Hattah to Kapunda

We headed into the wind today as we headed west through the Riverland, tracked the path of the Murray until we crossed the bridge at Blanchetown and then left it to find its way south while we made our way to visit relatives at Kapunda. It's a delightful area that deserves more attention than we gave it today. Gales and skiffy showers discouraged us from venturing out of the car but I think we were lucky that we escaped the damaging winds that struck other parts of Victoria and South Australia.

Many of the mallee trees are in bud and some are flowering so it's going to be a wonderful spring I think. It was good to see some of the sandy ground covered in lichen and moss 'just like it orta be', but sad to see the damage that can be done by vehicles. Even one set of tyre tracks can destroy lichens that have taken years to grow on the surface.

Moss and lichens crust the sandy surface.

Damage done by vehicles at a wayside stop.

Mallee trees can be hundreds of years old, regrowing from lignotubers time and time again.

And even though it's June I managed to find several small shrubs in flower. Hopefully that's a sign that I'll find more as we move further north.