6 – 9 October 2018
Leaving the serenity of Chambers Gorge after an easy morning pack-up, we headed toward Blinman to re-stock some supplies. From Blinman you can turn right, and head north toward the Simpson Desert and Lake Eyre, or, turn left southwards into the Flinders.
Essential supplies ensured, we took the left and continued our trip south toward Wilpena Pound, also now back on the bitumen for the first time since we left Bourke. We stopped at some old ruins on the way down, as there was a geocache there. Trent’s boys introduced us to geocaching, and it is a great way to explore places – finding new things as we go. This time it was the Appealinna heritage site, which gave an insight into what life must have been like in this part of the world in the mid 1800s.
A short drive later and we were setting up at Wilpena. This was a bit of a culture shock, way more humans and far closer together than what we’d become used to over the previous week! The afternoon was spent relaxing and also ensuring Trent’s TV was able to effectively connect to Foxtel – this was Bathurst weekend after all!
Sunday for the boys was devoted to the TV – while the girls planned to visit the bustling metropolis that is Hawker. We had a relaxing day, enjoying watching Craig Lowndes win his final Bathurst as a full time driver. The girls also had a relaxing day – turns out that Hawker wasn’t quite as bustling as had been expected, but they did manage to find an interesting gallery that they really enjoyed.
Monday was a cooler and overcast day, so we went for a drive exploring this end of the Flinders. There was some beautiful lookouts, amazing scenery and incredible history to be discovered as we learnt about the geological significance of this area, following the geological trail through the Brachina Gorge.
There’s so much more to explore here and we’ve only just scratched the surface, but time had come to start heading back east. We’ll be back in the not too distant future, particularly to explore more of the pound and all that this area has to offer. It really does have so much for camping and 4WD enthusiasts.
Score
Nights here: 3
Total nights: 210
Trip distance: 138km
Total distance: 23931km