Shadows in the Flinders

Hi Folks
Having spent a few great days in Perth we flew to Adelaide to stay with our friends Doug and Mary Fletcher in Basket Range in the hills of Adelaide. They allowed us to use them as a base and we travelled to the Flinders Ranges about 300 miles north. This area is serious outback. Very harsh.Very dry and the people who live out here just about eek out a living from grazing sheep but mostly these days tourists are the main source of income. On our way we stopped at Terowie. See photo on left. This is the main street. This town is pretty well as it was when it was built in the late 19th century. It was used as a staging post for the
army years ago but now is struggling but the locals are very hardy and are trying to make a go of it. A brief visit and onwards to the Flinders. We stayed in a small town (pop 220) called Hawker. It is right in the middle of very basic scrub land and is surrounded by desert and the most awe inspiring range of hills and mountains that make up the Flinders Ranges. As you can see from the photo on the left we are shadows of our former selves shown by the strong and hot sunlight. It is a stunning area. The most beautiful of colours. Magical shapes and textures. Altogether awesome. Sorry to use that word again, but it was.

We hired a local guide for a day by the name of Derek and he took us to the ranges and gave us a lesson on the geology and the flora and fauna of the area. We saw many kangaroos including a red which was huge and majestic and a very rare yellow footed rock wallaby with a joey in her pouch. Anyway we are under pressure here and Phileas wants a word so over to her. So very best wishes to you all. Fogg.

The Flinders is well worth pulling up on google earth as the shapes and colours make it one of the most beautiful and interesting places that we have visited. In the Brachina Gorge we were able to walk through a geological timeline as the mountain was lying on its side so to speak. The photo
here shows how dry it is and as the air was still the dust trails hang in the air for a long time. We enjoyed very much watching the sun rise at 6.30am and set at 5.30pm bringing up the most extraordinary palette of colours. The rocks are full of iron and the iron oxide on the surface glows in the dying and rising rays of the sun.
Our trip back to Adelaide took us through more dry country until we reached the wine region of Clare. Even here the land was parched. In the Adelaide Hills the difference was amazing. The area is very lush almost like a rain forest and it is hard to believe that SA is the driest state in the driest continent in the world.
Basket Range sits up high above Adelaide and a drive down to the city in the evening affords the most wonderful sparkly view of the City. The trees in the area are mainly eucalyptus (gum) and are absolutely beautiful and majestic. The trees are full of birds and we were in capable hands with Doug who can tell most from their song and can see a tiny bird hidden to most.
Their local koalas who live in their churchyard were very 'cute' and we had some good roo spots too.

I will leave talk of roos and koalas until our next blog from Kangaroo Island.
Until then, best wishes from us both
Phileas