We weren't the first up for breakfast this morning so by the time we arrived all the milk was gone. Toast and black coffee it is then!
We packed up quickly and had the bikes loaded before the dew had time to evaporate off the seats, so it must have been early still. We were heading for Arkaroola today where we would be staying for the next two nights. This basing ourselves in one place for a few days and looping out of there was working well and I had some ideas for a ride out of Arkaroola.
Initially we headed west, out Parachilna Gorge road as we needed to fuel up and the only fuel around Blinman is 15km to the west at Angorachina Village. Those fifiteen kilometres were pretty twisty so we went slowly.
Angorachina Village is a small fuel and convenience store that also has accomodation options for small to large groups in various cabins. I did initially look at accommodation here instead of Blinman but Blinman won out in the end. We filled up the bikes and as we did a group of ADV bikes rolled in.
They had stayed at the Blinman Hotel last night as well (you can see them at a table in one of my beer garden photos from last night). We had a quick chat and were off heading west to find Glass Gorge road again.
We passed the northern trailhead for the 1200km Heysen Trail and stopped for a quick look. It was much fancier than it had been in 2022.
A couple more stops to marvel at the huge red cliffs along the dry creekbed here were in order. I think Steve got some good photos along here as he had his real camera out.
We turned right into Glass Gorge road again and found that the initial sandy bit was just as loose as yesterday. I wanted to duck up to the little lookout again today but Steve wasn't interested in the steep climb. So, I left him to iron blouses* at the bottom and shot up for a morning light photo.
We continued on along Glass Gorge rd, passing the Mt Franklin track off to the left. I was keen to do this loop track as I had seen it on plenty of ADV ride You Tube videos and it looked spectacular. Steve wasn't keen so we kept going, turning left into Moolooloo Station road. This station has some Public Access Roads (P.A.R.) that seem to be a South Australian thing. We were going to do PAR 4 through the station to the old Artimore ruins, then out onto the Blinman/Arkaroola road. We had wanted to do the Nuccaleena Copper Mine PAR which branched off Moolooloo Station road but it was closed for some reason.
The track to Moolooloo Station was pretty well used but after we passed this sign it degenerated somewhat - which made it interesting. Nothing difficult, just interesting.
Moolooloo Station homestead.
We tootled along for a while, taking in the scenery. We decided to stop on one of the many dry creek crossings to get off and stretch our legs. We munched museli bars as we strolled around and checked out the gorge. The first part of PAR 4 was all like this
It was just us out here. We didn't see another soul the whole PAR 4 ride.
But we did see plenty of Emus. They have big feet.
We traversed more creek beds, weaving in and out of the big old gum trees that lined them.
We even 'chased" a huge mob of Emu down one of them for quite a while as the track followed the dry creek bed. We only lost them when the track peeled off, up the bank.
Look closely and you can see the two straggling Emu from the flock further up the creekbed.
Popping up onto the bank we stopped briefly at the old car wreck.
We next stopped at the old Artimore Station ruins. Established in the 1850s as a sheep grazing enterprise it lasted about fifty years before the dry conditions and hungry wildlife made it unprofitable to continue.
We stopped here for a good look around the three remaining ruins. It would have been a bloody tough existence out here nearly 170 years ago.
PAR 4 had quite a bit further to go and we really enjoyed riding along, side by side on the narrow track. I was pleased to see that Steve was starting to loosen up and trust his tyres. We were flowing along very nicely.
Even on some of the sketchier off camber stuff we kept the pace up.
When it opened right up I goaded him into really giving it some stick now that we could see what was in front of us for a ways. I was trying to help Steve grow his dirt confidence and it looked to be working.
Giving it some stick!
All too soon we were back to the intersection on the Blinman-Arkaroola road. It was about 140km to Arkaroola and it was nearly lunch time. Knowing that there isn't much in the way of midday food up there I suggested we ride the 13km back into Blinman and have lunch at the little store. Steve reckoned it sounded ok, so back we went. Lunch consisted of a pie and a chocolate milk while we overlooked the busy goings on of downtown Blinman.
We hit the road again, heading for Arkaroola. The main road is like a well, a main road. It is wide and quite smooth for the most part. We did find a grader working his "magic" all through the Wearing Gorge section. This made the road loose and soft, which caused a few pucker moments, but we came through ok.
Popping out of Wearing Gorge we were on the flat plains, heading toward Lake Frome. This is where Andy and I got our dusty drone shot in 2022. I decided to try to replicate it today with Steve but the drone wasn't playing nicely and even though the road seemed dusty it didn't produce as good of a shot. Maybe the ludicrous speed we did in 2022 helped?
Yeah, its flat out here!
Stopping to launch the drone I couldn't get my beast off it's side stand with the slope of the road. The little drone captured my hero saving me.....😄
It was another 39km to the next turn near Balcanoona Station, where we turn in for Arkaroola.
Behind us is the way to Arkaroola, to the left of photo is the way we would be coming back tomorrow.
There is an amazing rock outcrop called Balcanoona Bluff with Balcanoona Creek (dry. of course) running in front of it immediately as you take the turn into Arkaroola. Pictures don't do it justice...and we didn't stop to try harder to make it better. This is off the chin mount DJI Action 4.
Arriving in Arkaroola Village we went straight for a fuel top - up. It has always been our policy to fuel up immediately in case something goes pear shaped over night. Prices were in line with what you would expect in such a remote location and honestly, not that much more than we pay in Brisbane when fuel is at the top of the price cycle.
We found our room and got changed for a walk around the resort village. There are some stunning rock formations and perhaps we could have done a tour to learn more about what we were seeing.
But we sort of gravitated to the bar after a bit of a stroll around. Here we found friendly backpackers staffing the place and one older gent watching HJC helmet reviews via You Tube on the big screen television. Once he left I snavelled the remote and tuned in a couple of Moto GP races to watch while we had a cold one. 😎
It turns out Adam, they guy watching the reviews, was a fellow adventure rider on a BMW 1250GS and had come off doing about 80km/h in the only bit of deepish sand on the whole road from Blinman to here. It was in a creek bed and Steve and I slowed for it but it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately Adam was going the other way and didn't see it coming as it was over a slight rise into the creek bed. It seems his head took the brunt of the crash and he now needed a new helmet. Luckily, he was otherwise unhurt but was stuck in Arkaroola for a few days until the new helmet arrived.
Heading back to our room to clean up for dinner we spied the lads from Angorachina this morning. They were in the room around the corner from us!
Dinner was booked for six thirty and lucky we did book. The restaurant was busy and while the menu was sparse, the food was gourmet!
"Bugger the garlic bread" I told Steve, "lets get the cob loaf".
It came out hot, crusty and accomapnied by olive oil and dukkah.
Delicious!
For the main I decided on the "beef". It didn't specify what beef the cut was but I took a leap of faith. I was rewarded with the best piece of steak I think I have eaten in years!! It was cooked to my specification exactly AND it was sooo tender. I can't believe I could get such an awesome meal at what was actually normal city prices waaay out here in the actual outback. Steve was pretty chuffed with his T-bone staek too....or was it the Pepperjack....? 😋
We were having such an unexpectedly good time that we decided on some desert - rare for me. I asked Steve to trust me on the affogato order. The waitress had to go check to see if they had Frangellico as our spirit of choice, which they did, so we polished off the night with this little number.
This was a fantastic (and unexpected) end to another great day on the bikes. The Flinders just keeps getting better and better!
As we were staying two nights we were planning a loop ride for tomorrow. It didn't need a crazy early start but the light is better for photography if one gets away early. Either way, we were stuffed and hit the hay quite early. Like a kid at Christmas, we couldn't wait for tomorrows riding!
We were up early again today, well 7am anyway and loaded up to go. We had decided to get rolling and just find some breakfast along the way today.
The plan was to go from Melrose up to Wilmington, then west down the awesome little Horrocks Pass to Port Augusta, then back north east to Quorn, Hawker and finally Blinman, our overnight stop.
Melrose MTB Trailhead art.
The road north out of Melrose parallels the Mt Remarkable range (which is the southern spur of the Flinders) and is dotted with huge gnarled old gum trees. Their white bark glowed almost luminous in the morning sunlight prompting a quick about face to get some photos.
Rolling into Wilmington we quickly scoured the main street for a likely breakfast spot but nothing jumped out at us so we continued on, turning left into the Horrocks Pass road.
Steve was in for a little treat here as the Pass winds through a gap in the hills toward the Spencer Gulf that consists of a bunch of 35 and 45km/h bends with a great surface.
We may have turned around and ridden it again... and again....😉
Once through the Pass the view over the Gulf and various wind farms is pretty spectacular.
Then we hit the T intersection for the main highway. Being the main road between the east and west coasts of Australia, it is BUSY. We rode the short distance into Port Augusta on the lookout for a likely breakfast spot as the worms were now biting pretty hard. It took us a good thirty minutes of riding around before we finally found a cafe' in Port Augusta West. It turned out to be worth the search as the food and coffee really hit the spot.
Leaving Port Augusta we headed north east for Quorn. I had never ridden this road before and it proved to be quite the cracker. Well surveyed and surrounded by spectacular scenery. With it being so dry there wasn't a blade of grass to be seen, just lots of shades of red rock. There was an historic rail line, The Pitchi Ritchi Rail, that criss-crosses the road as it passes through the southern Flinders between Quorn and Port Augusta. We marvelled at hillside cuttings that looked so precisely cut and the stone bridges that carried the line over this twisting, turning section of road. We even turned around and went back to do one section again!
We just cruised through Quorn itself, as pretty as it was because we didn't have a reason to stop.
Another 66km up the road was Hawker, a place we did want to stop at. We fueled up here as there are only really three petrol stations in the Flinders. This one, one at Wilpena Resort and one at Angorachina Resort.
We also decided we needed a photo at another pub so the Hawker hotel was paid a visit.
That done we headed out the Flinders Ranges Way towards Wilpena Pound. The expanse of the plains along here was quite spectacular. Screen grabs from a video don't do it justice.
Looking at the map while in Hawker it looked like we could branch off the highway onto Moralana Scenic Drive, then cut back across to Rawnsley Park on the main road. As this was dirt (and probably more interesting) we decided to take a look.
Almost immediately we had several emus try to commit suicide under our bikes. How dumb are these birds?! All of this vast expanse of outback to run away to and they all decide they need to be on the other side of the track to where they are standing?!! Having helmet comms in these situations was a bonus as we could warn each other about wildlife.
Anyway, we weren't going quickly so they were easily avoided. Moralana Scenic Drive proved to be a very pleasant ride on a well graded road.
We somehow missed the turn for Rawnsley Park. The first intersection we came to was for a track to Black Gap which caused us to look at the map and realise our mistake. Steve said "let's take a look" as it was only three kilometres to Black Gap. The track started out okay but VERY quickly turned into dirt bike territory. We decided to turn around in the first sandy, rocky creek bed and head back to look for the Rawnsley turn. (If we had continued up Moralana Scenic Drive it would have dumped us out on the western side of the Flinders on the Outback Highway.)
Watching the GPS like a hawk, we spotted the turn and saw why we missed it on the first pass. It was a gate well off to the side of the road that opened onto a barely discernible track. Hmmmm, "that looks pretty challenging" (and possibly a private road) was the consensus so we just decided to keep heading back to the Hawker Wilpena road and continue north that way. On the way back we encountered the same silly emu just standing in the middle of the road at the exact same spot we saw it on the way in!
As we approached Rawnsley Park the terrain began to change with the huge range of Wilpena Pound dominating the skyline and scruffy looking pine trees dotting the landscape. There is a viewing point in the eastern side of the road here so we pulled in and rode to the top of the hill (as you do when on a bike😁). The view from this slightly elevated position was impressive. I don't think I got any good photos but Steve had his DSLR camera out and should have got a couple of crackers.
From here we took the turn off into Wilpena Resort. Again we stopped for more photos of The Pound, this time from a different angle.
We faffed around here for a while with Steve wanting to get some DSLR photos of me riding around. Doing a few laps of the entrance road I kept spooking a huge flock of Galahs into flight, which I managed to capture on the "chin cam" on one of the passes.
I have never seen so many kangaroos by the roadside, especially in the middle of the day! They were everywhere!
Rolling into the resort we filled the bikes up before wandering into the shop to grab a cold ice cream and a snack to enjoy later on. Wilpena Resort has a chilled vibe that we soaked in a we sat on the verandah outside the shop/visitors centre.
I decided that I WILL be back here and do some of the walks one day.
Mounting up again we retaced our steps out to the highway and turned left to head north again. The next few kilometres are some of the most fun and uniquely scenic sealed road kilometres you will find anywhere.
We blasted these 35, 45 and 55km/h bends as we climbed up to Huck's Lookout. Here we spent some time just taking in the stunning view back towards Wilpena Pound.
Wilpena Pound from Huck's Loout.
Looking back at Huck's lookout, north towards Stokes Hill Lookout.
As we pulled up at Huck's lookout Steve spied a track snaking up a hill to the north of us. "That must be Stokes Hill Lookout" I said. "Let's check it out next".
At the bottom of Stokes hill I told Steve to turn his traction control off as the hill was steep and looked rough and loose. "Nah, I'll be right" he said...... clearly basing his decision on his vast off roading experience.
To say he almost ate shit as the back wheel lost traction, then cut the power, then gripped, then spun and cut power, then gripped again - all while he kept rolling more throttle on to make up for the lack of power to the ground and subsequent forward motion - all happened in a few split seconds and saw him roosting wildly up the hill! 😆 This became the running joke for the rest of the trip - me "is your traction control off ", him "nah, I'll be right".
Unfortunately I don't have footage of that little incident. But the view from this bald knob of a hill was breathtaking as well. The sun was getting a little lower in the sky by now and it was really bringing the colours of the landscape out. We tooled around here for quite a while taking photos, video and just generally soaking in the ambience.
We weren't right at the top of the climb here. There was a large communications tower up there and I didn't want it to spoil the vastness of the otherwise empty landscape.
The colours of the landscape here just don't show in my photos. The deep red of the earth isn't correct here but its the best I can do with the equipment I have.
There wasn't a breath of wind. It was just a perfect, cool afternoon. So we then took it up a notch by breaking out the red wine, cheese and crackers to complement the views. Very decadent.
Looking back to the ever present Wilpena Pound.
We did scoot up to the top of the hill where there were view across the plains to the east but I think our initial choice was better.
Steve going back down Stoke Hill climb. It is steeper than it looks.
Getting back on the road it was getting a bit late in the afternoon and the kangaroos were making an appearance along the roadsides. Even going slowly we came up behind a car and decided to sit there, using it as a shield to potentially fend off errant wildlife.
Luckily we did too as not five minutes later a small kangaroo came charging out of the brush on the side of the road and went straight under the car! They didn't even have time to brake until it was under their car!
Look closely for the Kangaroo checking the cars sump plug!
And a few seconds later, deceased on the side of the road. It happens quickly!!
Yep, good call.
Even though it was getting late we decided we needed to turn off again to take a look at a feature called Great Wall Of China.
It was on the eastern side of the highway, facing west so we figured that as it was getting closer to Golden Hour the chance of amazing photography was increased somewhat.
No doubt Steve got some good shots but my screen grabs and phone camera stuff wasn't very inspiring, so I went a bit "arty". It was a nice spot to stop nonetheless.
Back out to the highway and it wasn't far to our overnight stop in Blinman. Just thirteen kilometres of suicidal kangaroos to negotiate! We managed unscathed but the sheer volume of kangaroos on the side of the road was mind numbing!
Get that one up ya Geoffrey! Steve getting photo bombed by some random meat bag.
Keeping up the theme, we grabbed a beer straight up and sat out the front of the pub watching the setting sun paint the hill opposite town varying shades of red until it disappeared in darkness.
Nice. 😎
The Blinman pub was to be our home for the next couple of days so we checked in and unloaded the bikes into the spacious room. A quick shower then back to the bar for a pre dinner drink and a look at the vast night sky. Not much light pollution out here. (Of course I see the irony of us sitting here in this blinding light....but one couldn't see ten feet in the dark and we weren't risking getting ten feet away from our beers!)
Dinner was a chicken schnitzel washed down with a questionable bottle of red. The food was actually pretty good and the foreign girls staffing the bar were quite friendly. The lady who seemed to be in charge/the owner, not so much. I got the impression she did not want to be there. Oh well, another beer or two from the foreigners and we were off to bed.
Another amazing day of riding. Only 330 kilometres and nothing challenging at all but the Flinders just kept giving stunning views around virtually every bend. They really are like nowhere else in Australia.
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