9 Days: Saturday 15th to Sunday 23rd September 2012

4 Nights: Gum Creek Station, Blinman

2 Nights: Greenwood Lodge, Arkaroola

1 Nights: Prairie Hotel, Parachilna

1 Nights: North Star Hotel Melrose

For those who prefer to be fully accommodated this Park Treks walking holiday into the Flinders Ranges offers you those comforts as well as all of the unique sights we typically visit. One day you find yourself having lunch in a narrow gorge surrounded by 150 metre high cliffs and the next you’re gazing over the wave like ranges of the Flinders from the peak of St Mary’s. Park Trek's walking holiday in the Flinders Ranges offers you a tremendous diversity in scenery and a great variety of experiences awaiting you on our trip into the Flinders Ranges. We explore the southern, central sections as well as going all the way to Arkaroola. It’s also one of our most sociable trips with the evenings spent sitting around a burning fire taking in the atmosphere and enjoying excellent food after a day of stimulating activity.

DAY 1

Our journey begins at the Keswick Railway Station at 8:00am, a central location in Adelaide where we pick everyone up from before departing for morning tea in the quaint town of Redhill. Then it’s on to one of the best features of the Southern Flinders Ranges-Mambray Creek Reserve. Here we do a short walk of two hours enjoying lunch on the tree-lined banks of this most picturesque location. We arrive into Gum Creek Station late in the afternoon where we’ll settle you into your twin share room with another guest. Shower and full bathroom facilities are very close at hand.

Approx 5 kilometres walking

DAY 2

A gentle start on our first full day in the Flinders Ranges. Today we’ll depart for a very scenic outing beginning with a drive along part of the Morolana Scenic Drive. This is followed by a fantastic walk following the Heysen Trail up to Blacks Gap and onto our campsite via the Pound. The walk up through Blacks Gap is delightful and straightforward. It gets a little more challenging as we climb up to the gap that takes us through to Wilpena Pound. Here we sit for lunch with spectacular views overlooking the nearby ranges.

The walking after lunch is a lot easier as we head down through the Pound and then back to Gum Creek Station.

Approx 12 kilometres walking

DAY 3

The Flinders is full of many hidden gems and today we reveal one of them, the walk to Bathtub Gorge and the beautiful Aroona Valley. This is where the famous artist Hans Heysen painted many of his iconic works of art. Our days walk follows the gentle path of the Heysen Trail before we follow what at the start begins as a small creek and soon becomes a deep dramatic gorge. This is a classic day walk of the Flinders Ranges. The walking for the best part is quite straightforward but in the gorge it requires a more careful approach. But the rewards are there as we sit and lunch below 200 metre high cliffs towering above us.

In the event that we cannot access this walk as result of a flooded causeway we have another option being the Hayward Huts Hike. This involves following a treelined Brachina Creek past a series of huts built over a 100 years ago by one of the most sucessful pastoralists of the Flinders. The track is straightforward and esy to negotiate. We return to a delicious BBQ dinner back at Gum Creek station.

Approx 14 kilometres walking

DAY 4

For some today’s walk is the trip highlight. Today our walk starts from the Visitor Centre of Wilpena Pound and ascends the Wilpena Range to Tanderra Saddle, from where we can look straight into the heart of Wilpena Pound. For those seeking a more challenging walk there is the option of walking all the way to St Mary’s Peak and then returning via the green and gentle interior of The Pound itself and back to where our coach is parked. There's time for a cupa at the visitor centre cafe. We’ll be tired souls after the days adventure but delighted by what has been seen and achieved.

Between 11, 17 0r 22  kilometres walking

DAY 5

Time to depart Gum Creek Station and head this morning  and enjoy a day with a different pace and feel. From our place of stay we head to the delightful Blinman Pools. This is a very easy straightforward walk through rolling countryside when suddenly we are stopping alongside deep blue pools of clear fresh water. It’s a relaxing pace finishing at the small village of Angorichina. Then it’s time for a decent cappuccino in the small outback town of Blinman. Usually we are here when the local arts society runs a terrific display of works by local artisits. Then it's time to take the back road to Arkaroola, a 3 hour drive through some of the sparcest countryside in the Flinders Ranges. Finally, around 6.00pm we arive into our place of stay at the Greenwood Lodge, part of the highly acclaimed Arkaroola Nature Sanctuary where we have a hot meal ready to be served.

DAY 6

Today begins with a walk into the areas best gorge – Bararana. This most impressive waterhole is where we’ll have lunch before a short walk back to the coach and an afternoon return to Arkaroola. If you decide you’d like to extend your days outing we’ll drop you off at the start of the Acacia Ridge walk where a 5 kilometre trek will bring right back into the Arkaroola Village. This evening you may care to book one of the astronomy tours at Arkaroola.

Approx 10 - 15 kilometres walking

DAY 7

A once in a lifetime experience awaits you today with the world famous Ridgetop 4WD tour from Arkaroola OE. Alternatively you may instead prefer to relax until we return at lunchtime. After lunch we make tracks for the Quandong Cafe in Copley for an afternoon cuppa. Perhaps some time for a quick bit of sightseeing at the expansive Leigh Creek open cut coal mine before we make tracks for the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna. Our accommodation here is simple but clean and with proper bathroom amenities. Dinner tonight will be in one of Outback Australia's most famous restaurants. Perhaps time for a few "sundowners" from the verandah of the famous establishment before tucking into some great fare. Tonights dinner is OE.

DAY 8

Again we find ourselves somewhere different today as we journey south along the western flanks of the Wilpena Range and further south to the town of Quorn and onto the Dutchmans Stern. This is a terrific walk which allows for sensational views over the Spencer Gulf and the surrounding countryside. Time for a cuppa in delightful Quorn, a delightful country town with a great history and a very vibrant community. Then it's onto our final nights accommodation at the North Star Hotel in Melrose in the Southern Flinders. Tonights final dinner is OE.

14 kilometres walking

DAY 9

The town of Melrose is wonderfully positioned in the southern Flinders Ranges as the gateway to the Mount Remarkable National Park. The area is laced with excellent walking tracks and we take three hours out from our journey today to enjoy some of the many trails on offer before we walk back into town for a cuppa. Then it’s onto our lunch stop at the Stone Hut Bakery (OE) before returning via the Clare wine making region. We expect to be dropping people back into Adelaide’s CBD around 6:00pm. Those catching flights out that evening can be dropped off at the airport.

Between 5 and 10 kilometres walking 

Return flights back home booked on the last day of the trip need to have an 8.00pm onwards departure time.

Price: $ 2450 (ex-Adelaide) (incl. GST)