Day 198 - Wilpena Pound, Brachina Gorge, Bunyeroo Gorge et al

Today dawned hot again, but we are becoming used to this.  It reached 38 degrees today.

Wilpena Pound was in our sights for today so off we toddled, as usual, full of uncertainty and expectation.

It was a made road to Wilpena Pound and there were some sights to see on the way.

211014 Elder Range

211014 More ranges on the way to Wilpena Pound

211014 A view on the road to Wilpena Pound

211014 Heading into the Pound showing the external buttresses

Eventually we made it to Wilpena Pound and fortunately, we were in time to catch the shuttle bus into the Pound, three kilometres away.  Well we had to walk the last kilometre, an easy walk along the Wilpena Creek, which is a source of permanent water for commercial activities at the Pound's entrance - caravan parks, camp grounds, resort, shop etc.

The Wilpena Pound is described as an enclosure with naturally towering walls and only one entrance, through the Sliding Rock Gorge.  It is a geologic oddity, the result on many depositional environments, upturned by various tectonic movements and eroded over time to provide us with what it is today.  It is quite spectacular.  Viewed from the outside, huge rocky buttresses rise from the plain and inside, the mountain tops slope down to the centre of the Pound. It has been used in the past for some cereal cropping for stock and sheep raising.

From our point of view, it was a shame we had to navigate our way up a one kilometre rocky pathway, to the Wangara Lookout to see the full beauty of the Pound. It took three shots to take in the breadth of the Pound.  We were able to see outside the Pound from the lookout.

211014 Sliding Rock, in the Sliding Rock Gorge, the only entry to Wilpena Pound

211014 An early 1900's shepherd's hut in Wilpena Pound

211014 View 1 of the Wilpena Pound (LHS) from the Wangara Lookout

211014 View 2 of the Wilpena Pound (middle) from the Wangara Lookout

211014 View 3 of the Wilpena Pound (RHS) from the Wangara Lookout

211014 Looking outside (East) of Wilpena Poiund

211014 The track up to Wangara Lookout (and down)

From Wilpena Pound we headed off to Sacred Canyon to see some old aboriginal rock engravings. It was a small canyon and quite rugged.

211014 In the creekbed of Sacred Canyon

211014 The walls of Sacred Canyon

211014 The aboriginal rock engravings in Sacred Canyon

There were two lookouts which beckoned, Huck's and Stokes Hill Lookouts.  The former looked back towards Wilpena Pound and the latter gave us a 360 degree view, ranges on one side giving way to plainland on the opposite side.  Stokes Hill also had a bronze model of Wilpena Pound.

211014 Looking back towards Wilpena Pound from Huck's Lookout

211014 Some wildflowers on the road to Stokes Hill Lookout

211014 Looking east and out of the Flinders Ranges from Stokes Hill Lookout

211014 A bronze model of Wilpena Pound at the Stokes Hill Lookout

The dirt roads left a bit to be desired as we crunched, bounced and shuddered our way across the mountain tops and valleys.  The views were spectacular enough to distract us from any complaints. In both the Bunyeroo and Brachina Gorges we spent considerable time down in the rocky creekbeds. The sides of the gorges were rough and the rocks tortured and gnarled.  The creeks in the gorges were dry, dry, dry.

211014 Driving down to Bunyeroo Gorge

211014 The Bunyeroo Valley from Razorback Lookout

211014 Another view of The Bunyeroo Valley

211014 Bunyeroo Gorge

211014 In the creekbed of Bunyeroo Gorge

211014 In the creekbed of Brachina Gorge

We stopped at a gathering of cars in the middle of nowhere to find a yellow footed rock wallaby attracting all the attention.  There is apparently a colony in the area but we only saw one.

211014 Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby near Brachina Gorge

Suddenly we burst out of Brachina Gorge and saw a vista of plainland to the west.  This is really a place of contrasts.  The one constant is that it is all very dry.

211014 Out of Brachina Gorge and the long, dusty way home

We cannot let this blog pass without owning up to the fact we had our first flat tyre as a result of today's travels.  As we stopped in the caravan park we noticed the tyre was down and within about five minutes, it was flat.