Flinders Ranges – South Australia

After leaving the rugged beauty of The Great Ocean Road, and Southern Victoria, we headed into South Australia en-route to The Flinders Rangers. First stop was Mt Gambier where we stayed a few nights at the Big 4 Blue Lake Caravan Park.  Mt Gambier is known for its volcanic lakes and sink-holes. Blue lake is the most well known, especially in summer when the colour is a vibrant blue.

A friend had suggested we check out Ewan Ponds, a series of three sinkholes. These limestone ponds are spring fed, crystal clear and perfect for snorkelling and scuba diving. What a shame my bikini didn’t fit.

Umpherston Sinkhole is now one of the most beautiful gardens located in Mt Gambier. The sinkhole was formed when the roof of a limestone cave collapsed.

Mt Gambier      South Australia

On leaving Mt Gambier, we consulted our trusty paper map and headed north through  pine plantations and vineyards. About 100 klm up the road is the small town of Naracoorte which has a series of world heritage listed caves and the best diorama visitor centre that we have seen. Palaeontologists are still excavating fossils that have been dated back to 500,000. Our Megafauna may be extinct at the caves but the native flora put on a spectacular display.

Naracoorte Caves     South Australia

Continued heading north, stopping at Springton, where you will find the Herbig Family Tree, a giant Red Gum, which was home to the Herbig family for about 5 yrs. That’s what you call a tree change.

Travelled a few hundred kilometres through a dust storm before arriving at Hawker, in the Flinders Rangers.

What do you expect for $40 a night ? A slightly lumpy bed in a retro caravan with a broken window, aircon not working, couldn’t drink the water from the tap, the light over the sink didn’t work, and no plug in the sink, but it did have an outside en-suite. Somehow Tony did manage to get the football on the TV.   No 5 star for us. It was either that or trying to sleep sitting up in the Prado. As with the rest of our Aussie road trips, we never book  ahead, so we were fortunate to even get that van as all other  accommodation was booked out, but that’s all part of the adventure.

We spent 4 days walking , driving and enjoying this ancient rocky landscape and its unique fauna and flora. How good is it to sit under the shade of a gum tree, in a dry creek bed, sipping coffee and watching a family of emus stroll past. Or watching a Wedge Tail Eagle ( with a wing span of more than 2 metres ) carry away a kangaroo carcass with its powerful talons.

Loved this sign on the drive to Blinman, the highest town in South Australia. Didn’t bother to stop for lunch at Parachilna.

After surviving the dust storm with duct tape and dust masks, we left the old Ghan Train Station behind and stumbled upon the Kanyaka Ruins, built in 1852 out of local stone. This was originally a cattle station and later a sheep station. You would wonder why anyone would want to settle in this inhospitable area, maybe the spring fed water hole made the difference. Today it makes for a pleasant stop, to wander the old ruins, sit by the waterhole and enjoy the sounds of the Australian bush.

Having finished this leg of our journey, we now head off to Mungo National Park in NSW.