4 Stray Katz: Hiking our way through the Flinders Ranges- Part 2

Flinders Ranges Part 2

Thursday 2nd- Sunday 5th March

Day 4 (2/3/23)- Trezona Campground

I began the day watching the sunrise on the rocky hill in front of our camp, whilst the others caught up on sleep. We had a relaxing morning- Emilia and Daniel went for a little walk up the dry river bed, Jackson played on the rocky mountain in front of camp (he built himself a bark and leaf bed on one of the rocky ledges) and I pottered around camp before we headed off to do the Brachina Gorge geological drive. The rocks that are exposed along the gorges and river beds date back to between 500- 650 million years ago (certainly makes our short time on Earth seem inconsequential). The views were very impressive as we drove along the river bed, through the gorge. We stopped a few times to check out the views, at one spot there were heaps of yellow footed rock wallabies- we stayed watching them for a while, marvelling at their ability to hop so confidently on the steep rocks.

After that we drove through Parachilna Gorge to Blinman, where we stopped in at the historic pub for a beer and to take advantage of the wifi!

That afternoon Daniel and I did a walk, whilst the kids stayed back at camp (they wanted to keep playing on the rocky hill).

Walk No. 5 Part of the Trezona Loop: 5.5kms, 1hr 10mins

Daniel and I walked up the river bed, taking in the beauty of the ancient River Red Gums and just enjoying some adult conversation 😊

After dinner we watched the sunset from our own lookout, on the rocky hill in front of our camp.

I enjoyed some solitude and the sunrise from the rocky hill just next to our camp.

As the sun slowly crept over the mountain range the colours became more and more vibrant.

One of the stops on our exploration day - Aroona Hut- built in 1925, it has been restored but you could still see some of the original walls. This is the view they had from the front room window! Hans Heysen (famous painter) spent a lot time here getting inspiration for his work.

The kids explored the rocks along this section whilst Daniel and I sussed out possible camping spots- it is a beautiful area, with water, so we decided it would be nice to spend a night here.

One of the old River Red Gums along edge of the dry Enorama Creek bed.

Sunset on our own private lookout (we were the only ones camped there so we had it all to ourselves).

Jackson and the 'bed' he made himself on a rocky shelf opposite our camp- he spent ages walking up the steep rocky slope carrying bark for his 'mattress'.

It was so steep, it was quite impressive that he actually managed to climb it (especially wearing thongs!).

Carrying his 'materials'

Day 5 (3/3/23)- Aroona Campground

Daniel and I got up with the first light. I did yoga while watching the sun rise and Daniel went for a run. We had a relaxing morning before moving to a campground we found the day before. We had the whole place to ourselves again (well unless you count all the emus and kangaroos).

Walk No. 6 Yulana Loop and the Red Hill Lookout: 12.5kms, 3hrs 15mins

Originally I’d told the kids this was a 4.3km return walk to Red Hill Lookout (as that’s what I’d actually thought it was). Jackson wasn’t too keen but I bribed him with lollies. As we started the walk I realised the sign didn’t say ‘Return’- it was actually 4.3km each way. I didn’t tell the kids until we were well into the walk- they took the news quite well 😊. After the trek up to the lookout (which was great- you could see so far) we were all very hot and sweaty (it was about a 30deg day) so the slight breeze on top of the mountain was very welcome. On the way back down Emilia and I were talking about the walk I was planning for the following morning – we’d actually passed the turn off on the way, and had done over 3km of the 8km loop as a part of the Red Hill Lookout walk. ‘Why don’t we just do the rest of the loop now’, suggested Emilia. I was keen, so was Daniel and, after convincing Jackson (and bribing him again with the promise of an ice-cream and i-pad time) we started the remaining 5km of the Yulana loop. It was such a great walk that took us past ruins of old shepherds huts and through a gorge along the dry Yulana creek bed. We got to see emus, kangaroos and yellow-footed rock wallabies. By the time we got back we were dripping with sweat and we were all desperate for a cold drink (we’d run out of water at the 10.5km mark). It was worth it though, as the walk took us through some stunning areas.

We relaxed and recovered at camp that afternoon, and we even had a shower thanks to the nearby Koolamon Spring that feeds the taps dotted round the campsite. Daniel rigged up a hose shower - it was so great.

We ended the day with dinner whilst watching the sun set over the mountain ranges.

About halfway up to Red Hill Lookout - when we turned around the view was already amazing.

We all stripped off once we got to the top - to take advantage of the cooling effect of the breeze on our sweaty skin!!

Looking out over the Heysen and Aroona ranges from the top of Red Hill Lookout.

The scenery was just stunning.

Walking along the Aroona Creek, we had stunning rocky formations on either side

This big chunk of rock had only recently fallen- it would have been amazing to see/hear it when it fell.

The last part of our long hot walk- the rock had changed from red to a green/grey colour

Nothing better than a cool bath after a long, hot walk!

What a spot! And we had it all to ourselves.

Day 6 (4/3/23)- amazing spot along the Brachina Gorge

After getting up early to watch the sun’s first rays colour the mountains, Jackson, Daniel and I did one final walk (Emilia was coming down with a cold so she went back to bed).

Walk No. 7 Aroona Ruins and Heysen’s Lookout – 3.2kms

Just behind the campground are the ruins of Aroona Homestead, built in 1854. The first settlers here chose a great piece of land, as there is permanent water from Koolaman Spring. The Haywards had 8 good years grazing sheep here and went back to England rich (they made the equivalent of $3.5 million profit in that time!). The new owners were not so lucky and they endured severe droughts and eventually a fire which destroyed the homestead. It was an impressive building for its time, as the nearby spring allowed them to have a running water in the kitchen and bathroom. It was fun exploring the ruins, then we climbed over a stile out of the national park and up the hill to enjoy an uninterrupted view straight down the valley. After enjoying the serenity we climbed back down and went across the dry creek bed and up to Heysen’s lookout (so named as the painter Hans Heysen, who was a regular visitor to the area, went to the spot at dusk every evening with his glass of beer to study the colours on the mountain range. He eventually did a painting of the view- ‘The 3 sisters of Aroona’, which hangs in the Australian Gallery of SA).

After breakfast we packed up and went to an incredible spot we discovered where we could park the van right next to a little stream and look out at all the yellow-footed rock wallabies hopping around the cliffs. We spent much of the afternoon admiring the agility of these marsupials and gushing over the cute baby ones!

As well as spotting rock wallabies we swam in a small, deep swimming hole, listened to a cacophony of croaks from the many resident frogs, enjoyed the sunset and sunrise and did a moonlight walk (it was nearly full moon so the moon was very bright). All in all it was a fantastic camping spot.

Another beautiful morning- definitely worth getting up early for.

Aroona Homestead- the ruins of the kitchen area.

Looking down on our camp, from the Aroona Homestead ruins (the sun is just about to pop out over the mountains).

Flinders Ranges and hiking boots - a great combination.

Looking down into the valley- it was simply stunning.

Solitude: just us and an empty hut

Heysen's Lookout (his painting below is of the first 3 mountains on the left)

Hans Heysen - The Three Sisters of Aroona

It was a hot day, so the cool water of this little swimming hole at the camp along Brachina Gorge felt amazing (the water was a bit dirty, but so were we!).

There were heaps of Yellow-footed rock wallabies- their tails are so long and very strong (we saw them use their tails to balance as they jump up near vertical sections of rock).

Getting a better view of the wallabies.

There was a baby on one of the ledges and it was happy for the kids to sit nearby and just watch it (it watched the kids just as intently).

The baby staring down at Jackson and Emilia.

We had sparkling wine, a platter and a great view on our final night in the Flinders Ranges.

Day 7- (5/3/23) – Burra (our last night in SA)

After watching yet another breathtaking sunrise we reluctantly left the Flinders Ranges after an amazing 6 days. We stopped off at Hawker and enjoyed morning tea at a café that uses local bush foods in their recipes. Jackson, Daniel and I had quandong cheesecake, whilst Emilia had a rich and decadent wattleseed tart, washed down with quandong soda!

On our way to Burra we stopped off at Orroroo (cool name for a town) where we stopped to hug a giant 500 year old River Red Gum, have lunch and stretch our legs. Once we arrived in Burra the kids enjoyed the skatepark before we all took a walk around the historic town, there were some really nice and well preserved old buildings. We left early the next morning, hoping to cross the border back on to Victorian soil!!

Although we'd only spent 3.5 weeks in South Australia we’d still seen a lot and had some wonderful experiences, including seeing so much wildlife (and feral animals).

From what we could all remember we saw the following creatures in SA: emus, yellow-footed rock wallabies, kangaroos, bats, brown snake, feral cat, wedge-tailed eagles, feral goats, wallabies, kookaburras, parrots, euros, dolphins, sea lion, eagle ray.

Another spectacular sunrise.

I went to take a photo of a rock wallaby and noticed these feral goats teetering very precariously near the edge of the cliff (where they were was really high up, I had to use the longest zoom on my good camera to get this shot).