Lake Eyre and Flinders Ranges

Up until now it hasn't been too difficult to put down in writing a brief overview of what we've seen and done and hope that it provides the reader with some idea of what we have experienced on our trip so far. However, our latest adventure really seemed to be more in the seeing and less in the telling. It is impossible to adequately describe the huge expanse of Lake Eyre's salt pan reflecting the sky and the tiny glimpse of water in the distance and to fully appreciate how the Flinders Ranges awed us, you need to have travelled with us for hours and hours across the dry arid planes of central Australia and then suddenly see the huge form and amazing colours of the ranges slowly rise out of the nothingness. Central Australia really is about the huge spaces in between the destinations. But that said, as best we can, we will give you some idea of our past week.

After stocking up on all the necessities (and some not so necessary items), we headed into the Flinders Ranges via the Clare Valley. There are a couple of routes into the ranges but we decided to follow the traditional route up through the Lower Flinders Ranges, into the Upper Fliders Ranges. We were aiming for a town called Melrose, which sits at the base of Mount Remarkable, for the night but had heard word of a great bakery in a town called Stone Hut on route. We could have blinked and missed Stone Hut, which consisted of pretty much a Bakery. But thankfully we didn't blink and our anticipation was not in vain, we managed to get our hands on a famous Quondong Pie (Yum!) and Rob's all time favourite; Lemon Meringue Tart. The rare quandong (an Australian bush food) become a bit of an obsession of ours over the following week, being in the Flinders Ranges, the home of the quandong, we were keen to try the fruit and see it growing.

As we drove into Melrose the rain started to fall. Not a great start to our time in the Flinders, which we had hoped would involve amazing views and some bush walks. So after checking the weather, which predicted more rain, we had a slight change of direction and decided to head for Lake Eyre first and the come into the Flinders Ranges from the North. It turns out fate was on our side because the journey in this direction was even more spectacular.

It was a long drive through arid, very red, very flat flat plains into central Australia. We did the drive over two days with a brief overnight stop in the mining town of Roxby Downs. From Roxby Downs the roads are unsealed and sometime north of there we finally hit the Oodnatdatta Track. For those who have heard of the track, you may be filled with awe of our adventurous spirit and 4WD expertise, you would be wrong. For all our excitement of getting onto the famous Oodnadatta Track and putting Big Red through her paces, the track is no longer the challenging off road track it was once heralded to be. Thanks to the mining companies in the region and the need for truck access, the track is now basically an unsealed highway. However, it took us to our destination; Lake Eyre. Although the lake has dried a lot since earlier in the year, we got a glimpse of some water in the distance and there was certainly more bird life and greenery in the area than during dry times. However, the vast salt bed of the lake was really sight to be seen. The white shimmering lake bed extended as far as the eye could see and constantly changed colour as it reflected the sky and passing clouds. Even Jarvis was silent at the sight of it.

Oodnadatta Track; Jarvis chillin' at Lake Eyre

Our plan from here was to head east towards the Flinders Ranges. However, at Lake Eyre we met another nomad family like ourselves who suggested we keep on heading west a little further and spend the night at Coward Springs. So we did. Coward Springs is a property at one of old railway stops for the now defunct Trans Australia Railway. The sight also contains one of the bores that has been sunk into the Artesian Basin. The natural pressure below, pumps the water to the surface, the water feeds a delightful little wetland, which is a pleasant break from the surrounding dessert. The owners have restored the railway buildings and have built simple but really cool amenities for campers out of the old railway sleepers and bits and pieces found along the tracks. They have also built a small natural spa at the point at which the warm bore water bubbles to the surface. We spent a delightful night here and it was nice to feel the warmth of inland Australia after many chilly weeks spent on the coast.

Relaxing in the natural warm spa at Coward Springs;  Yes, there is a Lake Eyre Yacht Club.

Rejuvenated by our stay at the springs, we made our way to Marree in the east and then finally south towards the Flinders Ranges. The ranges seem like they suddenly rise out of no where. There is barely any transition between the flat plains and the steep slopes. At this northern end of the ranges, they are extremely arid and the sparse vegetation and exposed red earth make the arrival of the ranges even more striking. As we made our way into the ranges and the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park, the sun was getting lower in the sky, which further highlighted the red and gold colours around us. We found an amazing camp site in the Weetootla Gorge, where we spent a couple of nights and even attempted a 5km walk (with Jarvis in a backpack). The camp site was spectacular, right on a dry creek bed full of river stones, red hills looming above us and a constant flow of birds. Whilst the setting was spectaular, this camp site will definitely go down as one as Jarvis' favourites thanks to the family of Emus (mum and 6 chicks) that wandered around him while he was squatting in the creek (well he was actually having a 'bushy' but that's a little less romantic in the telling).

Breakfast at the campsite; Rob showing Jarvis some termites; Walk through the gorge; Campsite.

While we were in the Gammon Ranges we only came across a couple of other people, which was surprising as it was school holidays. However, our isolation was to be short lived. We made our way into the Flinders Ranges National Park for our next stay. We found a great spot in the Brachina Gorge, but the steady flow of traffic through the Park and past our campsite made us long for our hideaway up north. Not to be disheartened, we made the most of our time in the infamous area, exploring by car and by foot. It is a truly spectacular part of the world and it is amazing how much the landscape varies in a relatively small area. To add to our great experience here, we had a lovely surprise. As we drove through the Park on our second day there, who should we see driving the opposite direction but a couple of old family friends, Chris and Ruth. We spent a lovely evening with them at our camp site and it was so nice to have someone else to share this amazing place with.

Jarvis waiting for Rob to cook crepes for breakfast; Razorback Lookout; The wall of Wilpena Pound; Rock art at Arkaroo Rock

By this time we had well and truly run out of power, the fridge was rapidly increasing in temperature, we were almost out of water and the fresh fruit and vege supplies were non-existent. So we decided to head back into civilisation and replenish our supplies. But after a week of bush living we decided to take the civilisation thing a bit slowly, we aimed for a quaint little town called Quorn. The town is remnant of when the Ghan used to travel through this area, and like many of the towns around here it has seen better days. However, as we learnt during our few days here, Quorn has a fantastic community and that combined with the tourism generated by travellers to the Flinders, the town is slowly making a comeback. It is by far the nicest town up in this area, has decent coffee and a couple of great pubs. The caravan park was also a little gem, they are hell bent on doing their bit for the environment with recycled water, revegetation, vege gardens and other nifty efforts. Plus our search for the elusive quondong tree finally came to an end here in the caravan park. Right next to the vege garden was a small grove of quondong trees and they even had a few fruit on them. We may not have uncovered bush food in the depths of the Flinders Ranges but it was quite a treat to pick some of the rare fruit and have a taste. They have a weird but yummy flavour. The caravan park owners even gave us a few seeds to take home. Who knows, this might be the start of the Malin / Maratea quondong farm.