06 Flinders Ranges - Day 4 - Leaving ...

an old building in Rawnsley Park Station
We are leaving Flinders Ranges today!  But before we left, we got to check out the old house just outside the reception.  I assumed it was an original building in the station … it has a living area, a blacksmith shop / tool shed (with various old implements in it) and a storage space.  There is an old wagon outside the building, and its wheels are taller than Karen!




a lookout in Mt Remarkable NP
We took the scenic route instead of the highway and ran into miles of grazing pastures, followed by (presumably harvested) wheat fields and finally vineyards.  These barren landscapes go on as far as the eyes can see!  And some of these vast expanses are really pretty.  Our first stop was the Alligator Gorge in Mt Remarkable National Park.  There are tons of good hikes in the park, but we went there mainly to break up the long drive instead of serious hiking.  We did two 15 minutes walks to look at the gorge from high above.  It was nice, but nothing to write about.  We had a picnic lunch in the park while waiting to hear the good news from Cheryl.  The baby arrived shortly after we left the park!

As we continued our journey, we ran into  a mini dust storm!  I guessed they have just worked the fields and the strong wind was whipping up the red soil from the ground.  This covered a fairly large area and was an interesting phenomenon to us; but I guess it's nothing for the folks in these towns.

Grazing pastures in all directions and extend as far as the eyes can see

Instead of driving through an old town called Auburn, we took a slight detour to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop in Nuriootpa.  Maggie is a famous chef in South Australia and we went there based on the recommendation of the storekeeper in Adelaide’s button shop.  The shop carries various pates, jams, condiments and some wine.  We sampled quite a few things and Karen ended up buying a beet jam!
We continued our 600+ km drive and eventually made it to Meningie around 7 pm.  We picked this place because it is the closest town to start our journey through Coorong National Park the following day!  

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