Day 57 | yes, it's Hawker: last town for a while
36 km | Heading west total: 2,177 km
As if this trail doesn’t wander around the countryside enough I’ve been adding to the route length by going on a couple of sidetrips. (Adelaide to Blinman by road is 505km but is almost 900km by the wiggly woggly Mawson Trail.)
The first distraction was to the Warren Gorge to see the elusive yellow footed rock wallaby which, umm, remained elusive. I guess I’ll have more opportunities to see these particular marsupials as I progress further north.
Then yesterday there was a detour off to the Yourambulla Caves, which would be better described as rock overhangs. There was a 20 minute climb up a hill, and then a climb up a few ladders, to give a huge view down the valley back to Death Rock and beyond to the Willochra Plain. I, of course, had not biked straight up that valley on the sealed road but had gone around two sides of a triangle on the other side of the Black Jack Range on a variety of dirt roads.
The caves are the site of some aboriginal drawings that are held captive in a cage to hinder unauthorised additions to the heritage. At the caves/rock overhangs there was an abundance of signage stating what each individual graffiti meant but surprisingly no indication as to when they had been drawn.
Ancient or recent? I shall pursue this information tomorrow.