Flinders Ranges & Wilpena Pound
- naomibowles
- Jun 2
- 2 min read
Departing from Adelaide, we set off in search of the Flinders Ranges — a vast and rugged mountain region in the South Australian outback, surrounded by endless desert landscapes and roads that seem to disappear into the horizon.
After a long, barren (aside from 30 million locusts flying directly into our windscreen), dusty three-hour drive, we finally rolled into our campsite. With limited time in the area, we set up camp and headed straight out to explore the national park tracks.
Not long into the drive, we were greeted by a mob of emus casually blocking the road like they owned the place. Apparently “mob” is the correct term for a group of emus, which honestly suits them perfectly given their permanent ‘what-are-you-looking-at?’ attitude.
As we reached the start of the track, we were suddenly very grateful for our decision to invest in a four-wheel drive. Bruno happily crawled his way through the rocky terrain while we bounced around inside, gripping onto whatever we could find. Not exactly luxurious — but we weren’t complaining.
With little-to-no knowledge of what to expect, we can honestly say this has been one of the best experiences of our lives (I know we keep saying that, but this really does take the cake).
The following morning we hiked up to Wilpena Pound. Sitting on the rocky edge overlooking the valley, it felt impossible to comprehend this was real life. Rolling hills, scattered bushland, and layer after layer of mountain stretched into the distance. The landscape feels untouched. Ancient. The kind of view that makes you feel small in the best possible way.
One of the most surreal parts about this area is just how isolated it feels, only passing one or two other cars per day. So you can imagine our surprise when Naomi happened to find out an old school friend was living in a research facility in Australia, camped just ten minutes away from us. Naturally, the only way to celebrate that level of coincidence was with a sunset beer overlooking the ranges and a homemade curry. Of all the places in Australia, we weren’t anticipating to meet up with a long-lost best friend in the SA outback. But hey, it’s a small world after all.
We left the Flinders Ranges completely in awe, feeling properly switched off for the first time in a while. As hard as it was to say goodbye, the journey rolls on - next stop, the legendary Nullabor.
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