Mount Remarkable

Arkaroo Rock**** Not too far from Wilpena Pound, there’s a walking trail to Arkaroo Rock to see Aboriginal Cave Painting. Takes 2 hours return hike. It is a relatively easy hike, can view the beautiful valleys.

The Narrow Gorge @ Mt Remarkable National Park

Mount Remarkable is a completely different type of national park we see. It’s a very high mountain; the access road into the NP is very steep. So it is not suitable for caravans. It feels like going to Cameron Highland again, driving on this road.

The highlight of the park is Alligator’s Gorge*****. It’s a big gorge, where you can take a 2 hours walking trail, a loop inside the gorge. It’s named the alligator gorge because there’s a kind of lizard living here that looks like an alligator. The narrow gorge must not be missed. It’s spectacular, with two high cliffs surrounding you as you venture deeper. Many other wildlife such as the Falcon and Flame Robin lives here.

Flame Robin

There are some campgrounds in this NP. Some are backpack camps, which are not open during the fire danger season (which is normally nov-april). So we camped at a showground in Melrose (nearby town). It is just about 10min drive south from Mt Remarkable. A showground is like a sports ground around the town. They do allow campers and caravans to stay, cheaper than the caravan parks. For unpowered site is only $5 per person. Facilities include hot showers and laundry only.

Flinders Ranges - Wilpena Pound & Surrounding

Wilpena Pound***** It’s the centre piece of Flinder Ranges National Park. Looks like a large crater, measuring 8 by 17kms.The stones around Flinders Ranges dates back 530 million years ago, when it used to be part of the ocean floor. Wilpena Pound itself is thought to be the bodies of two serpents, Akurra, according to the aboriginals.

There is a privately owned Wilpena Pound Resort situated in the area which has caravan and campground facility. So after paying $9 for the NP entry, we just proceed to pay the camping fees at the resort’s information centre. 

Costs $21 for unpowered site for the both of us, this is by far the most natural ‘caravan park’ we’ve ever stayed. The park is really big, and we camped among big tall trees. Greeted by many bird species and kangaroos and wallabies =) There is toilet, hot shower, bbq and laundry facilities.

 

Delicious dinner, BBQ eggplant + Bulgogi Beef

The next morning we woke up early to take on one of the hardest hiking trail around Wilpena Pound, St Mary Peak Hike. The map says it takes about 6 hours return hike for the 14.6km route. Well, we started at 7.30am and reach the peak at 12noon! We stop for pictures now and then and to admire the beautiful scenery. It was a tough hike for the last 2kms, very steep inclines and broken rocks all over. When we finally made it, the view was just breathtaking! Up 1170 meters above sea level, we can see the pound and the many surrounding hills. Even the largest salt lake in Australia can be seen, Lake Eyre.

   

Hiking up Up UP . . .

There are scenic flights operated by the Wilpena resort, but they are too expensive, can’t be bothered to look at the prices. So climbing this peak is another way to see the ‘whole thing’. The hike is really exhaustive for us. The way back is still alright, took us 2 ½ hours descending and back to the camp. 

  Lunchbox for the both of us, which was not quite enough for the extreme hike =.=  

Finally~~

cute bird, pecking upside down

Panorama view of Wilpena Pound

Since we can’t move our legs after the hike, we stayed for another night at the campground 
=P

Lincoln National Park

 

Donnington Lighthouse

About 15km from Port Lincoln is the Lincoln National Park****, entrance fee is $10, camping per night per car is $7. There are few walking trails for visitors. We took a short walk along Surfleet Cove, nothing spectacular. We chose to camp at September Beach, with has toilet facility and picnic table. It’s a wide sandy beach, perfect for swimming.

From September beach, there’s a walking trail to Donnington lighthouse which takes about 15minutes. The lighthouse is not the highlight, but the small Donnington Island opposite it! On the island, there are many black and white spots, using a binocular or camera you can see that it’s all Pied Cormorant bird. How cute, looks just like a colony of penguins on the island. We spend quite some time taking picture of the birds, and it was indeed rewarding. 

Few sealions swam by to say hello, performing few jumps right in front of us~! It was just amazing! After a while, we saw pods of dolphins swimming by. It’s a great place to observe these cuties. . . Back to the camp, when we look back at the bird pictures, zoomed in, we can clearly see few sealions lying on the island rocks! It’s like, they came to us purposely to see what we’re up to.

Our dinner from our catch, squid and tommies =)

 September Beach

 The biggest rainbow we have ever seen! Can you find Angie in this picture?

Stamford Hill hike is wonderful, about 45 min return hike to the hilltop where a monument for Matthew Flinders (the explorer of SA) was erected. From the peak, we can see the Port Lincoln and NP clearly.  

 2 in 1 butterflies?

Ant colony. Feel itchy just by the look of it. . . 

The next day we went to Taylors Landing beach. From there we took the hike towards Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area (one of the best place to camp in SA) which is a protected area and allows only 15 vehicles. Seems like a mysterious place. Unfortunately it is 4wd accessible only. It was a long hike and we couldn’t get to the cove.

Superb Fairy Wren /  Blue Wren. Love the colour of this bird! Bird fact: Superb blue wren males have enormous testes, up to 10% of their body weight. By comparison, this would give an average man testes weighing 9 kgs!!!

Squid dinner again! LOL cause the squid is so big, this time we just stir fry it with garlic.

FRESH~

Baby emus feeding