11/4/22 Tcharkuldu Rock Minnipa

 

Okay , another drive day , more wind - mostly cross headwind . Stopping at Ceduna for the Quarrantine Inspection , the officer asked where we come from , and I said we'd left Kalgoorlie over a week ago , he replied "no rush then " before checking the fridge & pantry and let us carry on . We shopped a little and continued on . 

 The winds weren't being the most friendly ,so at Minnipa we pulled off the hwy and headed to Tcharkuldu Rock , to another free camp . We arrived and drove around the rock to the west side where the wind wasn't as bad , only trouble , there was bull dust everywhere , so we found a sign to the dam and ventured down that track . Had to stop occasionally to break off dead branches that would have damaged the van .

  And this is where we ended up , nicely protected and quiet .

  The drone came out for a fly , this is looking north to the Gawler Ranges over a couple of small wheat fields . Tcharkuldu Rock is at the bottom of the photo .

   This is Tcharkuldu Dam , originally constructed to supply water to Minnipa - 3 million gallon capacity.

  

 It was nice to be in the woodlands as the sun went down .

  The dam is interesting , it has concreted inflow ramps , one that is behind me in this photo directs the initial water inflow into a smaller pond to assist with removing sediment , the water settles and then flows over this one into the main dam .

 At this end is the old pump pit & tower , the water was pumped out into a pipeline that went the 6klms into town . The pipe has long gone .

This is Tcharkuldu Rocks worker/ surveyors hut , used for the workers etc when they were constructing the walls around the base of the rock , the tank and the dam.

   These are the walls at the base of the rock to catch runoff and direct them to a tank .

 A walk up the rock was in order , and we commented it was like being on Kangaroo Island again , with the shaped rocks - not as big as Kangaroo Island however , but just as interesting .

  Here's a little size comparison , other rocks were larger .

   There were caves to shelter in .

   And great contours on the rocks .

 

  This old tree stump was about 40cm thick , a gnarled old trunk & branches .

    There were the odd flower or two up on top as well .

   Paddy melons were growing here as well .

 Views were outstanding , with the neighbouring wheat fields and sections of woodland .

  This is the tank that the water flows into , not sure what it's used for now ? maybe the farm house that's about 300m away .

  Moss & algae create different colours & marks on the granite outcrop .

  After our walk , we hit the road again , the wind was a little more favourable today , but there were some interesting clouds around as we travelled toward Port Augusta .

 Here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1RMwCRS4lRdbGhRyT8WVGuUxErDXVHa1d&usp=sharing