This morning, we were a bit slow to get going because a few jobs had to be done. Also, we did not get out of bed very early. Prue hung out the washing done last night. I had to replace a headlight halogen bulb on the Bravo. A bit of mucking around to get there as I had to remove the auxiliary battery to give me more room. Anyway those jobs were done and dusted.
We went to the Resort and had a nice cappuccino to get us under way. While in that area we picked up a few items from the shop.
Then we started our tour of the Bunyeroo and Brachina Gorges. My description and our photos really cannot do the tour justice. Our trip departed from the Visitors information centre and led us out onto the Hawker-Blinman Road.

A short drive and we turned left onto the Bunyeroo Gorge Road. The road was a mix of standard from really good gravel to very rough, corrugated and potholed. This did not worry us as we had plenty of time. The overall circuit distance is not all that far.
The awesome St. Mary’s Peak stands over the area at 1170 metres high and is the highest in South Australia. Then we crossed the rolling plain, dotted with native pine trees, which is cut by the occasional gum lined creek. We soon came to the old cattle yards near the hikers hut at Yanyanna. From there the landscape became more rugged and steep but nonetheless spectacular. Soon we arrived at the fantastic Bunyeroo Valley lookout. We were not the only people taking in this wonderful aura. We departed the lookout and descended steeply down to the valley floor and followed the Bunyeroo Creek, mostly driving in the creek bed. The cliffs are sheer red and very rugged. As we left the creek we viewed the breathtaking Heysen Ranges in the west and the ABC ranges to the east. Wow!
We ended the Bunyeroo leg and turned west into the Brachina Gorge which is slightly different but equally stunning. Out trip took us to the end of the Flinders Ranges National Park, west. We returned to just past the turnoff into Bunyeroo that we had recently done. Not far along we again turned north to the Aroona homestead ruins and preserved cottage. The cottage has been preserved as this is where the famous artist, Sir Hans Heysen, used to come and spend time doing some of his wonderful works. The homestead is being slowly recovered from ruin especially the rock work. Sadly, these buildings fell apart many years ago due to the owners becoming insolvent and no one living in this, then remote, area. They were mostly built from timber sourced nearby. As I have mentioned before, this is very harsh and unforgiving country but looks so nice and green now.
Again, we backtracked to the Brachina Road and travelled along until we came on to the Hawker Road again. For a while we followed this road until we had just past the Oraparinna homestead and turned east onto a track to take us to the Wilkawallina road then turned south again. We travelled it for a few kilometres and then joined the main Blinman-Hawker road again.
My ‘elcheapo’ eBay purchased GPS with HEMA maps I managed to add is showing us roads and tracks we would not have found otherwise. A little further we spoke to a couple who did not have the HEMA maps and their GPS was telling them to find a road!
Soon we went to the Stokes Hill lookout for a look about.
It was, as we have seen all morning, just so dazzling. Words cannot describe this wonderful panorama, so we can only recommend this National Park.
Eventually, we returned to the camping area. There we did the mundane things like bringing the still damp washing, get the BBQ ready for the night. Get a bottle of red from the back of the Bravo.
So another fantastic day in South Australia and we have about another 10 days in the State to go. I am sure it will all be different.