Mel

Great report!

Hanging in here!

Itchy feet in Sydney

Day 5 – On the road to Coober Pedy

We had a long drive ahead of us, so we were up with the birds and on the road by 7:30 am. We wanted to reach Coober Pedy well before dark given the restrictions spelled out by Budget, and because it just made sense.

I’d estimated the drive to Coober at 730 kilometers, approximately 8.5 hours. The gloom had finally dissipated and we were treated to a bright sunny day. We gassed up and got on B82 headed north. The plan was to cross over to A1 at Brinkworth, but thanks to my poor navigation skills, we missed the turn and had to cross over at Redhill via Koolunga instead. Oops.

We passed field after field of canola (yep, those again), and the countryside was flat as a pancake. Or perhaps I should say flat as a pikelet. Other than the odd passing car there was virtually no traffic, just the long road ahead, acre after acre of agricultural land and those strange mausoleum signs.

As we neared Port Augusta the topography gradually changed; the foothills of the Flinders Ranges could be seen to our right and we got a glimpse of what was in store later in the trip. The Spencer Gulf appeared on our left and the Eyre Peninsula was visible on the other side of the gulf. The landscape suddenly became arid and a passing train kicked up the dust creating a mini sandstorm, giving us a preview of what was to come.

We drove by Mt Remarkable National park and were it not for the gulf, I’d have thought we were in Wyoming.

We passed a curious sign advising us that we were entering a Total Dry Zone, prohibiting alcohol in public places. We arrived in Port Augusta, considerably bigger than I’d expected, two hours after leaving Clare (268 km). We gassed up again; I was determined not to repeat our country WA near empty gas tank experience of a few years back.

From Port Augusta we picked up A87 and settled in for the 537 kilometer trek north. It was almost eerie the way the landscape became barren immediately after we left town.

The drive was slightly more interesting than I expected; there’d be a whole lot of nothing, then sudden pockets of scrub and trees, then more nothing. There were no flowers to speak of, just miles and miles of red dirt, faded green shrubs, and the occasional blast of trees. It was strangely pretty, but just looking at the landscape made me thirsty.

Kangaroo carcasses littered the roadside and dry salt lakes began to appear, looking a lot like snow in the desert.

After Pimba, a truck stop not a town, the landscape became even more desolate and there was nothing taller than the highway kilometer markers to look at; it was completely featureless for quite a stretch.

We made a loo stop at the Lake Hart rest area; or so we thought. Instead we found a waterless lake and no facilities. This could prove to be an uncomfortable drive without so much as a tree to duck behind and god forbid….snakes. I settled for taking a few photos and was immediately swarmed by flies. Bill stayed in the car and laughed.

Just when we thought we’d left civilization behind, we saw a sign for a B&B. Huh? Out here?

There was little traffic, but we did have to pass the occasional road train. I’d tense up every time I sensed Bill was ready to hit the gas; those road trains are intimidating; the mirages didn’t help either.

We stopped in Glendambo, which proclaimed it was home to 30 humans, 22,500 sheep, and 2,000,000 flies (approx). I believe it. We gassed up again and I finally got that much needed loo stop.

We’d hooked up our MP3 as soon as we left Clare; we didn’t have to change the FM transmitter to a different radio station once during the entire 805 km journey (it seems I underestimated a wee bit). That’s never happened before, and it confirmed what we suspected, that we really were in the middle of nowhere.

Apparently A87 isn’t just a road, but sections of it are also used as an emergency airstrip for the Royal Flying Doctors.

One hundred kilometers south of Coober Pedy the landscape became even more desolate….not so much as a bush….the only thing out here was parched red dirt and rocks.

We arrived in Coober Pedy just before 3 pm, some 7.5 hours after leaving Clare, and well within our dusk curfew.

Mel: Still enjoying the report! It's bringing back more memories of our trip - like the section of the Stuart Hwy (A87) that doubles as a landing strip, complete with white hash marks either end. Now I remember timing the interval between seeing oncoming vehicles - think it was up to 20 minutes. Don't recall that many flies - but we were there in early August. Glad you liked Skillogalee.

I'll get it right this time: I want to go back in the WURST way!

Looking forward to your impressions of Coober Pedy.

Ralph

From the moment we got there I knew this town was unlike any we’d ever seen. My first impression was that there was nothing there other than a few shops, a couple of restaurants and a bank. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized all the air vents I saw poking through the sandstone lumps had homes and businesses under them.

Our first stop was the Visitor’s Center, conveniently located on the road into town. We picked up a map, checked our e-mail (30 minutes a day free for visitors) and arranged a tour for the next day. We’d hoped to find a tour that included sunset at the Breakaways, but apparently the only company offering the sunset option had a sick driver. The woman who helped us said that all of the tours are pretty similar, so we booked the afternoon tour with Stuart Range for the following day ($50 each).

Our lodging – Coober Pedy – The Underground Motel, $100 per night

http://www.theundergroundmotel.com.au/

This was the first underground motel built in Coober Pedy, yet it’s only been around since 1984. Like all dugouts in Coober, it’s not really underground, but actually dug into the side of a sandstone hill.

When we checked in, the owner asked what our plans were; we told him we’d booked an afternoon tour with Stuart Range. He whipped out a town map and proceeded to design a self-guided tour for us to take in the morning, pointing out areas that he knew weren’t covered in our particular tour. He also made a restaurant recommendation, told us where to get the best coffee in town and suggested we visit the Umoona museum that evening, as it was open until 7 and although it was a stop on our tour, he knew we’d not have time to see it in depth. Wow, great service!

We were given room #3, one of only six standard rooms in the entire motel. There are two family suites located below the motel, dug into a lower sandstone hill.

Our room was tiny, I mean tiny, but it was spotless and had everything we needed. There was a double bed, which was a bit of a squish after our king, a desk, a small TV and fan mounted overhead, a bench for luggage, an itsy bitsy bathroom and, well, that’s about it. The room was accessed through a short tiled hallway which also connected to the other five standard rooms and the communal kitchen. The hallway contained a few tables and chairs, enabling guests to spill out from their rooms if they needed more space. Due to the close quarters and the acoustics you could hear your neighbor sneeze, and the morning a guest burned the toast, everyone in the dugout could smell it.

It felt like a cave, and I could see how it might bother a claustrophobic, but we didn’t have any issues. In fact, we both thoroughly enjoyed the place. It was plenty dark and the night light in the bathroom really came in handy.

We were fortunate to have quiet neighbors and we all seemed to be early risers, most wanting to get out early for a tour or needing to get back on the road. It would have been difficult to sleep in anyway; once one guest was up, we all were. It was almost like sharing a wing in a house with several strangers; plenty of privacy in your own bedroom, but communal living areas.

There was a porch swing on the verandah along with a few sets of tables and chairs. Most guests would spend the early evenings on the patio sipping wine, exchanging adventures, etc. It was really enjoyable, and I highly recommend this motel.

After getting settled, we took our host’s advice and went to the Umoona Opal Mine and Museum, which of course is also a dugout. We spent quite a bit of time here, learning about the discovery of opals, the history of Coober Pedy, Aboriginal heritage, etc. We ended up in the shop, ogling the opals and learning about the industry from a 19 year old who’d lived in Coober her whole life and whose dad was in the business. We asked her how hot it got in the summer and she claimed that it reached 56c 14 years ago. Yikes, no thank you!

http://www.umoonaopalmine.com.au/

I’d scoped out some restaurants prior to our visit and I’d run across Tom and Mary’s Greek Taverna which gets excellent reviews, so that’s where we decided to have dinner. Being unfamiliar with Greek food we decided to share several dishes to see what we liked. We ordered a large Greek Salad which came with huge chunks of feta cheese, olives, cucumbers, red onion, capsicum and tomato doused in olive oil and oregano ($13.50) – excellent. We also had the Saganaki Kefalogaviera, a plate of roasted Kefalogaviera cheese topped with oregano and olive oil, which the waitress explained was similar to tasty cheese ($13). It was fantastic! We also ordered a chicken gyro ($7.50), which was good, but paled in comparison to the salad and cheese. Two thumbs up for Tom and Mary’s ($34 total).

We then retreated to our comfy motel where we sipped some of Alberto’s Villa Tinto 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon on the verandah while gazing at the bizarre world around us.

Hi Again Mel!

Yes, you're right about being careful with the alcohol limit when wine tasting - I know the limit in Australia having been to the Barossa and Hunter, but in France when I got caught up in the "sting" we just happened to see a wine shop on the way to our B&B and stopped on the way. Once they nabbed us I realized I had no clue what the limit was!

Taking pictures of food -- can't wait to see. I do it too, and yesterday on Oprah she had the Divine Diva herself, Barbara Streisand, who'd been on vacation in Spain, and showed pictures she took of food!

Melodie

Well if Barbara can get away with it...

Day 6 – Coober Pedy

The wind howled through the ceiling vents all night. Surprisingly, we were up by six; it was so dark in the cave we figured we’d sleep later than usual. We had some toast in the communal kitchen but we can’t stomach Nescafe, so we drove to town to look for a proper cup of coffee. We’d been told that John’s Pizza has the best coffee in town, but they weren’t open yet, so we went to the Desert Cave Hotel and got caffeinated at the underground Crystal Café instead. Afterwards we explored their underground opal interpretive center and located their underground bar, planning to return that evening, but completely forgetting to.

http://www.desertcave.com.au/

The wind had kicked up a willywilly (whirlwind) and the air was thick with dust. We drove to the Old Timers Mine for their 9:30 am free mining demo, which basically consisted of owner Trevor and his barking site manager Max firing up an old blower machine, which sucks up rocks and clumps of earth, blows off the loose bits, then drops the remainder into a basket. The blower machine is a Coober Pedy invention, a mining staple and the town’s icon.

We opted to take the self-guided opal mine, dugout and museum tour ($10 each). We donned hard hats and spent the next hour or so exploring. Those hard hats came in handy; they saved us from knocking ourselves unconscious several times. Those early miners must have been midgets. It was a fun stop and we learned quite a bit about Coober Pedy and dugout life.

http://www.oldtimersmine.com/

We had lunch at John’s Pizza Bar and Restaurant, sharing a Mediterranean pizza ($18) and trying out that famous coffee ($7 for two flat whites) – both were good.

We popped into the food/liquor store and witnessed an altercation between the clerk and an Aboriginal couple. They were trying to buy beer and the clerk insisted they had to buy food….the Aboriginals were loud, wild haired and grubby, including the kid they had with them. They charged in, created a scene and then just as quickly disappeared.

It was so windy and dusty that I had to remove my contacts and go with my coke bottle glasses for our afternoon tour. There was a full coaster bus of us, 22 in all, but this didn’t detract from the tour one bit.

Our guide Andy was also an opal miner, so he was full of stories. He took us on a town tour first, pointing out the only two grassed areas in all of Coober Pedy, the high school grounds and the football field. We made the rounds, visiting the police station, learning about how an unhappy resident tried to blow it up, etc. He explained that Coober Pedy’s water comes from a bore and has to be desalinated and that it doesn’t come cheap. He took us by several dugouts and explained how they’re constructed, the importance of air shaft placement in keeping the dugouts at a steady 25c year round, etc. He showed us a dugout garage and some creative looking dugout homes. He explained that it’s illegal to get a mining permit in town, but people have been known to get a building permit and then covertly mine under the guise of building a dugout, which they never finish and eventually abandon.

I was amazed at how many dugouts there were, as they’re not immediately apparent to the casual observer. Andy suggested we drive through a residential area before leaving town, but we didn’t have enough time.

Andy told us that the Aboriginals we saw on the streets were the ‘visible minority’. He explained that the town provides housing for the homeless Aboriginals, but most refuse to live there due to their superstitions about living underground. They’re also offered housing at the mission, but because alcohol is forbidden, not many take up the offer, instead choosing to live in tents. I’d been waiting for the opportunity to tactfully ask someone about the Aboriginals we’d seen sitting along the roadside, weaving through town, loitering at the ATM (causing us to avoid it) and raging at us at the gas station, but thanks to Andy I didn’t have to.

After the town tour we were taken to the Umoona museum, where we watched a film and learned that opals in Coober Pedy were discovered in 1915 by a 14 year old, Willie Hutchinson. Andy then took us into the Umoona mine, where he demonstrated the use of explosives and humorously walked us through the blasting process. We also visited a dugout home and were awed at the ingenuity and the art involved in building it. The whole concept of living underground is just so foreign, but it’s all about surviving the inhospitable climate and makes complete sense. It would certainly take some getting used to though!

Our next stop was the underground Serbian Orthodox church. A round boring machine was used to dig the church into the hillside making it entirely different from the dugouts we’d seen. The artwork hand carved into the stone by a man who volunteered his talents was truly amazing.

Andy next took us through the opal fields, a desolate place to be sure, completely devoid of any life. He took us to an area where a huge brick of opal had been unearthed, subsequently resulting in a mad rush. The field had been mined to within an inch of its life, not so much as a square foot seemed intact. As a contrast, he took us to a field where testing had indicated no veins of opal, thereby it was completely untouched. He also showed us the noodling fields, where tourists and the general public are allowed to search for opals.

We then drove out to the Breakaways, which is located about 33 km north of Coober Pedy. We’d briefly considered driving ourselves out here, but I’m glad we didn’t, the roads are unsealed and pretty rough. I’d seen photographs, but I was still caught off guard at the unexpected beauty of these colorful hills that appear in the middle of nowhere. On the way back to town we stopped at the Dog Fence and the Moon Plain, before our last stop of the day at the Coober Pedy golf course, which looked very similar to the golf course we had in Saudi Arabia. No grass, just sand. Apparently Coober Pedy’s golf course is the only one in the world to have reciprocal rights with St Andrews.

It was a fascinating day. The temps reached 38c; we were covered in dust after our 4 ½ hour tour and need a wash. There were some flies, but they weren’t too bad; the wind kept them at bay for the most part.

We had an encore dinner at Tom and Mary’s Greek Taverna that evening. Another shared Greek Salad and two orders of that lovely roasted Kefalogaviera, resulting in serious cheese overload. Oink, oink.

Another hour or so relaxing on the hotel verandah and our stay in Coober Pedy drew to a close.

Photos for the sections covered above can be found here:

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/355559/index.html

Melodie, facinating description of Coober Pedy. The sleeping in a tiny space with the wind howling in the air vent PLUS 38C are serious deterrents IMHO but we still want to go there! Pretty unique. Thanks for the great description.
Sally in Seattle

Thanks Sally. Coober Pedy is such a bizarre place...

Day 7 - On the road to Flinders Ranges

No liquids for me, as we had another long drive day ahead. We got an early start and were on the road by 7:30 am, next stop Glendambo, 252 km.

We’d discovered on our way up to Coober Pedy from Port Augusta that most of the rest stops don’t have toilets, so I’ve compiled a list of places that do, just in case anyone reading this is planning a trip up that way:

1) Ranges View rest stop, 61 km north of Port Augusta
2) Truck stop at Pimba, 174 km north of Port Augusta, 113 km south of Glendambo
3) Glendambo, 285 km north of Port Augusta, 252 km south of Coober Pedy
4) Rest stop, 180 km south of Coober Pedy

That’s it! There’s nothing else, not even a tree to duck behind in some areas.

For the first few hours we had a nice tailwind, so we made good time. We stopped for gas and a rest in Glendambo, where we encountered two huge bus loads of kids headed to Darwin. Ugh, I wouldn’t want to make that trip. The petrol station was overrun with kids buying drinks and using the facilities, so we waited awhile for it to clear out.

A short time later we were back amongst the road trains and oddly enough, a lone insane bicyclist...why anyone would want to bike through the Outback, let alone by himself, is beyond me.

Our tailwind became a cross wind and we were soon driving into a dust cloud. It was seriously blowy and the dust seemed to be suspended in the air, causing a thick haze.

In five hours we’d reached Port Augusta. We bought gas, ate lunch and picked up some provisions as we were clueless as to the shopping/food situation in the Flinders Ranges.

Within an hour we were on the road again, taking B83 towards Quorn and Hawker, passing the Pichi Pichi Railway. Hills appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again. The road became curvy, no more driving straight ahead as we had all morning. The countryside was green and dotted with wildflowers. It was nice to have something to look at again.

Ninety minutes after leaving Port Augusta, we were pulling into Rawnsley Park Station, which was in the grips of the same dust storm we’d been driving through most of the day. The air was thick with dust and the views completely obscured. We had no idea what the Flinders Ranges looked like.

Our lodging – Flinders Ranges – Rawnsley Park Station - $112 per night

http://www.rawnsleypark.com.au/

Rawnsley Park and Wilpena Pound Resort are the closest lodging options to Wilpena Pound, the jewel of Flinders Ranges National Park. We stayed in unit #25, one of several holiday units which face Rawnsley Bluff and Wilpena Pound. These are studios, with queen bed, flat screen TV (two channels), small dining and sitting area, kitchenette, good sized bathroom and surprisingly large closets. The studios are housed in modular units that don’t look like much from the outside, but ours was clean and comfortable, and we really enjoyed our stay.

The dust was pretty awful. We had dust in our noses and mouths just from unloading the car. I had to remove my contacts and flush my eyes with water. We were in for a long few days if this nonsense kept up.

We spent the afternoon reading and sipping Shiraz, as it was just too gross to venture out.

Rawnsley Park has a restaurant, The Woolshed. It’s the only food option for many kilometers, unless you count the small shop at the caravan park. We’d booked a table for all three nights of our stay when we checked in and we planned to self cater or wing it for our other meals. The Woolshed is open for lunch from 12-2 pm and for dinner from 6-8 pm. If you want to eat, you need to book.

Our first meal at the Woolshed was a bit disappointing. Bill had the 350 gram T-Bone with roasted potatoes and salad ($34). I had the special, which was a roasted capsicum filled with rice and dahl, roasted potatoes and salad ($27). Bill was pleased with his meal, but mine, well…..it tasted okay, but really, $27 for half a capsicum stuffed with rice and lentils, some overcooked potatoes and a few pieces of lettuce for $27? I wasn’t impressed.

The restaurant was very busy; in addition to the guests booked into the restaurant, they were trying to feed a bus load of 90 Flight Centre Managers on the deck, in the sand and the wind. All the staff seemed crazed and flustered. When we paid, the cashier had no idea what we had or what it cost, we had to tell her. She also charged our credit card in US dollars instead of Australian dollars, (DCC) a practice that gets my blood up every time. We explained to her we’d like to pay in Australian dollars and told her she just had to rerun the charge and push a different button. She was new and confused; she called in another employee to assist but he just wanted to argue the point with us. They were slammed, so we didn’t press the issue, we gave up and left. It all seemed very bush league and disorganized.

Day 8 – Flinders Ranges

Something miraculous happened during the night; we woke to a beautiful, completely dust free, cool sunny day; the nicest of the last three, according to our neighbors. We could finally see our surroundings and they were lovely.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilpena_Pound

We’d scoured the leaflet in our room which described the various hikes on the station. It looked as if we could spend weeks here just exploring the tracks. For some unknown reason, we decided to tackle the Rawnsley Bluff walk, a 12.6 km hike to the top of, you guessed it, Rawnsley Bluff. The hike was rated difficult in the leaflet, which should have tipped me off, but in my excitement to get out and explore this beautiful area, I must have overlooked that bit.

The trailhead starts on the station, just a short drive from the holiday units. The sign at the beginning of the trail indicates the trail is moderate, with some steep inclines, and that an average level of fitness is required. No problem for a couple of old fart hiking fools, right?

The hike began innocently enough as they so often do…I put my fly net on 30 minutes into the walk as the buggers were driving me bonkers. The trail follows the creek bed and then leads up the foothills of the main range of the Flinders, the Bonney Sandstone. About three kilometers into the hike it gets ugly, turning into a serious climb; the kind where you have to pull yourself over boulders using both hands, grasping at whatever you can find for balance, trees, rocks, your spouse’s leg, whatever. The trail eventually levels out (sort of) and forks right to the Rawnsley Bluff summit and left to the Wilpena Pound lookout. We took the longer route to the bluff first, the trail leading us through bush after bush of wattle, and soaked up the fabulous views from the summit overlooking the Chace Range. We then backtracked and took the trail to the Wilpena overlook, basking in the view down through the center of Wilpena Pound, until some fool broke the magic by whipping out his cell phone. Some people…

This is not an easy hike by any means, but the views are so worth it. By the time we reached the car park we were covered in flies – I’m beginning to think the fly is the national bird of Australia. It took us 4.5 hours to walk both forks of the track (6.75 miles), one third of which was very difficult, both ways.

After a shower we drove to Wilpena Pound, 15-20 km north of Rawnsley Park, hoping to get a walking map for the following day. There’s a kiosk with an honesty pay station as you enter Flinders Ranges National Park. The information board indicates you need only pay the $8 daily fee if you plan to camp or use the services of the park. There’s no charge if you plan to drive on to Parachilna or Blinman.

We bypassed the kiosk as we just wanted to pick up a walking map; we didn’t plan to stay long. We continued into the park and followed the signs to Wilpena Pound Resort, stopping at the information center. Here we learned that park passes can be purchased for $8 a week, whereas as if paid at the National Park kiosk, it’s $8 a day. Strange. We purchased a pass, but were unable to collect a map; it seems the information center is owned by the resort and the National Park Service is stingy with the maps so they didn’t have any.

Wilpena Pound Resort was hopping on this beautiful Sunday. We drove around just to check the place out, as we’d considered staying here. It was quite busy and we saw several cases of beer leaving the resort shop in the arms of young men, so we were glad we’d chosen Rawnsley Park, which seemed downright sedate in comparison. The resort is in a fabulous heavily treed location, right at the doorstep of Wilpena Pound.

We briefly considered driving on to Parachilna and Blinman, but were told it’s a half day drive to make the full loop; some sections of the road are unsealed and rough.

We left Wilpena Pound and continued driving north, no destination in mind, just enjoying the scenery. It was pretty and serene and we saw several kangaroos and emus about. We eventually backtracked and returned to Rawnsley Park. On a whim we checked with reception and lo’ and behold they had the walking map we’d been looking for at Wilpena Pound. We were now free to plot our course for the next day, assuming we could get out of bed in the morning.

We sat on the bench outside our room, sipping wine, listening to the birds and watching the sun set over Rawnsley Bluff. Gorgeous.

It was back to The Woolshed that evening for dinner. Bill had a salmon and feta pizza, which he said was okay, nothing special ($19). I had the balsamic onion feta tart with roasted potatoes and salad ($29), which consisted of two pieces of feta and a small a pile of onions on a pastry crust. The potatoes were noticeably absent and once again the salad was just a few pieces of lettuce. What there was of it tasted okay, but once again I was disappointed and felt as if I’d been fleeced.

The restaurant atmosphere was much calmer this time around, no bus loads of hungry people, just a handful of us in the restaurant. We didn't bother with the credit card this time, we just paid cash.

Sigh, Melodie, you are going where I have wanted to go for sooooooo long, Wilpena Pound (even though there is no snorkeling there LOL). I didn't know about Rawnsley Park and just assumed one stayed in the Resort, nice to know the difference (although the Woolshed sounds not that great.) Keep the trip report coming, I want to hear it all!
Sally in Seattle
p.s. great info in the loo report--interesting that some service places d/n have toilets. Wonder where the workers went..well, better not know.

Hi Sally -

I'd read that the Woolshed is much better than the restaurant at Wilpena Pound. The food was good, but it certainly wasn't good value. I realize they're out there in the middle of nowhere, but Coober Pedy was seriously in the boondocks and the food there was surprising good and inexpensive.

I guess you'll just have to go back, so you can visit the Flinders Ranges...

I meant to mention earlier that I'd never heard of Flinders Ranges until RalphR clued me in, so if you're still reading this, thanks again Ralph!

Day 9 – Flinders Ranges

We were on our way to Wilpena Pound by 7:30 am. We’d given serious consideration to hiking St Mary’s Peak, one of the most difficult hikes in the national park, but after the climb the day before, well….let’s just say we had a change of heart. We’d been told at the information center that the hike to St Mary’s Peak was similar to that of Rawnsley Bluff, but harder and longer; the most direct route (outside trail) is 14.6 km, six hours return, the loop route (inside trail) is 21.5 km, nine hours return. We’d also discovered that similar to Uluru, the Aboriginals would prefer that visitors not climb it.

As we neared the turnoff to Wilpena, we saw a few kangaroos approaching at an angle to our left. I warned Bill, and sure enough, they tore across the field and crossed the road directly in front of us. We also saw two emus walking in the middle of the road; and the remnants of a kangaroo alongside a pile of broken glass; apparently someone hadn’t been quite so lucky.

All was quiet at Wilpena Pound on this Monday morning. There were very few people around, a stark contrast from the previous day.

We parked and set out on the Wangara Lookout hike, which begins at the bushwalking trailhead behind the information center. The first ~1½ miles is on a road; the resort runs a shuttle to and from the trailhead along here. The road follows Wilpena Creek through a forest of gum trees, pines and acacias. It’s really pretty, and for awhile we had it completely to ourselves.

We finally reached the trailhead and walked to Hills Homestead, before continuing to the lower and upper Wangara Lookouts, where we were rewarded with some nice views into Wilpena Pound. It was perfect walking weather, sunny and cool.

After soaking up the scenery we returned to Hills Homestead and walked a bit of the 18.8 km Bridle Gap hike, which leads through the floor of Wilpena Pound and forms part of the Heyson Trail. The portion we walked was completely level and slightly boring, not much to look at other than trees, plenty of pesky flies though.

We returned to the information center via the elevated 4x4 track that runs parallel to the road we walked in on. The views were better up here; the track eventually petered out and rejoined the main access road. Total walk time, 3:45, 8.3 miles.

It was close to noon, so we opted to have lunch at the resort’s bistro, Poddy Dodgers. While waiting for it to open, we watched the birds dive into the swimming pool and drink from the water spigot; free entertainment. I made the mistake of trying to check my e-mail on the PIE Internet kiosk in the bistro. What a joke. Twelve dollars an hour and so slow it burned up $2 just to access Hotmail, and then froze up before I could open anything. I might as well have put my money into a pokey.

We were impressed with our lunch, both ordering a chicken wrap ($9.50 each). Simple, fresh and tasty.

http://www.wilpenapound.com.au/resort/

Our next stop was the Arkaroo Rock hike, which begins 17 km south of Wilpena on Hawker Road. We donned our fly nets right away, as it was seriously buggy out here. I don’t know why, but we expected an easy stroll. This was not to be; the path was rocky and there were some fairly steep bits. The trail leads to Aboriginal rock paintings, and to be quite honest, they weren’t anything to get excited about. The walk itself was very pretty; we saw lots of lizards and I kept expecting a snake to slither by, but fortunately we didn’t see any of those. This is an exposed trail that’s probably miserable on a hot day, but it wasn’t hot, just really dusty. It took us about an hour to walk the three kilometer, two mile loop, giving us a total 10.4 miles for the day.

More wine on the bench outside our holiday unit, chatting with the neighbors, watching the birds and gazing at Rawnsley Bluff.

We had our last dinner at The Woolshed, which finally redeemed itself. A shared Greek salad ($14); a pizza loaded with ham, salami, mushrooms and olives for Bill ($19), and a bowl of sweet potato and ginger soup for me ($9). And of course a few of those damper rolls, which I could have eaten an entire basket of, given the chance. It was the best meal we had there.

As we walked back to our room after dinner, we gazed at the stars and the incredibly clear view of the Milky Way, and wished we had a few more days to explore this beautiful part of South Australia.

Photos for the Flinders Ranges start here:

http://www.worldisround.com/articles...9/photo67.html

Lovely pictures! I am impressed with your hiking. You earned at least an ice cream for dessert!
Sally

The dessert came a few days later, in the form of the most decadent hot chocolate and brownie I've ever had, at Chocolate #5 in Hahndorf. Be still my heart...

Day 10 - On the road to McLaren Vale

As we packed the car to leave Rawnsley Park, we noticed all of our neighbors doing the same. We’d befriended the folks on either side of us, both couples from Sydney who’d driven to SA and were working their way towards Adelaide. We’d also met a nice couple from the Eyre Peninsula at dinner one night, and we felt as if we’d met more Australians in our three days at the Flinders Ranges than we had during our year in WA!

We said goodbye to the ladies at reception, both of whom had been very friendly and helpful during our stay. We liked this place and found it hard to leave.

It was another beautiful day, and we were on the road by 8:30 am, bound for McLaren Vale, which I’d estimated at 464 km, seven hours.

We drove towards Hawker via B83 and then picked up B80 south to Craddock and Orroroo. There were no other cars on the road here, just us. As we drove through the sleepy town of Craddock, I remembered someone here or on TA mentioning the Craddock Hotel as a classic old pub. Sure enough, there it was, closed of course, but rather obvious in a town that only consisted of a stone hotel and two stone churches.

After Craddock there was nothing to look at but flat dry countryside. The landscape became greener as we neared Orroroo with its acres and acres of mysterious crops. We made a stop in Orroroo and I saw something I’ve never seen before. A bulletin board mounted in the ladies room covered with paper towels on which appreciative users had written thank you notes to the town for providing such clean facilities.

Orroroo looked like a nice little town, but we passed through it in a flash, picking up B56 to Peterborough, where a steam model train welcomes visitors to the town. Peterborough is home to the Steamtown Heritage Center and a Motorcycle museum among other things.

http://www.peterboroughsa.com.au/tourism.php.

The landscape became even greener past Whyte Yarcowie; lots of farmland, historic homesteads and a wind farm to the west. We saw very few other cars through here and noticed that the sheep were all tinted red from the red dirt. We eventually entered the town of Hallett, “town of wool, wheat and Wilkins”. I’m not sure what the Wilkins reference is about, but I suspect it has something to do with sheep. Hallett is on the Limestone Coast, which I’d not realized until I just now looked it up.

We passed Mt Bryan and entered Burra, which we found much more interesting the second time around; perhaps because the sun was shining and there wasn’t an ice cold wind. We passed a café cleverly named The Cook ‘a Burra, and made another pit stop before continuing on A32 to Gawler, once again surrounded by those fields of flowering canola.

We entered the Gilbert Valley, which incidentally, runs parallel to the Clare Valley, stopping at a catholic church perched on a hillside near Saddleworth so I could take some snaps. We wandered through the cemetery and were surprised to see headstones dating back to 1869.

We’d seen countless beautiful stone churches since our arrival in SA; the whole state was covered in them, not just Adelaide, the City of Churches.

The sheep gradually lost their red sheen and olive groves began to appear. We were hungry, so we stopped in Gawler. We grabbed the first parking spot we could find, which just happened to be in front of a café, which is how we ended up dining at Viva Café on Victory. It turned out to be a good choice. Bill had the Greek salad, which was three times the size of the one we’d shared at The Woolshed the previous night and a wee bit less expensive at $12.95. I had a massive bowl of pumpkin soup ($6.95) served with bread, neither of which I could finish. I’m not sure how we found the room, but we managed flat whites after the meal ($3.20 each). Good, fast, inexpensive and friendly.

Back in the car, we located A20 and watched the price of gas drop the closer we got to Adelaide. We turned on A13 (John Rice Ave) which took us right through town; surely there’s a better way of getting through this sprawling city. There was loads of truck traffic, it was busy and congested and A13 just kept going and going and going…

As we sat through light after light and passed shop after shop, working our way through the urban sprawl of Adelaide, I couldn’t help but notice how different it is from Perth. It seems to have more shops, more restaurants, more gas stations, more variety, more everything. I saw more fast food outlets in 30 minutes than I’ve seen in all of Perth (not that that’s a good thing). Perhaps everything in Adelaide is on this one street??

We finally broke free of the congestion after the M2 turnoff, and we were soon in the hills; it was pretty and green again. The Gulf of St Vincent made an appearance and wineries began to pop up around Reyanella.

We arrived in McLaren Vale 474 kilometers and 7 ½ hours after leaving Rawnsley Park; my estimate was pretty darn close.

We called into the Visitor’s Center (very nice by the way) to collect a map and were soon on our way to our cottage.

Our lodging – McLaren Flat, Black Rabbit Cottage - $160 per night

http://www.stayz.com.au/30871

This is restored heritage listed cottage located in McLaren Flat, a 10-15 minute drive from the town of McLaren Vale. It’s a lovely stone cottage, nestled amongst a vineyard and a well tended garden. It felt like a labyrinth at first, with its many doors and rooms leading to other rooms because of the addition. It’s spacious and comfortable, with three bedrooms, a large kitchen, two living areas and a huge modern bathroom. The cottage is rimmed with several outdoor seating areas from which to sip wine and watch the sun go down over the vines. Other than a funky smell in the kitchen, of which we never found the source, and entirely too many millipedes and earwigs, we were very comfortable here.

We were greeted at the cottage by Jess, the friendly dog who lives down the road with the owners.

We had just enough time to visit one winery before 5 pm, so we chose the closest Hugo Wines, just up the road, where we were well looked after by Pam. In between wine pours, she gave us some pointers on where to eat and what to do in the area. She even called Jetstar and Adelaide Airport security screening on our behalf to enquire about their policy on liquids, as we’d yet to figure out how we were going to get all the wine we’d accumulated back to Perth. With her considerable help, we determined that we could carry up to five liters each of unopened wine on board, as long as it didn’t exceed the 10 kg cabin baggage limit. She offered to ship our wine to Perth, even though most of it had come from other wineries. Wow!

We left Hugo with three bottles of wine and relief at having solved our little wine problem.

We chilled out on the verandah, sipping Hugo 2004 Reserve Shiraz, watching the sun set over the vines, listening to the birds and admiring the lovely garden. Pure bliss.

Dinner that night was at The Barn, a Pam recommendation. As usual, we didn’t have a booking, but we went early and had no trouble getting a table.

We shared the Barn’s salt crusted house made bread, okay, but uninspired, just a dense white bread with some salt on top.

Bill ordered the Wagyu Beef San Choy Bau, “premium Wagyu beef mince served with baby cos lettuce hearts, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, fried shallots, fresh chili and pine nuts” ($21.90). His meal was served on a large rectangular platter with a pile of greens, two Chinese porcelain soup spoons, one each with fried onions and pine nuts, and a small bowl of seasoned Wagyu beef. I would have taken a photo, but I’d left my camera behind. It was very pretty, more plate than food, but Bill said it was good, just a wee bit salty.

I ordered the “chicken breast, oven baked and rested on sweet potato rounds, topped with a sage, prunes, cream and white wine sauce” ($23.90), which turned out to be chicken on the bone over three pieces of sweet potato, two spears of asparagus and a splash of the most heavenly sauce. Who knew prunes could be so good?

It was a lovely meal in a cozy restaurant, if just a wee bit she-she for the likes of us. Dinner with one glass each of black bubbles (sparkling Shiraz) came to $63.

The restaurant was very busy when we left, and this was a Tuesday; we were glad we’d gone early.

Before returning to the cottage, we popped into Coles, which we were surprised to learn stays open until 9 pm, as stores in WA close at 5 pm sharp. We were equally surprised to find an Internet café which stayed open until 8:30 ($5 an hour). Cool.

Hi Mel,
Wonderful report - thanks for making the effort to include all those details that make it interesting and very helpful for the legion of us following, vicariously and/or with our own itchy feet sometime soon.

I was holding my breath about Skilogalee ... how often do you refer someone to to something or someone, only to have them have the one-in-a-million disastrous experience? Glad they're still doing it well. Nice people.

I'm with Bill: I want my beef just dead - not carbon dated!
Looking forward to the next instalments.
Cheers
Bokhara