Broadview to Woolshed Flat

Another cold morning the mercury bottoming out at -4!!
The convoy from Quorn to Waukerie Creek and then an anxious wait for the bus.

An anxious wait for the bus

Twenty minutes late, the first bus had broken down, and we were all loaded and on our way to Broadview.
Some excitement when the bus stalled on the railway crossing at Quorn and then an interesting three point turn with a pause for the driver to answer his phone, stall the bus again and finally arrive at Broadview.
A very short oration, then off up to join the Trail, followed by an early morning tea, as Karen had misplaced her cameral, and needed to back-track to get it.

Caterpillar with a butterfly!

Then the walk through some truly wonderful creek lines, water flowing and caterpillar crawling!
After a slight navigational mishap, it was up, past Catninga Tank and onto Mount Brown.
Happily, Heather and Brian Daniel were working at the tank and were more than happy to chew the fat as we paused to catch breath.

The climb to Mount Brown was, as usual, quite exhausting, however the rewards are great with all round view and a very welcome lunch.
Then it was all downhill from there, via the well graded National Geographic Trail until we met Waukerie Creek at Olive Grove where a short rest was taken.
We were all pretty tired at that point, yet we had to negotiate the Creek back to our cars.
Long drive home, arriving in the dark.
 

Horrock's Pass to Broadview

We arrived in Quorn just after four on Friday, checked into our B and B and then had a look around town.
Frankly, a ghost town had more happening at that time on Friday. No-one at the pubs and virtually no cars, yet at 6.30PM Emily's was buzzing the E2E 5 arrival all vying for a meal.
Great atmosphere and would ne a great place for our Saturday dinner, if it hadn't been booked out. Them's the breaks.
Saturday morning and Quorn turned on the best winter morning possible, cold, crisp and frosty.

Cold Quorn morning

Then off to Broadview to meet the bus, a new company from Port Augusta, and the trip to Horrock's Pass and the start of the walk.
John Babister excelled on the previous weekend away producing home made Madeleine's and justly received the Heysen Hotshots Award.

Hotshots Award to John.

It was then across  to start the climb up Cudmore Hill and the ridgeline we would follow most of the day.

Looking back to Horrock's down Cudmore Hill

Then followed the usual ups and down of the ridgeline with great views to the east, west, north and south, in fact panoramic view. There are benefits of cold still nights-clear skies and great views.

Lunch was taken on a log, well a bloody big tree really, and it was delightfully warm in the sun.

A sign of the times

 The obligatory lunchtime group photo then off.
There was a dispute as to which side of the fence we should be walking, which lasted most of the afternoon, and was resolved by our arrival at the turn-off to Broadview. One party was clearly WRONG!!
Then the very pleasant walk off the Trail to the cars and Broadview
Dinner at the Austral Hotel, an old favourite of the Friends, and the viewing of the various TRAIN themed costumes.
There are the enthusiasts, the mildly interested and the can't be bothered groups with regards themes. Unfortunately, the can't be bothered's rule in numbers at least.
Thankfully the regulars made up this group with the "Afghan" and the "Engine Driver" being the stand-outs, with some rather esoteric (intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest)  "Flying Scotsmen", a man with a regal "train" and a man who had tickets on himself!!
Bed to sleep to dream, as tomorrow is a big day!