Apres les longues plaines du Nullarbor, on avait besoin de voir un peu de relief, et on a donc mis le cap vers le parc national des Flinders Ranges, avant de continuer vers le Sud et Adelaide

After the never ending Nullarbor plains, we needed to see some peaks, so we set the compass for Flinders Ranges National Park, before continuing south towards Adelaide

Notre premiere destination se trouve dans le nord de l’Australie du Sud – en chemin, les twisters apparaissaient dans les plaines

Our first destination was north (which seemed a bit counterintuitive when the ocean’s the other way). Along the way, we saw lots of those little twisters…

Il y en avait vraiment beaucoup : on en voyait parfois 2 ou 3 en meme temps ! Mais ces tourbillons de poussiere ne presentent aucun danger

…sometimes two or three at the same time, but they usually disappeared pretty quickly

Puis les plaines laissent rapidement leur place aux chaines de montagne

Then the plains give way to the mountains

Le long du chemin, les ruines d’anciennes fermes montrent que la region a ete prospere a la fin du XIXeme siecle

Along the road, we saw many ruins of old farms from the end of the 19th century

Mais les annees d’abondance etaient rares, et l’agriculture et l’elevage intensif ont rapidement epuise les maigres ressources de cette region

While these farms saw some good years, the intensive agriculture practices and a lack of regular rainfall quickly exhausted the resources in the region, and many people simply abandoned their farms. Sadly, it’s not too different today in other parts of the country

On a atteint le parc, et on a passe deux nuits dans le camping desert – apparemment les australiens preferent aller a la mer qu’a la montagne, et seuls quelques touristes bravent la chaleur de l’interieur des terres durant l’ete

We reached the park, and found that the campground was actually privately run, so more expensive than those great national park campgrounds in WA that we had grown accustom to. But, it did have a pool, which we were happy to float around in after a day of foolish hiking in 40 degree weather. The campground was quite deserted and we soon realized that it was pretty much only foreign tourists silly enough to choose the mountains over the beach in the summer

On y a retrouve nos copains les wallabies

We found our little friends the wallabies again

La principale attraction du parc est bien evidemment la randonnee dans les montagnes !

The main reason for coming to the park was to hike some of the mountains

Le jour suivant, on s’est donc reveille tot pour gravir un proche sommet avant que la temperature ne rende l’entreprise impossible

So the next day we woke up early to climb up one of the peaks before it got too hot

Le risque de dehydratation est reel, il y a meme un panneau dans les toilettes pour vous aider a en reconnaitre les symptomes suivant la couleur de l’urine

It’s easy to get dehydrated around these parts, and there are even signs in the bathrooms to help you monitor your water intake according to the colour of your pee!

Mais la chaleur ne nous a pas empeche d’atteindre le haut de la montagne !

But we didn’t let that heat stop us!

Du sommet la vue etait impressionnante

There was a pretty impressive view from the top

Le sommet domine en fait une cuvette naturelle – il faut imaginer que ce plateau etait a l’origine entoure par de gigantesques montagnes (etape 2 ci-dessous) – et la cuvette etait en fait le fond de la vallee. Les montagnes ont fondu sous l’effet de l’erosion mais pas la vallee qui se retrouve maintenant plus elevee que les nouvelles vallees qui l’entourent (etape 3).

The peak actually forms part of a natural basin called Wilpena Pound. This plateau in the middle was once surrounded by huge mountains (fig 2 below, thank you prof Roland) and the basin was the bottom of the valley. The mountains eventually eroded down and the original valley is now higher than the new surrounding valleys (3)

Et partout, on retrouve les couches geologiques qui racontent cette histoire qui remonte a des millions d’annees

And everywhere, you can see these geological layers

L’autre histoire qu’on decouvre, plus recente, est celle de l’utilisation de cette cuvette par les eleveurs de moutons. Les taxes qu’ils payaient etaient basees sur le nombre de tetes qu’ils etaient censes pouvoir elever, en consequence de quoi ils surchargeaient les terres. La cuvette formait un enclos naturel pour plus de 100.000 moutons ! Mais ca n’a pas dure, car la vegetation n’a pas suivi, et le manque d’eau a cause la mort de nombreuses tetes de betail.

In more recent history, this basin was used by sheep farmers, the landscape forming a natural enclosure, or pound. The taxes paid were based on the number of heads they were supposed to be able to raise, so the farmers crammed too many sheep, over 100,000, into the pound. The land, however, couldn’t support the overgrazing coupled with inadequate rainfall, and much of the vegetation died off, in turn killing many of the sheep.

Ca peut sembler etonnant aujourd’hui, car on voit beaucoup de vegetation

It hardly seems believable today, as it all looked pretty green, with lots of trees and grass

A certains endroits, avec les forets de sapin, on se croirait presqu’en Colombie Britannique, ca desoriente vraiment

Some spots, with the pine forests, looked a little like the interior of BC!

Il y a meme quelques trous d’eau !

There were even some watering holes that helped the early settlers survive

Mais il ne faut pas oublier que l’ecosysteme du bush est tres lent : ce qu’on voit est l’optimisation de faibles ressources par quelques especes qui se sont adaptees a la secheresse, et l’introduction de la culture et de l’elevage a rapidement epuise ce qui ressemblait a un paradis vegetal a leur arrivee

The bush ecosystem is a slow and delicate one that optimises the few resources they can. The species that thrived in this area had adapted to the dryness, but the introduction of agriculture threw the balance off quite quickly

Certaines annees, la pluie et la faible temperature laissaient entrevoir un espoir aux familles d’agriculteurs qui s’installaient la. Mais dans l’ensemble les lits de riviere sont plutot a sec – ce qui permet de les recycler en lit tout court… Ah ah ah…

Some years, the rain and lower temperatures gave the families hope, but overall, the riverbeds mostly dried up

Donc, au final, la secheresse a eu raison de la plupart des colons…

So, in the end, the dryness got the better of the settlers…They were a brave lot, I think, as I was even nervous imagining getting stuck out there if the van didn’t start

Dans le ciel, les aigles continuent de tournoyer a haute altitude pour trouver des proies sur cet enorme territoire

In the sky above, eagles (or vultures?) kept circling

Apres 2 nuits dans les Flinders Ranges, on a repris la route vers Adelaide, accompagnes par les perroquets

After two nights in Flinders Ranges, we got back on the road towards Adelaide, a huge flock of cockatoos bidding us farewell

En fait, cette portion de la route a ete le plus difficile qu’on ait eu depuis le debut de notre voyage en Australie : entre 38 et 40 degres sous un soleil de plomb, l’air chaud entre dans le van par les fenetres ouvertes, et les plages sont plutot des marais qui ne donnent pas du tout envie de se baigner pour se rafraichir ! On a donc fait le maximum de km, le long de la voie ferree, avant de s’arreter pour la nuit.

This 500km drive south was undoubtedly the hardest part of our trip since taking to the road in Perth. With the temperature between 38 and 40 degree, and the sun beating down, our airconditioning system, the windows, was not quite cutting it! Kath even started counting the cars without A_C (ie the ones with the windows open at all) and we truly felt like the only ones in the whole country stupid enough to drive in this heat without A_C! The countryside wasn’t even very attractive and we were far from the sea, so all we could really do was concentrate on the hot air wafting around us. At one point, as we were approaching Adelaide, we thought we had scored, with a little road called “something beach road” beckoning us down kilometres of gravel. Alas, even the beach was ugly and swampy, and any notion of taking a quick dip was quashed when we read the sign informing us that due to contamination, the water was unsafe for swimming. Feeling slightly dejected, but cooler with the setting sun, we found a little free camp place at Mallala’s recreation ground, essentially on the side of their footy pitch

Le lendemain, direction la “Barossa valley”, haut lieu de la viticulture en Australia

The next morning it was off the Barossa Valley, a well-known Australian wine region, not far out of Adelaide

Le style est parfois un peu rococo…

We weren’t completely sold on the style of some places…

… mais dans l’ensemble c’etait plutot sympa

…but it was quite pretty all in all, with its rolling hills and little towns

Apres avoir suivi la route touristique autour des vignobles, on est alle a Adelaide – mais seulement le temps de faire les courses, car c’etait le reveillon du jour de l’an et on voulait le passer tranquille dans la nature. Adelaide est reputee pour n’avoir aucun gratte-ciel ; c’est vrai que la ville a su garder un certain charme

After toodling around the scenic tourist route through the vineyards (though without tasting a drop of wine!), we drove in to Adelaide. We really only stayed enough time for a quick and most appreciated swim, and to do a bit of shopping, as it was New Years Eve and we wanted to spend the night off in the bush somewhere. We tried to have a little look round the city, but beat a hasty retreat out of there, our sightseeing enthusiasm wilted by the over 40 temperature. What we did see, however, seemed pretty nice. Lots of parks and no big skyscrapers…

On y trouve encore les anciens batiments industriels

Over by the port were lots of old warehouses

On a donc rapidement continue jusqu’a un parc national, dont le camping s’est revele charmant : une petite colline herbeuse au bord du rivage

We had considered spending New Years in the city, but instead opted for nature, finding a great little camping spot in Coorong National Park

Un site ideal pour notre reveillon du nouvel an !

And we had a lovely, if quiet, New Years Eve!

Le lendemain, nous nous sommes reveilles au son des oiseaux

The next morning, we were woken by the birds

Le paysage etait propice a l’inspiration pour Kath

Kath was feeling inspired by the landscape

Roland etait plutot d’humeur a bouquiner…

Roland was more into his book…

… finalement il a ete rejoint par Kath… un jour de l’an loin des fetes et des petards !

…in the end, Kath joined in the reading as well…what a bunch of party animals!

La region est productrice du fameux boeuf Angus qui fait fureur dans les fast-food

The region produces lots of angus beef. This guy looks like an angry angus indeed!

Et on a derange par hasard un groupe d’oies sauvages qui se reposait au bord de la route et qui se sont envolees a notre passage – saurez-vous retrouver l’ibis qui se cache parmi elles ?

We unwittingly startled a group of wild birds resting near the side of the road, taking off as we drove by – can you spot the ibis?

En parlant d’ibis, ils etaient nombreux a etre perches dans les arbres

Speaking of ibis (as you do), there were lots of them hanging about in the trees

Ca doit etre le pic de la saison pour les oiseaux migrateurs, car ils etaient partout – et ils viennent parfois de tres loin, depuis l’Alaska et la Siberie pour certains !

It must have been peak migration season, as the birds were everywhere – some coming all the way from Alaska or Siberia! And we thought we had a long trip!

Attention aux ours ! Euh, non en fait, il n’y a pas d’ours en Australie, il s’agit de Wombat qui sont bien moins dangereux que leurs cousins du Canada

Watch out for the bears! Well no, no bears down under, but these little wombats look almost as cute as their Canadian cousins. (Well, probably no relation at all, but it’s as close as you come over here)

N’oublions pas le traditionnel animal geant : ici c’est le homard !

And let’s not forget the obligatory giant animal: here the lobster, though it looks more like a crayfish if you ask me

Et pour finir la journee : achat d’un nouveau maillot de bain et baignade dans l’ocean !

And to finish off, Roland in his swish new swimming shorts. The town we bought them in, Robe, was a nice little old-fashioned seaside holiday town, but priorities being what they are, but headed straight to the shop then the beach!

On a finalement passe tres peu de temps en South Australia – des le lendemain, on entrait dans un nouvel Etat : le Victoria dont la capitale est Melbourne.

So, it was rather a speedy journey through South Australia as the next day we were in a new state: Victoria with its cuddly koalas, lovely coastline and great capital city of Melbourne!