. All the **** heads drink it and it also goes under the lovely nick names of VB (vomit bombs) and VB (vaginal backwash)!!!!
It was a very hot night. When I was in Fremantle a guy in a camper who was going home donated his fan to me. I was very glad of it tonight. My camper was like an oven! Nitey nite.