Happy Hour goes "Formal"

A couple of visitors in the longdrop

The camping area at Red Banks

Redbanks

Well three years after our infamous We Will Rock You tour of Burra for the 2001 4WD Association AGM a group of us finally revisited the scene of the Crime for the Australia Day Long Weekend 2004. With Bev and Gerry, Greg and Leonie, Ruth and Gary setting out early on Friday and Denise, Jan, Dean and myself heading out after work, we were established in our camp at Red Banks Conservation Park (13 km east of Burra) by late evening. Us latecomers arrived just in time for the formal happy hour, the men in ties and the ladies in pearls. Some of us are really taking happy hour very seriously these days. Luckily Dean and I were quickly able to conform with the strict dress code of the Red Banks Camp Ground and with ties around our necks and tinnies in hand we soon settled in. Dieter and Brigitte arrived the following afternoon.

Saturday saw us have a leisurely morning, then we headed out for a drive. Firstly we took a quick trip around Red Banks Conservation Park and inspected the day visitor area. The park was very dry and the local creek held no water. The park would normally have waterholes along the creek judging by the amount of reeds growing in the creek bed. After this side trip we headed north past the Mongolata Gold Mine Area. Gary and Ruth took up tail end Charlie duties and I am quite sure that Ruth had seen enough gates to last for some time. Bad luck, Ruth we all normally carry lots more lollies than that. The track through this area is not used a great deal but was still very dusty. One surprise for us was Newikie Creek, leading the trip with my trusty navigator we rounded the corner on the approaches only to discover the creek crossing actually held water. So I followed the bible, stopped, got out and looked, hard bottom (sheep tracks in the shallows were not deep), crossing was only about 20 feet across. Had a think, assessed and decided it didn’t look deep (assumed it wasn’t). Locked my diffs, selected the appropriate gear, accelerated to the desired speed to maintain my momentum. Well yes I should have walked through the creek but it was a bit scummy. About three-quarters of the way through there was a headlight deep hole. This did not stop me but for the few seconds the water just about sapped all my momentum, but the cruiser dutifully carried me through. Gerry followed without incident in his Nissan, followed by Greg, while Dean’s Maverick decided that some thing in the electrics wanted no part of dampness and stopped working. He stalled in the middle of the creek, restarted and was able to get clear of the water before Merv snuffed it again. (No Jan, the new snorkel did not fail). Gary also crossed without incident and in no time Dean had his truck running and we were on our way.

We continued north to a new conservation park, Caroona C.P. After a short climb through the ranges in the park we stopped on the last ridge for lunch. After a pleasant break we headed out of the park and ran west for a short while then turned south and paralleled the Barrier Highway almost all the way back to Burra. After an ice cream break it was back to camp for Happy Hour. On our arrival we found that Dieter and Brigitte had arrived, set up camp, and had a range of sweets and savouries set out to celebrate Brigitte’s birthday. After that a quiet dinner followed by a session of candle watching (no campfire).

Sunday had us off into Burra to follow the National Trust Burra Heritage Trail. A day of old mines, railway station, cottages, and the odd snake gave us a snapshot into the early history of SA. We stopped our tour and had lunch down by Burra Creek. A very nice grassy park, Denise managed to start a riot with the local water foul tribe when she gave them a feed. A visit to the old police station and the goal was very interesting. We all looked for inmates with our family names; ironically the only Grant that did time was for desertion. The Old Brewery Cellars made a cool change for the day as it became very warm. Playing in the dark cool tunnels made my day but I think everyone thought I was just a bit strange. For a tour the information centre said would only take three hours we just finished it in six hours and we just skimmed some of the sites. Then once again it was back to camp, although I did hear a rumour that a person who will remain unnamed may have made a wrong turn and was heading to town, no big green signs I believe.

Monday, our group split up for the return trip with Gary and Ruth heading off early directly home. Dieter and Brigitte remained as we left as they were heading to Clare to visit friends. The rest of us took the scenic route home via Kapunda. We stopped for lunch at the old Kapunda reservoir. From there it was the home run. An interesting weekend, definitely quieter than our last visit to that region.