Arf Burgers and Parrot Sunsets

Arkaroola to Muloorina Station
07Oct08

Today we were tempted to take one of the expensive geology or observatory tours at Arkaroola, but as they were all booked up or not running the decision was made for us. We did however need diesel before we could leave – gas stations are few and far between out here – but they were just filling the diesel tank with fuel that had been trucked in from Pt Augusta so we had to wait. This gave us an excuse to check out the small but charming geological museum and to learn more about Reg Sprigg, one of the founders of the Arkaroola Reserve and a fascinating man. He was involved in many important geological explorations and discoveries in Australia including finding the world's oldest fossil animals (the Edicarian era) in the 1940s. I'll have to read more about him when I have time.



The delay also led to us to guiltily indulge in lunch at the cafe. We both ordered the “Ark burger” which sounded good but turned out to be a towering monstrosity we've dubbed the “Arf burger”. It started with a huge patty that was more like a flattened meatball than a burger – what they call a rissole here. Plus lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickled beets, a fried egg, bacon, and bbq sauce. Amazingly we ate most of it, but we groaned about it for the rest of the day!

And here is what I consider to be my best photograph EVER of Justin and the Arf burger:


nice, eh?

After that we drove through more desolate arid county to the small town of Marree, where we refueled and headed to the Muloorina Station campground for the night. A station is what they call a really large ranch out here. We saw several sheep wandering with practically nothing for them to eat, which led to my brilliant idea of the Lucky Sheep Contest. (drumroll) I think that every year they should run a lottery to choose one lucky Australian sheep whose prize is to be moved to the lush pastures of New Zealand to live out his natural life. It's only fair considering what hard lives the sheep have in the desert!
On the way we crossed the famous “Dog Fence” - the longest fence in the world stretching over 3000 miles and built to keep dingos out of southern Australia. Don't worry, I remembered to shut the gate behind us :)



I was very excited to stay at the Muloorina campground as we'd been told by a friendly stranger in Pt Augusta that it was a beautiful oasis and a fantastic place for birdwatching. What the stranger forgot to add was that the campground had FLUSH toilets and only cost $2 per night! Sigh, I could have stayed here forever. The campground is located on the shores of a lake oasis that is fed by a bore (or well), and indeed has more birdlife than I've seen since NZ. We arrived just in time for a glorious sunset and a cacophonous dusk chorus.



Galahs, corellas, herons, ravens, coots, stilts, swamphens, and plenty of other birds I couldn't identify were all flying about and settling in for the night. Very enchanting...



Arkaroola photoset