The blacktop fell behind me lost in a cloud of dust, the hum of tyres on bitumen giving way to the crunch of gravel roads, flicking stones. I saw a kangaroo or two standing by the road just watching as they do...It pays to be cautious because they have a bad habit of jumping in front of vehicles; Hitting kangaroos at 100k/ph makes a mess of a vehicle...And the kangaroo. The road signs changed from speed limits to kangaroo warnings, as if I needed one, and my shoulders dropped as the stress of the city washed away, left my body, mind and soul.
The drive to Spear Creek, South Australia, some 300 kilometre's from home, is always enjoyable and at this time of year the rolling hills of the Southern Flinders Ranges and their blanket of lush green winter grasses offer me a warm [cold because it's winter] welcome like old friends greeting each other after a long absence. I enjoy this area so much at any time of the year although in winter the contrast of green mountains and blue sky speak to me saying, aren't you glad you left the city behind! Yes hills, I am.
I've headed up here, north of Adelaide, for a three day shooting event which I have been asked to compete in. I've written about it before so I won't go into it again other to say it's a three gun event; Rifle, handgun and shotgun and is a practical-style of shooting involving run and gun stages which simulate practical real-world scenarios. The event is run on a vast working sheep farm. You can see part of it pictured above and below.
The property is many square kilometres in size and the shooting stages are spread out around the property for safety reasons. There's open fields, dense scrub, rock and shale mountains, creek beds and rolling hills all of which will bring different challenges in the competition.
The competitors will drive from event stage to stage in our own vehicles and due to the nature of the terrain four wheel drive is required which is always fun in itself. We'll head out in the early morning, shoot all day then head back to the campsite for meals and the social aspect of the weekend, the bonfire and bullshit, which is always enjoyable.
As you can see above I've had to navigate some dirt roads to get here which is totally fine by me. My 200 Series Landcruiser devours the blacktop but off the road it really comes into it's own. It's a capable vehicle and I trust it to get me where I need to go...Which this weekend is here.
I'm solo this weekend, a long weekend here in Adelaide, as my wife was disinclined to come out with me. She normally would as the June long weekend is a camping weekend for us usually, however with me shooting all weekend she decided to stay home with her mum and snuggled up with Merlin and Cleo, our kids [cats]. I get it Faith, it's going to be damned cold out here!
That gives me the chance to relax a little more, not having to worry about her, and to focus more on my shooting. To be honest I'm not that concerned about where I place in the competition being more interested in having some fun. I shoot pretty well usually so it'll take care of itself. The fun though, that'll require a little more input, an effort I'll be happy to make. I have several mates out here with me this weekend, all of which are competing against me however it's all good-natured and done in the pursuit of fun! I'm sure there'll be plenty of trash-talk, but the good thing is I'm pretty good at returning serve.
I hope y'all have a great weekend planned and get after it with vigour. The thing about time is there's never enough of it so making the most of the time we have is probably a good option. Or not. That's the choice we all need to make for ourselves.
I better push on though, get my accomodation squared away and scope out get some intel on when dinner is...I'm hungry enough to eat a horse and chase the rider...I could delve into my treasure trove of snacks, but I want to save them for the bonfire and bullshit sessions each night.
Later y'all.
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