FRIDAY 21 MAY     COPLEY

We woke to a warm day with some blue sky, some cloud – and a radio forecast for possible rain.

After a rather late breakfast, we packed the requirements for a BBQ sausage lunch.

Somewhere, John had come across mention of an old goldfield at Angepena, off the Copley to Balcanoona road, and he was determined to go find this, because it might prove to be a good fossicking area for his metal detector. I was rather less enthusiastic, in view of the possible rain, and only having a rather vague idea of where it was. I was not sure I was ready for another of John’s “little adventures”!

We drove to Leigh Creek to get the paper, then headed out the unsealed Balcanoona road towards Angepena Station homestead, some 55kms away.

We were not sure about being able to access the track to the old fields, through the station, even assuming we could find it. So we called in at Angepena homestead, but there was no one there.

Our map was not much help – no tracks were shown. Eventually, we guessed and took a track that headed south just before the Frome River – and we were right.

Drove about 20kms over quite a good bladed track and came to an area where there were some old diggings. We could only assume these were part of the old Angepena goldfields. There were a number of former digging areas, and tracks everywhere – all rather confusing.

We looked at old dirt heaps – really all that was there. But the area was a really pretty one, and worth visiting just for that.

We drove a bit further along the track to a creek bed and cooked our lunch there.

John was not feeling all that well – he’s had some reflux lately. So he was rather touchy today.

After we had wandered about the area for a little while, we headed off again. John insisted on continuing to follow the track along the creek bed, because he was convinced it would take us through to the Warraweena-Beltana track, even though our compass  showed it was trending NW, rather than the SW we needed.

We came to an old square stone well/tank and troughs – empty – and the track deteriorated after that. Then we came to a gate with a “No Public Access” sign, so turned around and retraced our way.

We saw some great Frome River spring and gorge country along the tracks today.

We’d had some spits of rain come on and it was getting quite late in the afternoon, so it was a relief to find our way back to the Balcanoona road.

Because of the time, John was probably going faster than he should have on the unsealed road, and it was not far from Angepena Homestead when we went too fast through a dip in the road, and got an instant flat tyre. A sharp stone had cut right into it.

We have not had to change a wheel before on the Truck so it took some messing about to find all the necessary gear and work out how to operate the jack that came with Truck. It is a high lift type and takes ages to get the needed height. So by the time we had changed the tyre and driven back to Copley – more slowly – it was dark. John’s mood had not improved! The day’s outing had cost us a tyre that was almost new!

We drove 222kms today.

Tea was soup and salad.

John wanted to phone S. He couldn’t get through on the Radphone – I am not sure we can do overseas calls on that. I suggested he try the pay phone up the street – he came back and told me it wasn’t working either!

There continued to be spits of rain off and on.