Bunyeroo Gorge, Aroona Valley and Brachina Gorge

Today we set off on our days expedition of driving through the Bunyeroo and Brachina Gorges. According to the signs this area displays the 630 million year old geology of the Flinders Ranges. I don't know about how old it is but the scenery was spectacular. Our first native wildlife visit nearly got ran over as it bolted in front of the car. This was just the first of many emu we saw. 

The first of many Emu's we encountered

Looking across "Blacks Gap"

After driving through the Bunyeroo Gorge with its views and ancient trees we stopped to eat our picnic lunch we had bought along. The silence up in the middle of nowhere was wonderful. Once lunch was finished with we headed off into the Brachina Gorge.
  

Just spectacular

 

and again!

At one stop we were greeted by a small herd of Billy Goats. They were really quite large so I was ready to bolt back to the car if they decided they didn't like me there.

They didn't seem to worry that we were there....

....they had their drink and off they went.

As yesterday we had a fair few dry river crossings but this time most of our gorge drive was in the actual river bed. Very weird driving along a dry river bed.

The river bed was a bit bumpy but pretty good.

Seeing this was our last night at Rawnsley Park Station we decided to go to the Woolshed Restaurant for dinner. The meal was pretty good but the sunset and the full moon were spectacular.

Thank You Mother Nature

I had no words then and I still don't

Parachilna Gorge

Today we took ourselves on a bit of a driving expedition. As we drove along, looking up to our right we could see a rock formation called "The Great Wall of China"



The Great Wall of China

We headed north to a tiny little village called Blinman where I bought myself a nice size piece of Rose Quartz, cheaper than I would have bought it in Melbourne.

My new Rose Quartz Crystal

Then we headed off down the Parachilna Gorge Road. We had been told it was a pretty rugged road with lots of rocks, but as it turned out I think the grader had not long previously graded to track. A lot of our journey was crossing over the dry river beds. The scenery was nothing short of spectacular. Before we knew it we had arrived at our lunch destination – the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna. This pub is well known for its Aussie Menu that includes burgers and other meals consisting of Kangaroo, Camel and Emu. I’m not very adventurous when it come to my meals but Shane got an Emu Burger. I did have a taste of the meat patty and it really only tasted like a spicy meat patty, but it was a really dark meat.

The Prairie Hotel soon lets you know what to expect to eat there.
Kangaroo, Camel and Emu!

Yet another beautiful old country pub.

Shane had an Emu Burger, the meat was dark and had been spiced up.
It was OK but I'm not very adventurous when it comes to my food so I had a good old
Chicken Caesar Salad!

After lunch we headed back to Blinman, but this time along the Glass Gorge. This gorge wasn’t as pretty as the Parachilna Gorge but still interesting. It was a bit more rugged but once again we were lucky enough to have had it graded. It is quite strange driving over so many wide dry river beds.


I don't we would be driving across this river if it actually had water in it!