Australia So Much to See
The Flinders Ranges - Return from the Bunyeroo drive to Aroona
In 1970, Oraparinna Station which at that time included Aroona, was incorporated in the Flinders Ranges National Park (now the Ikara-Flinders
Range National Park). The Flinders Ranges National Park was established in 1945.
Oraparinna, once the station homestead
of a large pastoral property, became the office and workshop for National Parks in the area. The station complex is
now used by Friends of Flinders Ranges National Park and Bounceback.
Friends of Flinders Ranges use the former shearers
quarters at Oraparinna as accommodation when members attend the park for working bees.
The Bounceback rangers have been working effectively for more than twenty years to eliminate a range of feral animals and plants from within the park and from some neighbouring properties. Bounceback is a government partnership with conservation organisations and local stations.
Oraparinna homestead complex is a few kilometres south of the Brachina Gorge road junction with the Blinman to Hawker road.
Resources
Signage at sites
With the wind becoming even stronger, we did not want to be on the road with a caravan. We had now left the phone reception noted when near Wilpena Pound, so could not book another night at Aroona campground. The sites were also tricky to manoeuvre in or out of with a large rig, so we were reluctant to do that again. We had little choice but to hitch up and drive until we left the national park then pull off the road at very first opportunity to stay roadside for the night.
We stopped at Huck’s Lookout, which gives views of Wilpena Pound. The wind was getting stronger, making it unpleasant to stand outside.
The diagram explaining the formation of Wilpena Pound also illustrates why the walls of the Pound dominate the landscape.
The sunset was lovely, and there were distant rainbows where showers passed through. Sleep was not easy with our normally very steady caravan rocking like a boat on rough seas.
The sun like a golden orb slipping behind the hills above left, and
looking back to golden ranges above right.
Scant showers in the distance were revealed by rainbows.
The noise of the wind and an unidentified banging on our caravan roof obscured any traffic noise, although there was very little on the road. There were only a few drops or rain overnight.