Archive for November, 2010
The Flinders Ranges
by inka on Nov.29, 2010, under The Outback
Saturday, 27th November – Monday, 29th November 2010
What started as a heavy rain at the Mount Remarkable NP soon become sunshine in Port Augusta. Despite feeling a little odd when drying our tent on the lawn in the middle of the city centre we succeeded. Furthermore, we were able to use modern technology, shopped for food and fuelled our car and were therefore ready to finally start our outback adventure. We passed Quorn and Hawker, didn’t enter the Flinders Ranges NP yet but stayed at the Rawnsley Park Campsite to be able to set up camp with some light left and to cook some dinner in the camp kitchen. Putting tent pegs in the stony ground drove some of us crazy but pan bread, egg and cheese made it all right again.
- Bread, eggs and cheese – doesn’t look good but tastes superb
- Enjoying dinner in the campkitchen at Rawnsley Park
The way to the Flinders Ranges the next day was not only the start of our outback adventure but also the beginning of the most magnificient mountains and ranges I have ever seen. The view evokes feelings of freedom, calmness and on my part a strong gratitude for the wonders of this world. Call me sentimental, I don’t know myself why the outback got me that way… ; )
- The Flinders Ranges on the left
- On the way to the Flinders Ranges
- Wilpena Pound’s typical structure from afar
- On the way to the Flinders Ranges
- Smaller mountains of the Flinders Ranges on the right
We passed Arkaroo rock on the way, an Aboriginal painting site. Sadly but understandably the paintings were protected by some heavy fence which only left an inkling of the feeling of the distinctiveness of this place. The sign at the entrance of the walk reminded again of the massacre that was committed against the Aborigines and chastened.
- At the beginning of the Arkaroo Rock walk
- The first rock at the Arkaroo Rock site
- The second rock we saw
- Arkaroo Rock protected by a fence
- Arkaroo Rock protected by a fence
- and finally the Arkaroo Rock paintings
- and finally the Arkaroo Rock paintings
- A rock formation on the way back
- Sign at Arkaroo Rock site
- Sign at Arkaroo Rock Site enhanced
The next stop was Wilpena Pound, a „natural amphitheatre of mountains“ we had already seen from afar. Try to find a picture from above then you’ll recognise the „folded“ structure of the mountains in the pictures before. We chose the Wangara Lookout walk that showed us a view of the inside of the Pound and didn’t take so long since it was already in the afternoon.
- At the beginning of the Wangara Walk
- Sweetie-tree at Wilpena Pound
- Cutie-tree at Wilpena PoundCutie-tree at Wilpena Pound
- Up to Wilpena Pound Lookout
- View from Wangara Lookout
- View from Wangara Lookout
- View from Wangara Lookout
- Wangara Lookout
- After climbing up to the Wangara Lookout
See the following clip for a better impression:
We were lucky and saw some wildlife again:
- If this ain’t cute I don’t know what is…
- No more attention for the photographer
- Mr. Emu had the same idea – why not go for a walk?
On our way out of the Wilpena Pound we encountered this emu family – that obviously ignored any traffic regulations. 🙂
The way to Bunyeroo Gorge was a fairly good preview of the road quality we should expect in the Outback:
- Track to Bunyeroo Gorge
- The track to Bunyeroo Gorge – breathtaking!
- The track to Bunyeroo Gorge, Flinders Ranges
- On the way to Bunyeroo Gorge, Flinders Ranges
- View from the track to Bunyeroo Gorge
- View from Bunyeroo track
- Skippy skippying away!
- Finally an emu family that doesn’t run away
- Emu family
- Baby emus were not disturbed by the traffic
- Our bathroom at Bunyeroo Gorge
- Where to put the tent?
- The proof: Camping at Bunyeroo Gorge
- Getting our first fire started… how exciting!
- What a good thing to have a fire in the evening!
- A man, his fire and the stars
- That’s the way to spend your evening…
- In the morning
- Breakfast at the Bunyeroo Gorge Camping Site
I am very sure that I heard some kangaroos at night and in the morning one was hopping away. When I went jogging I saw some more skippys hopping away – what a great combination of the normal (jogging) and the extraordinary (kangaroos).
Another sand track led us to Brachina Gorge and some incredible shifted mountains, all part of the Flinders Ranges and finally we went up the Heysen Lookout, named after a painter from Hamburg who painted and stayed in Australia and spent some time at a house in the Flinders Ranges (therefore Heysen Lookout):
- Heysen Lookout
- Heysen Lookout
- Heysen Lookout
- Heysen Lookout
- Heysen Lookout
- Heysen Lookout
- Heysen Lookout
- Around Brachina Gorge, Flinders Ranges
- Around Brachina Gorge, Flinders Ranges
- Around Brachina Gorge, Flinders Ranges
Enjoy the following clip for a great overview:
We finally left the Flinders Ranges and headed to Leigh Creek.
The route depicted in this article:
Mount Remarkable and Port Germein
by frank on Nov.26, 2010, under Traveling Australia
Having returned to Port Augusta prematurely from our first attempt to go into the Outback, we prepared ourselves one more time for our bog Outback adventure: we topped up our supplies, checked the weather forecast thouroughly and planned the upcoming days. As we learned at the Wadlata Outback Centre our plans to ride along the famous Oodnadatta track were severely restrained by the fact that floods in the previous days had made the route partially impassable, therefore some of the roads were closed. Floods – in the desert? Yes, the weather’s really unusual this year. Sigh.
So we decided to pay more attention to the Mount Remarkable National Park that we had passed only a few days earlier. We left Port Augusta in the evening of Nov 25, 2010, observing an epic thunderstorm in the distance over the Flinders Ranges and found a good campground near the Mambray Creek.
In the next morning we were awakened by the light of a great sunrise:
After a detailed breakfast we quickly explored the area around the campground and found a few impressive trees near the dry, rocky riverbed:
- Breakfast at Mambray Creek
- Giant gum tree at Mambray Creek
- Gum tree with a walkthrough
- Gum tree hole
- Mambray Creek
- Hollow burnt gum tree at Mambray Creek
You can clearly see the signs of former bushfires. The flora has developed an astonishing ability not only to cope, but to adapt to harsh conditions like fire and drought which is an integral element to their survival.
Our next stop on our way into the Mount Remarkable NP was Hancocks Lookout on top of the historical Horrocks Pass. Enjoy another fine panorama view over the Spencer Gulf and Port Augusta area:
We finally made our way into the Alligator Gorge whose name is actually not derived from alligators living there. So we were told. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the view from the two lookouts into the gorge ..
- View into Alligator Gorge
- View into Alligator Gorge
.. and walked down the trail directly into the bottom of the gorge where some climbing and jumping over rocks was involved. No swimming this time, however. 😉
- Alligator Gorge
- Alligator Gorge
- Alligator Gorge
- Alligator Gorge
- Multiple layers of sediments
- Lizard in the Alligator Gorge
After wandering along the small river like that for quite a while we arrived at the narrowest part of the gorge. Surprisingly it’s called „The Narrows“:
- Alligator Gorge – The Narrows
- The Narrows
- At the bottom of Alligator Gorge
- Entrance to The Narrows
- The Narrows
- The Narrows
- The Narrows
- The Narrrows
Actually there is a circuit walk, but we returned after a while and went into the other direction to find „The Terraces“:
- The Terraces
- The Terraces – ripple marks from an ancient tidal sea
Examine the ripple marks closely – these are the remaining, petrified sediments of waves of an ancient sea that lay over the area hundreds of millions of years ago. Over time wind and water eroded the rocks, and the ripple marks came to the surface again! We saw some beautiful dragonflies as well..
In Melrose we decided not to take the walk up to Mount Remarkable, since the weather was sunny and hot, and we were already quite exhausted. Instead we took a nice scenic drive to Port Germein – on a gravel road, the natural habitat for our LandCruiser . 🙂 On our way we suddenly noticed a long and thin thing in front of our car .. uh, a branch? A stick? A hose? All hypotheses were proven wrong when the thing spontaneously jumped onto a tree. With our curiosity aroused, we investigated the thing in more detail:
- Who’s hiding up there? Look closely!
- What a beautiful goanna!
It was a goanna, and not a small one, its length was at least 1.2 meters. After a few minutes of adoration we continued to Port Germein to walk on its well-known landmark: a 1532 meters long wooden jetty that supposedly is the longest timber jetty in the Southern hemisphere. It was even quite a few meters longer, but part of it was destroyed in a storm.
- Port Germein – longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere at 1532 metres
- Cutie on the jetty
- View of the Port Germein jetty
- View of the coast from the Port Germein jetty
- Cutie after walking 1532 metres
- View of the damaged jetty’s remains
- View of the coast from the jetty
- Windy out there…
You can even recognize the jetty on satellite photos – cool, huh?
We strolled back to the car very relaxed ..
- Port Germein cutie
- Port Germein jetty
In the evening we returned to the Mambray Creek campground for another night. Sadly, it started to rain heavily during the night, but we stayed warm and dry in our tent. In the morning, however, we packed all our stuff together in a wet condition and headed back to Port Augusta, closer to the Outback. Will we ever get there?
A (birth)day in the Outback
by inka on Nov.24, 2010, under Traveling Australia
Well, unnecessary to say that this was a very special birthday and very different to others before due to the weather conditions. My first birthday in SUMMER… : )
We went to the Yourambulla Caves with Aboriginal cave paintings where you had to climb two stairs up to get there. The paintings were behind bars to protect them but still it takes away some of the magic of those places.
- Yourambulla rocks from afar
- View from the Yourambulla cave platform
- Yourambulla rock
- Aboriginal cave paintings
- Aboriginal cave paintings
- …. and here the explanation what is means
- careful up there…!
We then took a walk to the Death Rock which wasn’t in the least scary but nicely situated at a waterhole. Again a special place.
- the beautiful landscape
- Walking track to death rock
- kind of eerie but beautiful landscape
- On the left the Kanyaka Waterhole, on the right Death Rock
- Kanyaka Waterhole
- Kanyaka Waterhole
- Death Rock
- Death Rock and I
- Death Rock and Frank
The next stop was Wilpena Pound, „a natural amphitheatre of mountains“ but unfortunately an old birthday acquaintance, rain, accompanied us and we weren’t able to take any walks. But I had a great birthday cake and coffee for free and even a happy birthday song. What else is there to wish for?
- birthday cake for my 31st birthday
- happy cutie
On our way back to Port Augusta to escape the rain we went up Jarvis Hill and were rewarded with the most impressive and beautiful panorama.
- Climbing up the way to the top of Jarvis Hill
- arrived at the top – what a view!!
- Jarvis Hill Lookout – what a feeling of freedom
- Jervis Hill Lookout – clouds
Panorama view of the Outback from Jarvis Hill Lookout, taken from a series of 5 shots and stitched together:
And even two rainbows to make the day complete! : )
- rainbow over Flinders’s ranges
- The camera couldn’t catch the ends of the rainbow
- Wow! Enjoy this!
What a superb and special birthday – try it sometime just go to another country for it… : )
Live from The Grampians
by frank on Nov.22, 2010, under Video Footage
Hi folks,
we have returned to Adelaide from The Grampians and will soon be heading to Port Augusta to enter the Outback and the Big Red Desert. But first we need to get our car fixed .. it’s getting harder from day to day to get it started. 🙁
Nevertheless, enjoy these two short clips from the Grampians!
MacKenzie Falls:
Between the Grand Canyon and The Pinnacle:
The Grampians
by inka on Nov.21, 2010, under Traveling Australia
Friday 19th November – Sunday 21 November 2010
After leaving Adelaide to go on our 500 km drive to the Grampians we passed the Coorong National Park again but this time in daylight to see some pelicans but except for some flying over us none showed up.
- Coorong National Park
- Coorong National Park
- Love those pelicanes – great pic, Frank
- Sunset over Coorong National Park
The salt lakes we passed changed to purple due to some chemical algae process. Forgot what it was about. If anybody knows write a comment, please.
- Purple salt sea, Coorong National Park
- Purple salt sea, Coorong National Park
- The typical LandCruiser proof picture in front of the purple salt sea
In the evening we arrived at Naracoorte and camped at a nice camping spot with mowed lawn and great toilet and shower facilities.
The next day we went to see the Fossil cave, a World Heritage site, as well as the Wet cave and Alexandra cave. Except for the Wet cave all caves had to be booked with a guide.
Alexandra cave:
- Alexandra cave
- Alexandra cave
- Alexandra cave
- Alexandra cave, lots of stalactites and stalagmites – do you know what is what?
- beautiful stalactites and stalagmites
- sea shell fossil in the ceiling of the cave
- Fairy castle – what is real and what is reflection?
Wet cave:
- Entry to the wet cave
- entry to wet cave
- entry to wet cave
- Low ceiling in the wet cave
- Wet cave – what a wonderful ceiling!
A break in between:
- Taking a break in between cave watching
- A bat cookie – how great is that?!!
Fossil cave:
- On the way to the fossils
- On the way to the fossils
- Holes in the ceiling of the fossil cave through which animals have fallen
- One of the fossils found in the fossil cave
- One of the fossils found in the fossil cave
- Shadow fossils
- Bones in the fossil cave
- In a hidden corner of the fossil cave
- In a hidden corner of the fossil cave
In the evening we made it to the Grampians and stayed at the Smith Mill Camp ground, bush camping.
- Smith Mill Campground
- Smith Mill Campsite in the Grampians
- Best kitchen ever… ; )
- Camp cook
- Easy camp cooking
- Some happy campers
- Breakfast at Smith Mill Campground
The next day we began our „Grampians in one day“ tour and started with the nearest attraction. And what a fabulous sight were the MacKenzie Falls – simply amazing. I decided this would be the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen.
- Walk down to the MacKenzie Falls
- Small waterfall at the Mackenzie Falls
- Another waterfall close by
- Close to the edge
- Part of the waterfall from above (left)
- MacKenzie Falls
- Mackenzie Falls from the side
- MacKenzie Falls
- MacKenzie Falls
- MacKenzie Falls
- MacKenzie Falls
- Mackenzie Falls
- MacKenzie Falls
- MacKenzie Falls
See here for a short clip of the MacKenzie Falls in moving action:
Driving further into the Grampians, sights and lookouts came quickly after another.
First Reed lookout and the famous Balconies:
- The Balconies, quite a view…
- Already on the forbidden track
- Sweetie on the balconies
- and finally on the balconies
- What a jump!
Our travel guides pictures were taken from behind the fence and this inspired us to also be a bit rebellious and step over the fence. As we inspired a couple of other tourists afterwards… But honestly, it is all the travel guides fault ; )
Enjoy this panorama, taken as a series of 4 shots and stitched together afterwards:
We continued to the Boroka Lookout from where you can enjoy the view of Halls Gap and Lake Wartook:
- View from Boroka Lookout
- View of Lake Wartook from Boroka Lookout
Asking the tourist information center whether we should rather go up Mount William or take the Pinnacles Lookout they suggested Mount William – a grave mistake since the 2 km walk up the hill was along the tarred road which was simply boring and exhausting under a hot sun.
The view from the mountain was nice though not spectacular.
- View of the Grampians Ranges from Mount William
- View of the Grampians Ranges from Mount William
- View from Mount William
- View from Mount William
- On top of Mount William .. eh, that’s it?
- View from Mount William
- View from Mount William
The Pinnacle Walk via Grand Canyon in contrast was a great joy. The rocks, the view, the exhausting but very interesting and challenging walk and finally the lookout – simply fantastic and so much worth it! Have the tourist center employees never been up here?
See for yourself:
- Grand Canyon, Pinnacle walk
- Grand Canyon, Pinnacle walk
- Pinnacle walk
- Rocks in the Grand Canyon
- Beautiful rock formations
- Pinnacle walk: some easy steps and some climbing required
- Great rocks along the Pinnacle walk
- Can’t resist the temptation to climb a rock here and there
- Climbing the steeper part of the walk
- Squeezing past the rocks
- Almost there at the lookout
- The last hundred metres to the lookout
- At the end of the Pinnacle walk
- The Pinnacle Lookout!
- At the Pinnacle Lookout
- Closeup of the Pinnacle Lookout
- Opposite the lookout
- Quite a long way down…
- The great view from the Pinnacle Lookout
- Beware of the .. eh .. mothers with children? 🙂
- LandCruiser waited patiently for our descent
To get a much better impression what it’s like to walk up there see here:
Exhausted but happy we went back to the Camp ground and went for a drink to Halls Gap – a small town in the Grampians. We encountered the casual kangaroo as well:
The next morning the good mood didn’t continue since the starting problems with the car became more persistent so that we needed help two times during the day to start the car and decided to return to Adelaide to get the car fixed before going to the Outback.