About October 24th, John and a couple of companions left Adelaide a 3 week journey to the northern section of the Flinders Ranges. This is the most remote and rugged terrain in South Australia. It is the land of "sheep stations" and Australia's Indigenous People.
John reports in to Shelagh every evening, usually by satellite phone. Some times he sends a simple text message, so there is not much news except where they are and that they are OK.
They are traveling in a land rover which is the standard for off-road and remote travel.
A map of the Northern Flinders Ranges.
They are in the northern 1/4th of this map and have been camping from Leigh Creek to Nepabunna.
They planned to camp for a week and then find a place to get a shower and a real bed(bunk house) for a night, then back to camping. Map may need to be enlarged for better viewing.
When traveling in these areas, if is the custom to stop and check in with the sheep station that you are passing thru. They provide local information and updates on road conditions.
John described one day as a series of having tea at several of the stations they were passing thru.
They apparently stayed in Nepabunna one night. It is a small village of 30 - 49 Indigenous people and is just on the northern edge of the Natawarrina Indigenous Protected Area. A permit and likely a guide is required in this area. The local custom is to request permission to enter these lands.
The big lakes shown on the east and west sides of the map are mostly seasonal (according to literature) and are home to many wading birds as they dry up and become large salt flats.
If you want to see the area on Google Maps or Google Earth, type in (S 30 13 33.5 E 139 6 05.1)
in the search or location box. This should show the village of Nepabunna, where they were working on Wednesday.
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