Road testing the hiking shoes

Yesterday was the first test run in hiking shoes – a visit to Wilpena Pound. (Rawnsley Park is about 20 km from the Pound.) First stop at Arkaroo Rock Painting Site – a thirty minute walk from the car park to the base of Wilpena Pound, at times steep, but certainly rough under foot. Sam rose to the challenge brilliantly, making his way through to Arkaroo Rock, where ancient aboriginal rock paintings have survived, telling the stories of the Adnyamathanha tribe. One hour walk, shoes doing well!

From Arkaroo Rock into Wilpena Pound, where we took the shortest of the available walks into the Wangarra lookout. We didn’t tell the kids how far it was (over 4 kilometres and more than two hours return!) Managed to scab a ride from the pound shuttle for about a kilometre, which rejuvenated the kids nicely. The road through to the Hills Homestead was reasonably flat and sure underfoot. Amazing that this ancient building would be constructed in such a remote place! From the Homestead up to the Wangarra Lookout was a steep climb, covering 900 metres of steep and rocky pathway. Sam powered his way up the hill to the lookout – I was proud of him. Caleb also kept a steady pace, overtaking Sam and I as we rested about 50 metres from the top. The view was not as spectacular as one might have imagined. It seems the best views of the pound are from the outside, where the rocky faces are quite imposing. The flat expanse of the inside of the pound highlights the remarkable rock formations which establish its perimeter. This walk took us just over two hours, covering 7.8 km. The three kids carried themselves remarkably well.

From the pound we headed north to Huck’s lookout, offering a view back into Wilpena Pound. The road north was unmade, and littered with kangaroos offering increasing hazard as the day wore on. The kids were thankful that they did not even need to leave the car to enjoy the view!

One last stop on the way back to camp was at Sacred Canyon. At the end of quite a remote road, the Canyon also holds ancient aboriginal art work. One can sense the remoteness of the canyon, protected from weather and hidden away. The rock formations were intriguing. The road in left the car covered in red dust. We have been displaying a Socceroos flag on the car periodically since their accession to the last 16 at the World Cup, noting how unique it was. However, when we emerged from Sacred Canyon, what should we find but a car parked next to us with exactly the same flag!

Dinner was sausages barbecued over an open fire. Once again the sky was clear (as it had been all day) and the panoply of stars overhead offering wonderful theatre. The kids all slept well, having covered three hikes of about 13 km! Not a bad road test.