7am start with a 2 hour drive from Port Augusta to Yunta on the Barrier Highway for a South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) refresher training for Road Crash Rescue (RCR).  

The route saw me travel through Horrocks Pass to Wilmington, the outside temperature on my dash board showed 8 degrees. I then head due east, Orroroo, Peterborough then Oodla Wirra, the farm paddocks had a crisp due, very white and judging by my temperature gauge (4 degrees) rather cool. 

I love that transition from farming country to pastoral country, to me it signifies the beginning of the outback. As I travel through the winding road through the hills north of Oodla Wirra, I observe the very unstereo typically outback green tinge to the country. 

The road is quiet, I pass Three Sisters Creek, Yunta is just over the hill. All is as I remember, the school, police station, toilets, Telecentre, service stations, I turn left at the Arkaroola sign and there behind the Town Hall is the CFS shed. 

After the obligatory greetings and comments about the weather, the eight if us gathered for the training to commence.  It was an informal session, interactive, learning about the latest innovations being put into cars that ironically enhance the protection of the occupants yet make life a lot harder for rescuers to get you out safely should you find yourself trapped in the vehicle. 

After lunch we proceeded to the Yunta dump where amongst the plethora of years of failed white goods, the Yunta CFS lads had set some car wrecks for us the ‘play’ with. 

We cut, crimped, peeled and peaked, cutting up three cars with our reasonably new Lukas hydraulic cutting equipment. I love cutting up cars for training, not so much for real, but if we need to at least we have practiced. 

Anyway I’m now in Adelaide, 3 hour drive to get here. It’s good to be with the family, if for nothing else than to get my present tomorrow as it is Fathers Day.