Wudinna

Wudinna is only 100 km west of Kimba, making it our shortest travel day so far on the trip. This meant that although we only spent 2 nights here, we effectively had almost 2 full days to take in all the sights in the area. Wudinna is in the heart of 'Granite Country', and there are numerous rock outcrops to explore. A scramble to the top of several them rewarded us with panoramic views over the wheat fields of the Eyre Peninsula. The green countryside belies how dry this area really is. Most of the granite outcrops have elaborate rainwater catchment systems, with small walls circling the base of each rock directing any rain that falls into small dams. Most of the systems have fallen into disrepair now that water is piped in to the district, which is a bit sad.

On our second day here we spent the day at the Gawler Ranges National Park, about 50km to the north. While the park has no formal walking trails, we had an enjoyable time exploring the various rock formations and abandoned pastoral buildings. As you can see from the photo at left, they even managed to stretch to a waterfall! The Gawler Ranges are supposedly one of the oldest landscapes on earth and are volcanic in origin, resulting in interesting 'organ pipe' type formations scattered throughout the park, including behind John in this photo. The park itself is fairly undeveloped, and the trails to several of the features gave us some pretty rugged 4wd experiences.

We got back from the Gawler Ranges in time for John to watch the last quarter of the tied AFL Grand Final game, providing more excitement than we've had from any of the natural wonders here!