Day 11 – September 11 2012

We drove out at around 8.20am to Wilpena Pound for a walk into the Hills Homestead inside the pound itself.  The walk was a very easy stroll along Wilpena Creek amongst some of the most majestic & distinguished river red gums I have seen.  Topping it off was wattle, not only the magnificent yellow flowers, but the sweet perfume permeating our whole walk.  It was one of the most pleasant walks we have been on.  It was a very easy hour walk to the Hills Homestead, a stone building that has been well restored & cared for. They had signs telling the history of the family who lived there – what hardships they endured. We were serenaded by a family of blue wing kookaburras (well, they laughed at us) and again surrounded by an amazing array of birdlife.

Behind the Hills Homestead was the short strenuous climb up to the two Wangarra Lookouts, the lower one only about 300 metres from the homestead & the top one a lot steeper & a lot further up.  We had lots of stops for breathers on the way up.  The view over the pound & the surrounding ranges was very impressive.  The scale & shape of Wilpena Pound was very evident with a very large flat area inside the pound that was originally used to grow sheep, then wheat.  We saw a few different species of lizards sunning themselves on the rocks on the walk which gave us another special treat. The walk down was one heck of a lot easier (for those without knee problems), then from the Hills Homestead it was a very pleasant 3.8km walk back to the Wilpena Visitor Centre.  I walked about half way up the top lookout when I turned around & slowly walk back down because my knees reminded me that I am not a mountain goat any more.  The total walk would have been about 6 – 7 km & I was just so happy that my knees held out.  This was the most civilized outback walk I have ever been on & I would say one of the nicest – a must for all overseas visitors because there are docile kangaroos (used to tourists) just posing for those memorable photographs, emus, birds & beautiful gum trees showing of their colourful trunks in the sunshine & of course the gorgeous gorges.

We then drove up to Blinman, a very old town with a smattering of old stone buildings, which was once an important copper mining town, now surviving on the tourist industry.  We stopped at the North Blinman Hotel for a counter lunch & drink before a short walk around town, spotting an old mine shaft with disused mining equipment laying around.

After lunch we turned south again & stopped to look at the Great Wall of China, a startling rock formation that looks like someone has built a very large stone wall around the top of the range. Next stop was the ruins of the Appealinna Station, a short drive off the road & victim of the many droughts of the 19^th century.  The building is made of flat mudstone picked from the ground where it lies in huge abundance, even the toilet was made from stone.  The next stop was Stokes Hill Lookout with another magnificent view of the surrounding countryside.

The afternoon was getting late so the kangaroos were starting to come out to feed.  The drive home to Rawnsley Park Station was very steady, with a bit of braking for lots of kangaroos that decided they needed to dash across the road in front of us.  A relaxing coffee & bikkies with a chat finished off another really great day with our friends.  186km of driving, a cloudless clear blue sky, a slight cooling breeze & around 23C, even a very pleasant climate to make it a truly great day.  At 8pm we went to the camp kitchen to listen to a talk on the geology & biodiversity of the Flinders Ranges, with around 30 of our fellow travellers.  He was very informative & interesting, though he did talk in a monotone which sent a few off to sleep.