We were up to say goodbye to Craig and Ev before they headed out of camp and then packed up in a leisurely fashion. The wind was chilly and rain threatened, plus we were both still feeling pretty tired and ragged. Maybe today was not the time to try the climb up to Rawnsley Bluff. We agreed that the first thing to do was head up to Wilpena Pound and return the key to the rangers.
The rangers were nowhere to be seen when we arrived at the administration building, so we amused ourselves with a stroll around the old buildings of the old Wilpena Station. The old store, stables, Smithy, Governers cottage, Graveyard and mud and pug hut all stand around the area, and are well signed, with information about what it was like to live in the old days out here. The garden of the homestead (Now the admin building) also has interesting signs. It really is worth a look. A remnant of the old cattle yards still stands, with the old fence rails fastened though holes cut into a huge gum tree.
By the time we had done the walking tour and admired the apostle birds and ringnecks near the homestead, the rangers had arrived.
I was able to return the key to Alan and thank him for the use of the land. He stressed to me that the time of permission to use the land expired this year and that it was highly unlikely that future applications to use the area would be treated kindly unless the members of the management board changed. Trev and I left there feeling sad that this beautiful area for orienteering was unlikely to get another look in. There has been a lot of time, effort and money put in to the mapping of that area and the orienteers have always treated it with respect and care.
Our next stop was the Wilpena Pound visitors centre where we picked up a bit of information before having a picnic lunch. Then we headed down to the resort to check out accommodation options for future visits. I think the only way we will ever be staying up there is if we are camping. Rooms are upward of $500/night even for the basic ones!
As we headed back towards Rawnsley for our final night of camping, we decided to stop in and have a look at the Arkaroo Rock walk on the way.
The walk is only about 3.5km long, but it is rated as moderate due to the climb using a rocky path. It is very scenic though and the lush growth currently around after all the rain they have had is particularly lovely. We found the rock art at the end underwhelming (as we remembered) but we loved the walk and thoroughly enjoyed the birds on the way back down the path, pausing to take numerous photos of the vistas across to the far mountain ranges and the rocky outcrops above us.
The yellow gaped honeyeater and white eared honeyeater were the most prolific.
We returned to Rawnsley to check out the accommodation offerings there (a bit less expensive than Wilpena Pound, but already well booked for October) before finding ourselves a flat site not too far out from the main camping area. From here we could walk back to the amenities block.
The wind was so cold and strong that I decided not to try to use the gas stove on the side of the camper. Instead, I took the ingredients for tea to the camp kitchen and used their gas stove to heat up dinner for the two of us, and their dodgy kettle to put some heat into water for a cup of tea. We ate a quick, warm dinner as it rained and blustered outside and hopped into our warm bed for our last night.
Luvapuzzle 