04 Flinders Ranges - Day 2

The girl at the front desk told us last night that we should do the hike today as it would still be relatively mild, i.e. low 30s, instead of rain and 39 for the day after.  After a home cooked hearty breakfast (vegetable omelette and ‘aeropress coffee with soya milk’), we headed out around 10.

It may look silly, but it is a life saver
from those pestering flies
The main objective is to check out the Wilpena Pound.  Instead of going to the National Park, we did the hikes within the ‘resort’ compound so we can take in the Pound as well as Rawnsley Bluff.  The brochure described it as a difficult hike – 5 hours return over 12.6 km.  Even though I had a bad knee, I did not think twice and had other stuff planned later in the day …   The first 3 km was nice and easy and then it started going uphill.  The views were nice and I was having so much fun that I remarked that this is like ‘kid in the candy store’ as I scrambled uphill over the uneven terrain.  The sun was out and so were the flies, but we had the bug net.

THE view


the conquerors at Rawnsley Bluff





Then it got hotter, but there was a strong breeze; and it was still good.  And there were more scrambling and the hard rock surface was getting to me.  And the pack was getting heavier and the stupid camera strap was getting annoying.  But we preserved and got to Rawnsley Bluff.  We had lunch while taking it all in of a really nice view of the Chace Ranges.





the Chace Ranges that stretches for miles 
After lunch, we found a shady and less windy spot and took a power nap … a smart move in that hot weather!  On the way back, Karen decided that she had had enough fun for the day and would skip the Wilpena Pound Lookout.  So I did the extra 1.5 km side trip while she headed back to the car.  As it turned out, she didn’t miss much. 
Wilpena Pound - the dip in the middle of the picture surrounded by mountains on all sides
Because the natural amphitheatre is covered with vegetation, all one could see is a big dip surrounded by mountains.  Fortunately we got to see the Chace ranges earlier and the 1.5 km hike was relatively easy, otherwise somebody would be a bit upset.  As I hurried to catch up with Karen, I had to keep an eye on my bad knee.  When I got to the ‘kid in the candy store’ section, I looked down and noticed it was a very very steep incline.  Fortunately I had both poles and my bad knee was not acting up!  While it may be a candy store to a kid, it doesn’t do much for an old man!  Sigh …  and I found out later in the stats, it was a drop of 200m in 800m and we climbed 540m… definitely not a walk in the park!  And it was 33+ degrees when we got back to the car!  So maybe I still have what it takes to do the Cradle Mountain summit in Tasmania after all!

the 'circle' engraving represents
rockhole or spring
Since it was only 4 something, I decided to stick to our original itinerary and visited an aboriginal engraving site.  Instead of the one nearby which required a 2 hours hike, I went farther away and took the chance of driving 13 km on an unsealed road.  We arrived at Sacred Canyon without much fanfare and I went for a short walk while Karen waited in the car. 

As luck would have it, when I reached the end of the canyon, which BTW is a very cool one, and found the bulk of the engravings, my camera beeped and told me my battery was out of juice, and I did not have a spare battery with me!  A short hike back and forth, and a dirty look from you know who (he promised we will be back by 6, we left the place after 6, he is lucky to get only a dirty look) and we’re well on our way. 


We had dinner at the restaurant – barramundi for Karen and kangaroo meat for David.  A good meal, but nothing to write home about.  And we had no problems going to bed that evening!

the two 'chicken feet' signs at the top represents emu tracks

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