Blinman Pools

In stark contrast to the recent European posts, welcome to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. We're in The Outback. The soil is red and dusty. The flies are relentless. There's not much water to be found anywhere. And it's bloody hot. Temperatures in South Australia reach into the high 40's. There are fabled reports of over 50°C.

Fortunately it was a lot milder than that on our visit - a quick overnight camp to show some international visitors what it looks like out there, out back.

I'd read about the Blinman Pools and seen some pretty spectacular photos of the clear water just below a small trickle coming over a small rocky waterfall. I'd also read about the walk to get there. The hiking guides say 10km, taking 4 hours return. Many of the hiking guides give very generous times for hikes, so I assumed we'd be in and out of there in 2-3 hours. But no - it did take us nearly 4 hours, which included a short dip in one of the pools.

Starting at the Angorichina Tourist Village, you follow the rocky and dry creekbed of the Wockerawirra up-stream as it wends its way past some sheer cliffs.

If you listen closely to the whispers of the cliffs, you can you can get a good feel for the geological history of the place. Sediment layers of different colours, being sheared and twisted into new formations as the rocks move over geological time-frames.

We saw some wildlife along the way. Feral goats are everywhere. We spotted an echidna, which is always a treat. And there were some kangaroos. The kangaroos are hard to spot in my photo, but there are two in there.

The main Blinman Pool was not particularly inviting when we got there. There was quite a bit of water in it, but it was very muddy. It takes a lot for me to not get into a pool for a dip, but this was too much even for me.

A little downstream of here, however, there were some pools that were a bit clearer. These ended up being substitute ponds where we all had a cooling dip, preparing us for the walk back to the car.