18 November 2011 - Wilpena Pound Resort, Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia

Leaving Port Augusta this morning did not break our hearts and yet, as we drove through, still south on the Stuart Highway, we were impressed with the way many of the very old residences had been tastefully restored. Perhaps I have done Port Augusta a disservice in not promoting it more positively?

We soon found ourselves heading north again, away from the hustle and bustle of civilisation, wending our way through hills and valleys in countryside unlike anything we had encountered for some weeks. Today the cruiser struggled with the caravan; we decided the fuel purchased from the Shell service station yesterday must have been dodgy, and the head wind did not help.

Quorn is less than forty kilometres north east of Port Augusta but does seem further given the number of corners one must negotiate; we have been spoilt with roads that stretch for fifty kilometres with barely a bend. We passed through sheep country, firstly covered in delicious scrubby blue bush (Oh! How I pity those poor sheep that must subsist on such a diet!) and then acres and acres of yellow grasslands. We passed woolsheds and well fenced boundaries but there was no sign of sheep.

Lovely Quorn

 Arriving at Quorn, we were most taken with the lovely old buildings of the town, full of character and well maintained. It is an absolutely charming place. Despite the intense eleven o’clock heat, we walked about delighting in the scene, purchased a newspaper and were told by a well coiffed woman (I am envious of those who spend money and time on highlights and regular stylish cuts) that Quorn has temperatures much higher than forty degrees and the best place to be is inside with the air-conditioning pumping away. I got the impression that she was not anticipating the next few summer months with too much enthusiasm. She also told us, as she drew our attention to a large clump of tumbleweed being blown down the street (just like in Wild West movies), that the town was extra busy today because there was an auction on.

Quorn was established in 1878 as a town on the Great Northern Railway. The line closed in 1957, but part of that line has been restored and a tourist train runs up to here through the Pichi Richi Pass from Port Augusta. It would be a pleasant trip however we had enjoyed it from our own vehicle instead. And so this town of just over a thousand people now thrives on the tourist trade.

Apparently the town’s charm also attracts interest from movie producers – the scenic streetscapes and surrounding landscapes having been used in many films.

We returned to the rig and pressed on toward Hawker. The road to this point is the same taken up to Leigh Creek where the coal for the Port Augusta power stations comes from, however we turned off here and continued on up toward the Flinders Range National Park.

Hawker has a population less than a third of Quorn’s and is quite delightful also, but in more of a Wild West way. “Charm” was not the first word that jumped into my mind as it had for Quorn.

We had seen a few brown sheep just before arriving at Hawker, and saw a few more soon after. I had been thinking that perhaps they were all being housed in a special purpose air-conditioned shed at this time of the year, given their invisibility. Not so; they are out on the dry plans wearing their best and thickest dirty woollen coats.

Road killed roos, lizards waiting to cross the road and emus grazing nearby were more numerous than the sheep, and when we finally arrived here at Wilpena, the live crows and roos still outnumbered them.

We had passed the ruins of several homesteads, just the beautifully constructed stone walls serving as memories of lost dreams. We stopped at one of these to have our lunch en route, and while the wind whistled in the windows and the sun beat down on the solar panels, we wondered at the hellish life it must have been for the early pastoralists here in this part of the country.

The ruins of by-gone homesteads

Here seventy kilometres north of Hawker, the range is all national park. Obviously it was once all farmed, because the resort is near the original Wilpena Homestead, and down the road a bit is the Hill Homestead. Better that these are all places for the public to enjoy than farmers to weep into their beer when the bank managers come knocking on the door.

Prior to setting out, we had attempted to check out the charges of entering and camping in the park and in Quorn quizzed the woman in the Information Centre with the same. She was as vague as us, but we all underestimated the actual cost. As Seniors, it has cost us $7 to enter the park and that will cover our entry fee for the time we are here. The camping fee per night for an unpowered sight is an exorbitant $21. We could have paid $11 more for a powered site, however this way have managed to have three nights for the price of two more expensive ones.

Our camp at the Wilpena Pound Resort

On a positive note however, we have set up in a far corner of the park, under trees, barely in view of any fellow campers, more than two hundred metres from the conveniences, fifty metres from a water tap and about the same from a rubbish bin. As I type this, it is almost eight o’clock, and there are roos grazing nearby and the birds are noisily organising themselves for bed. It is absolutely wonderful here and more so because we have elected to be so far from the many campers all lined up with their power points at the bottom of the camp. I am looking forward to doing some of the walks tomorrow; hopefully the morning will be a little cooler.