There was no need for a super early start today as we were going to be looping out of Blinman and would never be too far away from home so to speak.
The Blinman pub provides a complimentary continental breakfast in the dining room for guests staying in the pub. Utensils and plates are left on a tray with your room number on it and you just help yourself to whatever cereal or toast and jam that you feel like. Simple but effective!
We had decided for today to head 27km south along the sealed road to the Brachina Gorge turn off, follow that track to the Bunyeroo Gorge turn that branched off left, then follow Bunyeroo Gorge track all the way until it re-intercepts the main highway back up to Blinman, far to the south. From there we weren't sure what to do but no doubt we could come up with a cunning plan.
Riding carefully because of the kangaroo problem we were soon turning into the Brachina Gorge road. It has had a lot of traffic lately and so was very dusty. Riding side by side mitigated the dust but when a car came past we were blind for a bit afterwards as there was no wind to blow it away. #advriderproblems
Just a ho-hum view on Brachina Gorge rd.
Ten kilometres later we turned into Bunyeroo Gorge road. We took a minute here to chat about the amazing views so far. Little did Steve know but it was about to ratchet the awesomeness up the "views" scale!
But first we had to traverse Bunyeroo Gorge road which was an undulating red ribbon flanked by pine covered hillsides. Not lush pines but those grizzled, knargled little shrubby ones that cling to life in the driest State of the driest continent...and it WAS dry!
Bunyeroo gorge itself isn't huge. It is simply where the water has cut through the low lying hills on it's way to lower ground. The "cutting" of the gorge is lined with big old gum trees. We stopped here for a while for Steve to get his camera out.
After sitting there for five minutes I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. Focusing in on it I realised that these rock wallabies had been sitting quietly, not twenty metres from us the whole time. There was some water seeping down the rock and they were slowly getting a drink by licking the rock. See if you can spot them...
How that massive gum tree grew there and is still standing is a miracle!
Pressing on along the sandy creek bed the road opened out onto solid ground again and we began climbing. We climbed up to arguably one of the best lookouts in South Australia,
The Razorback Lookout.
We spent quite a bit of time here this morning taking photos and video ( which I will hopefully figure out how to edit in the future...).
Steve and the big AT cruising up to the lookout.
From the lookout we kept heading south along Bunyeroo Gorge rd back to the main Flinders road. The riding was mostly open, fast riding but we were in no hurry so took it pretty slowly. There was just so much to look at, so why rush?
GoPro Hero 6 still.
Southern Bunyeroo rd.
Once at the sealed road I mentioned to Steve that we were only ten kilometres from Wilpena resort. Why not go there, fuel up, grab a coffee and morning tea then?
So we did.
Coming back north we stopped at the National Park border for a photo with Wilpena Pound's imposing presence dominating the skyline.
Then it was back along Bunyeroo Gorge rd to get back to the intersection of Brachina Gorge rd, where we would turn left and head west.
Yeah, it was a tough morning on the bikes....
Whereas Bunyeroo was small and narrow, Brachina Gorge is a huge wide opening in the ranges with a dry river bed that is almost the complete width of the gorge - perhaps 100 metres in places.
When it does rain enough here the flow must be incredible. The damage to the upstream side of the gum trees from the flotsam that gets washed along was two to three metres up the tree trunks.
The sandy road/river bed is quite easy riding as it is compacted on the main line. It is a bit more beach like off that line but nothing too terrible to ride on - especially if one sticks to the rocky bits.
Every direction one looked, there was another stunning view. We stopped so many times through this gorge to take photos that I was beginning to worry about wearing my side stand pivot out!
So we got mobile with the DJI Action 4.
Climbing slightly above the river bed we could see the road curved around to the left at the base of a huge red cliff.
A few cars were stopped and the occupants were out taking photos of the imposing wall. We were marveling at the view that they had their backs toward. Like I said, everywhere you look here there is a stunning view!!
The western side of the gorge became much more rocky and we bounced along this roughly graded track for a kilometre or so before climbing out and over the western edge of the Flinders.
Once you exit the narrow north/south band of ranges that are the Flinders, the plains are dead flat either side. It is quite spectacular how it goes from dinner table to rugged outcrops instantly.
I had a plan to head north via the main Outback Highway for twenty kilometres to check out the tiny hamlet of Parachilna (Para-Kill-Na), where if we were lucky, the pub would be open.
Turning into Parachilna the little place was buzzing with tourists. A very different sight to when I was here in 2022. And the best thing was that the Prairie hotel was open.
Walking in I must say I expected a pub with a lot of outback "character" ie dirty and run down looking but I was gobsmacked when it was sparkling brand new! It could have been a brew pub in any capital city! (which is not a bad thing IMHO)
The
Parachilna Brew Project integrates micro brewery beer brewed on site, great food, accomodation and local tourist attractions into one humble little pub. Good on 'em!
The original reason for being for Parachilna was as a railway stop on the Ghan Railway that ran from Adelaide to Alice Springs. The old railway station is open with information boards erected on it's walls. There is also some old railway kit outside with various information signs.
We tested a few of their beers to wash down the sandwiches we had bought back in Wilpena Resort this morning. They were pretty tasty beers actually!
We then headed back into The Flinders to complete our big loop back to Blinman via Parachilna Gorge road - YES, another gorge!!
We dispatched the ten kilometres of tabletop road without much ado and were back into the Flinders, soon crossing the dry river bed of Oratunga Creek. But we didn't go far along the road, turning left into Glass Gorge road, which would take us back into Blinman from the north side of town.
Glass Gorge road starts out very narrow and windy. The sandy surface was also very soft with both of us having front end moments as we tried to navigate the tight bends. An oncoming car didn't help the pucker factor here either as the road is only just wide enough for two cars to pass, with rocky walls on either side. It certainly didn't help that I still had my steering damper wound up and could barely turn the bars. Lets just say that was quickly backed right off!
Just four kilometres along Glass Gorge rd is a little lookout perched on top of a steep little climb. I didn't give Steve a chance to say no, just blazing up there and telling him to do the same. The short effort was so very worth it with great views across to Mt Falkland.
We had trucked a couple of cans of the Parachilna beer for the very purpose of enjoying them here as we soaked in the view.
Cheers!
4K image from the drone.
We didn't have far to go back to Blinman now so we loitered at this lookout for quite a while. Once on the road again Glass Gorge road proved to be a little bit of everything, going from undulating twists and turns to more open, fast sections. We were a bit careful along here though. Yesterday at the pub we got talking to a guy who rode up on a mountain bike. He and some mates were doing a supported tour of the Flinders and he had just ridden in Glass Gorge road where he said a kangaroo had (I kid you not) jumped into his mate's head, knocking him off his bike. Looking at some of the faster downhill sections that had raised earth on the sides of the road, I could see how it was completely possible.
Bloody stupid Aussie wildlife!!
We rolled back into Blinman around mid afternoon. Taking a short stroll around town we checked out some historical information on what was where when this was a mining town.
We then retired to the beer garden at the North Blinman Hotel to watch the sky change colour with the setting sun.
Ahhh, the serenity!
Another awesome day, fooling around on bikes and enjoying the odd beer with my little Bro.
Does it get any better than this?
Cheers.
