Ikara-Flinders - Pounding Wilpena

Tonight will be our 4th night in Ikara-Flinders National Park.
From Leigh Creek we turned east into the Parachilna Gorge where we free camped up a creek bed off the road. Very quiet night under an almost full moon.
Next morning on to Blinman - an old copper mining town. Not much left of its past, just a few old buildings, signage and a pub. (Always a pub). There was also a bakery with fresh baked bread (white only), delicious cakes and passable coffee.



Down south towards Wilpena and into the National Park proper. SA Parks are trying to force visitors to book campsites online. No ability to turn up and self register, leaving your fees in an envelope on site. Now you're supposed to do it online, which requires mobile coverage  which is of course non existant. Stupid system which we ignore. 2nd night we camp at Koolamon Campground up the Aroona Valley along to Heysen Range. This is where we camped with the boys and  Bill and Marie way back when Leigh was 8 years old and we all hiked up the Heysen Range ridge.....
Pics to follow as they need to be uploaded from camera as opposed to pics from phone.
Slept under the open sky. No tent. Just our stretchers under the moonlight. Wonderful. I wonder if Heysen ever painted his eponymous mountains by moonlight?
A drive thru and back again of Brachina Gorge, traversing a geological landscape measured in millions of years per kilometre.  In the morning light with longer shadows an astonishing sight.

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Followed the back road to Wilpena pausing at Two Gums Lookout to admire the view. The extensive groves of native cypress trees and flush of fresh green grass providing an appearance almost at odds with what we normally expect from the Australian Outback.


Wilpena Pound Campground for two nights. Hot showers, laundry facilities, cold beer and wifi - almost civilised.
Tonight a Welcome to Country at the resort and a restaurant meal with the cold beer. Tomorrow back on the road towards Mt Remarkable and a (hopefully) rendezvous with Paula and Jock. They're heading this way but we (alas) are heading east and homeward bound.