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Published: September 26th 2020
Wing in the Willows
Willow Springs Station, South AustraliaI had an early start at Arkaroola on Tuesday morning. I packed up the car, had breakfast and checked out in time for the 8am departure of the Ridgetop Tour. The tour is probably the best-known tour at Arkaroola and while expensive, it was on my must-do list for this trip.
There were 13 of us booked in so we were split over 2 Landcruisers that have been fitted out with padded seats on the back. I got in the first one and our driver was Rick, a typical outback guy with long hair and beard, and a hat similar to my own. It turned out to be an excellent decision because he was a geology nerd and had so much knowledge that he wanted to impart to us. I’ve never been big on geology, but between his enthusiasm and the geology of the area being on full display around Arkaroola, it was hard not to be interested.
We set out on the same track I took to go to the Echo Camp Backtrack but headed through a locked gate for the Ridgetop Tour. At first the track was just challenging enough for me to think that I would
Sunset over Wilpena Pound
Willow Springs Station, South Australia have enjoyed driving my car through. Later on, that changed as the track got rougher. When someone on the tour asked me if I would like to four-wheel-drive through there I said yes, but not in my car!
Our first stop was at Coulthard’s lookout where we could see Arkaroola village in the distance on one side, and on the other we could see the track heading into the mountainous country ahead. The other driver gave us a talk on the history of Arkaroola and after all the photos were taken, we continued on.
The next stop, I can’t remember the name of, but it was very windy and cold. I was in shorts and t-shirt and hadn’t thought to bring a jumper, but I survived. There, Rick gave us an extensive geology talk, pointing out the rocks from various ages and geological events. At one time, that part of Arkaroola was an active volcanic region that Rick described as Rotorua on steroids. Nowadays it is very much extinct, thankfully.
The final destination of the tour is at Siller’s lookout, sitting on top of an outcrop. The climb up is quite hairy, consisting of three sections. Each
On top of Skytrek
Willow Springs Station, South Australia section is shorter than the previous one, but more intense. We had to wait for Rick to turn the Landcruiser around and park before the other cruiser could make the ascent. Once both vehicles were squeezed onto the small plateau, we disembarked and marvelled at the views.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but rest assured the trip was worth it. We spent about half an hour at the lookout. The views were accompanied with cups of tea and apparently world-famous lamingtons. I can’t say that I had heard that before, but they were decent lamingtons, regardless.
We were running a bit late, so on the way back Rick wasn’t messing about. Even with a comfort stop, the return trip was much quicker than the way out. The fact that Rick wasn’t on the mic talking about geology definitely helped, but he drove the track faster than I would have. Not reckless, just with the ease of someone who knew every inch of the track from driving it so often.
We returned to Arkaroola village just after 1pm. I headed into the restaurant to get some lunch before it was time for me to head out.
River Red Gums
Willow Springs Station, South Australia I really enjoyed my stay at Arkaroola and will definitely be back.
I was now in a bit of a quandry. The rains had closed the roads for much of the last few days, but even though they were now open, there had been no possibility of resupply during that time. Therefore, I was unable to pick up food at Arkaroola for the rest of the trip. Also, at some point on the day it was raining, my auxiliary battery went flat because the car didn’t drive. This made me a bit suspicious of the meat in my fridge. I needed to get some food.
My first thought was to check out some of the towns in the Flinders and as Blinman seemed to be quite central, I headed there. The drive was pretty good, but I could see that the floodways were a bit messed up by the rain so I understood why they were closed.
I arrived in Blinman to find that there was not much there, so no chance of a resupply. There was also no mobile reception so I couldn’t do any searching online, and as it was 4 o’clock it was too
Flinders Ranges at Sunset
Willow Springs Station, South Australia late to drive around looking. So I had to make a decision. In the end, I decided to make a mad dash for Port Augusta. I knew there were fully stocked supermarkets there, plenty of accommodation options and cheaper fuel. It was only 200kms and the Outback Highway is sealed and 110kph.
I arrived in Port Augusta at 7:30, after ringing ahead to book a room at a motel. The motel also had a restaurant so I could enjoy another meal cooked for me. It was Indian and a nice change from the food I have eaten over the last month. In the morning I hit the supermarket and filled up the car with reasonably priced fuel and headed back up into the Flinders.
I drove to Quorn along the highway, but from there I headed onto Buckaringa Scenic Drive. It was a pretty good gravel road and there were supposed to be a couple of gorges to check out. Unfortunately they seemed to be closed to cars, so I all I got to see was the view from the lookout, which was pretty average. It was a nice drive though.
The scenic drive ends at Simmonston,
On the track
Ridgetop Tour, Arkaroola, South Australia the town that never was. It was located on one of 4 possible routes for the Ghan railway and while a couple of buildings, including a hotel, were built, the Ghan ended up taking a different route and the town never happened. From there I headed up to the ruins of Hookina via a track through farmland and a couple of dusty willy-willies. There wasn’t much to see at Hookina, so I headed into Hawker to have some lunch. Fresh with supplies, I made my own lunch and ate it in the park where I made a new friend – a brave magpie with a broken beak that was eager to share my sandwich. Once I saw the broken beak, I was happy to share a few bits with him.
I headed north from Hawker on the Flinders Ranges Way. I stopped at a few lookouts along the way and took photos. Before long, I arrived at Willow Springs where I would be staying for the next two nights. I checked in at the homestead and organised to drive their famed 4-wheel-drive track Skytrek the next day. Then I headed to my campsite, named Valley View.
The campsite
On the track
Ridgetop Tour, Arkaroola, South Australia was away from the main homestead where there are cabins and a few people had caravans, secluded around a hill in a wooded valley beside a dry creek bed. There was a drop toilet, picnic table and a firepit with a couple of flat rocks around. It was a perfect campsite so I was very pleased. I set up camp, but soon headed out because they had recommended heading to a nearby lookout for sunset. The sunset over Wilpena Pound was great, but I spent most of the time in the car because the wind up on the hill was freezing.
I returned to camp and the temperature was dropping, so I had to change into long pants for the first time in a few weeks, and get the jumper out. Apparently, the overnight temperature was 4 degrees, but I was snug inside my swag. I was surprised by the cold, after the pleasant nights camping along the Oodnadatta Track, but the next day I found that even the owners had been surprised by the cold spell.
On Thursday morning I got up at a reasonable time and made both breakfast and lunch as I had a big
On the track
Ridgetop Tour, Arkaroola, South Australia day ahead. Skytrek has to be started before 10:30am to ensure you finish in daylight, but the owner recommended starting as early as possible because the toughest part of the drive is done into the setting sun. In the end, I got away by 9:30 so not too early.
The drive began by following the creek east of the homestead. One of the early highlights were some indigenous petroglyphs, carvings in the rock near the creek. The emu tracks were easiest to pick out, but there were also some circles and other lines. I was really impressed by the creek crossings, with the river red gums making every crossing look like a painting.
After leaving the creek, the track turns north into more open country. Just before I arrived at Old Moxan’s Hut I caught up to a couple in a Ford Ranger who were a going a bit slower than I was. Not that I was speeding along. I thought I was taking it easy, but I got the impression they were not as confident. After checking out the hut, in which a station employee used to stay, I headed off, leaving them behind me.
The
View from Coulthard's Lookout
Ridgetop Tour, Arkaroola, South Australia track travelled between two small ranges and once upon a time Skytrek continued on to climb Mount Caernarvon. But now, it loops around one of the ranges and turns south again. This section through the Little Bunkers was pretty rough and I had to take it quite slow. The highlight was the Valley of the Pyramids, where the hills on one side were pointy and looked a bit like the Egyptian pyramids.
I reached the recommended lunch stop in a creek bed just after midday. I wasn’t hungry yet so I followed the Skytrek guide’s advice and walked up the creek looking for stromatolite fossils. I didn’t really know what I was looking for, but it was a really enjoyable walk nonetheless. When I returned back to where the car was parked, the two cars I had overtaken had arrived. They left while I was eating my lunch so I figured I would be catching them again. Both cars had let me pass when I reached them the first time, so I didn’t figure there would be any issues.
The track continued south a bit longer, though open terrain, before swinging west and into more hilly country. After
On the track
Ridgetop Tour, Arkaroola, South Australia heading through a locked gate, the track got really interesting. The climbs were steep and over loose rocks, but by taking it slowly in low range, I had no problems. The views up the top were stunning but were also accompanied by gusty winds. They would have to have been some of the strongest winds I’ve ever experienced, so I took plenty of photos but kept moving.
On the hilltops there was also mobile reception and like my climb of Mount Finke earlier in the trip, I took the opportunity to ring my dad to wish him a happy birthday. I did so from within the car, keeping warm and comfortable. I signed the visitor book on the last lookout and began heading back to the homestead. On the last hill, I could see the back of my campsite so realised it wasn’t quite as secluded as I had assumed. But you probably had to know what to look for.
By the time I got back to camp, a few clouds had come over and I thought it would be worth checking out the sunset again. Once at the lookout, I saw that it wasn’t just clouds coming,
Siller's Lookout
Ridgetop Tour, Arkaroola, South Australia but there was also some rain. I hoped it wouldn’t be much. As I returned to camp, there were some light showers but nothing to worry about. After I headed to bed, the rain did get heavier, but by the time I got up in the morning you couldn’t really tell it had rained at all.
On Friday morning I packed up the camp and headed on my way. I didn’t have far to go, as my destination at Rawnsley Park was not very far down the road. I thought it was further away when I was planning, but no matter. I decided to spend the day heading through the Flinders Ranges National Park and checking out the gorges there. The website said one was closed though, but Brachina Gorge was supposed to be open so I purchased a permit and headed north. Annoyingly, when I reached the road there was a road closed sign up. I wasn’t going to risk the fine (apparently, it’s $10,000 per wheel for driving on a closed road – and that includes spares!), but I wish the national park would have put the information on the website before selling me the permit. But,
View from Siller's Lookout
Ridgetop Tour, Arkaroola, South Australia better to be $11 out of pocket instead of $50,000.
There wasn’t much I could do so I headed back up to Blinman and decided to do the mine tour there. I arrived just before a scheduled tour that had space for one more, so it worked out well. The tour was given by a nice bloke called Dan, and by coincidence two of the people on the tour were the couple in the Ford Ranger that I overtook when doing Skytrek the other day. After the tour we had a chat about Skytrek and I got the impression they found it a bit tough.
On recommendation from Dan I picked up a miner’s pasty from the Blinman bakery for lunch (2/3 meat and veg, 1/3 applie pie) and then headed north through Glass Gorge. It was a nice enough drive. From Paralchina I headed south on the Outback Highway again, but instead of following it all the way to Port Augusta, this time I turned off onto the Moralana Scenic Drive. The road drives south of Wilpena Pound and joins back with the Flinders Ranges Way. The road was nice enough, but nothing special. It could have
View from Siller's Lookout
Ridgetop Tour, Arkaroola, South Australia been nearly anywhere – after a view sights of the mountains early on, the rest was just a nice country road.
I arrived at Rawnsley Park and checked into my cabin. I had a good chat with the receptionist to organise my activities for Saturday. I booked a scenic flight for 7am and found out about the Arkapena driving tracks. The 4wd track was closed, but the all-wheel-drive track is currently rated for 4wd only, so I decided to do that. Apparently the restaurant is booked out until mid-October due to the reduced capacity from Covid restrictions, so my only option was to get takeaway between 5:30 and 6. The pulled lamb burger was very tasty though, even if it was much earlier than I normally eat. I went to bed, looking forward to the final part of my holiday. I can’t believe it’s gone so quickly!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Sunset
You are on a marvelous trip and we are enjoying following along.