Merna Mora Station, Flinders Ranges, Sth Oz

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9-13 May 2011

A highlight of the trip to date is bunking down at Merna Mora - a sheep and shorthorn cattle station in the magical Flinders Ranges.

After one night at Clare (possibly our coldest night yet!) in the Clare Valley on our way up to the Flinders Ranges, we found ourselves at Merna Mora. It was quite a coincidence that we ended up here but, once again, we couldn't have asked for a better place to be. It was to be our last stop with the parents and we were all so glad we were able to experience the Flinders Ranges together. Merna Mora is a family owned and run station that has only six powered sites (but plenty of bush camping) and the old shearers sheds have been converted to units (this is where mum and dad stayed). It was a fantastic experience as it was quite intimate and we met some interesting people. We went and watched the sheep being crutched, patted the goats, collected eggs from the chook pen and watched the sheep dogs at work. There was a communal campfire that would get sparked up each afternoon and everyone was super friendly, especially the chooks. The chooks wandered around and you would even find them in your car when you hopped in to drive off somewhere. We even had one trying to roost on our camper spare tyre!

Based at Merna Mora, we were able to expore Wilpena Pound and the Flinders Ranges National Park. We spent a day at Wilpena doing the Hills Homestead walk and up to the lookout. The story behind the old homestead was so interesting but also a bit heart breaking too. We took the Moralana Scenic Drive to and from the station and saw plenty of wildlife.

Our last full day with mum and dad was spent at Brachina Gorge which is situated on the western side of the national park. The gorge is spectacular and the rock formations date back to 600 millions years old. It was such a special place..

We got back that night to catch the sunset from up the hill at the station. Only problem was, it wasn't much of a sunset but we had a few laughs and a good time anyway.

Next morning was an emotional goodbye and then we were off on a 4WD track that took us all the way to Lake Torrens. We saw many interesting things and lots of wildlife.

A really memorable part of the trip!

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