To really appreciate the Flinders Ranges you need at least a week, a good map of the area comes in handy as well, available free from the Wilpena Visitor Centre or on line. There are four main scenic drives across the Northern section, Bunyeroo Gorge, Moralana, Brachina Gorge & Parachilna Gorge. They are all dusty corrugated roads, high clearance 4x4 recommended, the ones through the gorges are basically driving along the river/creek bed. Add to those, the drive to Sacred Canyon, Aroona Ruins, Youngoona Waterhole/Ruins, Hucks & Stokes Hill Lookouts plus many other side diversions & it was easy to clock up 400+ kilometres driving as well as doing many kilometres bushwalking. The 7.2km walk from the Resort to the lookouts over Wilpena Pound was well worth the effort. Basically the area is very expansive & needs a bit of research/time to thoroughly explore.

 Appealinna Ruins.

Brachina Gorge.

White-browed Babbler.

After a fabulous ten night stay at Rawnsley Park Station we started our slow return home back to Melbourne. We roughly followed the coast or slightly inland on our outward leg, on the way back we planned to follow the Murray River before heading due South. After a quick shop in Peterborough we arrived at the popular Burra Gorge/Worlds End campground near Burra. Its a huge area & must get very busy at times but on our visit it was basically empty. The only noisy neighbours we had were a pair of Little Corellas & a pair of Galahs squabbling over a nesting hole in a nearby River Red Gum. Judy had a big cook up in the afternoon of the next day to use up the fruit & vegetables that we had before we entered the fruit fly exclusion zone in the Riverland. We also tried out our recently purchased Digitech handheld UHF radios while wandering around photographing wildlife, they work well up to about 2+kms apart.

 Corellas Vs Galahs.

Adelaide Rosella

Native Mistletoe.

Australian Ringneck Parrot in Ruby Saltbush.

Nest building Whistling Kite at Lyrup Flats

The following day we passed through Morgan before arriving at the lovely community campground SS Ellen near the Lyrup Ferry ($5 per night). On the way we stocked up with a dozen reds & a dozen whites at the huge Berry Estates Winery. Forty-five dollars per dozen for export quality wines with no labels on is a bargain, we'd also done this on a previous occasion. Lyrup & the surrounding area is an Almond growing region. We visited the factory, showroom/shop at Renmark, a popular venue for retired travellers it seems, with plenty of RV parking available. Moving back into Victoria the next day we stayed for one night at Travellers Rest Caravan Park at Lake Cullulleraine ($20 per night), always a pleasant spot. It was the beginning of the school holidays so to avoid the traffic we drove to Werrimull & took the Millewa Road to Red Cliffs instead of the Sturt Hwy to Irymple. Turning onto the Calder Hwy we got mixed up with a relay bike race from Mildura to Hamilton. It was a damn nightmare trying to get past them all as they were stretched out all the way to Hattah, there weren't many overtaking lanes & it was causing absolute havoc with trucks/holiday traffic! God knows how these rather unfit looking riders in very unattractive lycra were going to get that far?  We were glad to turn off at Hattah after a refuel & head towards the Murray Valley Hwy. At Piangil near Tooleybuc is another of our favourite wineries, Andrew Peace Wines. We managed to squeeze another dozen in after re-organizing the Navaras tub. We then crossed the Murray into NSW & camped adjacent to the Wakool River in the Murray River Regional Park at Kyalite. This is a little known camp on black soil clay in Black Box woodland, fine weather only as it would be very slippery after rain with a high possibility of becoming stuck there! It was a terrific spot for us as there was plenty of wildlife to photograph along the river. We stayed for three nights, obviously its a ''free camp''.

 Threatened Regent Parrot.

Pistachio Nut Orchard.

Pistachio Nuts.

The Kyalite area is a major Pistachio nut growing area, the orchards attract lots of birds including the threatened Regent Parrot which roosts & nests in the nearby River Red Gums along the Wakool River. We've stayed at the small campground beside the Kyalite Hotel on previous visits, friendly service & good pub grub! The Wakool is reputed to be the best Murray Cod stream in Australia, its a quiet laid back place with no speed boats or jet skis, just a few tinnies cruising slowly along the river. Way more relaxing than the Murray, except when the annual Cod Classic Fishing Competition is on.  

Wakool River camp.

 Pelican patrolling the river.

Female Red-capped Robin

After a great time at Kyalite we stayed on the NSW side of the Murray passing through Moulamein on the way to Deniliquin where we stayed at the Riverside Caravan Park for the night. We've spent a fair bit of time around Deni in the past so one night was enough for us. A hot shower, do the washing, top up our water tank & a meal at the nearby hotel was a nice change before ''heading out bush'' again.

Our final destination for the trip was a three night stay at the Edward River Bridge Campground near Mathoura.  We've stayed in this campground many times before, its become more popular over the years but is still relatively quiet & uncrowded except for holiday times. Nice clean, modern drop toilets, drinking water available at the water treatment plant near the bridge just after turning off the Cobb Hwy, a lovely ''free camp''. We departed a few days before the Easter crowds arrived, leaving the families to have their fun.

Overall despite a few early hiccups we really enjoyed this trip, the Flinders Ranges has been on our bucket list for quite a while, it didn't disappoint. Our next trip, ten weeks in Outback QLD, we're looking forward to it immensely.

Thanks for reading/viewing.

Cheers Judy & Keith