A view of the Southern Flinders Ranges - we found it hard to believe that they had cleared all of the trees off the mountains for the sheep to graze. We did get to glimpse the ranges with tree coverage in some spots.
The River Red Gums are just beautiful and line all of the creeks. They are hundreds of years old and provide lots of accommodation for all types of animals and birds. The shade they provide makes a huge difference between standing somewhere cool or out in the blazing sun.
Our drive from Spear Creek to Mt Remarkable was a really short drive only around 30 kms – just a hop skip and jump.
Here we are at camp site 14 – morning and afternoon shade. At the back of us is Mambray Creek – which is mostly dry this time of year. It does have pockets of water further upstream. It would be great to be there a few weeks after the rain with water in the creek.
Even in the dry, the creek bed was attractive with the shade and rocks.
They had seasonal boards showing you what to expect at the time of year that you are visiting. We have just moved into Autumn and we did see the red flowering bulbs and the grass trees in flower.
Now you might not find Goanna’s attractive, but Anna here was. Lovely black and yellow with black eyes with cream and black striped very long tail. The first few days cruising past the camp and checking everything out – even climbed the tree next to camp to get a better view of our dinner preparations. I really like the face on this species with the broad nose, I think it’s nicer than the goanna’s we have on the coast. This goanna was respectful of our space and kept it’s distance and didn’t cause any problems.
Sunday Hike Daveys Gully Hike. Easy gradient. Great views into the Alligator Basin and across Spencer Gulf to Whyalla. Access: Mambray Creek. 1 hour return 2.4km
Our first walk on the day of arrival was the Davey’s gully walk – we did that late afternoon – but it was hot walking up a steep hill with the sun on our backs. The tracks are rough with sharp rocks – the kangaroos constantly pull down scree onto the track as they transverse the hills sides.
Monday hikes Baroota Hike. Follow the Mambray Creek Walk then continue along a natural trail to visit Baroota Ruins, the Old Baroota Cemetery and the Baroota Ruins Campground. Access: Mambray Creek. 2 hours return 6km
Sugar gum Lookout Hike. An easy hike along the valley of Mambray with a short but strenuous climb to the lookout. Access: Mambray Creek. 3 hours return 8km –
Shepherds Hut still preserved at the base of Sugar Gum Lookout. - my camera is out of action, I turned and stumbled and scratched the lens – a new camera is on my shopping list. I am using my phone at present.
Tuesday a scenic drive and walked the Alligator Gorge Ring Route.
Hike - Alligator Gorge Ring Route Hike. Follow the full length of Alligator Gorge. Uneven and loose gorge floor. Access: Alligator Gorge. 4 hours return 9km –
We left Mambray Creek and travelled up to Horrocks Pass – on the pass we took a road to a Hancock’s look-out over to the gulf. We then travelled into Wilmington and up to Alligator Gorge and then on to Melrose and down Germein Gorge over to Pt Germein and then back up the highway to Mambray Creek. This was a very scenic drive and the pass and gorge drive were exceptional. It is surprising that we didn’t find any of this on tourist maps nor is it marked as a scenic drive. We were given the information word of mouth from a local.
View from Hancocks Lookout – over Spencer Gulf
Next stop was Wilmington – even had the locals giving us a wave as we drove around town – the lure of the Qld Plates.
We have found South Australians to be particularly friendly and helpful. We have been invited into peoples homes for coffee – it’s happened a couple of times – very hospitable people.
The street view of Wilmington – we are parked outside the Toy Museum and the Landrover car enthusiasts collection.
This building was the National Bank and is now a private residence. The Heritage Trail signs outside the buildings explained their original purpose. This was great – as you have the information to hand.
The Toy Museum at Wilmington – lots of interesting stuff but in a dusty environment and not cared for.
It was a bit odd seeing someone live in a ramshackle premises with hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of collectibles. I think there is a fine line between Collectors and Hoarders.
Next stop Alligator Gorge – no-one seems to know why it is called that, our guess is that the goannas have that alligator look about them – can’t think of any other reason.
Above – photos of “The Terraces”
Alligator Gorge has two sections. When you go down to the bottom of the gorge there is a walk downstream to “The Terraces” and you return to the steps base and then head upstream for the loop walk. The walls close in on sections and it is a lovely walk. This gorge is probably not as large as the ones in WA but considering its’ location to Adelaide it is certainly up there as far as gorge walks go.
Once we came up out of the gorge lower end , we were at the day use area of Blue Gum Flat and we then had to hike up the steep hill to the Gorge Lookout car park. There were a few rest spots on the way up in the shade of trees as it was pretty hot walking compared to the coolness of the gorge.
Our next stop was Melrose for a very late lunch. We stopped at the pub for a cold cider – but no meals available, so we went down to the cafe.
Nice use of railway sleepers an rail line for the bar.
It took me a while to realize what the special lunch deal was. Have never seen cordon written like this before. The Chef must have said it very slowly to whoever had to write it :)
Lunch was at Wozza’s Bank Vault Cafe - a couple of Sunbury Victoria only got this far and bought the building and turned it into a cafe and Bed & Breakfast. They are doing really well – served great coffee. Nice to have a chat with. Donna showed us through the B & B rooms. They have themed it with the bank naming the rooms after banks etc. Its basically the only cafe in town and we were pretty happy to get a snack lunch at 3pm. http://oldbankhousebnb.com.au/café
Melrose is very popular on the cyclist trails and it seemed strange that it was on the events calendar but there were basically no shops in the town, except a bike shop (of course) and the general store which was not appealing. No wonder Donna and Warren saw the opportunity.
We then drove through Germein Gorge and what a lovely drive that was. This road is the only one that cuts through the Southern Flinders Ranges and it has been closed for a long time. Repairs had just been finished from the devastation of the last major bushfire (July 14) when the road was inundated with February floods damaging it again. It has only recently re-opened. Unfortunately there is no where to pull over on this narrow twisting road, so we were unable to stop for photos.
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| Port Germein Hotel |
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| Lighthouse now repositioned at start of pier |
Port Germein – boasts the longest jetty in Australia. It’s not as long as it used to be as quite a lot fell down at the end. The jetty certainly has been rebuilt for tourism as the original jetty had a couple of train tracks out etc and was certainly a lot wider. The lighthouse is now on the shore – it used to be out at the end of the jetty. There was a odd piece of equipment without any identification on it at the start of the jetty and Glen discovered that it was a tide depth indicator and it was probably out at the end of the original jetty. The fishing was said to be good there and also lots of Blue Swimmer Crabs.
There were huge piles of sea grass everywhere and the bay is obviously shallow as the tide was out and it way way out. A town that was once a hive of activity and is now a sleepy fishing village.
A full day’s outing and we were back to Mambray Creek for a shower and dinner.
Wednesday’s Hike - Hidden Gorge Hike. Discover narrow gorges and magnificent views from the high Battery Ridge. Uneven gorge floor. Access: Mambray Creek. 7 hours return 18km – We did the trek in 6 1/4 hours and we stopped a lot for photos -
This was a great walk – some challenging bits where the cliff sides had collapsed, it was rough walking most of the way with unmade tracks. It was certainly worth the walk. We came within 6 kms of Alligator Gorge and would have loved to do the through walk but you need two cars as 26 kms return is too much of this style of walking for one day. No overnight camping is allowed during fire season either. We walked 17 kms over rough terrain at Wellington Dam and I had trouble with a ligament towards the end, but there were very steep sections. Even though this was rough terrain I had no problem with this distance.
Above is the track – not wheel chair friendly at all.
Hidden Gorge is 9 kms in from the start of the trek, so you do a lot of walking before you get any glimpse of the gorge.
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| How nice is this? - dry weather use only :) |
Mount Cavern Trek. A demanding trek to the summit of Mount Cavern then descending steeply back into Mambray Creek. Magnificent views of the Alligator Basin. Access: We did the Black Range Lookout section only To Black Range Lookout only return 2 hours return 3.6km – we walked 5.5km return and never found any signage at all – according to the information board it is 3.6 return. Steep and difficult walk. Basically straight up the side of a mountain.
Friday – we move camp today and we are going into Port Pirie to shop and then drive over to Burra – we were thinking of camping at Burra Gorge – but more on that later.
On our way to Burra – this is wheat country. Burra is on the edge of the Goyder Line. North of this line there is insufficient rain fall to sustain wheat production and the pastoral leases are sheep.
http://www.friendsbotanicgardens.org/uploads/documents/AFBG-Conference-2012/goyders%20line%20%20dr%20peter%20hayman.pdf
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