Yorke Peninsula and Flinders Ranges walk

Your 10 day walking holiday includes:

• Pack Free Walk – no overnight packs to carry
• Scenic Flight over Wilpena Pound
• A la carte dining in the restaurant each evening
• Local South Australian wines served with all 9 evening meals
• 3 nights at Wilpena Pound Resort
• 2 nights at Rawnsley Park Station
• 4 nights at Marion Bay Motel & Tavern
• 10 delicious lunches to enjoy whilst walking
• 9 x continental breakfasts
• Fresh fruit and trail mix to enjoy while walking
• Professional Guides – our guides are passionate, well-trained and enthusiastic, with the ability to bring to life a depth of information
• Transfers to and from Adelaide

TRANSFER TIMES Morning: 2.5 hours to Brachina Gorge (including 3 short stops) then 45 minutes to Bunyeroo Gorge Walk trailhead. Afterwards: 1.5 hours to Wilpena Pound Resort.

TRAIL NOTES: 7.5km return, 3.0-3.5 hours walking with breaks, Easy-Medium Grade.

TERRAIN: The track follows the broad creek bed, with surfaces alternating between coarse sand to various-sized rocks.

FLEXIBLE WALKING: As this is a return walk, guests may choose to opt-out at any point, and wait for the group to make their way back, before completing the walk together.

WALK ITINERARY: Enjoy a hearty breakfast, before we take a spectacular flight over Wilpena Pound to get a birds-eye view of this immense rocky formation. Afterwards, we take a scenic drive to begin our adventures for the day. We travel north and then head west to Brachina Gorge, featuring an expansive winding riverbed and an abundance of geological formations to marvel at. This gorge is home to one of the few remaining colonies of the rare and beautiful Yellow-Footed Rock Wallabies, which can often be seen basking on the rocky outcrops or nibbling at native grasses. After morning tea, we proceed to the trailhead of Bunyeroo Gorge Walk, following the iconic Bunyeroo Valley Road, which allows the opportunity to absorb more of the magnificent scenery offered by these magical mountain ranges. Today’s walk will enhance your understanding of this spectacular landscape, the creation of which dates back about 800 million years. Our walk is framed by rugged rock formations as it follows the bed of the charming Bunyeroo Creek; a watercourse that is usually dry, but has remarkably cut its way through the rugged Heysen Range, forming Bunyeroo Gorge over an eternity. This serene gorge is lined with River Red Gums. and provides opportunities for viewing native wildlife, as well as highlighting specific geological features at regular intervals. After an outback cuppa, we return to Wilpena Pound Resort, taking in some amazing outlooks along the way, as we continue to trend generally south on Bunyeroo Valley Road. Back at your accommodation, there’s time to relax before indulging in a sensational dinner in the restaurant, accompanied by wonderful wines from South Australia.

TRANSFER TIMES: Morning: walk out of the Resort. Afterwards: 30 minutes to Rawnsley Park Station.

TRAIL NOTES: 12km return, 6-6.5 hours walking with breaks. Medium-Hard Grade.

TERRAIN: The track begins with gentle undulations then climbs consistently on a mostly compact pathway, with some steep & challenging terrain.

FLEXIBLE WALKING: As this is a return walk, guests may choose to opt-out at any point, and wait for the group to make their way back, before completing the walk together.

WALK ITINERARY: Enjoy a hearty breakfast before we head out on our walk, which today begins right at our back door!! Our target is Tanderra Saddle, one of the iconic walks of the Flinders Ranges, and includes most of the longer and more challenging St Mary’s Peak Hike. The traditional custodians of this region, the Adnyamathanha people request that visitors do not climb St Marys Peak due to its significance in their creation stories; in respect, we only travel as far as the saddle that sits just below. The hike begins on a gently undulating track through native forest, and as we start to scale a northerly section of the external wall of the Pound, the elevation increases considerably. As we proceed, we are rewarded with spectacular views of the Pound, the surrounding salt lakes, and St Mary’s Peak itself. From the saddle (944m), you will be able to appreciate the immense size of the Pound and the surrounding Heysen and ABC Ranges. We retrace our steps, negotiating our way back down, before transferring to our accommodation at Rawnsley Park Station. After settling in here, we can take a short walk to “Alison’s Saddle”, which provides breath-taking vistas across the Elder Range as the sun slowly sets; the decks of our Superior Units also offer spectacular views of the Pound and surrounds. Tonight, we dine at the property’s Woolshed Restaurant, which offers rustic charm and paddock to plate dining, featuring local produce accompanied by South Australian wines sourced from local regions.

TRANSFER TIMES: Morning: 2.25 hours to Alligator Gorge. Afterwards: 4.5 hours to Yorke Peninsula (plus lunch break at Melrose and rest stop at Port Wakefield).

TRAIL NOTES: 3km circuit, 1.5-2.0 hours walking with breaks. Easy Grade.

TERRAIN: A steep series of stairs takes us down to creek level, where we follow both a flat, compact track and do some rock-hopping. A gentle consistent ascent completes the circuit.

WALK ITINERARY: Enjoy breakfast before we farewell Rawnsley Park Station and begin our journey to the Yorke Peninsula. Along the way, we will enjoy another short walk in the Mount Remarkable National Park, this time on the eastern side at Alligator Gorge, a hidden gem of the Southern Flinders Ranges. Towering cliffs of visually striking pink and white ABC quartzite provide a stunning corridor along which to amble. We take a short side-trip to visit a series of rocky platforms known as ‘The Terraces’, which highlight the impact of long-receded oceans and intermittent waterways, before proceeding “downsteam” along the creek bed. This collective area is home to a multitude of bird varieties, and we will likely see and hear many of these if we are quiet. From here, we make short stops at Melrose and Port Wakefield before we continue to Marion Bay in the Yorke Peninsula. Our accommodation for the next 4 nights will be at Marion Bay Motel & Tavern, a lovely family owned and run business with magnificent views of the jetty and adjacent beaches. Tonight we’ll enjoy a delicious a la carte meal at Marion Bay Tavern served with local wines.

TRAIL NOTES: 13km approx combined walks, around 4 hours walking, Easy Grade.

TERRAIN: Mix of bush tracks and formed pathways.

WALK ITINERARY: After breakfast, and with packed lunches in our day packs, we head back out to Inneston for the start of our walk today. We will follow bush tracks and skirt around Deep Lake on our way out towards the popular surf beach at Pondalowie Bay. Here we’ll see spectacular coastal views into Spencer gulf on the 4km return to Royston Head Hike. If we feel like it we can also complete the 1km loop of the West Cape Headland Hike where we’ll reach the West Cape lighthouse. Before returning to our accommodation for a well earned rest we’ll stop to look for the wreck of the Ethel, a three-masted iron barque that ran aground here in 1904. It may be covered in its usual blanket of sand,  but if so we’ll certainly see her anchor on display at the lookout above.  A la carte dinner at Marion Bay Tavern served with local wines.

TRANSFER TIMES: Morning: 2 hours to Moonta. Afterwards: 2 hours to Adelaide.

TRAIL NOTES: Davey’s Gully track 2.5km circuit, 1-hour walking, Easy Grade.

TERRAIN: The track climbs gently on a compact rocky base, with a short downhill to complete the circuit.

WALK ITINERARY: Today we’ll make our way back to Adelaide. We’ll break up the journey with several stops along the way to explore historic towns and also enjoy a short easy walk to stretch our legs and take in the beauty that surrounds us. Leaving Marion Bay we head north up the Yorke Peninsula visiting Point Turton, Minlaton and Maitland before stopping for an exploration of Australia’s “little Cornwall” the former copper mining town of Moonta. This was a town that once had a population around the mid 1800s of 12,000 which was second only to Adelaide. Here we’ll look at a variety of heritage buildings, take a walk along one of the Moonta Mines Walking Trails and then enjoying a tea or coffee break at the Taste the Yorke café including perhaps the classic Cornish pasties. From here we’ll carry onto Adelaide, marking the end of a remarkable journey together.

FINISH TIME: Arrive at approximately 2pm.