Flinders Ranges National Park

En route I stopped by the town of Burra, SA, as recommended by a fellow Grey Nomad - Spida.  It is a quaint town developed around a copper mine (now played out) and many of the miners were Welsh.  They built their houses in the way they did in Wales, thus there are many stone miners cottages making the town quite different from most Australian towns. 

Then straight to the Flinders Ranges National Park, crossing the Goyder Line   http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=247  on the way (the Goyder Line is meant to delineate feasible farming/grazing lands from sub-economic and does this basically by following the 10 inch rainfall line.  South of this Line was grain paddocks; north was dry scrublands, red soil & more rugged.  The Flinders Range is a long mountain range, part of which has been made National Park.

On arrival at the Wilpena Pound Resort, I booked an unpowered site for three nites, set up and then walked up to the Wilpena Pound Lookout, around 8Km return.  While uphill it was reasonably easy going until the last 400 metres, which was quite steep but the lookout was well placed, giving a very good overview into the Pound.  The Pound is a large natural basin, relatively green and was grazed in early days but is now all National Park:  A stone homestead used by the family that owned the land is not far from the lookout.  There is only one entrance into the Pound and it is narrow:  To get stock out they had a small truck to get through the gap - with some difficulty - to bring stock to a staging area accessible by large trucks. 

The following day I attempted to climb Ohlssen Bagge peak, which offers an alternative look into the Pound.  This goes up through rocks and cliffs and looks back over the Resort on the way up.  It is six Km return and is a very steep climb from the get-go.  After two & a bit Km I reached a saddle where you could look out over a small part of the Pound and back toward the Resort, which looked tiny from this perspective.   I was pretty exhausted, the trail ahead was incredibly steep and decided to turn back as it is as hard going down - if not harder in places - as going up.  My tail was dragging proper when I got back to camp, but it was an experience and the scenery was, well, ruggedly good looking . 

The next walk was a 7Km walk through Bunyeroo Gorge and while relatively flat, much of it is on stony ground.   A feature throughout the Range is the large old river red gums (Eucalyptus cameldulensis) and here in the Gorge were plenty of them.  They are generally twisted and knarled, many with large scars at the base from previous fires.  One of these trees was made famous when photographed in 1937 by Harold Cazneaux  and the photo titled "The Spirit of Endurance".  The tree endures yet. 

The Flinders Range is extensive and varied, from small hills to rolling ranges to steep and rugged peaks.  .  The geology has both limestone and sandstone present, the rocks are a deep purplish red and generally covered with scrub.  Paintings by Hans Heysen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Heysen)  feature the gum trees in his work.  The Wilpena Pound is unique, being approx. 5 by  Km and virtually totally enclosed by steep mountains.  I planned to spend at least one nite at the Brachia Campsite in the National Park, however the 20 Km drive along the gravel road into Bunyeroo Gorge was such a rough drive that I decided not to attempt a similar drive and gave that camp a miss.  On my last night in the National Park, there was a thunder storm at dusk, creating a unique and eerie sunset.  From here I'll continue traveling down the Eire Peninsula, they say there is good fishing there.