Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges South Australia

Wilpena Pound Resort is around 170km inland from Port Augusta West, South Australia. We travelled in our Campervan and on arrival booked into the National Park camping area. The resort and park are very popular around this time of the year. We found the facilities in the park clean and tidy, every thing was nice and orderly, with no pets allowed, giving us a restful quiet nights stop over. The main purpose of our visit was to view this amazing geological area, along with the wild flowers that are purported to grow in the area. The options of things to do is fly over the pound, go on a guided tour or walk through a well worn path to the Old "Homestead" then climb up hill to a very well placed lookout over this phenomenal geological area. The native flowers were not prolific this year, but blue flowers were scattered in dells all around the area. We visited the resort, enjoying our morning coffee break. We then set off for around trip walking past the Homestead and on up to the lookout to view the pound. 

Australian Arid Lands Botanical Garden Port Augusta West SA

The gardens are located on the Sturt highway around 4km west of Port Augusta. The Bluebush Cafe is very popular, with a good comprehensive menu. Sunset dinners are available Oct through Dec, or enjoy a relaxing Sunday breakfast / brunch. We enjoyed a pancake, with Quandong ice cream and Quandong sauce, finishing with a very nice cheese and fruit platter, enjoying the views along with the air conditioning. The cafe is of a modern design with exposed tubular steel arch supports, the floor is concrete inlayed with small stones, walls of wood and ply. Tables wooden with chrome supports, the dining chairs are black with chrome legs. The colour scheme of the Cafe is earthy, with some light bottle green walls. The design of the building is to give you expansive views, while you relax and enjoy your desired food preference. The gardens are festooned with plants and shrubs, this time of the year many in bloom, most  travellers would be unaware of the existence of many of these species. Great to view Sturts Wild Pea in flower, the tracks are well signed, along with every plant and shrub which number in their hundreds. The back drop to the gardens are the Flinders Ranges beckoning you to drive over. A very memorable, relaxing visit.

The Sturt Desert Pea. The South Australian Emblem