Long Off

Driving to the cricket

  • Golden Spike

    Golden Spike

    Driving north towards Outback South Australia and Ilkara-Flinders Ranges National Park. The park’s mountains have been looming over the horizon for the last 100km, slowly revealing their shape and structure. At first a dark hued haze on the horizon before the orange folds and laminations of the rock were close enough to catch my attention, like I knew they would.

    Within the park, the Ediacaran Golden Spike has been carefully placed here to mark a visible change in Earth geological epochs. The dramatic change in the colour of the strata from dark brown to a pale yellow is significant in ways an appreciate but am not expert.

  • Goyder Highway

    Driving Goyder Highway on the wrong side of the Surveyor General’s line…

    Near Maude, SA.

    …but on the other side of the line, you don’t always breathe diesel and dust.

    Ken Duncan woz ere
    Burra, SA

  • Sunraysia Haboob

    ——

    Ochre cloud

    Overhead

    —————

    DURING DUST STORMS

    TURN ON LIGHTS

    REDUCE SPEED

    —————

    Dusty drizzle

    Decelerate

    ——

    Signs, like the one in this photo lifted from the internet, are common around Mildura.

  • The Weather

    A cold front and associated trough. That means rain is imminent, probably tomorrow, on the first day of my tour.

    My pre-booked campsite at Mamanga has already been cancelled by NPWS; pre-empting flooding, mitigating risks. The forecast is for “4-15mm”; so it’s not a deluge but enough to put a dampener on things. I’ll be on a wet pitch; a green top. Patience, son. Keep your eye on the ball. Play it under your nose.

    Synoptic Chart 2 Nov 2025

    The first ball of a five match Test Series sets the tone for the 25 days of cricket that will follow. Steve Harmison knows about that. I am excited to hold a ticket to see the first ball on the first day of the first test in this year’s Ashes series, in Perth.

    So, as I prepare for my personal test of endurance, navigation and Temu-bushman skills, I contemplate how tomorrow, the first day, will set the tone of my 50 day trek across this nation?