Ikara Wilpena Pound SA

Today we headed out early to explore Wilpena Pound, making the most of the (slightly) cooler part of the day.

The Pound, also known as Ikara (meaning meeting place), is a massive natural amphitheatre — a bit like a giant crater — roughly 8km by 17km in size, formed by enormous geological pressures hundreds of millions of years ago. In the 1800s, European settlers used the Pound as a giant natural sheep yard. Sheep were guided through a narrow gap and neatly contained by the surrounding hills, proving the landscape to be both beautiful and practical.

Frustratingly, the shuttle bus to the start of the Wangarra Lookout walk wasn’t running today (despite the website advertising daily services), which gave us the unexpected ‘bonus’ of a 2.5km warm-up walk. We strolled out past the Hills Homestead before climbing up to the lookout, where we were rewarded with a sensational panoramic vista across the Pound - the kind of view that makes you forget your legs for a few minutes.

On the walk back, we stopped to watch an emu cooling off in a large puddle, living his best life until we arrived to ruin the mood 😆. For a split second, we thought Ryan was about to be disciplined for disturbing the peace and we all prepared for an emu-shaped sprint, but thankfully no chase eventuated, no dignity was lost, and Old Man Emu returned to his soak, clearly deciding we were not worth the effort.

After our 9km Wilpena hike we were all very happy to return to the vans for a relaxing afternoon in the pool, followed by happy hour and eventually dinner watching the cricket in the relative cool of the camp kitchen.

Tonight for something different we’ve headed into Quorn for their Silo Light Show celebrating the history and culture of the Flinders Ranges, projected onto the side of two giant grain silos. It was fabulous, far exceeded my expectations. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone passing through.Read more