We visited Jarvis Hill lookout. This was a short 600metre walk that took us up the ridge of the hill. The view back into the valley was very pretty indeed. The ants on the move up there were in their thousands so we are expecting rain. The weather is not looking all that good but hopefully it hold out. From Jarvis Hill we headed to Yourambulla Caves. It is a site that has aboriginal paintings and etchings. We made the journey to the first painting site. We were very impressed with the climbing structure they gave us to get up to the pictures safely but were a little disappointed when we arrived. We were expecting them to be similar to the painting in Kakadu. They were very simple pictures with not much detail and the kids ask if it was the kids who had painted them. It is still amazing to think some of these paints are years old and that they tell stories to teach their tribe. The walk had been a little difficult for Kaleb so we headed back to the car after that.
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| Flinders Ranges in the distance |
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| Aboriginal art |
We drove past many old town ruins and looked at a little old cemetery. It so hard to look at the different headstones and see so many people die at a young age. It was an extremely hard life when they opened up this country. Thankfully they all forged ahead. This country area is amazingly pretty. Even as it is leading into the dry season. Back in town we took in Wilpena Panorama. Well the kids did. I didn't feel like paying $7 to view a painting of Flinders Rangers when I knew we were heading there in the morning. The kids said it was pretty amazing and took photos and video as best they could. So considerate our children are. WE JUST LOVE THEM TO BITS!!!
Started our day nice and early into Flinders Ranges National Park. The weather is suppose to be closing in on us so we wanted to get as much done as possible. I also wanted to get as much done as fast as possible because I have been tackling a very sore arm and neck. The muscles are that tight that certain moves make it ache and sharp pains shoot up my arm. Nigel became the chief bag and camera carrier that day. This certainly help with lessoning the effect of the muscle spasms. Thanks Nigel, your a champ.
The drive to Wilpena was very pretty and we had many stops to take amazing photos of the Ranges. They are very pretty and have the most amazing colours. We arrived at the Wilpena Pound to catch the Shuttle Bus into the area. So that the walk was 6km's less. This always is a bonus for the kids because that little extra walk always ends up causing us headaches. We wandered along the Hills Homestead Walk firstly. A nice easy flat walk for about 1km. This brought us into the clearing in which the secondary home was built for the Hill Family sons and daughter that pioneered the area. We then did a steep 600metre climb to two lookouts along the Wangara Hike track. They gave you fabulous views into the Pound and even though the uphill climb was a bit of a slog we got it finished. While we climbed up we heard the rumbling of thunder coming our way. The storm was not far off so we quickly high tailed it down the mountian and arrive at the homestead again to feel the first few drops of rain. The upper track we took was another down hill decent which helped the kids keep moving. The storm was really decending on us quickly now. It started to bucket down so we made the decision to keep walking until the bus turned up. We thought that we could have pushed past most of the track before it arrived. Thankfully it met us halfway. They decide to come in early knowing we were out there and that the weather was about to really pack it in.
We arrive back at the information centre and ate our lunch watching and listening to the rain coming down. It dropped an amazing amount of water in a short period and this put paid to our idea of driving to Blinman then taking the dirt track to Parachillna. We will have to come back to do that. The Flinders Ranges deserve a much better look around than we were able to give it but we are glad that we did get a chance to do what we did.
Arriving back at camp. Power was down and the rain continued to bucket down in intervals. The thunder really rumbled and we saw the seldom flash of lightening. That afternoon another family pulled into the caravan park. I was outside reading my book when the wife got my attention and said "Do you remember us? We met you at Treasure Island on the Gold Coast." My god. "Yes I do." This family had been holidaying next to us for 3 days and were from Brisbane (Brad, Karyn, Madi and Hugo Ralph). They had mention to us back then that they intended to drive the Birdville track later in the year and surprisingly we have met up with them again. It was a matter of fate we feel. How the heck that happens is just amazing. A really pleasant surprise. We had evening drinks and caught up with all their going on and ours. The kids reconnected and had a really nice time together. Just a quick visit together but we told them that we were heading for Clare next and they decided that they too would head there in a day or two.
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| How cute, they were holding hands while they slept. |
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