HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FLINDERS RANGES

We finally made it to the Flinders Ranges - so many wonderful aspects to this area - great accommodation at Rawnsley and Willow Springs, exquisite landscapes, charming birds and wildlife - and we tackled the daunting Skytrek 4WD track...

DRIVING THE HIGHLIGHTS: WILPENA AND BRACHINA

We spent one of our first days in the Flinders doing the "circuit" - walking in Wilpena Pound, visiting the Cazneaux Tree, and driving through the Brachina Gorge. The whole area was very dry when we visited, so it was pretty dusty and a bit depleted in terms of shrubbery and wildlife. But it was still magnificent. Here is our visual summary of that first day of driving...

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SUNSET BEAUTY

We stayed two nights at Rawnsley Park (and loved it), then we moved to Willow Springs, staying in the old schoolhouse cottage. It was basic but perfectly adequate - we liked the rustic feel. As soon as we checked in (the manager was excellent!), we were advised to go back out to the main road and visit Stokes Hill Lookout to check out the sunset (Stokes Hill is literally right next door). It was well worth it - seeing and photographing the changing colours and contours of the land at the sun set was a must-do Flinders experience. Here is our visual record of that event...

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VENTURING FURTHER: BLINMAN, WADNA, PARACHILNA

We spent a day moseying about at Willow Springs (walking and looking for birds), then we decided a bigger drive was in order: we headed out on a circuit, starting with Blinman to the north. This is a charming settlement with an excellent cafe. Don't miss it!

Then we went to the indigenous entity called WADNA, a beautiful store and garden with a really interesting array of indigenous products. Wanna has a good vibe - suggesting that really good people live there. It also had brilliant birds including the spiney-cheeked honeyeater....well worth stopping at WADNA.

From there we took the road less travelled and drove the 4WD track around the north of the circuit - this was through some very spectacular country, and the road was not overly challenging.

Our final stop, and for lunch, was the Prairie Hotel at Parachilna - Rosalie was resistant to lunch, assuming that the offer to "eat The Australian coat of arms" was the only thing on the menu...but she was willing to check it out anyway. Thank goodness we did: if you've been there you'll know this place is an oasis, and it's buzzing. It's a micro-brewery and a gastro pub. What a gem! We enjoyed some non-alcoholic drinks and a very tasty lunch.

Here are glimpses of our day out...

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the finale: driving skytrek

We thought long and hard about this one: should we tackle the renowned 4WD trail, seeing we're right here on the property. We decided not to, we just don't need the drama - then we said, Heck - why not? So we did! The landscape was tremendous, though dry, and we did some birding out there too. We also had a couple of hairy moments on the track but we knew the Troopy could see us through! and it did! We made a video of the highlights, and just for fun, we called it "Two old ducks drive Skytrek". We're not ageist, and we don't think of ourselves as decrepit just yet - but it did feel like a bit of an achievement!