22 Apr 10 - Arckaringa Homestead

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By Craig: Our trip through the Painted Desert to Arckaringa Homestead was a late drive. This would be our first stay at a working homestead.

Although not staying in the homestead itself, the owners welcomed campers to stay on site and provided campfire and hot showers. As darkness fell we called through to the station via UHF and registered our interest in staying the night. An acknowledgement was given by the station with confirmation of a camp spot and that they had seen us coming down through the hills. We were also advised that we were approximately 1km away. All was well. We had a place to rest for the night and we had previously heard a call to the station by our recent travel friends, Steve and Chris, so we knew the night might see a quiet chat and a few drinks around the fire place.
At the same time we were confirming our accommodation we came across three bog holes, looking a little more treacherous in the spot lights. No chances taken we engaged 4wd, locked both diffs in and trudged our way through with no problems.

Setting up was quick, dinner was underway and the camp fire had already been prepared by Steve, so all that was left to do was shower and kick back in front of the fire.
Next morning I woke early to see the sunrise. We ventured off after a quick breakfast (thanks for the French toast, Steve) through the Painted Desert on our way to Coober Pedy.

The vast country side was stony and harsh but at the same time extremely beautiful.


By Lou: The drive to Arckaringa Homestead was beautiful, flooded with twilight. Although setting up in the dark is not my preferred option, the camp area was well lit and we didn't take long to do a basic set up and whip some ham and cheese sangas into the pan. The hot showers were wonderful, it was nice to have company around the campfire and the dark open sky was beautiful.

Samuel was delighted to play with the resident kitten, which was extremely sociable. Craig and I were delighted to discover the next day not a drop of mouse poo in the car. Finally we were rid of our last Perlubie mouse.