Camping Trip:  Mt. Remarkable and Flinders Ranges

We borrowed Ruth and Graham's car and took a trip north (about five hours) to the Flinders Ranges, a spectacular geological marvel.  We were in two National Parks during our trip: Mt. Remarkable National Park and Flinders Ranges National Park.  Flinders Ranges includes an amazing geographic feature called "Wilpena Pound" (pictured below) that is about 10.5 miles long and 5 miles wide.  Surrounding it is dry desert-like land, while inside is relatively fertile and green.  We were not expecting much in the way of plant growth or flowers due to the severe drought that Australia is experiencing, but it is a beautiful place any time of year.  

Mt. Remarkable National Park is about 3 hours north of Adelaide, but a world away.  There are approximately 115 species of birds and we experienced their beautiful sounds each day, especially on the hikes where "human" noise was at a minimum.  We arrived early afternoon and decided to take a long hike (18km) to Hidden Gorge.  We walked in and along the river bed (bone dry as you can see in the left photo), and were craning our necks continuously to take in the sights of the gum (and other) trees against the red rock faces.   The gorge itself narrows to about a 10 foot wide opening (bottom right) and then opens back out.  Along the way we came across kangaroos (who hop up and down the cliff faces at full speed) and a family of emus (more on them later)  that enhanced the surroundings.

We took a short hike early the next morning around Davy's Gully where kangaroos and wallabies were out in full force finishing off their night of eating.  They were all shapes and sizes, but we were especially enamored with the variety of colors of their fur.  Also, there were plenty of little ones around - in and out of Mums' pouches -  an extra special treat to start our day.  We then drove up to Flinders Ranges.

The afternoon we arrived, within about 10 minutes of starting our first hike out, we heard a loud rustling sound next to the path.  Given the number of poisonous snakes in Australia, Elyse was not thrilled by this.  But a goanna (large lizard below) was the source of the noise, and he was fun to look at.  He was pretty big (see Elyse's leg for perspective), but moved slowly (and away from us).

The galah (on the left) was a common sight at Mt. Remarkable.  They are often seen in flocks, and have a loud call (squawk) that awakened us most mornings.  The parrot on the right has iridescent blue wings that are shockingly beautiful when they fly.  This wedge-tailed eagle was one of many that we saw, but this one came the closest to us.  This kookaburra was kind enough to stay still for a close-up the morning we were leaving.  They have a call that sounds a bit like a monkey's "laughing" - it's hard not to join in with at least a smile!

Over the weekend we saw many kangaroos, wallabies and euros (no, we wouldn't be able to tell you which is which most of the time).  You can see a joey's head sticking out of his mum's pouch on the left (dad is a "big red" kangaroo - they can grow to be 6 feet tall!), while the family on the right was kind enough to look at the camera.  

If you are familiar with the Australian coat of arms (we have provided an image of it for those of you who are not), you will notice that we were able to recreate it (sort of) in the photo below: the kangaroos are under the tree, while the emu was walking toward them.  We saw another emu with his 7(!) chicks (dad emus take care of the young 'uns). Young emus have bright stripes and are very cute to watch walk and run/waddle.  Elyse learned on her first encounter (years ago) to stay away from a dad emu with his chicks - that emu puffed up to about double his size and was on his way toward her within seconds of her getting out of the car for a photo op! No problems this time....

The gum trees were, once again, one of the highlights of the walks.   Their shapes and colors are a constant source of wonder.  The one on the left shows another interesting characteristic:  while a good portion of a tree's trunk may be dead (usually burned out in a bush fire), the rest of the tree continues to grow as if nothing is missing.  This can be a bit disconcerting if you're walking near one that seems precariously perched, but it is truly amazing to see.  The close up of the bark shows the colors that are commonly seen, while the varying sunlight can have an impact on the colors as well.

The campground at Mt. Remarkable was filled with families (it was school holidays/vacation) enjoying the place.  We had all the creature comforts we needed: hot showers and a comfy bed courtesy of Ruth and Graham's "Maggi" (pictured below).  The tent cranks up and down on top of the car in about 30 seconds, has a comfy mattress inside and is well ventilated.  We were sitting at the table after a dinner of cheese, bread, dried fruit and nuts enjoying a glass of wine when we were invited to join the family camping at the next site around a fire that they had going.  The family was made up of grandparents and 3 granddaughters spending the week together.  They were very friendly and it was a nice way to pass the time (and warm too; it was getting a bit chilly by the time we went off to bed!).  The next night we spent further north in the Flinders Ranges national park.  There were only 4 campsites at that campground and a pit toilet.  Each campground had its plusses and minuses - obviously the amenities at Mt. Remarkable were welcome after a long hike, but there is something special about being more isolated when camping, as we were at the Flinders site.  We returned to the original campground for our third night - mostly to cut down the drive back to Adelaide on Monday morning.  We had an extra treat that morning when we looked out the tent's window when we awoke and saw two kangaroos having breakfast in "our front yard!"  Life is good.