Flinders Ranges

18th May 2014

I’ve always wanted to visit the Flinders Ranges and so far it’s exceeded both of our expectations.  We arrived at Wilpena Pound late yesterday afternoon and found a lovely quiet campsite.  It’s so much better being “unpowered” as these sites are always in the quieter and usually more attractive areas.  Over the other side of the park was like caravan city!  Fortunately it’s a large area, plenty of trees and a beautiful bush environment.  Wilpena’s a privately run campground within the National Park.

This morning we were on the walking trail early.  Being a little overcast it was perfect walking weather and the colours were enhanced by the subdued light. This was such a pretty walk along the Wilpena Creek. There was the red of the rock walls, the many shades of green and grey of the eucalypts, the soft mauve/pink shale on the ground, the sandy dry creekbeds … and Phil’s observation that in contrast Lake Mungo was “flat as a pancake’s hat”.  We pondered that a little – where does the pancake end and the hat begin, for example?  J J

It was a pretty easy 3.5 kilometre walk to the Hills Homestead, which sits inside Wilpena Pound.  A family once lived here, growing wheat for several years until the lack of rain finally defeated them.  The homestead has been rebuilt and is in a beautiful setting.  Just behind it is a track up to the Wangara Lookout where the views down into the pound and to the ridges of its walls are spectacular.  This was one of the loveliest walks I’ve done, everything about it was enjoyable and the 7.8 kilometres was just a good distance for us. 

Leaving Wilpena, we found the road to the Sacred Canyon and headed down there to a dry creekbed and the walk into the canyon.  It’s only a 500 metre walk but so fascinating that it took us an hour.  It’s rocky, with a few waterholes and aboriginal rock etchings.  We loved it!

Back to the bitumen and a little further north was the turnoff for the Bunyeroo Gorge scenic drive.  Not one to be able to resist a scenic drive on a dirt road I convinced Phil (it wasn’t too hard really) that we should go that way.  Well, that was one of the best drives ever.  We saw some great scenery along creekbeds, above the gorge, across to the ranges … so diverse yet all of it beautiful.  The road was winding, hilly but had recently been graded.  It really was spectacular.  Towards the end we were driving along a creekbed between the gorge walls. 

At Brachina East campground we found there was a 4WD access section so chose to investigate.  The campsites were far more secluded, sitting just above the dry riverbed.  In fact we had to drive along parts of the riverbed to reach this area.  It’s so quiet, pretty, with plenty of room (and nobody else here).  As we sat back admiring our ‘home’ for the night we noticed a rainbow behind the trees against the backdrop of some grey clouds.  It soon became a double rainbow and brightened up the early evening sky.  By the time darkness fell, the sky was full of stars.  Yes, this is what camping’s all about.