Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Today, Bernie let someone else do the four wheel driving when we took the Arkaroola 4WD Ridgetop Tour. This is not a track that you can drive yourself, the only way to experience it is to take the tour in one of their open-top 4WD vehicles with an experienced guide. The ‘experienced guide’ being not so much about the vehicle handling as their knowledge of the landscape, plants and animals.
We set out at 8.00am in two vehicles with our converted Landcruiser (troop carrier style back behind the cab) being driven by Daniel. We set out along the track beside Wywhyana Creek and it was really chilly down in the valley! After we crossed Arkaroola Creek we started to climb up out of the valley into some sunshine, which made the temperature more bearable. Talk about bringing back memories of our early morning safaris in Namibia and Botswana! The only animals about though were a couple of wallaroos (what they were calling euros down at Rawnsley Park Station) and some emus.
The geology in the northern Flinders Ranges is older than that found in the southern Flinders Ranges with some features dating back 1,600 million years. Daniel gave us a running commentary of features such as the Yudnamutana Gorge and Mount Oliphant before our first stop at the Sir Mark Oliphant Lookout. After a short leg stretch and photo opportunity we clambered back into the vehicle to continue to Coulthard Lookout, from which we could see the white salt surface of Lake Frome in the distance.
Onwards and (mostly) upwards we climbed, past Sunshine Pound, Mount Painter, Mount Gee and The Armchair towards our ultimate destination, Sillers Lookout at Mount Ward. On the way, Daniel told us more about the geological history of the northern Flinders Ranges, the strong association that Sir Douglas Mawson had with this area and the history of the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, which was founded by the Sprigg family in 1968. Arriving at Sillers Lookout, we enjoyed morning tea while looking out over the Freeling Heights and Mawson Plateau. The coffee was pretty awful but the lamingtons were great, the weather was beautiful and the views amazing.
After morning tea it was time to drive all the way back again! With the sun higher in the sky, the rocks were warming up and we were lucky to spy a bearded lizard sun-baking beside the track and a little further along the track, a red-barred dragon. Even Daniel was excited by the red-barred dragon. For months he has been driving past this section of track that he had been told is good for sightings of the red-barred dragon and today he saw his first one. The weather must just be getting warm enough to bring them out.
We arrived back at Arkaroola Village about 12.30pm and returned our camera gear to our room before heading to the restaurant for a light lunch, after having had morning tea while we were out. We decided a BLT to share would be enough to get us through to our sunset canapés at 4.30pm, another activity included in our package.
Between activities we relaxed in our room. Even the shorter walking trails around the village are seven or eight kilometres long so that seemed a bit more than we could undertake in a couple of hours, especially given how hilly it is here. Bernie made a start on processing some photos and I watched the episode of The Great British Sewing Bee that I had recorded.
At about quarter past four we headed back to reception to meet our driver for the sunset canapés. Ha, ha, it was Cameron, our pilot from yesterday. He did mention yesterday that he thought he was rostered to host host the sunset canapés tonight and he was right. So, with a different driver and a different vehicle (unmodified Landcruiser) and glorious afternoon light we headed back to Coulthard Lookout for the sunset. We had a slight hiccup at the gate, with Cameron discovering that the gate key was not on the car key ring as it should be.
That problem was sorted out and we made out way through the gate with Cameron in radio contact with the drivers of the afternoon Ridgetop Tour, since the four vehicles that went out this afternoon (with 32 primary school-aged children on board!) were still on their way down the single track. We made our way past two of the vehicles along the way, meeting up with the two rear vehicles at the lookout. With the delay caused with the key, the owner, Doug, had set up the table and chairs ready for our drinks and nibbles.
What a beautiful setting to watch a sunset. Now, if it had just been a few degrees warmer it would have been perfect. With the sun getting low in the sky the temperature was dropping rapidly! After the sun dropped below the mountains it was time to pack up and return to the Village … in the dark, down a steep 4WD track. Cameron has driven this track many, many times so he was unfazed by negotiating it in the dark. As we drove down, a wallaroo and couple of rock-wallabies bounded across the track. I didn’t see them sitting in the back but Bernie, who was sitting up front, tells me we didn’t even come close to hitting them. Phew!
Hmmn, dinner? Do we need dinner after canapés? We probably did need something a bit more substantial than nibbles so we headed to the restaurant again. However, tonight’s meal was not included in our accommodation package, so we skipped entree and dessert and just has schnitties tonight. Bernie opted for the beef with peppercorn sauce and I went a chicken Parma although, of course, here in SA they called it a Parmi. Now there’s a thing – Pages just tried to autocorrect that to Parma. I guess it’s learnt that from me typing it in the past??
Steps: 16,033 (11.27kms) Ahem, very unlikely, that would be the four-wheel driving!!
