As I write this we’re fairly far on in our journey. As expected we’ve had trouble finding mobile reception and internet which explains the gap in posts. We’ve managed to catch up a bit on our writing now and will publish articles every couple of days on a schedule. With that in mind here is my update on the Clare and Flinders. Images to follow in the next few days with posts by Marianne.The first third of our trip (distance-wise) was always planned to go fast. Aside from a couple of stops with friends along the way in country Victoria and the Barossa Valley, our sights had been firmly set on the Flinders Range.

There was lively debate over whether to stop in the South Australian wine region but in the end Bruce made that decision for us by having the  harmonic balancer disintegrate 20k South of the Clare Valley – where some of the best wines in Australia are made.  We spent three days while Bruce was repaired samping the most amazing local produce, and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

With Bruce sounding better than ever we headed North into the Flinders Range. On the way north we hit a Cockatoo as a group of them flew in front of our car. We had to stop the car so I could remove it from the grill. Not the best way to see Australian fauna ‘up-close’. Poor thing. We felt terrible but there’s nothing you can do at 100km/hr. I guess that means we’ve tested the bull bars now too.

Our honest intention was to start our bush camping here, but it was never meant to happen. It rained hard and thick the entire way and Wilpena Pound was covered in cloud. We decided to stay in a cottage on private land for 3 nights while the weather cleared. Whilst in the Flinders we did a 70k 4WD trail called the Sky Trek. This went into the Bunkers Conservation Reserve, and provided some spectacular views of the mountain range. Finally we got to take Bruce offroad, and get some real dirt on him. This raised our spirits quite a bit.

Its the kind of place that is hard to describe – the trees are pines, but quite short. It felt at times like I was in the Rocky Mountains, Canada, but that we were giants invading a midget forest. Its quite surreal. There was quite a lot of short green grass on the ground, but no big leaves which made the place look like a neatly kept garden. There were kangaroos literally everywhere and you often had to stop the car as they hop in front of you without care. We also saw emus and had some quite close encounters with wedge-tailed eagles. One of these eagles had a wingspan close to 3 Metres*, and had just caught a rabbit by the side of the road. They are simply huge birds.

After the Sky Trek, we did a ‘short walk’ to St Mary’s Peak in Wilpena Pound. I should have known this, but Swiss people walk up mountains easier than other people fall down them. We ended up climbing the outside track (which later I found out to be marked as Hard), however if I was to describe it in hindsight I’d use the word ‘Cliff‘. Apparently its been a few years since I did Everest, and I ended the day walking the last 8km on blistered feet. Having said that the views from the top were breath takingly beautiful, and showed how the Flinders range acts as a separator between flat desert to the West, and farmlands to the South.

We really enjoyed our time in the Flinders Range, and highly recommend it. Its been great to finally get some offroad done however we’re looking forward to bush camping on the Oodnadatta Track.

- Simon

* I know this sounds like ‘I once caught a fish [THIS] big’, but this eagle was huge.