Cultana:: This is one of the Australian Army Play Pens. It is approximately 2100 square klms. I have shown these three photographs on the way to the lighthouse to illustrate that apart from the road and the front of my car, everything you see is part of the Army Play Pen. Driving to the Port ( 80 klms) it is difficult to realise that for the entire journey everything you see on either side of the road belongs to the army. There were two large cattle stations – one on either side, but the army wanted the land so the Government slapped a compulsory purchase order on the property owners. Did the same with two other stations that the army wanted.
Oh, I have realised I am being unkind- they allowed us to keep the small tourist park and picnic ground at Wild Dog Hill. Wasn’t that sweet???
One of the disadvantages is that most of the tourist parks, motels, adventure parks and caravan parks do not allow animals (Pets of any kind) and that being so, it limits what I can do and where I can go. Still the Lighthopuse is a nice drive of 20+ miles or 37 miles to Fitzgerald Bay. As Annabell says, Benji doesn’t care where you go – he is in the car, he’s with you and that’s all that matters to him. The temperature is still in the high 30s although there is a strong North Wind with it which is causing concern since the ground is tinder dry and if a fire were to start now, the wind and the heat conditions would be a deadly combination. Also the wind is blowing up dust everywhere which is a bit irritating.
By 4pm the wind had died down and there is no reports of any major fires, so that’s a blessing. There are two branches on one of my trees that are a tad unstable and I worry about them when the wind blows harder than usual. I really should have them trimmed but I never got round to it, however, I must before winter comes and we do get storms. They are fairly large branches and
although I believe they would come down on my side of the fence, I have concerns. Friday 13th. At the moment it is blowing pretty hard and the sun is obscured by a dust storm. This is why some of the houses at the top of the town – Fairclough Crest. where I take Benji walking – are up for sale. There has been no rain in this area, just high wind and dust. Of course
that’s not to say that the wind will cease and we will have rain, but nothing in sight. However, above us and to the west of us there had been a lot of rain as well as in Adelaide, and the weather forecast
suggests that the rain will by-pass us this time round and by Monday, things will start
to warm up again. You know, I don’t know how other people manage it but I always have problems with text and photographs.
I took Benji down to the Wetlands today (15th) and the water levels are still dropping. Well two reasons – it’s run-off water and there has been no rain for quite a few months and secondly this is the water that is used to water the grass and the trees, so although it is not being replenished, it is being used as required. The workmen were working on the Cafe building area. Nothing much seems to have progressed since last time I looked. Still when finished – in the fullness of time – it will be well used. In the last few days, for example, there have been a number of caravans and trailers in the Wetlands Car Park, so a cafe will be well appreciated by locals and visitors alike. Sometime this week, if the weather stays reasonable, I might take Benji back to Fitzgerald bay, only this time we will go there directly so we can spend a bit more time at the bay. I’ll pack the cooler again and we can have lunch and treats there. However, I have to say that the massive spike in fuel cost in these last few days, are causing a bit of a concern.
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