E138°34'31.4"
In outback South Australia, The Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park contains a large mountain range and rocky outcrops that date back approximately 540 million years. With remote and isolated gravel tracks, hiking and genuine mountains (a rarity in Australia), there is plenty to explore in this rugged and remote landscape.
After hiking the tallest peak and driving on mountain ridge tops we take a turn towards the isolated Chambers Gorge and are immensely impressed by what we find. We wind slowly along the bottom of the rocky canyon, avoiding small waterholes while flocks of hundreds of tiny bright green parakeets take flight and swarm around the Jeep.
We make camp near the end of the gorge directly under Mount Chambers, an impressive red rock mountain rising high above the otherwise barren and flat landscape. Stargazing at night is some of the best I’ve ever seen, and the silence and solitude are immense, making us feel as if we’re all alone floating through space. The tilt of the earth means the Southern Hemisphere is angled towards the galactic centre of the Milky Way, meaning there are a lot more stars to see.
In the morning we continue on foot to the end of the gorge where we discover aboriginal rock art and paintings dating back tens of thousands of years. This remote site is not visited often, so this artwork is not behind a fence or marked in any way, and is one of the best preserved sites I’ve seen.
To finish our time in the Flinders Ranges we explore the remote post of Arakoola in the far northern reaches of the park. A highlight comes after hours on a dusty and bumpy track to reach the world’s only radioactive hot spring. Very hot water bubbles to the surface that has been heated directly from the decay of radioactive Uranium. Unfortunately the water is too radioactive for a soak, and we must keep our visit short so we don’t inhale too much radioactive Radon gas.
Once again our Jeep house-on-wheels has performed flawlessly, eating up hundreds of miles of rough corrugations, rock, dirt, sand and gravel. The GEOLANDAR X-AT tires are now a reliable and dependable member of the team and they continue to impress on all surfaces, never once giving the slightest cause for concern.
-Dan Grec