Round the Pound

You could say that the first five days of our journey saw us ride 'Round the Pound'. Beginning in the small South Australian outback town of Blinman we almost circumnavigated the famous Wilpena Pound, a huge natural basin around 10kms in diameter, which is encompassed entirely by a circular mountain range. Below is our first blog entry of these first five days. Two more entries to come.

Wilpena Pound

Day One

Blinman - Alpana Station

Being dropped off on the side of the road with nothing but our bikes, bags and two little kids was quite daunting. In the dust we slowly took stock of our situation and began the process of loading our bikes. Not many people stopped to say hello as we sorted our gear, which almost entirely took up up one side of the main street. Nappies, water bottles, helmets, handle bar boxes, bikes, panniers and gear were strewn in all directions. 

Fun and Games in Blinman

As we rolled out of town the reality of our situation began to sink in and we couldn't help but wonder what important piece of equipment we may have accidentally left behind in our car 400kms south. It wasn't long though before our minds turned to the vast open landscape that lay before us. Such anticipation! We were on our way.

Chariot Cam - Leaving the Security of Blinman

It was a relatively short ride to a sheep station where we were hoping to camp for the night. They pointed us down to the creek and told us we could camp wherever we wanted. After bumping our way through several paddocks we arrived at the creek, which we soon realized was completely dry. (It turned out that every single one of the hundreds of creeks and river beds we crossed during our journey would also be dry). Seems like we would be carrying a lot of water! 

Tahlia enjoying some solo time down at the creek!

Day Two 

Alpana Station - Trezona Campsite

First stop this morning was the water tank and we filled up with close to 20litres of water before rolling out of Alpana Station with a feeling of excitement about our first full day ahead. Crossing the boundary into the Flinders Ranges National Park saw us turn off the main route and pass through a locked gate. The locked gate was significant and meant that the trail we would follow was inaccessible to vehicles. We were pretty happy about this; it enhanced our sense of remoteness and meant that we wouldn't be likely to run into any noisy four wheel drivers or motor bikes throughout the day. There's something nice about being in an area which you have to work hard to get to. 

Fully Loaded Bikes

No Shade in Sight

The trail was dry, dusty and rocky. We wound our way through the arid desert landscape which offered little shade. Some time during the afternoon after a solid day of riding a line of river gums appeared on the horizon - we knew the campsite wasn't far off. Arriving at the dry river bed felt like stumbling upon an oasis. After being couped up in the chariot all day the kids were up for some play time. They decided to climb on every rock, walk on every log and jump all over whatever was around. It was a slow process to set up the tent and cook dinner given that there was always one of us on 'yard duty'. The last thing Marty wanted was the extra weight of a plaster cast to tow around the South Australian Outback. Turned out the dry creek bed was a great natural playground  - for everyone! Some interesting rock sculptures were created, and abruptly destroyed by Zephyr :(

Rock Balancing

Day Three

Trezona Campsite - Wilpena Pound

A bit of an epic day. We rolled out early this morning around 8am and didn't arrive at Wilpena until 4.30pm. The first half of the day saw us continue further south along more remote trails with Wilpena Pound slowly coming into view. After a solid morning of riding we found ourselves coming out onto a popular 4wd track and not long after passed the Bunyeroo Valley lookout (apparently the most popular point to photograph the Mountains surrounding the Flinders Ranges).

So naturally - we took a photo!

The Mawson Trail Sign Posts

After eating the dust of several land cruisers over the next few kilometers we were more than happy to exit this track and follow the Mawson signs to the the path less travelled through yet another locked gate. The long slow climb for the rest of the day seemed to take forever - but the scenery was amazing as we were riding up the valley formed by the Heyson and ABC ranges. 10km of uphill through a hot, dry moonscape saw us digging deep and at times we were moving at no more than 3km/hr. It was also the first time we encountered a few steep pinches that were too difficult to ride up with the chariot and forced us to shuttle bikes, kids and bags up and out of several creek beds. To finish the day we had 5kms of single track to tackle that posed a few challenges for our heavy and wide load. 

Arriving through the rear entrance of Wilpena Pound campsite can only be described as a complete sensory overload. After being virtually on our own for three days we were suddenly thrown into a jungle of campervans, vending machines, kids, buses, tourists, caravans, BBQ's and other people.....it was all too much. If we could have ridden straight through we would have. We contemplated the situation for some time before deciding the only way to escape the masses was to  book a room at the Wilpena Motel to protect us from the wild throng of people and provide a refuge. It also served as a convenient way to charge up camera batteries, do some washing and have a shower. 

Day Four 

Wilpena Pound - Rawnsley Park 

Heading out on the sealed road for a few kilometres we soon turned off and followed the Mawson Trail along an old telegraph track in the foothills of Wilpena Pound. Rawnsley Bluff is an impressive feature on the southeastern side of Wilpena Pound and we kept this on our right throughout the day as we moved from National Park to private property.

Well and truly in the rhythm of the journey we settled in and enjoyed some of the lesser seen parts of the area. Our daily routine had become second nature. Regardless of when we woke each morning it was generally 8:29am when our weary legs made their first pedal strokes out of camp. Sitting in the chariot Tahlia and Zephyr became comfortable with the adventure, and quickly got quite used to the idea of stopping for second breakfast and a second lunch each day. Every stop saw them exploring their new little playground of tress, rocks and dirt before jumping back in and continuing on our way.

Lunch Number Two

Day Five 

Rawnsley Park - Merna Mora Station

It's a little disconcerting when the first 10km of the day is all downhill as it usually means that the rest of the day is going to be up - luckily we had a tail wind behind us. Today saw us change direction and start heading north to take in the views of the western side of Wilpena Pound. Despite being on a vehicular track we only saw one or two cars all day. It was a little chilly today so our lunch included hot soup cooked on the side of the road. Our food and gas fuel supplies were going well so we figured we deserved to indulge!

The trip so far was going to plan. Tahlia and Zephyr were traveling well and as a family we had already overcome some big challenges. This first section provided some amazing scenery and interesting landscapes to travel through. Arriving at Merna Mora Station marked the beginning of phase two.