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Having enjoyed the Granite and Woodlands Discovery Trail between Hyden and Norseman, then the Nullarbor, we turned left just after Port Augusta and finally headed to the Flinders Ranges.  The adventure started at Rawnsley Park Station with a bonus bird experience... Our Nullarbor crossing was pleasantly uneventful but we would like to call out Mundrabilla Roadhouse where we had a night in digs and out of the Troopy, and dinner at the pub. The sunset was spectacular, the accommodation perfectly acceptable, and the dinner rather good. NORTH TO QUORNThe next exciting distraction was turning left just after Port Augusta...we were finally on our way to the Flinders Ranges! After a bit of a dreary start, the day brightened up by the time we got to Quorn, an intriguing spot - well worth a pit stop. We particularly enjoyed their wire-meshed war memorial statues near the rest area. A lovely commemoration. We messed about the town for a bit and we were very impressed with what they had to offer. TO HAWKEROur first visit and again we were very impressed. Our first stop was Flinders Food Co., a rather hip looking place just near the rest area. One of us was getting hangry! This was very impressive and we highly recommend. We hadn't expected such gourmet fare, but there was more to come in the days ahead.... after lunch we messed about Hawker and found it delightful, including a very impressive art gallery showcasing works by Jeff Morgan - we thought this was outstanding. Don't miss it!   ON TO RAWNSLEYIt was onwards and upwards into the Flinders proper...but we couldn't resist a couple of stops to try some landscape shots en route...somehow the Troopy snuck into a couple of those shots. Don't know how that happened! Rawnsley Park Station didn't disappoint - first and later impressions were very positive. We'll write more about that in our next instalment. But the highlight of our first evening was an unforgettable bird experience....here's a video summary of our first day to this point. THEN IT HAPPENED...It was golden hour and so we took the camera out and looked for birds - we found the usual suspects, much to our delight! Then we noticed that a very large flock of galahs had assembled just in front of us...we quite inched forward, mesmerised as much by the Flinders backdrop as the birds in the golden light...then...   WHOOSH!With our warning, the flock launched into the blue, wheeled around, came around our right flank, then for no apparent reason, resettled on the ground. It was over n seconds, but I just happened to have my camera trained on them with a very fast shutter speed. When I processed the photos that evening, I was puzzled about the navy blue markings on the birds wings - were they ill? No, it soon became apparent that they were simply casting shadows on each other. This was such a lesson in photography, I have written another blog entry (Sunset galahs - and lessons learnt) - read it here. Just for fun, I made a selection of the photos into a movie...just to try and show the power of the experience. Enjoy! This was a cracking start to our Flinders Ranges experience!
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