Persistence is rewarded
There was no sunrise for us this morning. Despite going to bed earlier than usual and occasionally waking through the night we both slept until my Fitbit alarm went off at 7 am.
By the time we had eaten breakfast and caught up with the world, including Claire’s stage debut in Sound of Music and Lily’s theatre critique (Lily enjoyed it mostly. “I’ve seen this one. They’re not doing it right.”), it was time to go. We filled the water tank, disconnected, and drove away around 8:30 am.
The rain band from last night had passed through to the east leaving just some thin scattered clouds to break up the sunshine. There was a strong breeze and the clouds thickened a little as Majella drove north, but no rain.
Our way north retraced our southward journey as far as Ardrossan where we turned left toward Arthurton. Maps suggested it would be a little slower trip but it seemed worth some extra time to see different country on the west side of the peninsula.
I had called the THL support number last night to see if they could help with our electronics issues. I thought they had said someone would call at 8 am but that didn’t happen. As we traveled north I responded to the email I had received about our missing heater and described the problems we were having. Rob replied to ask if I could call the support number. We paused in Arthurton and I called. After waiting in the queue I spoke to a woman who could see the record of my call and suggested she would have someone from the Australian team call me. Presumably she was in NZ. We waited, not wanting to leave town because we would lose signal and miss the call.
At 9:45 am we decided it was near enough to morning coffee time. I went out to turn on the gas so we could boil water. As I got that going I realised we had finished our milk at breakfast. Majella walked back to a nearby shop for milk and returned empty handed. The post office store was now just a post office for lack of customers. I drank black coffee but Majella declined.
A few minutes later Haley from THL called. The phone number registered as Ballina. I talked through our issues which were apparently pretty standard. The secret to getting the van to power down was to exit via the driver’s door rather than step directly into the back of the van. The sensors on doors are apparently very sensitive and prone to trigger on bumps or in windy conditions. Navigation was more of a mystery. Haley did not seem overly technical but appeared to be saying the navigation somehow relied on connecting to my phone. She suggested that an alternative would be an AUX cable to directly connect my phone to the van. I got the impression that might get my phone navigation on the screen but that was not completely clear and nor did she know what connection was needed. I thanked her and said I would try to connect as suggested.
I checked and found the connection was USB-C and I had a suitable cable. Majella drove on as I navigated on the phone while trying to get connected. Powering both the console and my phone off and on did not work. I called back on the number Haley had called from to ask for more instructions. She offered to email the relevant manual.
Meanwhile Majella drove on. We passed a couple more small towns, Kadina and Alford, before the email arrived. Both towns seemed prosperous and Kadina especially impressed with its fine old stone houses.
When the email arrived I followed a series of screenshots to reset the system. I still had no projection from my phone to screen but the onboard navigation from THL was working. Most modern vehicles have workable systems for navigation and other functions built in. I assume Mercedes does so why THL choose to replace that with their own system that they don’t advertise because it is unreliable I cannot begin to imagine.
Our route brought us to Port Broughton on the copper coast and then on toward Port Pirie where we joined the main highway north from Adelaide. The country beyond that point seemed less fertile with little cultivation and mostly low scrub. We could see the southern Flinders Range to the east and at one point we passed through a heavy shower of rain. As we approached Port Augusta we passed through a wind farm that unusually was on the plain rather than hilltops. Parts of the area below the towers were covered in solar panels.
Around 1 pm we reached our main destination for today, the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden. We had eaten lunch there and had a quick look around on our 2018 trip but we knew there was more to see. It was lunchtime so we shared the tasting platter of kangaroo mettwurst, cheese, damper, crackers, dried apricot, quandong chutney, native dukka, wattleseed balsamic and green leaves. We had coffees with that and native lime ice cream in waffle cones to follow.
After lunch we walked slowly around the couple of kilometres of the regional circuit. That took us rather more than an hour while looking at plants, trying to see birds among the foliage, and viewing the landscape from the lookout. Majella was especially struck by the variety of forms taken by plants in the rare plants area that were all labelled as belonging to genus Eremophila.
It was after 3 pm by the time we returned to the visitor centre which was closed by then. On the way out we took the side road to the Matthew Flinders Red Cliff Lookout which is about 3 km short of where Flinders reached in travelling up the river on his 1802 expedition. There was a good view of the red cliffs up and down river and of the long railway trains across the water.
From there we drove to Woolworths for some essential shopping. By then, despite our stopping more than once to open and close the side door the van was frequently flashing a warning that it was open. When we stopped to shop I used the dustpan brush to brush every possible location for a sensor.
After shopping we went to fill up with diesel, ready for tomorrow. Somehow along the way I lost Bluetooth connection from my phone to the van and could not re-pair. After we had filled up and I had checked the tyres it was able to pair and the door warning had disappeared. This van has some quirks.
Our campsite at Shoreline Caravan Park was nearby. We parked and setup for the night. Majella made fried rice which we enjoyed with a glass of rosé before settling down for a relaxed evening.
Majella thought titling this post as Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden did not capture the essence of the day. Hence my effort. Persistence is rewarded for plants in arid lands and for travellers in vans.
