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Published: June 14th 2023
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It was tempting to stay an extra day at Victor Harbor in the vain hope that the Southern Right Whales would arrive from Antarctica, however, the Flinders Ranges were calling. We wanted to follow the Heysen Trail, which starts at Cape Jervis just near Victor Harbor, and ends at Parachilna Gorge. On a previous visit to SA we had visited Hans Heysen’s house and studio at Hahndorf, and we were taken with his and his daughter Nora's skill as artists, with Han's primary focus for his paintings being the Flinders Ranges. Our next decision was where to stop over on our way to the Flinders. Options:- Snowtown (No), Truro (I don't think so), Kapunda (Aust most haunted town – No). We ended up staying overnight at the little town of Spalding, just north of the Clare Valley.
The next morning we headed for Angorichina Tourist Park, located in the northern section of the Flinders Ranges, on the way stopping off at Jamestown for morning tea, groceries and fuel. After arriving and setting up at the park, we walked 2 kms along the Blinman Pools Walk in order to get a taste of our planned big walk the next day. That
night, however, a huge storm blew through, dumping heaps of rain on the ranges. We awoke to the sound of a torrent of water rushing down the gorge where we were due to hike. As we set out walking, we were warned by the Park Managers to “take our flippers”. We were only able to hike 1 km before realising it was impossible to cross the raging creek, and turned back.
We then drove to the historic copper mining town of Blinman, with it’s famous hotel, copper mine and slab hut. After inspecting the mine and the slab hut, we stopped off at Wadna Aboriginal Shop and checked out their hand made indigenous goods, before returning to the park. The next morning the creek had subsided somewhat from the storm, and we again commenced the Blinman Pools Walk. We managed to reach the first pool and waterfall, despite having to make several creek crossings and scramble over rocks, as we made our way up the steep gorge. The walk was rated challenging and ended up being 12.3 kms return, and we were spent by the time we arrived back at the van.
Having ended our stay at Angorichina,
the next morning we headed for Rawnsley Park Station, in the southern end of the Flinders. After setting up we climbed Alisons Saddle to enjoy great views over the station, even viewing a full Lake Torrens in the distance. The following day we drove to Arkaroo Rock Paintings, followed by a series of lookouts:- Pugilist Hill, Arkaba Hill, Great Wall of China and Elder Range Lookouts, all with panoramic views of the rich red mountain ranges.
We had been researching walks in the area, and we eventually decided on tackling the Rawnsley Bluff Walk. It was a daunting challenge, with the walk on AllTrails rated as hard. The walk required hiking from the valley floor at Rawnsley Station up a steep cliff, to the cairn at the top of Rawnsley Bluff. I wasn’t sure that we could do it at our age, but we persisted, and not only reached Rawnsley Bluff, but continued on to the lookout over Wilpena Pound. It ended up being a 12.4 km walk, but it was one of the most challenging we had completed, at times having to rock climb up steep sections of the cliff. On our return, I lit a fire and
cooked dinner over the fire, a great way to finish off a great day.
On our final day, we drove to see the historic Cazneaux Red River Gum Tree, that was originally photographed in 1937 by Harold Cazneaux, and was named as the “Spirit of Endurance”. The Red River Gums in the Flinders truly are enduring wonders. We then drove to Wilpena Pound to embark on our guided tour of the Sacred Canyon, containing a series of rock engravings by the local Adnyamathanha tribe, which took the form of a “menu” for visiting tribes, showing types of food to be found, where water is to be found, and who can enter the canyon.
We have seen many photographs of the Flinders Ranges, and the changing hues and grandeur of the ranges truly need to be seen to be appreciated.
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