Mayor4Unley

Last weekend I did my annual trip up to Andamooka; up in the Outback in the far north of South Australia. It's a time to get away and relax without a worry in the world in the bush. Of course I spent time noodling for opals. I found rock with nice traces of blue opal, but didn't find that special and elusive large solid opal. There's always next year. But I did find (or see) a lone wombat near Andamooka. Before leaving Adelaide I had seen media reports about a Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat that had been seen and photographed on the plains on the road between Andamooka and Roxby Downs. It had caused a bit of a stir because no wombat had been sighted in the area for about 40-50 years. Wombats have been known to live for up to 50 years. So, one day, late in the day (before beer time) I drove from Andamooka, passed the migratory black swans on a small lake and about half way to Roxby I spotted the wombat. He was on the plain, off to the right 100-200 metres away. A further 3...

Last week I was up at Andamooka for a few days. Took my son to noodle for opals. On the way up, it rained for 60 seconds just south of Pimba. 15km from Andamooka we slowed because of a mob of emus beside the road. Dad emu was going walkabout with 10 large chicks (20-30cm high). And then, the serenity of the outback was shattered. There in front of us, on a sign warning of kangaroos was an election poster. I was devastated. I had gone bush to escape city life and take a break and unwind after the recent Council election. There was no mobile phone connection, very few amenities and yet on a sign post on a hot wind swept plain was an election poster. I took a photo and headed for town and a cold beer.