Nuccaleena

Winner of SA Great’s Australia Post Small Business Award for the Flinders/Outback region.

A well deserved win for all the hard work Joylene, her family and staff have put in over the years.

Congratulations also to Black Jack Getaway who received a commendation in the same category and to Bendleby Ranges who received a commendation in the South Australian Tourism Commission Tourism Award.

Lovely to see Orroroo being so well represented and making us all proud!

From an email forwarded onto me earlier this week…quite poignant really!

This little fella is not far off leaving the nest so this will inevitably be the last picture we will get of him.

Thanks to Mary from Worumba for sending them in!

Here are some pictures of the Campdraft held a couple of weekends ago.

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LOW AND HIGH RANGE OFF-ROAD 4W-DRIVING

The selection of the correct gear and range seems to cause endless debate so I thought I would add my contribution to the confusion this month. Well I am actually hoping to bring it down to a few simple and easily remember rules actually.

When to use four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive should be used to provide additional traction on difficult terrain. It is a good habit to engage 4WD and lock your front hubs (if fitted), once off the bitumen and travelling on dirt roads. Depending on the track conditions, it is also sound practice to lower your tyre pressures by around 25% and reduce your speed. These habits reduce the risk of a roll-over and/or a puncture.

Depending on type your vehicle will have a range of four-wheel drive selections; it is important to know the general rules for making the correct selection.

H2 is for general highway and town/city driving and on well-formed, graded, compacted dirt roads.

H4 is for use on roads and terrain where wheel slip is expected such as gravel roads, mud, sand, dirt and bush tracks with a high level of traction loss.

L4 (low ratio, four-wheel drive). Use this position when maximum traction and torque

are needed for ascending and descending steep inclines, carrying heavy loads in off-road conditions and when entering mud or sand conditions.

In a non-constant 4WD vehicle it is advisable not to use H4 on roads with a high level of grip or traction as transmission wind-up can and will occur.

Which gear and when?

Without presenting one of our training sessions a couple of simple rules here. Low range is for our wonderful Flinders tracks but in sand you should use high range but the same gear selection. As well this applies to automatic’s which should never be left in drive when off-road. Drive them exactly the same way as a manual transmission.

Going up hill/climbing. Always use a gear higher than First Low. Second or third low are the preferred gears. Why? Well first is too short a gear and you can easily spin wheels, lose traction and then things can get expensive. So a higher gear gives you less chance of wheel spin which is also a very good way of preserving the track you are driving on.

Going down hill/descending. Simply the reverse of climbing. You need as low a gear as you can. Why? Well using the brakes going down hill is not a great idea. Braking can cause a loss of traction and with that comes a loss of control and so it goes. So first gear low range is the best. Let the engine and gears do the work. The slower the better and if it is too slow then you can always gently accelerate a bit. Speed down hill leads to track damage and dented cars and egos so enjoy the view on the descent and be kind to our environment. Remember if you are spinning wheels you are definitely not driving correctly.

Enjoy the drive and the view and leave it in good condition for those that follow.

Of course if you want to know more then join us for one of our training weekends or tours.

Red Earth Expeditions

A big congratulations to Leanne, winner of our first Online Competition!

Thankyou to everyone who entered and apologies for the late drawings…things have been a bit hectic here of late.   We will forward the Maggie’s voucher onto Leanne in the next mail and hope that she treats herself to something special on her next visit!

Stay 2 nights in November or December and receive the 3rd night free!

* Generous Continental Breakfast provisions and Linen included.

* Minimum 3 night stay, special valid for November and December 2008 only

* Please remember to mention our NEW website when booking!

*Psst - Don’t forget your loved ones at Christmas, we can tailor make Gift Vouchers to suit all needs…the perfect gift for that ‘hard to buy for’ someone in your life!

This recipe is a favourite in our house. Very simple and makes a large batch.  I have changed the flour content to wholemeal - and guess what? No one knows the difference! Wholemeal flour and dark choc chips - it could almost be classed as a healthy snack?! ;-P

Ingredients:

• 260 grams of salt reduced butter (at room temperature)
  
• 260 grams of sugar
• 100 grams of brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 packets of dark chocolate bits
• 260 grams of wholemeal plain flour
• 260 grams of wholemeal self raising flour

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 170°C (fan forced oven)
2. Cream butter and sugar together with beaters until pale (about 5 mins)
3. Add eggs, one at a time ensuring they are well mixed in.
4. Add vanilla and choc chips, mix through evenly.
5. Add flour and stir with wooden spoon until all flour is mixed in.
6. Spoon mixture onto trays - I usually do about a desert spoon size but you can make them as big or small as you like (the smaller you go the more you get, which can be good in a large family!)
7. Bake in oven for around 10 - 15mins depending on the size of your cookies.

Flour can be substituted with white plain and white self raising if desired, however I can tell you quite honestly, judging by the end product it is really hard to tell between the two - trust me, my family has no idea!!!

As a variation to this recipe you could also add nuts (macadamias) and white choc chips to make a really scrummy biscuit, I don’t do this in our house as two don’t like white chocolate and the other is allergic to nuts and unfortunately that would only leave me to eat them!

Adnyamathanha (pronounced Adna-mutna) people have lived in the Northen Flinders Ranges for around 40,000 years. Aboriginal Carvings have been found at Third Water Spring and Ochre paintings have also been found on Moolooloo by a bushwalker in an unknown location.

Third Water Spring is also home to the odd yabbie in good seasons and is a popular camping location.

If you would like to visit these Aboriginal Carvings or camp at Third Water you need permission so please give us a ring in advance of your arrival.

We had the pleasure of having some members of the 1st Blackwood Scout Group camp at Third Water in October.  This year a smaller group, made up of Scout member families, made the trek after being part of the larger contingent last year.  Trish sent us in some fantastic photos which we thought we’d like to share with you…

We look forward to seeing them again in the future!

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Due to popular demand we are now able to accept Bankcard, Visa and Mastercard as payment for accommodation. We have included this option to help make payment as easy as possible for our guests.

Please click here for terms and conditions.

I stumbled across this post/article ~ which I must say, I was pleased as punch about!  Yes people, Australia has far more to offer than simply the Gold Coast, Sydney and Alice Springs…whilst all are lovely spots to visit you cannot get the true uniqueness of Australia until you travel off the beaten track!

Here’s cheers roadtripit!!!

Some Australian road trip ideas « The road trip blog.

Here is an updated picture of the eagle chick as seen in this previous post

It has grown a great deal from the early pictures. Thanks to Mary at Worumba for sending the picture in!

Here are some photos of the kids riding in the Monte Carlo event at the Blinman Races on the weekend.  This is always a very popular event with the kids and the great part is you don’t even need your own horse to compete! Thanks to some very kind horse owners who are happy to lead the children around…

Pictures courtesy - Karen Cains

If you look closely you will see a baby eagle in its nest! Mary and Lesley walked up some steep terrain on Worumba Station over the weekend to get a closer look.