The Flinders Ranges – An Accessible Australian Outback Destination
The Flinders Ranges are a single of South Australia’s most well-known outback tour destinations, and are planet-renowned for their rugged mountain landscapes, spectacular gorges, sheltered sandy creeks lined with majestic River Red Gums, and their abundant flora and fauna. An authentic Australia outback destination, the Flinders Ranges are nevertheless very easily accessible from the South Australian capital of Adelaide.
The Flinders Ranges are a perfect place in which to witness and marvel at nature on a grand scale. Residence to magnificent, rugged and uncompromising landscapes, they are actually a destination where you can get away from it all. Even though they seem a million miles from the hustle and bustle of city lifestyle, the southern areas of the Flinders Ranges start only 220 kilometres from Adelaide. Wilpena Pound is about 450 kilometres (5 hours drive) from Adelaide. Several different routes are accessible to explore the Flinders ranges, and all provide outstanding scenery. To fully appreciate the area, a few days at least are required. For these without having transport there are a number of Flinders Ranges tours operating from Adelaide.
The Flinders Ranges National Park is situated in the Flinders Ranges in between the outback South Australian towns of Hawker and Blinman. Covering over 950 square kilometres, the park is about 450 kilometres north of Adelaide and provides a broad range of outdoor activities for all ages and tastes which includes camping, bushwalking, scenic touring, photography, birdwatching and Aboriginal and European tour activities exploring the history and cultures of the region.
The Flinders Ranges join the Gulf of St Vincent to the South Australian outback. The landscape of the region is actually spectacular, especially in spring when wildflowers are blooming and carpet the countryside. Bush walking is a popular and rewarding activity in the ranges, such as walks about the Arkaroola Mt Painter Wildlife Sanctuary, the Heysen Trail, Mt Remarkable National Park and Wilpena Pound.
The indigenous Adnyamathanha individuals have lived in the northern Flinders Ranges for several tens of thousands of years, and the ranges stay of enormous cultural significance to them. Adnyamathanha (hills or rock individuals) is a term now used to describe the Pangkala, Pilatapa, Yadliaura, Kuyani and Wailpi peoples, the classic indigenous owners of the Flinders Ranges. These groups share a typical identity based on the Yura Muda, the culture and language of their ancestors. Even though European geologists clarify the formation of the Flinders Ranges in scientific terms, the Adnyamathanha comprehend the landscape through the Yura Muda dreamtime stories, which invest the physical landscape with spiritual significance.
The Flinders Ranges appear are mentioned in the journals and diaries of many Australian explorers. Matthew Flinders explored the upper reaches of Spencer Gulf in 1802. Sturt and Eyre traversed the location during their journeys north in search of an inland sea. Pastoral runs were established at Arkaba, Wilpena, Aroona and Oraparinna from 1851. By 1863, European settlement extended far beyond the ranges, and copper mining was booming in the region. No rain fell in the Flinders Ranges region from 1864 to 1866, when the saltbush plains had been stripped bare and massive losses among both stock and native fauna occurred. A lot of pastoral runs had been deserted and mining practically ceased. The deserted runs had been gradually reoccupied and stocking rates decreased. Right now, the pastoral market remains viable with drastically improved practices and sustainable stocking rates.
An intriguing combination of each moisture-dependant and arid-adapted plants co-exist in the Flinders Ranges. The specialised habitats of neighborhood indigenous plants are bound to the geology of the region, and are shaped by landform, climate, soil and fire. A majority of the plants discovered in the Flinders Ranges National Park are arid-adapted. Cypress Pines are identified across considerably of the park, while Porcupine Grass is identified on stony hills. Black Oak and Mallee trees are located on the deeper soils in the north-east of the park, and Pearl Bluebush, Broom Emubush and Red Mallee are located on alkaline soils. Fringing the moister quartzite slopes of Wilpena Pound, Guinea Flowers, Grevilleas, Bush Peas, Shrub Violets, Native Cranberries and Fringe Myrtles are frequent.
Nocturnal animals such as dunnarts and planigales are hardly ever observed as they are mainly active at night and are usually very modest. Bats represent one-third of the native mammal fauna of Flinders Ranges National Park. Their high pitched sounds can frequently be heard as they hunt insects attracted to the light of camp fires at night. Echidnas (native Australian porcupines) are frequent inside the park in early spring (Sep-Oct). More than 100 native bird species are located in the Flinders Ranges National Park, like colourful Australian Ringneck Parrots, Pink and Grey galahs, the migratory Rainbow Bee-eater, the little Elegant Parrots and the Red-capped Robin. Tree-lined creeks and springs provide an excellent habitat for a big range of reptiles, like skinks, geckoes, legless lizards, lizards, goannas and snakes. Now rare, the huge Carpet Python can be identified in tree hollows, on rock ledges, and moving on the ground to hunt at night.
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