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BOBBY DAZZLER TOURS -- Seeing the Real Australia

Bobby Dazzler Tours provides personalised road tours to the remote areas of Australia, in particular between Sydney and Alice Springs.

This site provides some basic information about our tours, plus an archive of Bobby Dazzler Newsletters, and general news about the areas through which we travel. (To subscribe to Bobby Dazzler Newsletters -- which are sent by e-mail -- simply send an e-mail request to the address shown below.)

For every Bobby Dazzler trip, we first sit down with you and plan the details, to suit your interests and requirements. How much time/money do you want to spend? Are you into camping or not? What about painting, walking, meditation? Do you have special interests such as bird watching, history, wild flowers, special events such as gymkhanas, etc.? Some sample tours:

 The Grand Tour (19 days, costing about $3290 per person). This takes in an amazing range of Australian Outback icons, including Menindee Lakes, Broken Hill, Flinders Ranges, Lake Eyre, Coober Pedy, Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), Katatjuta (The Olgas), King’s Canyon, Palm Valley, Standley Chasm, Alice Springs, Chamber’s Pillar, Dalhousie Springs in the Simpson Desert, Oodnadatta, Strzelecki Track, Cameron Corner, Tibooburra, an overnight camel safari, Bourke, etc. etc.

 ‘Outback in a Week’ Tour (7 days, costing about $1310 per person). Includes Menindee Lakes, Broken Hill, White Cliffs (sleeping underground), Bourke, etc. You’ll see lots of wildlife! Gives you a real taste of the outback in a limited time.

 One-day Tours out of Sydney to the Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves area. Cost on application.

We can design a trip to suit your requirements! Bear in mind that going to Alice Springs and back requires a minimum of about 16 days. Costs include all accommodation (twin share; single rooms extra), camping equipment, and some meals. Tag-along vehicles are acceptable. We can also supply a knowledgeable guide to travel in your own vehicle, and advise on what to take, best route, where to stay, assist with driving, etc.

Bobby Dazzler Tours travel by comfortable air-conditioned four-wheel drive vehicle, with a maximum of three passengers on long trips (four on shorter trips). Where possible, we avoid main roads, using bush tracks instead. Accommodation can be varied to suit your preferences, ranging from camping or staying at bush pubs, to modern motels. Outback trips are normally in the period from March to October—summer’s too hot!

Unlike bus tours, we stop whenever you like for photos, checking out interesting objects (“Was that a bunyip we just went past?”), or to boil the billy. We go to places where buses can’t go.

As Charles Sturt said in 1845, “Those alone shall know the country who shall follow me into it.”

Simply contact Rob Brennan at Bobby Dazzler Tours to have a chat about possibilities. Carpe diem!


Bobby Dazzler Tours
10/24 Hilly St, Mortlake NSW 2137, Australia
Phone +612 8765 1775
E-mail brennan@bba.com.au

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Bobby Dazzler Newsletter

Issue #3, March 2003



The Great Bobby Dazzler Quiz

Keep your brain in top shape by taking the Bobby Dazzler Quiz! Here's the minimum score (out of 20) we think you should get if you've still got reasonable control of your faculties:

1. If you're an Aussie who's been on a Bobby Dazzler Tour: 12

2. If you're an Aussie who hasn't been on a BD Tour: 7

3. If you're a non-Aussie who's been on a BD Tour: 7

4. If you're a non-Aussie who hasn't been on a BD Tour: 2 (guessing has to pay off sometimes!)

If you get at least 4 more than the relevant score, you're either very well informed about the Australian Outback or else you're cheating.

The implications are clear: if you want to increase your knowledge of this kind of life-changing info, either come on a Bobby Dazzler Tour, or become an Aussie, or both.

The answers are given at the end of the questions.


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QUESTION 1: How is the hole down the middle of a didgeridoo traditionally created?

QUESTION 2: The aboriginal name for The Olgas in the Northern Territory is Katatjuta. What does it mean?

QUESTION 3: What mode of transport is The Ghan?

QUESTION 4: The Flinders Ranges in South Australia are named after whom?

QUESTION 5: In which Australian state or territory is:

a) Yulara
b) Wee Waa
c) Finke
d) Coober Pedy
e) Tibooburra
f ) Cradock

QUESTION 6: Marree is the town at the southern end of the Oodnadatta Track. It used to be called Herrgott Springs. Why was the name changed?

QUESTION 7: A cattle thief pioneered a cross-country droving route which later became one of Australia's famous "Tracks". Who was the cattle thief, and which Track?

QUESTION 8: At Cameron Corner, where New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia meet, the only building is a shop. What is it called?

QUESTION 9: On what river is the city of Broken Hill?

QUESTION 10: In which Outback town do you find the Pink Roadhouse?

QUESTION 11: What is the height relative to sea level of Lake Eyre:

a) At sea level.
b) 20 metres above sea level.
c) 12 metres below sea level.

QUESTION 12: Curdimurka is an abandoned railway siding near Lake Eyre. What has made it famous in recent years?

QUESTION 13: The Lasseter Highway which runs out to Uluru is named after Harold Lasseter. What was Lasseter's claim to fame?

QUESTION 14: Give two meanings for "drongo".

QUESTION 15: In what city is the Henley-on-Todd Regatta held?

QUESTION 16: What is the Barcoo Rot:

a) A disease of humans caused by poor diet.
b) Deterioration of building timber caused by extremely dry weather.
c) Hoof disease suffered by cattle.

QUESTION 17: Why are visitors to Coober Pedy advised not to walk backwards?

QUESTION 18: What is a gibber plain?

QUESTION 19: Bobby Dazzler Tours often stop at Maiden's Hotel in Menindee. Who were the famous explorers who stayed at Maiden's Hotel in 1861?

QUESTION 20: Uluru (Ayer's Rock) is approximately the same height as:

a) A 60-storey building.
b) A 90-storey building.
c) A 110-storey building.


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ANSWERS

Q1: Termites eat out the core of the branch while it is still on the tree. Aboriginal didgeridoo makers can tell by careful tapping whether a limb is hollow. Be suspicious of a didgeridoo which has a perfectly straight hole -- it has probably been bored out mechanically. Termites don't worry about straight lines.

Q2: Katatjuta means many heads. It is located about 35 km west of Uluru, and is a cluster of many massive stone domes, some even higher than Uluru. Strangely, the type of stone is quite different to that of Uluru.

Q3: The Ghan is a train, which traditionally runs between Port Augusta in South Australia and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The name commemorates the Afghan camel drivers whose camel trains serviced the route before the train line existed.

The line used to follow the Oodnadatta Track, but was replaced by a new line further to the west in 1980.

Bobby Dazzler Tours often follow the old railway track from Alice Springs down to the Finke River, actually driving along where the rails and sleepers used to be, rather than on the very rough road nearby.

Q4: Matthew Flinders circumnavigated Australia in 1802-3, and sighted the southern end of the ranges from his ship, The Investigator, while exploring Spencer Gulf.

The Flinders Ranges contain some of the most spectacular scenery in South Australia, with many dramatic rock formations more than 500 million years old. Wilpena Pound, Bunyeroo and Brachina Gorges are visited on Bobby Dazzler Tours.

Q5: a) Yulara is the resort town near Uluru (Ayer's Rock) in the Northern Territory. Bobby Dazzler avoids the commercialism of Yulara, and opts to stay at Curtin Springs Station instead.

b) Wee Waa (pronounced wee war) is a town in northern New South Wales, and is at the centre of a major cotton-growing area.

c) Finke is a town on the Finke River, right at the southern end of the Northern Territory. Bobby Dazzler Tours visit Finke after travelling south from Chamber's Pillar. Before 1980, the Ghan railway line passed through Finke. Now the town is very quiet, and the population mainly aboriginal.

d) Coober Pedy is in South Australia, and is Australia's largest opal-mining centre. Many of the residents live underground to escape the oppressive heat. Bobby Dazzler Tours always enjoy a night in an underground motel.

e) Tibooburra is in the north-west corner of New South Wales. The main street features a replica of the heavy wooden boat which explorer Charles Sturt and his party dragged overland from Adelaide on his futile search for an inland sea in 1845. They were marooned at Depot Glen, 40 km to the south of Tibooburra, for six months due to lack of water. Their diaries record temperatures of up to 132 degrees F (55 degrees C) in the shade.

f) Cradock is a tiny village in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, where the main attraction is the delightful Cradock Hotel, as frequented by Bobby Dazzler, and as featured in the March/April edition of Vogue Entertaining and Travel (pp. 110-115)!! It used to be called the Heartbreak Hotel (long before Elvis!).

Not all the places that Bobby Dazzler Tours stays at get featured in Vogue, but it's certainly gratifying that one of them has been! I guess we give you the full spectrum of experiences.

Give yourself a point for this question if you got at least four of them right.

Q6: Marree's name was changed in World War I when anything sounding Germanic was out of favour. Herrgott in German means "Lord God".

Q7: The cattle thief was Harry Redford, whose activities are recounted in Rolf Boldrewood's novel Robbery Under Arms. In 1870, he stole 1000 cattle from a property in south west Queensland, and successfully took them across the border into South Australia, and then down the desert route now know as the Strzelecki Track, a total distance of some 1200 km. He had unwisely included some branded cattle in the mob, and in 1872 was apprehended and brought to trial in Roma, Queensland. The jury members were so in awe of his feat that they returned a verdict of "not guilty". The ensuing furore in the community lead to the Queensland Government cancelling the criminal jurisdiction of the Roma court for three years.

Bobby Dazzler Tours often travel the Strzelecki Track, and give opportunity to marvel at Redford's achievement to bring cattle through such harsh country. Long-distance drovers were known as "overlanders", and Redford was one of the best.

Q8: Cameron Corner is an isolated spot. The nearest town is Tibooburra, some 150 km to the south-east. Innamincka is about 200 km to the north. The shop at Cameron Corner, where you can buy fuel, beer, bread, and a few other staples, is known -- naturally -- as "The Corner Store".

Q9: The raison d'être of Broken Hill is minerals. Silver, lead and zinc were discovered there in 1883, and since then, 147 million tonnes of metal have been extracted from the mines. There is no river at Broken Hill (trick question -- don't you just hate trick questions!). The city's water supply comes by pipeline from the Menindee Lakes, 110 km to the east, but in the current extreme drought conditions, the lakes are almost dry, and there is talk of having to send water by rail to Broken Hill.

Q10: The Pink Roadhouse is in Oodnadatta on the Oodnadatta Track at the edge of the Simpson Desert. Run by local identities Adam and Lynnie Plate, it is the dominant feature of the town, and sells just about everything, including tyres, saddles, postage stamps, books, and Oodnaburgers. Everything to do with the Roadhouse is painted pink.

Q11: Lake Eyre is some 12 to 16 metres below sea level. In other words, this normally dry salt lake near the centre of Australia is actually lower than the oceans around the coast. There was a proposal put forward at one stage to construct a pipeline from the coast to Lake Eyre, and allow gravity to bring sea water into Lake Eyre, but many doubt the ecological wisdom of such a scheme.

Q12: No-one has lived at Curdimurka since the Ghan railway line was relocated back in 1980. The nearest town is Marree, 85 km away. Someone had the bright idea of organising the Curdimurka Outback Ball, which now happens in October every second year.

It is a true desert scenario -- no trees, no water. The organisers truck out generators, portaloos, vast amounts of beer and wine, a large portable dance floor, and a live band. About 3000 people usually attend, emerging from their tents in their ball gowns and tuxedos to dance the night away under the stars.

Q13: In 1897, Harold Lasseter was found unconscious in the desert far to the south-west of Alice Springs. When he had recovered, he told of a fabulously rich reef of gold he had found, out beyond the Petermann Ranges. As proof of his claim, he had some very promising specimens of rock.

He refused to disclose the exact location of the reef, but by 1911, had raised the funds necessary to lead a party back to the reef. Conditions proved so difficult that the party had to give up without finding the location.

In 1930, another expedition was organised. After incredible hardships and all manner of problems, the party decided not to proceed further, but Lasseter was determined to press on until he found the gold.

The following year, his body was found in a cave in the desert by a group of aboriginal trackers.

Does the reef exist? No-one knows to this day. Would a man risk his own life, and the lives of others, for the sake of a hoax?

Q14: The spangled drongo is a dark coloured bird (dicrurus bracteatus) found in many parts of Australia in spring and summer.

A drongo is also a slow-witted or stupid person, quite similar to a dill, ratbag, mug or nong, as in "Don't be a drongo -- of course you should go on a Bobby Dazzler Tour!"

Q15: The Henley-on-Todd Regatta is held every October in Alice Springs, on the Todd River.

There is seldom any water in the Todd River -- in fact it's said that if you've seen the Todd flowing twice, you're a true Territorian -- so organising the Regatta requires a deal of imagination. The Regatta is held in the dry riverbed, and indeed on one accasion just a few years ago, the whole event was at risk of being cancelled because it started to rain, and it looked like there might be water in the Todd River!

Amazingly, there are rowing races, naval battles, and all sorts of novelty events -- great fun if ever you get the chance to be there!

Q16: The Barcoo Rot is a sort of scurvy or skin condition, caused by tainted food or dietary deficiencies. It was sometimes experienced by shearers and cattlemen, whose diet often consisted mostly of tinned meat, damper and billy tea. According to one commentator, the only cure was fresh vegetables or beer.

The term was presumably coined in western Queensland, in the vicinity of the Barcoo River, but the Barcoo Rot was reported as prevalent on the Western Australian goldfields in 1894.

The Barcoo River was brought to prominence by Banjo Paterson's poem, A Bush Christening, which starts like this:

On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few,
And men of religion are scanty,
On a road never cross'd 'cept by folk that are lost
One Michael Magee had a shanty.

Q17: Coober Pedy is Australia's largest opal mining area, and there are literarily thousands of disused shafts for miles around the town, usually with the opening uncovered. To step backwards when taking a photograph, for example, can be very dangerous -- you could end up at the bottom of a shaft up to 100 feet deep.

Q18: Gibber comes from an aboriginal word for a rock. A gibber plain is a flat area of land covered by rocks. In some remote areas, gibber plains stretch to the horizon. Sometimes the rocks are larger than a fist. The rocks have been exposed by countless centuries of wind and water gradually removing the soil, leaving only the rocks to be baked to extreme hardness by the sun.

Traversing a gibber plain is difficult for man or beast (and even takes its toll on the tyres of the modern 4WD!). For horses, it is downright torture. Camels do better with their large soft feet. There are stories of the sheep and cattle dogs which have to work in such country being fitted with leather "booties" to protect their feet from the stones.

Q19: Burke and Wills and their large expedition party (including camels) set out from Melbourne in 1860 to try to cross the continent from south to north and claim a large government-sponsored reward. Maiden's Hotel on the banks of the Darling River was an outpost on the fringe of the unexplored areas of Central Australia, and Burke and Wills actually stayed there as they planned their strategy. The original guest rooms are still in use, and it's strange to think that one could be sleeping in a room which Burke or Wills once occupied!

The bar and dining room were destroyed by fire a few years ago, and have been rebuilt.

The rest of the Burke and Wills story is an epic of Australian exploration: their success in crossing the continent, their return to "The Dig Tree" after four months absence only to miss their support party by a few hours, and then their death in the Outback.

Q20: At 348 metres, Uluru is approximately the same height as a 110-storey building! No wonder the first glimpse appears on the horizon some 50 km away when approaching on the Lasseter Highway!

The sheer size and "presence" of Uluru is hard to imagine without actually seeing it!


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POSTSCRIPT

In case you hadn't worked it out by now, the main reason for this quiz is to get people enthused about the wealth of interesting things there are to discover in the Australian Outback. And to persuade some to come on a Bobby Dazzler Tour and experience it first-hand!

It's not too late to book a tour this year (March to October). There are two vacancies on a Grand Tour (about 19 days) scheduled for late September/early October. Interested? Please get in touch.

Anytime from now to the end of October is a good time to travel in the Outback. There are often special events such as gymkhanas that we can take in. Camping is not a compulsory part of Bobby Dazzler Tours -- we can plan non-camping itineraries. Why not call for an obligation-free chat about the possibilities?



And a final thought ....

The best things in life are not things.

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Bobby Dazzler Newsletter

Issue #2, January 2003


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Eyewitness Solar Eclipse Report

At mid-afternoon on December 4th, we rolled into the tiny
outback village of Lyndhurst (about 150 km south-east of Lake
Eyre in South Australia). Normally, Lyndhurst is where we top
up our water supplies and buy a few last-minute provisions before
we head up to Marree and the start of the Oodnadatta Track. A
visit to Talc Alf, Lyndhurst's resident sculptor, homespun
philosopher and eccentric is also an important part of the
Lyndhurst experience.

But apart from that, Lyndhurst does not normally have much to
hold one's attention.

This time it was different. A total eclipse of the sun was due to
take place in only a few hours' time right there in little ol'
Lyndhurst, and people from all parts of the world were arriving in
their thousands to experience this rare event.

Not only that, but a "Trance Festival" was being staged just a
kilometre or so out of town to coincide with the eclipse. Your
Bobby Dazzler Newsletter reporter, who has in certain respects
led a somewhat sheltered life, took this to mean that the
festival participants would be taking on board various mind-
altering substances for the three-day duration of the event.
Now while this was probably in many cases true, I was reliably
informed that "Trance" is in fact a musical genre ("a bit more
spacey than techno"), and that the attendees were basically
there for the music. Which was just as well, since the music
continued non-stop, 24 hours a day for the whole time!

There were people, cars, tents, hamburger stands and
dreadlocks everywhere. Just buying some milk at the store
involved 20 minutes on a queue!

We drove around for a while to absorb the unusual ambience,
and then headed five kilometres out of town to a spot near the
Ochre Cliffs. There were people occupying every bit of high
ground. We found a reasonably secluded -- but low-lying --
area to pitch our tents, have a bite to eat, and then get ready
for the "show". (Although six kilometres distant, the Trance
music could still be heard, but not loud enough to worry us.)

We heard rumours that there was serious cloud cover at
Ceduna. This is the coastal town several hundred kilometres
to the south west which had been promoted as "the" spot from
which to view the eclipse. It was even reported that some
people had given up on Ceduna early that morning, and set off
by car to try to get to Lyndhurst before sunset. We allowed
ourselves a little smugness as we observed the clear sky over
the Lyndhurst region. Not even enough dust in the air to worry
about!

As soon as the moon started to pass in front of the sun, it was
clear that the eclipse would be sufficiently high above the
horizon to be seen from just about anywhere in the area, even
where we had set up our camp.

Our specially-purchased eclipse glasses got plenty of use, as the
moon took almost an hour to gradually block more and more of
the sun. Finally the last speck of visible sun disappeared.
Immediately the sky became noticably darker, and the brilliant
white "ring of fire" -- the sun's corona -- appeared around the black
disk of the moon. We had 26 seconds to look at this cosmic
drama with the naked eye, before the sun began to appear again.

It was truly a remarkable experience! If you haven't seen a total
eclipse and you ever get the opportunity, grab it -- I'm sure you
won't regret it!

It should be mentioned that, as far as spectacular appearance is
concerned, a partial eclipse (where the sun is only partly covered
by the moon) is trivial compared with the total eclipse.

For some interesting eclipse pictures taken near Lyndhurst by
freelance astronomer Fraser Farrell, have a look at:
http://astronomy.trilobytes.com.au/2002/dec4.htm

There will presumably in due course be some pictures on the
Astronomical Society of South Australia's site:
www.assa.org.au

Some eclipse facts:

* An annular eclipse is where the moon covers the centre of the
sun, but the outer edge of the sun is still visible. Neither a partial
eclipse or an annular eclipse is nearly as spectacular as a total
eclipse.

* There were 71 total eclipses worldwide in the 20th century.
None of these was visible from Sydney.

* The next total eclipse in Australia will occur in North
Queensland in 2012.

* The cloud cover in Ceduna cleared just in time for the total part
of the eclipse to be seen!

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The Wide Brown Land

This phrase from Dorothea McKellar's poem is familiar to all
Australians. In drought time, it's very easy to see how pertinent it
is. In drought-affected areas, the grass disappears, and the
parched soil provides the dominant component of the landscape.

On our way to see the eclipse, we passed through dramatically
"brown land" in western New South Wales and South Australia.
As one person put it: "It's so dry here, the potplants are out on
agistment."

Fortunately in the last couple of weeks, some rain has fallen in
these areas, but more will be needed before the drought can be
said to be over. Which leads me to say something about
Australia's deserts:

About 18% of Australia is classified as true desert, although
35% of the country receives so little rain, it is effectively desert.
Just under 70% of the country meets the requirements for being
classified as at least "arid".

All Aussies know that there's a lot of desert out there in the
middle, but I suspect that when pressed for a bit more detail,
we tend to get rather vague. For example, we have seven deserts
each one of which occupies at least 1% (80,000 sq kms) of
Australia. How many of the seven can you name? (Answers
below.)

The standard definition of a desert is where the average rainfall
is less than 25cm a year. This definition includes Antarctica. For
"hot" deserts, a second requirement is that more water would be
lost by evaporation that is gained by precipitation.


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ANSWERS (in descending order of size): Great Victoria Desert,
Great Sandy Desert, Tanami Desert, Simpson Desert*, Gibson
Desert, Little Sandy Desert, and Strzelecki Desert*. There are
three other smaller ones (Sturt Stony Desert, Tirari Desert, and
Pedirka Desert*).

The Big Desert and Little Desert in Western Victoria are not
regarded as true arid-area deserts. The Cobbler Desert* (seen
on the Strzelecki Track) is actually a part of the Strzelecki Desert,
and is sometimes known as the Cobbler Sandhills.

Our largest desert, the Great Victoria Desert, which occupies the
area to the north of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia and
Western Australia, covers four and a half percent of Australia!

* The deserts marked with an asterisk are visited on the Bobby
Dazzler Tours Grand Tour.

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Happy New Year!

We hope that 2003 is a good one for you, and that you will find
some time to enjoy the world you live in, read some good books,
spend time with friends, and think about what it all means.

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King's Canyon Bushfire

Late in October, a large bushfire, apparently started by lightning, burnt out a large part of the Watarrka National Park (west of Alice Springs) which contains the magnificent King's Canyon.

People in the King's Canyon Resort were evacuated, but King's Creek Station (where Bobby Dazzler Tours normally stays) was not affected.

The facilities shelter near the entrance to the Canyon was destroyed, but apparently the fire was halted before it reached the amazingly lush "Garden of Eden" area within the Canyon.

No doubt there were people battling valiantly to put out the fire, and full marks to them. But isn't it interesting to wonder how many hundreds of times fire has raged through the King's Canyon area over countless millenia, without a human being there to witness it! Surprisingly, the Universe can somehow get along without us.

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Bobby Dazzler Newsletter


Issue #1, November 2002


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Outback Solar Eclipse

For many of us, the process to predicting what is going to happen
within the next couple of seconds on a billiard table, where balls
move in straight lines in two dimensions, and all within a couple of
metres of each other, is difficult enough. This should give us great
respect for the astronomers, who manage to predict with amazing
accuracy the relative positions of the multitudinous celestial
bodies decades--even centuries--ahead.

They can tell us for example that there will be a total solar eclipse
over parts of Cape York (Far North Queensland) on November 13th,
2012. So if you are standing in the right place on Cape York at the
right time on that day, the moon will pass in front of the sun and
entirely cover it.

A total eclipse of the sun has been described as nature's most
spectacular and awe-inspiring phenomenon. It occurs only about
once every 18 months somewhere on earth. Total solar eclipses
at a particular location can be separated by centuries. For
example, Adelaide's last total solar eclipse was in 1802--before
the city was founded--and its next is not until New Year's Day
in 2606!

The astronomers have also known for a long time that there will
be a total solar eclipse over remote parts of South Australia on
December 4th this year. "Why have we not been told?", you ask!
The media will tell you about Tom Cruise's latest girlfriend, they'll
tell you about the tragedy of Mark Waugh getting dropped from the
Australian cricket team, but an eclipse in the Outback -- no,
at least not until it's too late to do much about it except watch it
on TV or read about it in the paper.

That's the kind of thing that makes the Bobby Dazzler
Newsletter indispensable to the discerning reader.

The total eclipse will occur in the late afternoon over a narrow
strip about 32 km wide stretching from Ceduna on the coast of
the Great Australian Bight to Cameron Corner (where NSW,
South Australia and Queensland meet). Almost all the country
it passes over is desert or semi-desert.

The most popular viewing spot will be Ceduna, a small town on
the Eyre Highway, which runs 2400 kms across the Nullarbor
Plain from Adelaide to Perth.

But it will also pass over Lyndhurst, a tiny village at the
southern end of the fabled Strzelecki Track, and home to Talc
Alf, well known to many Bobby Dazzler alumni.

Lyndhurst doesn't normally have a great deal to draw the crowds,
particularly in the summer when temperatures in the 40s are
common. There's the Elsewhere Hotel, the only pub in town, and
there's the "Re-Public Toilets" (thanks to Talc Alf). If you've come
from the south, Lyndhurst marks the end of the bitumen. The
dramatic Ochre Cliffs are just a few kms north of town.

But on December 4th, all accommodation within about 100 kms
is booked out, including Marree, Leigh Creek, Farina camping
ground, even Arkaroola. A large group of American eclipse chasers
is expected. Talc Alf should make a motza!

Bobby Dazzler Tours plans to be there, and will report back in
due course.

The total blocking of the sun at the centre line of the eclipse
path (about 5 kms north of Lyndhurst) will occur for only 26
seconds, although there will be a partial eclipse for almost an
hour. (Indeed, most of the country will experience a partial
eclipse--even Sydney.)

Of course, there's no guarantee that the eclipse will be visible.
It could be blocked out by cloud, or--perhaps more likely--by
dust, given the very dry conditions in that part of the country.

We plan to take three days to get to Lyndhurst, and four days
to get back. Summer is not the most comfortable time of the
year to travel in these parts (ask Charles Sturt, or Burke and
Wills), but we hope the view will be worth it.

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For the Book Worms

The Strzelecki Track--Lifeline to the Corner Country
by Peter Donovan and June Donovan
Published by the South Australian Dept of Road Transport (1996)

This 91-page book gives a history of the Strzelecki Track (which runs
for 460 kms from Lyndhurst to Innamincka) and the area through
which it passes, from the beginnings of European exploration
through to the present day. Many pictures.

This book is probably hard to obtain, and may be out of print. If you
ask nicely, it may be borrowed from Bobby Dazzler Tours.