Day Eleven - 30th April - Wilpena Pound campground '.....of rugged mountain ranges , of droughts and flooding plains'

The first excitement of the day was the arrival of two kangaroos who perused the campsite carefully looking for food, and ended up eating waste paper in a neighbouring campsite: not very nutritious! They were completely unfazed by our presence and looked very much at home - which I guess is appropriate as we are camped in their backyard.

Ewan was keen to show us some of the gravel roads he pedalled around in the Flinders Ranges. He and two hundred other mad cyclists were part of the Outback Odyssey last year.It involved a lot of rough rocky tracks traversing hills and valleys in the Ranges. A guy with a coffee cart followed them around and used Starlink to collect payment in remote parts of the Ranges ( I had to include that as Ewan says he was a lifesaver!)

So we crammed into Graeme's clean white Touareg car and headed for Brachina Gorge which involved lots of rocks, gravel, corrugations and even one puddle! The landscape was constantly changing as we entered the mountain ranges. The shapes of the mountains ranged from soft fold mountains to high jagged peaks stretching for kilometres into the distance. Many of them were deep pink and ochre, but also striped with colours from the earth from ancient periods of time. When I have thought about the Australian bush in the past, I always picture huge gum trees and brown earth. Within these mountains there are huge areas of native pine, and in some areas so thick that they almost look as if they are in plantations.There had clearly been some serious floods at some point as the sides of the mountains and creek beds had been gouged out creating wide flat creekbeds and uprooting trees. They were all completely dry at the moment except for one small pond with bright green reeds. I'm sure there would be spectacular waterfalls to be seen when it does flood! Graeme drove us skilfully over many challenging roads which made us very appreciative of the trials and tribulations that Ewan endured when he was cycling along them! At one of the Lookouts where the description stated we would see 'frolicking yellow-footed rock wallabies' we did see one. Jude's theory is that they get together and create a roster that means one of them goes out and 'frolics' to keep the tourists happy whilst the remainder have a rest! They have beautiful markings and colours very different to other wallabies. Recently when I mentioned to people that I was going to the Flinders Ranges the immediate reaction of a number of friends was " Ýou have to go to the Prairie Hotel at Parachilna". So we had a plan to go there in a couple of days but found ourselves only 30 kms away. An opportune time for us to visit as we needed lunch. So we set off, with fingers crossed, hoping that we could get in ( no phone reception to book!). In the middle of nowhere and kilometres of flat desolate plains a tiny town appeared. The Prairie Hotel is clearly the focal point with cars and people everywhere. A delightful old hotel with a large verandah appeared and with space for us. We started sitting on the verandah until the flies appeared and we decided to move indoors. The local art on the walls , the excellent service and the great food made it a great success. Two of us had kangaroo schnitzel and the others wild boar ragu. And of course, some crispy twice-cooked potatoes with lemon myrtle. Delicious!

We headed down the Outback Highway to return to camp. It was some of the most barren landscape I have ever seen. Flat plains with little or no scrub, rocky terrain and only a few emus, sheep and kangaroos to be seen. With the mountain ranges in the distance they were a stark contrast to the plains.

The good news is that we finally christened the jaffle iron. It's a few years ( make that decades!) since Liz and I had operated a jaffle iron. Graeme provided the perfect coals and we enjoyed a delightful dinner and the warmth of the fire. It's a big walk to St Mary Peak tomorrow and we're getting cold so it's off to bed. your contented correspondent Dianne