Monday, September 24, 2012

Day 5 - Gawler Ranges


Day 5
Gawler Ranges – Thursday September 20th 2012
Waking up to birds calling and the scene of native wild flowers on a beautiful morning in a lovely part of South Australia.
After breakfast and a leisurely stroll around our camp area, we are going to spend the day exploring the park and trying out the various 4WD tracks.
First stop is the Pondanna Outstation. This homestead has been restored by the friends of the park and is available as accommodation. We looked at the various sheds and machinery, and met up with a very angry brown snake. He obviously didn’t like us in his territory.


A bit of rough track took us to the top of Conical Hill. Spectacular views which lead us to the sand dunes which make up part of the Gawler Ranges. This is a one-way four-wheel drive track, and it is easy to see why as the track is narrow, with very little opportunity for passing.










Morning Tea



Morning tea at Kododo Hill then on to the Yandinga Falls. The trek was not too strenuous and we met some other hikers. Although the falls weren’t falling there were lots of water holes with tadpoles having a great time. Lots of skinks and dragon lizards sunning themselves on the rocks.

Conical Hill


The water falls go a long way up


Tadpoles in the water holes


The Organ Pipes


Lunch under the trees at the Organ Pipes. An interesting rock formation from when this area was full of volcanoes.
The Organ Pipes were truly fantastic to look at and explore. Davo, as usual, has to climb the highest point, and forgot which path he took, so it was interesting to see him try to find his way down.






It was now time to return to our camp site at Mattera, where Davo built a ‘nice fire’. Once the fire died down we cooked tea of baked potatoes, carrots, lemon chicken and pies. All came out delicious.
After  a filling tea and a bit of satellite spotting, we decided to treat ourselves to a movie – and watched ‘ Most exotic Marigold Hotel’. A lovely way to end a beautiful day.

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