It was super cold overnight in Tanunda - so much so that we had quite a lot of condensation on the inside of our camper and had a bit of drying off to do before we departed. The kids put this time to good use patting the local ponies and making new friends on the jumping pillow.

Trusting our NAVMAN instructions, we took a very scenic route north with lunch and a wine buy up in Clare, passed through old copper mining towns such as Quorn with few people but lots of character (apparently a big location for movies - including Tracks, the Shirolee, Last Ride and more), and arrived at Wilpena Pound campground in the Flinders Rangers just before 5pm. Our camp site was set on a gravel area amongst native pines, heaps of old river gums, local kangaroos and wallabies, and with several days to enjoy the place, felt a real sense of 'being on the road'.

Wilpena Pound (known as Ikara by the local Adyamathanha people) is a natural elliptical basin of 80km² (NOT a meteorite crater!). There is a resort with motel-style rooms, a restaurant, pool, very handy general store with most items you'd need (at not very outrageous prices), and a super helpful visitor information centre. In January, the average temperature sits at around 36˚C, but April is a supremely pleasant 22˚C.

When we arrived, another family were setting up right next to us and also staying for several nights. They have 2 girls aged the same as ours, so they were instantly drawn to each other and over the next few days became very fast friends and spent a lot of time in and out of both vans, cars and played around the campsite. Their older son who is 10 is happy to do his own thing and occasionally joins in the activities in good humour.

It was lovely waking on our first morning to know that we didn't need to be moving on anywhere in a hurry. After a leisurely breakfast, we finished setting up the campsite (new privacy screen still in its bag), new camping/kitchen table etc etc, packed a picnic lunch and caught the Pound shuttle bus up to the start of the Pound walks - saving 2km each way (our neighbours walked from the campground - very staunch!), and visited the old Hills Homestead and then Matilda and Paul climbed up to the Wangarra Lookout giving a great view of the Pound. Harri not quite up to the challenge on this day, but did make it half way up before claiming defeat, so not a bad effort.

We came back to camp and the kids rode their bikes and scooters around the campsite for a while. Paul and I cooked up some spaghetti in the DreamPot, and headed off on a Sunset Tour at 5pm to Stokes Hill. Little did we know that you can easily drive up there on your own; however the commentary was very entertaining, and there was plenty of sparkling wine and antipasto to be had, so we weren't complaining. Our girls were absolutely thrilled when our neighbours and kids turned up just as they were starting to get bored, so all was good with the world.

Day 2 - we discussed proposed activities with our neighbours, packed a picnic lunch, and headed north through the Flinders Ranges to Bunyeroo Valley and Gorge, and then the
Brachina Gorge. If you're a geologist or palaeontologist, you'd get very excited by rocks and formations going back 600 million years +- a few to Precambrian times. Amazing stuff and a very pretty outing. The road suggested a 2WD could tackle it, and we did see a couple, but Paul was thrilled to try out his 4WD skills having recently completed a course - even got to do a water crossing. I had been really keen to see Arkaroo Rock where some indigenous cave paintings are located, but apparently an unfortunate Victorian fellow had fallen 50ft to his death late afternoon the day before so the area was closed off while they airlifted him out.

Upon arriving back at camp, the fire was lit, and preparations underway for a cook up in the camp oven - lamb, vegies and risoni. Very yummy. More marshmallows roasted by the kids, a couple of red wines with our new friends, and in bed late.

Sadly it was time to pack up on our third morning. It was our first "wet pack up" with rain starting in the early morning and there was a lot of red gravel stuck to everything. We headed straight to Port Augusta for some supplies, domestic chores (drying out stuff) and regrouping before commencing our big trek north. Looking forward to having a birthday tipple in Coober Pedy.