Day 59 16/08/2013 Kennedy Range NP to Mt Augustus NP.
We enjoyed a lovely sunrise, and, even though it was a 'moving on' day, a cooked breakfast! Then Dave decided to put into practice some of the advice he had received last night, and isolated the trailer brake system from the lighting system, in the lead which connects the trailer to the vehicle. Bingo! The brake lights are working again, so maybe the short circuit which is causing the fuse to blow, is in the trailer brakes. We will have to manage without these. We left the NP and retraced our route, (stopping to collect more wood), to Gascoyne Junction. We needed to get fuel. This initially proved tricky as we could not find the service station! Then we noticed a sign near the Shire office with an arrow indicating that we had to go into the office for fuel!!! Obviously not with the vehicle! Once inside, the helpful assistant directed us to a yard around the corner at the back of the office, where the fuel could be obtained! She came out of the office with her portable credit card machine, to dispense the fuel and take our payment. This system has been in place for two years!! There was one petrol bowser and one for diesel. The new service station is also due to open on Monday!!! We headed off in the direction of Mt Augustus NP, still following the Kingsford Smith Mail Run. Our first stop was at a site where the rocks scattered on the ground contained fossils of small ancient sea creatures called Brachiopods, evidence, of course, that this area was once underwater. We had our coffee here. Our next stop was at a point where the scattered rocks were rich in the minerals quartzite, mica and muscovite. We enjoyed our lunch in this very 'sparkly' place! We also stopped along the way to take photos of the lovely desert shrubs which are becoming increasingly colourful. We crossed many rivers which were either completely dry or had only a very small amount of water in low lying pools. All the crossings had causeways.
As we approached Mt Augustus, which was our destination for the day, we stopped to take a few photos. The afternoon light gave the rock a pink colour.
Mt Augustus or Burringurrah is the largest known rock in the world. This sandstone and quartz massif rises 715m out of the ground and is 1,105m above sea level. It is more than twice the size of Uluru (Ayers Rock), but is not as well-visited, (nor as well-known), because it can only be reached by several hundred kilometres of unsealed roads. However the two rocks have some significant differences. Uluru is a monolith of considerable size. It is bare of vegetation and for this reason undergoes dramatic colour changes depending on the light striking it. Burringurrah is an asymmetrical anticline - upwardly folded rock strata - which have been left isolated by erosion of surrounding landscape. It is mostly covered in scrub vegetation and so undergoes much more subtle colour changes.
There is a privately run campsite near the rock, (no other camping allowed in the area), and that is where we have based ourselves for two nights. After setting up camp we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and got to know some fellow campers. We sat around the campfire with them later on and, as usual, swapped travelling stories and shared tips.
It was a colder evening, (very clear skies), and we were happy to have electricity so that we could use our heater!