Day Twelve - Wednesday 1st May - Wilpena Pound Campground To St Mary Peak......or not, as the case may be!

Much care and consideration has been given to the essentials required to get to the top of St Mary Peak : the highest peak in the Flinders Ranges. Estimated time 6 hours and 14 kilometres return. There are very strict guidelines for climbing to St Mary Peak and they include not starting after 10am. So after much discussion around the camp fire last night about a possible start time it was decided that we would aim for 9am which would allow us time to be late! By the time we had a group photo and a toilet stop we were only a couple of minutes late. One of the signs at the start was very clear about not going if you are an inexperienced or unfit climber and threatened you with death ( well, not quite) if you had the cheek to need rescuing.
I did consider stopping at that point but decided to persevere.

Apparently it used to be acceptable to climb to the absolute peak but now the First Nation locals (the Adnyamathanha people) have requested that climbers go only as far as the Tanderra Saddle. There were plenty of signposts on the way up giving the distance from the Resort and to the Peak (although it wasn't clear whether that was the Saddle or the Peak) but they were helpful. We chose to go the trail which is on the outside of the Pound mountains as it was shorter, although steeper, than the Inside track which was kilometres longer. It's a well-travelled path with plenty of small rocks and flat tracks at the start. There was a bit of rock climbing but once we got about 1.5 kilometres from the top the rocks and slippery scree turned into boulders, requiring rock climbing skills. Mine are limited so I turned around and made my way slowly and carefully back down the mountain. I really enjoyed being on my own and being able to stop and listen to the birds and the stillness. And, after all, someone needs to take photos!

When we went on a holiday years ago the girls were totally unimpressed with my endless photos of rocks. I thought they were very artistic but not appreciated by all clearly! Today I found myself taking lots of photos of native grasstrees as there were plenty, in between the many native pines on the slopes.So maybe those photos will be met with the same reaction!

As I sat having my lunch – a delicious sandwich – on a large log I admired the high escarpment towering above me. (Unnecessary detail but multigrain bread is SO much better than Wonder White!) I had been trying hard to photograph some of the tiny wrens chirping noisily along the trail, but the result was several photos of empty branches, as they move rapidly. To my surprise a tiny bird landed in the tree just next to me. I could see bright red on its chest and some white and blue. So, I very slowly reached for my camera and tried to turn the camera on quietly. As I reached the perfect position It flew away ……of course! Yet another empty branch photo!! I looked it up and it was a red-capped robin apparently. Oh well…..buy the postcard!

I chatted to various walkers along the trail as I descended. Two guys were walking briskly down the slope and one of them said with a big smile on his face: “There’s a couple of guys following us: but they are morons so watch out for them!”. Sure enough a few minutes later two guys appeared so I asked them if they were the morons the other guys told me about. They laughed and one of them told me that the other guy was the moron, and they were the nice guys. Very cute!! Everyone is very keen for a chat: a group of young German guys were rather horrified when I told them they were only halfway! One of them groaned! The other walkers can be very entertaining!

I headed for the resort reception building and a latte. I sat on the decking enjoying the sunshine under the watchful eye of a huge Australian raven. I was eating a pear and was worried about the raven attacking it if I put it on the table. They are everywhere here: huge and noisy. Sure enough, when I returned to the campsite our rubbish was distributed everywhere, including the paper we had left on the campfire! So, I had the joy of picking it all up and putting extra weights on the bin. And then, just to add insult to injury, one of them swooped in when we were having nibbles and took an almost empty dip container. Bloody ravens! The others arrived back looking very weary but pleased with themselves. We’re gathered around the campfire so we can stay warm and it’s Chicken Cacciatore and rice for dinner. So that should warm the cockles of our hearts as Graeme would say! We’re on the move again tomorrow so well be up early. Mind you everyone is looking exhausted and there's been a few mini-naps so we wont be out of bed for long despite another fabulous campfire. your tired but contented correspondent Dianne