Fabulous Flinders

Sunday, and from Kangaroo Island our journey continued northward. After the morning’s reverse digestive activity, and their feet on solid ground, the children’s bellies began asking for sustenance. So we picked up the van which had been in storage for the week and planned our lunch outing. Only problem was our fridge had gone off, with all our frozen food well thawed and the remainder of it’s content somewhat on the nose. To add insult to injury, we had a nail in one of the van tyres that needed repair. Once we had cleaned up the fridge and fixed the tyre, it was onto Subway and some air conditioning to recharge, before a long car trip. 

We decided to get to as close to the Flinders Ranges as we could and drove until we had all had enough. Port Wakefield was as far as we could manage, nearly 100km north of Adelaide. Thankfully after a long hot drive, we very pleased to cool off in a small salt water swimming hole, right in front of the van park.

We set off early the following morning for the Ranges via Port Augusta to stock up on supplies. Leaving the tip of the Spencer Gulf, we began our ascent into the Ranges which, since mid-morning, had lay to our east. Once we reached Quorn, the road had flattened out but the Flinders surrounded us to both the east and west. The landscape was scattered with stone ruins, the remains of early settlement history, emus, roos and sheep. We were driving into a strong northerly head wind which hampered our progress, but which made for impressive air currents upon which enormous wedge tail eagles soared over the landscape. Trace spotted a wedgie on a fence post by the road side that must have stood a metre high. 

Our destination was Wilpena Pound, all via sealed road. As we approached, the rugged bluffs of the Pound towered over the surrounding land which was surprisingly green with vegetation and dominated by thick pockets of white cypress pines. With the afternoon light throwing warm light on the rocky mountains, we arrived out our camp surrounded by pines and the walls of the Pound. We were impressed not only with the stunning scenery, but also with our campsite, which was pleasantly quiet.

During the first night, the rain came down and down - not what we expected. By morning it had ceased and although a little humid, the cloud cover made it comfortable and perfect for a morning walk. We drove to place called Sacred Canyon, where a collection of Aboriginal engravings were easily accessible by foot. Jem was our self-proclaimed guide through the Canyon and was a wealth of local knowledge on the landscape, geology and also the aboriginal significance of the site. He claimed to have previously guided none other than One Direction and Justin Bieber through the Canyon. We tipped him handsomely for his excellent service.  

The afternoon was spent mainly doing school work. Always a pleasure! 

Day 2 at Wilpena started in a similar way, this time with a walk up to some Aboriginal rock paintings up the lower slopes to just under one of the large bluffs on the outer perimeter of Wilpena Pound. The walk was up the slopes was blessed with a generous cover of flora - very pretty. The paintings were well preserved and quite impressive. 

The kids had met another 3 kids of similar ages from Melbourne who were also traveling around Oz in a caravan. So after more school work in the afternoon the kids played most of the afternoon. Before dinner we took a stroll around environs of the campsite and Trace spotted our first echidna, followed by a second seen by Ruby. Both were wandering in a dry creek bed looking for their evening meal. A real treat for all of us.

By the evening the clouds had cleared and, given the moon was rising only in the early hours of the morning, the kids suggested a bit of star gazing from the roof of the Beast (aka our Landcruiser). We all climbed up and were spoilt with the clearest skies imaginable. Just to the north of Wilpena are located some observatories for the very reason of the near perfect extraterrestrial viewing conditions - a clear atmosphere and almost no light pollution. We spotted, what we thought, was a satellite moving across the night sky and also a shooting star - claimed by Oscar to be very good luck.

Another morning in Wilpena was spent inside walking to a lookout inside the Pound - different and once again very pretty. Once again the kids were content to play with a few children the same age experiencing similar things to them and we didn’t see much of them for the afternoon, so Trace and I got planning what the next few days had in store for us. 

Thursday we headed further north to the historical town of Blinman (population 18) for a tour of the, long dormant, copper mine. Work had started in 1851 and ceased in 1907. The mine was predominantly worked by Cornish migrants, with mining in the blood. The tour proved very enlightening, and Jem was particularly chuffed with having to don a hard hat and head light. Oscar, Ruby AND Tracey found it also amusing, when one of the old timers who was on our tour let off a long and rumbling fart which kept them laughing for some time (so immature, but very funny)The mine had shafts up to 167m underground where, apparently, upon recent surveying, all mining equipment still lay as if it had been downed only yesterday. Unfortunately, we were unable to go down to these depths due to health and safety restrictions, but we did get far enough down to appreciate the dangers and harsh conditions that the miners faced on a daily basis. 

Following a lunch of homemade beef pies a the general store in Blinman, we took an unsealed road to Parachilna through several gorges and some of the most impressive Flinders scenery that we had come across so far. Dry creek beds, rugged ridge lines and beautiful vistas. 

We shot out the other west side of the Ranges hungry for more. So our intention to return to Port Augusta that day was shot. I knew that we needed to go back in for another day. After a cool drink at the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna and some local advice about some more scenic drives and a nearby livestock station where we could stay the night, we hurtled down the road before dusk and roos on the road to Merna Mora Station. 

We took a 5 hour loop drive on some unsealed and 4WD tracks back into the Ranges and we were not disappointed. A lunch picnic within Brachina Gorge in the dry creek bed topped off a fantastic day through some spectacular scenery made me reaffirmed that the Flinders is a must see for anyone coming to SA for a visit. Port Augusta seems rather plain in comparison, but a trip to Coober Pedy and a stay in an underground hotel commencing tomorrow is sure to be some fun.