The weather is so changeable up here. We were surprised that it was so overcast in the morning and the wind had a nip in it. The overnight temperatures have fallen down to 6C overnight. Out of the wind the days are warm. We don’t get much wind at camp, we can hear it in the trees but it is not coming down to ground level.
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This is Ruby Saltbush. It is growing everywhere here. I found it listed in my bush tucker book. The red berries are edible and very sweet. The leaves can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. I have found a lot of the bush foods listed in my book and getting quite adept at recognizing the plants.
This is a red capped robin, you may just be able to make out the bright red on his head. They are very silent in flight. I have seen a few in recent days and no opportunity for a photo as they only stay for a minute or so.
I was ready for this one and he turned away from me. He has a very bright red marking on his white chest.
More sea floor – on the right it has been uplifted as a single piece. The inland sea still continues to fascinate us. There must be fossils embedded everywhere out here. If only there was a simple way to find them. I think we are closet archaeologists at heart.
We drove over to Wilpena Pound under a very cloudy sky. We had intended to take a afternoon flight over the pound.
We are walking to Mt Ohissen Bagge and doing a side trip of the Boom and Bust walk. Mt Ohissen Bagge is on the rim of Wilpena Pound and offers a view over the entire pound, plus lots of reptiles along the way – that turned out to be one skink with three legs.
Our track code is orange. There is a shuttle bus from the information centre to the start of the walks which saves you 2 kms one way BUT it only goes every two hours and the cost $5 each. To think we thought Gold Coast bus fares were expensive. We walked :)
The road into the pound. Once everyone could drive in, and also around the pound, but, high visitor numbers have seen that stop.
The road follows the creek which is a natural entry into the pound.
Below is the start of the track on the track on the way up Mt Ohlssen Bagge – that is only a ridge in the back ground. Glen wasn’t far ahead of me, but even with a red shirt on he is difficult to see.
We have climbed up a few ridges, still plenty more to go. The top of the mountain is over there in the distance. There were few flat areas but it was mostly steep climbing all the way.
(Below) This is the path up which was a very hard and steep climb in the last section. When we came down we were amazed at just how steep the sections were. We were even more amazed that we had done it.
Below, the path beside the grass tree – a yellow marker to guide you.
Our first view of the pound. When it was under pasture, it would have been totally clear of trees.
At this point, there was no WOW factor, in fact we decided against paying to fly over.
The view above left to the South and the view above right to the North. The pound is like a big bowl. The wind coming up the slope was really strong and was pushing me around. My video of the pound has a dip in it, where I was pushed by the wind while trying to film it.
We came off the lip of the pound and down a few rocks to sit out of the wind and take in the views to the east while we had a bite to eat. There were some beautiful honey eaters landing near us.
Above shows Wilpena Pound information centre and Eco Village in the distance. We walked from there up the ridges in the foreground to the top.
A close up of one of the ridge sections.
This was the toughest short walk that we have done. The walk with the side trip was 10 klms which took around four and half hours. The legs are good after the trip with a little stiffness in the calves which really got a big work out. I have noticed now after doing lots of walks how much strength I am regaining in my thigh muscles. At the beginning of the trip, I struggled on high steps being able to push up, I am finding it easier now. It’s true, use it or lose it.
You are always challenged in bush walking and it makes you extend yourself to complete the trip. This was one of those trips where we were surprised by what we had done. We could not believe that we had actually climbed some of those sections in the track and didn’t realize how steep they were, until we came down them.
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