Flinders Ranges & Outback

Sunrise at Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges National park, SA.  Photo credit: Julian Kingma/South Australian Tourism Commission

Flinders Ranges & Outback

Sometimes a name is enough to have you clawing for the camera in anticipation. This place doesn’t disappoint.

 

 

At Painted Desert the rock faces are naturally striped in vivid yellows, reds, blacks and whites. Moon Plain is as lunar-like as you’d expect from a name like that. And they’re just the first of the places to explore in the South Australian outback.

Manguri Siding
42 miles west of the Stuart Highway and Coober Pedy is Manguri Siding. It is serviced by the Ghan (the train which runs from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs) and it’s worth a visit because of the unusual living conditions.

When WW1 servicemen returned here the wide open space and oppressive heat must have come as a shock to the system. To escape both they created “dugouts”, underground houses that can still take the edge off the 20 – 35°C summer temperatures and the 7 – 18°C winter ones.

Lake Eyre
Officially Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, this massive salt lake is the lowest point in Australia at 15m below sea level. When it fills (something that happens only a few times every 100yrs) it instantly becomes the country’s biggest lake.

Tour flights operate out of Adelaide, or you can take a driving/walking tour of Lake Eyre and marvel at the relentless dry flatness. No wonder it’s a favourite with those attempting land speed records, most notably Donald Campbell in 1963 and ’64.

Flinders Range
For thousands of years the Adnyamathanha aborigines have lived on this varied landscape which includes several national parks and the Arkaroola wilderness. If you’re planning on travelling to South Australia’s largest mountain range, bear in mind it’s a 5hr drive from Adelaide.

Wilpena Pound
This natural amphitheatre found in the centre of the Flinders Ranges was thought to be a volcano, but is actually the result of the Earth’s crust folding to create a ring of mountains. If you want to be geologically correct, it’s a syncline. Within the syncline is St Mary Peak, the highest peak in the Flinders Ranges.

Alligator Gorge, Mt Remarkable National Park
A gorge of reddish-brown quartzite with plenty of walking trails. You’ll find emus, kangaroos and rare wild flowers on any walk.

Pichi Richi Railway
Part of the mighty Ghan railway, the Pichi Richi Pass is a particularly scenic 40km stretch of it. Departs from Port Augusta and Quorn.

Aboriginal Sites

There’s an abundance of aboriginal places to explore in the South Australian outback. These are our favourites:

Yourambulla Caves
Yourambulla Caves Historic Reserve, 11km south of Hawker, Flinders Ranges. A 1½ hr walk leads you to three caves where images are painted in red, yellow, white and black. A notice board by the main cave translates some of the images.

Arkaroo Rock
16km from Wilpena, at the base of Wilpena Pound in Flinders Ranges National Park. This 1.5km, 1-2hr trek takes in 5000 year old charcoal cave paintings. They tell the tale of giant Akurras (serpents) which fought and were killed by aboriginal hunters. Their bodies became the sides of Wilpena Pound and their heads formed the two highest peaks, St Mary Peak and Beatrice Hill.

Sacred Canyon
Flinders Range National Park, about 44km from Hawker (and the nearest sealed road – so use a 4WD). 1hr (0.5km) walk. The canyon has aboriginal engravings in the rock wall.

Mount Chambers Gorge
60km NE of Blinman, North Flinders Ranges. Engravings can be found in the walls of the chasm that cuts through Wearing Hills.

 

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Getting to the outback

 

Drive there by car (about 120 miles from Adelaide), or catch a bus or plane as far as Port Augusta on the southern edge of the South Australia outback.

Precious Land

 

This area produces around 70% of the world’s opals.

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