I bet you weren't expecting to hear from me this soon after the last post took three months to generate - two issues in three days and it's not over yet!
Our 10 day trip was great! The better than usual rainfall in the months before we arrived had made things unusually green and lush for this part of the world. The wild flowers were blooming, the magpies, cockatoos and parrots were noisily going about their spring business in and around our camp site and there was no shortage of kangaroos and emus to be seen. We even came across a few herds of feral goats whenever we ventured further north. On the sunnier days the reptiles were out too. I even did my Steve Irwin thing and grabbed a couple of these critters to show Heather - right up close and personal! The evenings were cool enough to warrant making a fire to sit around for a couple of hours before heading to bed but the nights didn't get overly cold. To get to some of the sights we did plenty of dirt road driving which highlighted just how much dust can get into everything without actually revealing where it got in from!
To keep this short I have included some photos that I hope you find at least a little interesting.
Scenery
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| Typical scene in the Flinders Ranges |
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| Wilpena Pound is the centrepiece of Flinders Ranges tourism |
We did a few hikes while we were there. The most strenuous one was to the top of Rawnsley Bluff. This 5km trail was well sign-posted but quite a steep climb. The view from the top was worthwhile and all the more interesting given the fact that we are able to say we looked down upon a helicopter that was taking some folks for a tour!
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| We climbed to the top of Rawnsley Bluff |
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| Grant sitting atop Rawnsley Bluff |
While out and about seeing the sights we came across an ochre wall. Ochre is a naturally occurring soft rock that can be found in a number of different colours and is prized by aboriginals as the raw material with which they make ceremonial face and body paints. Simply grind it up and add a little water and animal fat to make into a paste. This wall was a beauty as it contained several colours in the one location.
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| This Ochre Wall is over 50m long and about 3m high - the mother lode! |
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| Purple, white, gold, yellow and brown veins of ochre are easily accessible in the wall |
Flora
Early September (spring time in Australia) was the perfect time to see an abundance of wild flowers blooming.
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| Floral Emblem of our home state of South Australia - Sturt's Desert Pea |
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| Sturt's Desert Pea up close - blood red and glossy black |
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| The green and gold of Australia's national floral emblem - Golden Wattle |
Fauna
We saw plenty of kangaroos, emus and rabbits especially as the sun was going down - not a good time to be driving. I have posted plenty of photos of kangaroos and emus before so will not bore you with them again. Instead, some scaly cold blooded locals for your viewing pleasure. Warning: Steve Irwin moments ahead!
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| Up close with this Bearded Dragon |
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| These guys are no danger to people - bugs and beetles are their main diet |
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| CRIKEY! Lets just give this little fella a belly a rub before we let him get on his way! |
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| These are Shingleback Lizards - more commonly known as Sleepy Lizards |
Well that's about it for the Flinders Ranges - it is a great place to visit.
I have decided to clear my backlog of WTF? - Where are The Farrows? blogs via two or three short posts before I head back to work next week. In the New Year I will get back to something closer to real time posting of blogs of our new adventures - at least that is my New Year's resolution. Let's hope I can stick to it!
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