As part of our committment to keeping the Eco in Eco Villa we have just installed a solar power generating plant. It generates around 9kW of power up to 60kW hours per day. In other words enough to cover the 8 Eco Villas.

We are into a new year and much is happening.

During the current 40+ degree C days the 4 new Eco-villas are drawing close to completion for the April 1st bookings. All this just in time for the May 1st handover of some 9000 hectares of Arkapena Station to Rawnsley Park.

Very exciting times as we expand Rawnsley Park’s capacity to assist you to enjoy your Flinders adventure even more!

One of the new tours we will be offering is the Chace Range Sunset Tour. A wonderful panoramic sunset backdrop to a very pleasant consumption of some local wine and fresh antipasto tray from the Woolshed Restaurant.

Tony and Julie, with some willing staff and friends gave it a try out recently…

Tony talks over the tour plans with some of the blokes…

…and the ladies are more interested in the drinks and nibbles.

We have had around 4 inches of rain in the last 4 to 5 weeks, mostly monsoonal moisture from the north. After a dry winter it is wonderful to the trees, bushes and shrubs looking so green and happy. Not much germinates with summer rain though, apart from some ferals like onion weed which loves summer rain, some vines and one or two others which provide some feed at least.

As Rawnsley Park Station continues to grow, and we expand our walking, biking and driving tour operations,

we have found that stableing and caring for our horses, as well as the labour and expense of running the horse rides is no longer viable. With some sadness we announce that on the 25th of December this year the last horse ride will have been conducted at Rawnsley Park. 

Construction on the 4 new Eco-villas is well under way. The footing pads are in, the steel floor shell form work is erected and ready to be filled with concrete for the floor. All is on track for an April ‘09 start date. Touch wood! In the photo Tony & Julie inspect the sites and plans.  

A sad day at Rawnsley today! An old & trusted friend had his life cut short when hit by a car this morning. It was one of those incidents that you know shouldn’t have occurred & if you could wind back the clock you would. Sarah was bringing the horses in for the 9.30am ride as we have done for the last 20 years. But this morning there was quite a bit of traffic on the road, a car slowed to allow the horses past & another car decided to over-take through the dust & glare. Fabio was caught a glancing blow to the rear leg, rolled over the windscreen & down the driver’s side of the car. The damage to the car is substantial, the couple driving were quite shaken, Sarah was distraught, and Fabio had to be put down. Fabio has been known to be a bit obstinate when he thinks enough is enough, but he has been a wonderful worker over the last 13 years at Rawnsley. He has probably carried over 1000 riders in that time so I am sure that there are many others that will shed a tear on his passing. Farewell old friend.

The countryside has pulled on it’s green winter coat against cold southerly winds and frosty mornings. Threatening clouds hover past from time to time but so far have been all bluff. We have had no real winter downpour yet, only a few mm here and there. Enough to germinate and tease this years crop of would be wild flowers, enough to rescue slightly more than half the wattle and senna bushes from their summer dessication but not quite enough to convince the survivors to burst into flower. Not enough to boost the springs or start the creeks flowing.

The birds and animals have taken the green carpet promise of spring fruitfulness at face value and are busy nesting and breeding. I hope their faith is rewarded. Several walkers enjoyng the seasonal splendor of the National Park have reported seeing lizards and snakes already venturing out to test the sunshine. Perhaps they are more attuned to the feebleness of this winter than their warm blooded cousins.

If Vivaldi was engaged to orchestrate this Winter season he would find it a doddle. He’d only need half the orchestra and he could leave out the storm sequence. He’d be done and dusted in a few days leaving him plenty of time to be out enjoying the fabulous scenery and contemplating the coming Spring.