The strong winds of yesterday eased overnight. The sky was exceptionally clear when Wendy paid a late evening visit to the amenities block – the stars being far brighter than they could ever hope to be in the cities with their pollution and ever present background light. Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary has two professional observatories on site as the area is renowned for clear nights (300 on average every year).
We enjoyed the warmth of the sun as it rose on possibly our coolest morning for months. We also enjoyed breakfast overlooking this ancient landscape of hills and mountains, formed originally as layers of sand and silt at the bottom of a prehistoric ocean then twisted and uplifted and finally pierced by volcanic activity millions of years ago.
After breakfast we navigated our way in the Prado along a track (there are many at Arkaroola) towards a waterhole – up a long gully in the hills behind our campsite. Unfortunately, the final section of track was blocked by a locked gate. We returned, passing a stone cairn that explained how Mt Oliphant came to be named (after a previous Governor of South Australia who spent much time in the region searching for uranium).
A coffee back at the information centre and a bit of research had us ready to tackle the Mawson Spriggina walk that passes through areas first surveyed by geologists Douglas Mawson (yes, the same person who explored Antarctica all those years ago) and his student Reg Sprigg (previous owner of Arkaroola).
The walk was almost 8 kilometres long, taking us through rolling hills, dry creek beds and up over saddles between valleys providing excellent views of the surrounding countryside. It has to be remembered that we were walking in desert country and this is a dry, arid place not far from dry salt lakes, sand and gibber deserts. Many wildflowers were in bloom adding a splash of colour to the reds, browns and yellows of the rock formations.
The westerly wind picked up as we continued along our walk, with strong gusts greeting us as we came to the top of a climb or moved around to the windward side of a hill. The wind persisted and increased in strength with the afternoon spent sheltering from the wind and dust in the Tvan.
Curiously, it has started to rain and it sounds like it has set in for some time to come. Fortunately the wind has gone and we are left with thoughts of driving to Wilpena Pound over slippery gravel roads with numerous (normally dry) river crossings to negotiate along the way. That’s two days away – will worry about it closer to our departure.