Day Ten - Monday 29th April - Wilpena Pound Campground Ikara Flinders NP Getting to know Wilpena.....

After much discussion (very tricky to make a decision with five opinions to consider!) we agreed that we would have a rest day with a short walk to get to know the place.

So I headed off to the laundry. In case you're thinking I spend a disproportionate amount of time in the Laundry, you may be right but changing the sheets seemed a priority given the amount of dirt we constantly trek into the caravan and bed. Anyway we met a woman who had greatly enjoyed our setting up process yesterday, and with smug joy she gave us dire warnings about the dangers of using the washing machine: it would make our clothes streaky with dirt and they would smell etc. etc. I ignored her, used the machine with no dire consequences. Some people love a disaster! It was coffee time so we headed for the small IGA supermarket which also sells coffee. No bread at all!! But very nice coffee and a sit in the sun on their very stylish decking. The entire building was very nicely designed and accommodated the Reception and Information Centre too. Prior to the trip I had looked up the activities available at Wilpena so we were all prepared for a cultural walk, an astronomy tour or something similar. When we consulted the guy at Reception he told us that there was noone available to do a cultural walk or anything else really as they were all in training this week! However there's plenty of walks and lots to see, so not really a big problem. After lunch we headed off to explore the The Old Homestead Walk on the inside of the Wilpena Pound crater to Wangarra Lookout.

Our first encounter was with two small kid goats and then their mother. Cute as they are, they aren't exactly native animals and their feral behaviours are not good for the environment. It was a lovely flat walk with lots of shade, overlooked by ochre rock escarpments and featuring some stunning huge gums with enormous bases, far bigger than any other gums we have seen.

Surprisingly there were some pools of water surrounded by reeds too.

The best part was that we did see some yellow-footed rock wallabies and the western grey kangaroos (at least I think that's right!). We stopped to admire the homestead of the Hill family who were pioneers in the Pound in the mid-1800s. They established wheat farms with varying success over many decades. The information boards included the experiences of Jess Hill, one of the nine Hill children, and a local First Nations woman: very different as you would imagine.

We all made it to the Wangarra Lookout to admire the view of distant mountains, treed slopes and rock escarpments. The boys headed for the next lookout while I dawdled home taking photos and the girls briskly went home in time to buy the very important firewood!! After spending time trying to capture tiny blue wrens I had to give up but the yellow-ringed neck parrots were a bit more cooperative.

The temperature started to fall so chili con carne was greatly appreciated and we thoroughly enjoyed another campfire. While we were contemplating the flames and trying to complete the Age quiz from last weekend there was a bit of a scratching noise and it turned out to be a spotted quoll perusing the campsite for food. None of us had ever seen one before so we were thrilled. They are small creatures with long snouts and a very long tail and covered in very distinctive white spots. Liz snapped a few shots as she was the only one who had thier phone handy so I'll try to put a photo in later. The stars are truly amazing here as there is no ambient light- easy to get a crick in your neck watching them! What a place to be! your relaxed correspondent Dianne