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Day 3 Flinders Ranges
This is the follow up of Day 2 Broken Hill to Rawnsley Park Station
Bright and shiny! What a morning. I am quick with the coffee and rush to put things away in the tent. There is so much to explore. First I drive 20km to Wilpena Pound. There is a resort and a very helpful information centre with maps and useful advice for the many walks in the area. Wilpena Pound is quite remarkable – a beautiful valley surrounded by mountain ridges and only one access road twisting along a narrow gorge. I am touched by the story of hardship the first settlers experienced here, poorly equipped to understand the local conditions of long droughts, bushfires and devastating floods. I climb a small peak to see the whole of Wilpena Pound. Wilpena is the aboriginal name for this place, but no one really knows what it means. I finish my walks with a nice cup of cappuccino at the resort’s café.
Early Morning in the Flinders.
I feel like singing!
The Moon is still visible.
The walk to Wilpena Pound is nice and shady.
Well, if you are old and tired you can catch a bus for $12 return. Look at this tree!
The end of the bus rote. There is a short walk to Wilpena Homestead.
They had a very small house and a very hard life.
Above Wilpena Pound. I rush to climb up and then down, because I have a great plan for the afternoon.
Next I drive to a massive, half dead, but still standing tree, which is very special. Those who love photography would recognise its distinctive silhouette with the mountainous background. This is the Cazneaux’s tree. It brought him international fame in 1937 for his photo “Spirit of Endurance”. Yes, I agree – the tree is impressive.
The car park at the Cazneaux’s tree.
The Cazneaux’s tree itself.
A few hundred meters after the Cazneaux’s tree is the turn to the Sacred Canyon, where (the brochure promises), you can see real aboriginal rock art. It’s my first taste of a bush drive in the Flinders and I like it (with the gravel mode engaged). The canyon itself is interesting, but I am a bit disappointed with the aboriginal art there. I see some engravings on the rocks, but somehow I am not impressed. They look like graffiti done by a silly schoolboy. Maybe I am cynical or maybe they are real aboriginal graffiti. At least, I am grateful I can come to this place and wander about it.
I walk along the dry river above the canyon, hoping to get to another, more impressive aboriginal “sacred place”, but except dry, hostile bush and extremely sharp rocks, there is nothing else. For a moment I wander what would I do, if I am stranded here without water and food. How would I survive? With this thought some kind of scary desperation floods in my being and I rush to get back to my beloved Landie as soon as possible. A strange thing happens exactly the moment I get to the car. The sole of my left hiking boot rips open. Stepping to the car I wander if this could be repaired, but then at the same time the other one also flaps loose. How bizarre – just at the end of my bushwalks. Obviously the sharp rocks of the Flinders were too much for my trusty old hiking boots. I start to prey for my my Landie tyres, because I have a great plan for the afternoon.
I enter the Sacred Canyon.
There are some really sharp rocks around.
I walk along the dry river above the canyon.
I am disappointed with the aboriginal “rock art” at the Sacred Canyon.
My poor hiking boots, left behind at the Flinders Ranges.
The only damage to my tyres from the sharp rocks of the Flinders. I’ve been very careful 🙂
I drive back to the caravan park and in the office I pay $45 for the Arkapena scenic drive (following the good recommendations of Mikehzz) plus $10 deposit for the key. The receptionist says I don’t have enough time, because it is 2pm and I have to be out of the property by five and bring the key back by six. I insist a little and get the key. She might have a soft spot for me (or my money). I change shoes quickly and grab some leftovers from last night’s BBQ which I gulp on the way to the entry gate of the drive – I am so excited, this is my first real off road experience.
The beginning of the track is quite innocent, flat and grassy with some close bushes and eroded turns, but then it starts to go sharply down and up. Some of the dry creeks are so narrow and steep – even if I crawl by millimetres I cannot avoid the front plastics landing on the rocks. And what rocks! They are really sharp. Some sections are covered with them, so narrow; you just continue slowly, preying your tyres will not burst. Just when I start to regret my eagerness to undertake this drive, I get out of the bush and immediately understand the meaning of this drive – the country is stunning! It deserves all the risks. My Landie works hard and earns its reputation. I use mostly the gravel mode, but there are sections, where mud and ruts are more suitable. Hill decent comes in very often for the steep hills.
The beginning of Arkapena scenic drive.
It is getting more interesting.
Some steep hills with brilliant skyes.
Chubby Trees.
Arkapena scenic drive.
Arkapena scenic drive
I drive down some really dusty tracks.
Vesko on top of the World.
I finish the All-Wheel Drive section without much drama – my tyres are still holding. There is a public road that would take me back to Rawnsley Park Station and I decide against going into the 4WD section of the Arkapena scenic drive. It’s getting late now and I don’t want to push my luck too much. Better to get back on time for a celebration.
O, yes dear friends. Tonight I open a special bottle of Barossa Valley Shiraz (Chris Ringland CR Shiraz) and cook myself a feast on the charcoal BBQ: lamb cutlets, mushrooms, haloumi cheese. I am so happy with my achievement and with what I have seen so far. Very happy indeed!