The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.
- Marcus Aurelius -
Escaping is one of my big dreams goals. There's a difference you know; a goal has a plan attached to it.
Escape: I mean from society, the senseless 'noise', drama, people and their behaviours which, I have to be honest, are spiralling downward in my opinion. Not everyone I'll concede, but generally. I live in a city but am, literally, a boy from the country and it's those sparsely populated wide open spaces in which I want to live. The cabin (or cave) in the wilderness is something I think about all the time, and have plans around achieving.
For now I live and work in the city so camping trips to the wilderness are all I have, and I do it as often as I possibly can. Eventually I'll just not come back I guess - I don't think I'll be missed too much, and there's not much I'd miss here either. A win-win.
Last week I ran a posting contest in which people were hypothetically handed $1000 to spend on entertainment over a weekend; you can see it here, and I thought I'd have a try at it to see if I could string a few words together that made sense. This post are those words.
...it's the middle of nowhere with nobody else for many kilometres, there's a low burning fire with a million stars overhead, the air, and our skin, is cool and...people need to stay warm...so we did. It's the perfect place for the intimate moment. Primordial.
- galenkp -
When I go camping I like to eat well; good self-prepared fresh food consumed in the wilderness tastes better than it does in the city so my first stop was the market for supplies. Being the prepared man I am I had an idea of what I'd need, what I was going to prepare, which means I didn't buy any non-required items, however I always make sure I've got non-perishable emergency food; Australia's wilderness areas are harsh and unforgiving and sometimes trouble pays a visit and pays to be prepared.
A typical breakfast would consist of a three-egg omelette with finely chopped red onion, mushrooms, green capsicum (pepper), bacon and cheese; toasted sour dough bread too, of course. Lunch is something like a bread roll or sandwich with salad and chicken or ham, maybe tuna. Dinner is chicken, steak or sausages with salad and probably a baked potato done in the coals of the fire. If I'm feeling particularly adventurous I might make a stew. Of course, interspersed throughout the three main meals are snacks, especially if I'm hiking.
Fortunately the Big Dog, my four wheel drive, has a 60L fridge/freezer on board and I'm able to keep food fresh...It makes for some pretty spectacular wilderness meals and very cold beverages.
My next stop was the service station for diesel. I threw the pump nozzle in and began pumping...and pumping...and pumping some more. $200.11 worth of pumping to fill the tank.
I'll get about 800 kilometres range from a tank of fuel when towing my camper trailer. My Land Cruiser is a 4.5L V8 twin turbo powered vehicle and it's not cheap to run but, to get to where I need to be it's the vehicle I need to have and so I have to feed it to get me there.
On this particular weekend get away it's a 1150 kilometre round-trip and that doesn't take into consideration the off-roading in low range I'll do when there which will chew fuel at a fast rate so I'll need more fuel later, but for now...this $200 hurt my back pocket badly enough.
I hooked up the camper trailer, a seriously effective off-road trailer that I've had for seven years now, and headed out on the road with my shotgun seat passenger strapped in also.
As King Calaway's track, world for two, played on the speakers as the Big Dog ate up the kilometres and the combination of the hum of tyres on the black top and tunes began to relax me immediately. As the urban areas gave way to open fields and rolling hills I shrugged off city-feels and became the real me - That country boy I mentioned earlier.
To get to my chosen spot, a very legit camping area deep in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia I'd be driving for around six hours but there were snacks, tunes and my shotgun rider to keep me company, and that's about all I needed. I have driven for many hours straight in the past, and still can, but this trip is about living life and part of that is relaxing and taking my time...and eating breakfast at my favourite roadhouse/diner on the way.
I pulled in around 07:00 after two hours on the road and ordered the best big breakfast you're likely to find.
These country folk know how to fill up a plate y'all. Eggs, bacon, chorizo sausage, sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomato, hash brown and a couple thick-cut and heavily buttered toasted slices of rye bread is a lot to get through but where there is a will there is always away. Trust me, the G-dog is capable. My shotgun rider...not so much. A toasted bacon and egg sandwich was about it. Of course, there's coffee. There's always coffee.
Back on the road, and with Walker Hayes songs blasting on the speakers, the countryside sped by. Fields of grain and canola stretched to either side and the low rolling hills were growing into the mountains they would soon become. As I entered the Southern Flinders Ranges I felt better, I always do. We chatted a little but drove in silence for the most part, the enjoyment of the moment being all we needed to find our happiness.
We arrived at camp around 15:00 Friday afternoon. We'd stopped at the Kanyaka Station ruins, a cattle station established in 1852 and now fallen into ruin, as my shotgun rider had never been there. We wandered, brewed a coffee and contemplated what it must have been like living all the way out here back then and moved on towards our destination. By 16:00 we were relaxing in the peaceful surrounds of the Australian outback, camp set up and feeling good about life.
Usually hiking, relaxing, sharpening up my survival skills and reading is enough to keep me occupied during the day but with $1000 to spend on entertainment on this trip I decided to do something a little different.
On Saturday morning we headed into the Wilpena Pound resort, about ninety kilometres away, to take a thirty minute flight over Elder Range, Edeowie Gorge, Heysen Range, Lake Torrens, Bunyeroo Gorge, Brachina Gorge, St Mary Peak and the Pound Gap. It's a bit of an extravagance but hey, what the hell right? I've got $1000 to spend.
Nights in the Flinders Ranges are dark; it's a long way from anywhere and there's no city or town lights to pierce the inky blackness that night brings but...Then there's the stars. Each night after dinner we let the fire burn low and lay back to watch the sky show.
Day time winter temperatures in this region are usually in the 20°C - 23°C range with night time temperatures getting down to 0°C - 10°C so...pretty much perfect. Skies are almost always clear and that makes for some great night time sky watching.
Watching the last colour drain from the sky and the stars appear is a pretty special moment.
As we do, kookaburras call their last for the day, the heat drains out of the day quickly, the air becomes crisp and seemingly fresher and the low-burning fire crackles and pops...then thousands of stars capture one's attention. Laying there, captivated, for a few hours is easy. There's words between us, but few as words seem redundant in that moment. There's almost always a count the shooting stars contest though. I rarely win.
Later...well, it's the middle of nowhere with nobody else for many kilometres, there's a low burning fire with a million stars overhead, the air, and our skin, is cool and...people need to stay warm...so we did. It's the perfect place for the intimate moment. Primordial.
Weekends like this have to come to an end of course and that means packing up and driving home. It's the least-liked part of the trip...The end.
On the way home we stop for a light lunch at the Sevenhill Hotel just outside of Clare in the Clare Valley. Established in 1863 (as the Black Eagle Hotel) it changed names in 1918 and now...well, you need to go and experience it for yourself to understand.
After lunch we head right home with a quick stop off to top up with more diesel.
This is the part I hate, the getting home and back to reality aspect of a camping trip. I backed the trailer into its spot and tucked it in. Next weekend I'd pull it out again, clean and replenish it and get it ready for the next trip but for right then it was time for a shower and some cuddle time with my girl, my cat Cleo.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
All images are my own and are not for your use
