Chez N Andy's Travels

Around Oz 2012 - Willow Springs Station

06.04.2012

When planning our trip, I knew we wanted to pass through the towns of Hawker and Cradock, these were names from my memory, places my Nan Win had talked about so long ago, but being so young I never really listened or took in much. Little did I know of where we would get some work and have the opportunity to stay and explore would be steeped in my family history.
We arrived at Willow Springs, a beautiful cattle and sheep station and home to the famous Skytrek, a 4wd course through gulley’s and mountains with fabulous views. Brendon and Carmel Reynolds run the property, which consists of a Homestead and a few other cottages rented for accommodation, including the shearer’s quarters with lots of bedding for 30 people. Their daughter Michelle also lives on the property. There are a few camp grounds which cater to caravans and camper trailers as well as tents. Andy and I settled in, we have a spot near the camp kitchen and amenities, and although other sites are not powered, we have power to our van. Andy has taken to the station like a duck to water, driving tractors, fixing cars and machinery and also doing some other work for another company which involves Dingo baiting……yeah I am leaving that one to him!! Soon it will time to muster the sheep in for shearing and he will probably give a hand with that, luckily for him they do it on motor bikes and not horses! I have a bit of work cleaning the amenities and accommodation and some office work when there is no one here, checking people in and out etc. We don’t work every day so there is time for exploring this lovely part of the country. There are three kelpies, Lizzie, Vince and Benji, so I am loving have them around, they are such good dogs, they are let off one at a time and they come down to the van for a pat and some attention. The weather at the moment is hot, dry and dusty with lots of flies!! We have no TV, internet or phone service here, although if we drive out of the property and up Stokes Hill lookout, (owned by Willow Springs) we can use Telstra. This lookout is really busy at sunset, the nearby Wilpena Pound resort do wine and cheese sunset tours up there……..so here is me, in the car madly typing away while the battery slowly dies…….they must look and think “crazy woman”!!! If only they knew I can come up here every day to enjoy the sun settings over Wilpena Pound and the Range!!!
Having told Carmel I had some family history in the area, she gave me a couple of books to look through. The first one I browsed through was about churches in the area, and there was a photo of a young man coming out of a church in a wedding party, the caption said “Ron Lindo Best Man” now my Nan’s maiden name was Winifred Lindo. Reading through another book called Hawker…..Hub of the Flinders” I have found all my ancestors dating back to 1849, when my Great Great Great grandfather Richard Harris and his wife Sara settled in the area, he was the blacksmith at Cradock in 1880 (Karen Holland, dad tells me your dad told him your great Grandfather was a Blacksmith at Cradock too, how amazing!!) they later had the license to the Wirreanda pub in Cradock. One of their children Mirah married Walter Lindo who were my Nan Win’s parents. From the Lindo side, Great great Great Grandfather Robert Christmas Lindo and his son, John Henry took up land at the Hundreds of Cudlamudla, which descendants from that side still live there, “Acacia Valley”. On looking through the book I noticed a photo of kids standing outside the old Cradock primary school, dated “early 1920’s” all the names of the 12 children were mostly Harris and Lindo and there was my Nan and her brother Jack, she would have been about 10 years old!!! Further on in the book where there is a spiel on the families is a photo of Ron Lindo again, in Army uniform, stating he died in 1943 in New Guinea. He is my Nan’s cousin and the image of my cousin Gordon and Denise’s son Aaron from Waikerie. Everyone has always wondered why I am so tall as my parents are of average height, my Nan always said “comes from my side, my brothers were tall” I guess Lindo is still running though us!!
So my days have been busy reading my family history and learning about living on the land here 100 years or more ago, droughts, grasshopper plagues, fox and dingoes and the hard ships of living in such an isolated area. I have learned about Goyder’s Line and the opening up of the “hundreds” (rectangle lots of land divided into parcels called hundreds which are numbered) There are many towns that are no more but crumpled buildings and bits of stones, all these ruins we saw on the way in now have meaning and I can’t wait to go back to explore. So I won’t bore you all with any more, but I am so happy to be here and live near the land that was close to Nan’s heart. Just before she passed away, she asked Dad to bring her back here, so Dad with my Aunty Pat and Uncle Gus did a trip and revisited her family home and all the places she knew so well, which are rubble now. I so wish she was here now to guide me through and show me everything, as I am so hungry now to know my roots……….but on thinking about it, I think she has guided us here anyhow!!
Andy and I had Sunday off so we took a drive to Wilpena Pound resort. A very touristy place, lots of people which will only get busier over Easter. There are lots of walks to do, taking you up to views inside the “Pound”. We have put that on our list of “to do’s” Driving on to Hawker, we pulled in to the service station which also houses and Info Centre. Carmel had told me I may be able to buy the book there, as well as that I found a book called “On the Line, the history of Wilson and the Hundred of Cudlamudla”. Armed with my reading material we headed for Cradock and the pub. The Cradock hotel, two churches and the old police station are the only things standing in this little town today. The old Wirrianda Pub my grandparents ran fell down, as well as the school and the store, this used to be the hub in between towns, now a ghost town. We enjoyed a nice meal and a beer at the pub, visited the cemetery which is out of town a little and taken over by rabbits, which I had the pleasure of falling in a rabbit hole!! Dad has told me if I had driven further south at Cradock I would have found the property of my Grandparents Mirah and Walter Lindo, oh well, keep that for next time. We are off to Port Augusta tomorrow for some shopping, an hour and a half away, will probably make that trip every couple of weeks to stock up. In our spare time we want to visit some of the Gorges, hike Wilpena Pound, do the Skytrek here, if I am game!! Take a drive up to Blinman and further up to Lyndhurst and take a scenic flight over Lake Eyre, a once in a lifetime opportunity while it is full!! Love to everyone, we love to read your messages!
Welcome to Willow Springs