Arkaroola, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia (Part 2)

It was a very cold morning that we woke to, but we had to meet our guide that was taking us on the Ridge Top Tour at 8.  We gobbled down our continental breakfast of toast, cereal, juice and coffee before heading to the front of the lodge to await our vehicle.  

There was ten of us on this particular four hour tour that they run twice a day. The specially designed vehicle is a trusty old Toyota Landcruiser.  The tray back has been modified to bench seating (with cushions) and a roof cover.  There are seat belts for all of us and they are very strict about wearing these.  As we all take our places we are then locked in with a gate that also converts to steps to climb up and down into the vehicle.  It is very squishy and none of us are large people!

Our driver is wired with a microphone and as we set sail down the road he gives us a brief outline of our tour today.  We will be following roads that were put in by mining exploration companies.  There are dozens of them all over Arkaroola.  The only entrance to the path we will be taking is through a locked gate.  There are a number of reasons they lock the gate but the main reason is to keep the road in a fairly good condition.  Our driver explains to us that we will be stopping at three lookouts, gradually getting higher and higher and our last lookout is called Stillers Lookout where we will be looking into a canyon more than 1000 metres deep.  

The road, if you can call it that, is merely a track.  A very rocky bumpy track and we go up and down extraordinary steep roads.  I wonder how we can stay on the road at times.  Our seatbelts do not hold us in place and we all slip one way and then the other.  I wish there was something to hang on to like the leather straps they have in buses but alas there is nothing.  Everyone was just a little relieved when we reached the first lookout.

Back on board our trusty steed we travel down into a beautiful "pound" surrounded by majestic mountains.  A pound is an English term for a stock enclosure but Geologists use the term to describe rock formations that resemble such enclosures on a massive scale. Our guide tells us that is easy to trap feral animals in the pound because there is usually a water supply and all that has to be done is to block off one end.  A stop to photograph some wildflowers is not on the agenda but our guide obliges. We continue our journey up and out of the pound.  This time the road narrows to a track only just wide enough for a vehicle and the drop off to the side is very scary.  I don't look down, just out!  We finally reach our second lookout.

If we thought the drive to the second lookout was treacherous it was a highway compared to the path we took to the third lookout.  We climb so high that I almost feel dizzy.  This is serious four wheel drive country and our guide informs us that the road only gets graded every couple of years and then proceeds to tell us that before the road is graded they only get 2000 kms out of a set of tyres but once the road is graded they get 10,000 kms.  Our final stop is at Sillar's Lookout.  It is literally a pinnacle.  We all have to alight from the vehicle so that the drive can make a three point turn to turn the vehicle around!  It is the most stunning view I have ever seen.  We look down into a canyon that is 1000 metres deep and out on the horizon we can make out the white salt of Lake Frome.  All around us is the magnificent Flinders Ranges with its 1.6 billion year old rock formations.  It takes my breath away and no photograph can ever do the views justice.

Our guide serves us a hot beverage and lamingtons and it goes down a treat.  We spend a good amount of time at this lookout and for that I am grateful because I am not looking forward to the return journey.  Surprisingly it goes quite fast and not quite as un-nerving. By this time all of the ten participants are good buddies and we do a lot of talking on the way back to the village.  We arrive back at 12.45 and our tour guide has another group waiting so he has to turn around and do the whole thing again!  I give him full marks.

We go inside the lodge for lunch, BLT for Philip and Crumbed Barra and Chips for me.  After eating these two rather large meals we decide to do a hike. I have read about the Mawson-Spriggina hike that is around 8kms and Class 3 with gradual grades and a short steep section. So off we head.  Fortunately it is still quite cool but once we start the hike we start shedding our jackets.  There is very little shade on this hike so we build up a bit of a sweat.  Our first point of interest is "Sitting Bull".  This rock was pushed up, when molten, and settled into overlying sediments 350-400 million years ago! We look back along our path and can see Arkaroola Village in the distance.

The hike is not as interesting as we might have liked but it was still good to stretch out for our bodies after being pummelled around in the back of a Toyota!  When we are almost back to our lodge we come across a mating pair of Parrots. Spring is in the air.... I don't know the name of them but they are certainly very beautiful.

The hike takes around two hours and we have just enough time for a quick shower and change of clothes before heading to the dining room for our dinner reservation.  Tonight we have a very extensive choice of dishes to choose from.  From Kangaroo Fillet to Duck Leg to Schnitzels to Barra.  It was a good menu.  I chose the Duck Legs and Philip the Beef Schnitzel.  Once again HUGE meals but the dessert tonight was the winner.  This is my Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake.

Arkaroola has been a great destination for us.  Would we go there again......probably not.  Are we glad we went.......100 percent yes!  Would we recommend it to friends..........if they are into nature, landscape and hiking, yes.  Tomorrow we head to Clare in the Clare Valley.  We are guaranteed freezing cold conditions but I think it will be a beautiful area to visit.  We already have a lunch booking at one of the recommended restaurants for my birthday so I am a little excited....