Continuing in these circumventions I would head due north to Broken Hill and plan a climb to some art work of amazing grace over looking the Mundi Mundi at sunset; thence to dinner in Silverton at a cute little place there (get the quondong pie she makes, mmmmm mmm good!) and an evening stroll about the almost ghost town and the weird Volkswagen artist’s house studio gallery.

Then back to Broken Hill to a cheap motel. I’d avoid the mine tour unless you are into that sort of thing and suggest bottled water unless you like radon as an elixir. The next day you can visit the art at sunrise. It really is some of the neatest sculpture I’ve ever enjoyed and well worth a morning and evening if you like world class art that almost no one knows exists. Be proud, be weird, be one of the few, then on to the Flinders! You travel through a few small towns on Rt. 32 on your way to Yunta for the intrepid or Peterborough for whimps. It is about 200k to Yunta. In fairness you should check out the condition of the track from Yunta to Frome Downs and Tea Tree before you venture on it. It might be impassible to tourists, sometimes even to old doggers.

The purpose of this right turn north is to see Frome Lake, the whitest place on earth. It is said to reflect 70% of the light that shines on it. I’ve been on arctic ice and thought that was blinding and it only reflects 17% of the light that hits it. You also get to cross the Dog Fence twice. That means you can enjoy a mystical experience twice in one day. At Tea Tree you turn left and head for Blinman and book a room at the cute motel RV park just west of town.

You have gone about 400k today but hopefully you’ll have enough left in you to go down the hill to the Parachilna Hotel for the best road kill in the outback. Parachilna boasts 7 people, which makes it larger than Williams Creek by one, but who’s counting. It has a strange history of moving railroad tracks. A person could look into that if they were interested but it still wouldn’t explain why the rooms are so dear even off season. Our purpose here is to eat. If you are a religiously inclined vegetarian look to your dark side and follow your apostate nature for the evening, or you could justify yourself with questions like are marsupials really animals?, is an emu a cognoscente creature?, camels have humps, etc.,…it worked for me. The sign also said the fare was harvested locally, not a thing about killing; just like carrots. If you got off to an early start and have finished dinner the trip back up the gorge in moonlight is eerily beautiful with moonlight reflecting off the gums and the sound of whispering wind. The gorge in the full moon rates as equal to the most magical dreamy places I have ever experienced.

The heart can’t hardly believe the eyes and ears. Flinders Ranges National Park is due south out of Blinman, just a short drive. The various geology is clearly marked making it easy to trace your way back in time a few hundred million years. These are some of the oldest ranges on earth. Though some formations caught my eye for the most part I enjoyed the clouds in the pink and blue sky. The age of it all seemed to make me weary for some reason. Wildlife was pretty invisible here too, so it was difficult for me to connect to the environment. It could be that the worst drought in white man’s history was in its fifth year or that the Dog Fence kept the remaining animals far north. Whatever the case, it was sad. Anyway driving about the park is rewarding but very subtle. Probably a night in Quorn would do, then next morn a visit to the ruined station for a couple hours of meditation, then a trip up I think its called Devils Rock to view aboriginal works that I believe are recreated on a fairly regular basis and a great view of the country side. Alligator Gorge is in this area as well. Afternoon should be approaching and I would venture north to Copley for some ‘roo pies for a late lunch then trek to the Marree Hotel for some evening stubbies on the very edge with real people, throw my swag out under some desert stars, dream a bit and not even think I’d be headed home tomorrow.