Day 19 – Awesome/Nightmare drive through the Flinders Ranges National Park
Today I thought would be a nice chilled out day.
And in some ways it was.
Get to a caravan park. Check in. Chill for a few hours, then decide to take a scenic drive through the Flinders Ranges.
Oh man, how wrong things can go….
So you look at a map and see that this drive through the park is about 40km, and the park tells you that 2WD cars are absolutely fine on this road you want to take. You allot about 1.5 hours to do the whole thing and be back home in time for tea.
Lovely.
So you start driving. It’s lovely. The scenery is fantastic. The lookouts are great. You’re having a great time. Then you hit a rocky gorge which you might only suggest as suitable for a monster truck, nevermind a stationwagon with about a foot clearance (if that!).
This is where you get a little worried.
Add to this, no matter how slow and careful you go, there’s always just one rock that you didn’t see which decides to jump up and attack the base of your car with a shit-inducing BANG! You go slower, and this drive starts to take longer and longer.
Then it starts to get dark. Now back in the UK this doesn’t matter a jot, particularly if you’re from the city because a) your wildlife doesn’t come out in droves at night (and foxes aren’t stupid as a rule) and b)there’s lights all along the road anyway.
Australia doesn’t meet either of these points, which means that I have to crawl home in the car in the dark so as to prevent hitting a kangaroo on the way back. This has a twofold purpose – 1)My conscience isn’t scarred for life with the guilt of ‘roo blood on my bonnet and b)hitting a kangaroo would total the car and end our trip right there and then.
So, 4.5 HOURS LATER, we finally return to camp. It’s 10pm, I expected us to be back 3 hours ago, I’m bloody hungry and Good Lord I need a beer!
But I would still recommend the scenic drive through the Flinders Ranges park. Just give it a little more time, particularly without a 4×4.
.
Leave a Reply