17/09/21 Rough Roads: Flinders Ranges NP

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The Wilpena Pound Resort campsite is quite large: last night both of us expressed a degree of reluctance to go to the loo due to fear of not finding our way back and being left to wander alone and cold through the campsite all the long dark night. We solved the problem by making sure we took our phone so we could, if lost, use Google maps to find our way home. Which brings us to the question of how far out in the wilderness are you if you have 4G in your tent?

Roger was also faced with a decision between economy and efficiency: an exceedingly difficult choice for an engineer. Should he boil water in camp, thereby saving time but using precious resources for which he has paid in blood sweat and tears (or in his case holidays); or should he hike to the camp kitchen and use someone else's resources but take twice as long and run the risk of getting lost on the way home? I wish I could tell you he's solved this problem but alas, he's still dithering and we're up to 18 Excel spreadsheets with no end in sight.

Believe it or not we didn't waste all day on this silly stuff. We woke up to showers (from the sky, not the ablutions block) and went for a drive rather than walking in the rain.  The initial plan was to drive to Blinman, and we started out on track.

From Stokes Hill look out

Now back in April we had a holiday and drove along a lot of really rough dirt roads in NSW, which eventually resulted in one pothole too many, a damaged rim, and lots of angst. You'd think we would be a little wary of rough dirt roads after that but nope, gluttons for punishment that we are, we turned off the bitumen at the first opportunity and went gorge-hunting on rough dirt roads.

The flowers are out in the Flinders Ranges.

Part of the Heyson Trail: a hike for another day.

Lunch beside clear, running water.



Brachina Gorge.

Stunning views of rugged mountains.

The road back

Blinman will have to wait for another day, as our rough road choices meant we didn't get back to the bitumen until well into the afternoon. It was well worth it for the wedge tailed eagles drifting in the updraft at our eye level; the wildflowers carpeting to the horizon; and the chance to figure out all the places we want to come back to to explore in more detail.

By the evening the rain had all blown away, so we lit a fire and hung out by the flames until the cold chased us to bed.

Goodnight.


Comments

  1. Phil DSeptember 19, 2021 at 3:10 PM

    I’m loving your travels and your amusing stories! Thanks also for the great photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KatyBeeSeptember 19, 2021 at 8:35 PM

      Thanks Phil! It's great to know that someone is reading it🙂

      Delete

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