Day 1: There was not any rush to get away today, as we only
had to travel 40klm. We had decided our next stop would be at Rawnsley Park
Station a working sheep station, that has diversified the business with a
caravan park, budget cabins, eco cabins and a restaurant.
It was a very spectacular drive this morning with the early
morning sun highlighting the impressive Flinders Rangers , seeing many Kangaroos ,Emus and Wedge Tail Eagles. Upon arrival we were directed to a very large
gravel site, now that we are in Outback South Australia we can’t expect to see
any grass.
Late morning we were back in the car again heading the 25klm
to Wilpena, where we went for a two hour walk into an old homestead of early
settlers and from there attempted the climb to the top of the pound. The first
part was relatively easy but the last 400 mtrs was very steep, so decided after
reaching the 200mtr mark that to go any further with my ankle limiting my
ability would be silly. With a couple of
other people from the group we descended to the first lookout, from here you
were still able to appreciate the unique formation of the ranges that forms the
circle of the pound. We managed without incident to descend the rest of the way
and walk out to the designated pick of area and await the shuttle bus with 15
minutes to spare.
Day 2: A slow start today as Bazza actually had a sleep in
this morning, after all the exercise yesterday, so my breakfast was 1hr later
than usual.
We decided today to do the half day self drive route that
took us through Brachine Gorge and Bunyeroo Gorge. The drive took us off the
black top onto a dusty, corrugated road that deteriorated to a track with many
dry river crossings and at times travelling along the actual river bed. On the
return journey of the trail we were following a ridge line before descending
into the Bunyeroo Valley. Before we left
the black top to drive into Brachine Gorge we stopped at Hucks Lookout, Appealinna Ruin a Heritage Site that was a
site of many arguments and fights between the settler and miners. The miners
wanted access to the natural spring on the property to water their horses and
stock, eventually the area where the spring was located was removed from the
farmers lease. The every changing scenery was amazing with the spectacular rock
formations of the gorges to the vast valley areas.
Day 3: This was our day to just hang out at the Station, catching up with the washing and washing the caravan floor etc. We offered to dog sit our neighbour’s dog, so they could go into the National Park and go on the walk to the old homestead and lookouts. On their return they were very grateful and gave us a bottle of wine, which we shared with them that night. During the day we had time to explore the station and go for a walk out to the gap lookout.
It's just not good enough having to wait an hour for breakfast to be delivered to the bedside! The weather can't be too bad if Bazza is wearing his shorts. You were lucky to have such nice weather.
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