So to Friday and our long trip inland to the Flinders Ranges - specifically to Wilpena Pound, the site of what was reputed to be a long-extinct volcano. Kelly had pre-booked our accommodation, which she described to us as glamping. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but, when we arrived after what was virtually a whole day's drive, we were delighted with the exceptionally high quality of our accommodation, which turned out to be a tent only in name. Really, it was a villa that just happened to have 4 canvas walls - otherwise, everything was as you'd expect in a top resort or hotel - fully plumbed, wooden and tiled floors and proper porcelain:
Once settled in, we were all ready for a cooling dip in the camp pool, after which Chris cooked dinner on the BBQ. We sat on the patio and watched the stars appear.
Saturday was our one full day at the resort so we tried to make the most of it - although, as usual, the best-laid plans etc ....... Kelly and I planned to walk along the trails to the viewpoints whilst Chris, Jo and the boys would drive out and meet us nearby. The walking bit was easy enough but there was nowhere to take a car, so once Kelly and I had finished the walk and climb, we headed back and met up with the rest just leaving the camp, having tried unsuccessfully to drive anywhere nearer the action.
Jo was particularly keen to take a walk and at least see Hill's Homestead and we tried any number of combinations of adults to join her, but the boys wouldn't let their Mum or Dad leave them, so it was left to me to do the trail walk again. By lunchtime, I'd seen a variety of animals in the wild - some, like the kangaroos ventured right up to our tents:
Others had merely left their outer skins behind:
There were emus and mountain goats roaming wild and free and a random guana on our trail:
Not to mention the birds - especially the kookaburra and the magpies, who performed the dawn chorus as makeshift cockerel.
It was dry and dusty everywhere and we came across a trail advert for a feral menu. Fancy this?:
We were largely underwhelmed by our first views of the Pound, expecting to see a deep circular hole, only to find it was not as deep nor as round as expected and the scale of the area was way more than we had anticipated - and it was overgrown with vegetation:
Subsequent viewing on Google Earth gives a much better picture of the geology and, also subsequently checking Wikipedia reveals that it wasn't an ancient volcano after all!
Jo and I were very low on water supplies and had to eke it out, and as it was my second hike of the day out there, I felt pretty sore, tired, thirsty and hungry when we finally got back to our tent. Nonetheless, determined to make the most of the day, we decided - well Jo did - that a visit to the Sacred Canyon to view the ancient aboriginal drawings would be worthwhile, so Chris drove the 3 of us out, whilst Kelly looked after the boys.
Whenever anyone says that the road you are about to travel on is unsealed, you can interpret that as meaning a rough ride - and it was 13.5 km out and another 13.5 km back! We haven't had such a good massage for a long while. The walk from the end of the road to the rock drawings was only a few hundred metres up a dried river bed, which would be teeming with water in winter, fed by a couple of steep waterfalls:
By now, I'd done 22 kms of walking - a record 33,500 steps - and it was definitely time for another dip in the pool - for us all - when we got back, then we had dinner in the camp restaurant.
Sunday morning was when we would start the journey home, but first there was another beautiful sunrise as we walked down for breakfast:
We took a slightly different road back to Adelaide, stopping off at the pretty former mining town of Burra, which had a big Cornish influence:
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| Site of the old mine |
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| Jo reads while the boys burn off some energy in the playpark |
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| Former miners' cottages |
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