Visiting the Outback alone? You should consider a group tour

Stunning views can be found at the Razorback Lookout in Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park. Photo / Melissa Nightingale
As a solo traveller, tackling the Outback can feel like a daunting adventure, but there is company and camaraderie when you do it as part of a group tour, writes Melissa Nightingale.
I’m staring at a jagged, rocky cliff face under the hot, Australian Outback sun, and it is staring back at me.
Fear not, this isn’t some Aussie remake of the horror film,The Hills Have Eyes – though that does jump immediately to mind as I spot multiple pairs of beady eyes watching me from the cracks and crevices in the rock.
When we tumbled out of the car, our guide, Julia, had warned she couldn’t promise we would see any yellow-footed rock wallabies, but within moments her sharp eyes had spotted a little face peering out of a cave high in the cliff, quietly surveying us.
They blend so well with the rocky wall they spend their time perched on, it can be a surprise to suddenly see one sitting in full view, relaxing in a patch of shade. As I cast my eyes slowly back and forth, I keep spotting new faces peeking over high ledges, or catching glimpses of furry rumps disappearing from sight as their owners bound back into the network of tunnels in the stone.
These wallabies make their home in the Brachina Gorge in Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, a stunning section of the South Australian Outback we’re lucky enough to be touring today.
Before this visit, I knew very little about the Outback. I had vague ideas that it was a vast expanse of flat, red, dusty land. I had no idea the wealth of wildlife and endlessly changing landscapes I could see in the space of an eight-hour tour.
As a solo traveller, taking the driven tour was a perfect way to experience my Outback adventure. The small group – there were six of us including Julia – meant I could marvel alongside others at the natural wonders without feeling crowded. Julia was full of local knowledge and kept a running commentary about the amazing things we were seeing.
Part of what makes this area so special is the spectacular geology on display. The Flinders Ranges were formed more than 600 million years ago, and are one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. There is nowhere else you can see 350 million years of almost continuous geological sequence. Julia was able to point out fascinating rock formations, including layers of stone in the gorge walls that had developed a ripple-like texture. She described it as looking like sand after a wave had receded from it.
Our 4WD tour takes us through ancient gorges and valleys, around the outside of the natural amphitheatre of mountains that is Wilpena Pound – known as Ikara (meeting place) by the Aboriginal people – and through various “creeks”.
I say “creeks” because I have realised locals use this word for the numerous bone-dry creekbeds carving through the rocky land. It is hard to imagine a drop of water touching some of these dusty places, but Julia tells us water levels can reach heights of two metres when a rainstorm hits. It’s part of why she advises never camping in the gorges we drive through.
You can see evidence of these rainstorms from years gone by when looking at the huge gum trees lining the creeks, with their trunks hollowed out from the force of the water. Despite this, they continue to grow and flourish, including those hanging on impossibly to the rocks with their roots, half the land washed out from underneath them.
Deep into our drive we come across natural springs and waterholes, with mobs of emus slowly picking their way through.
The abundant wildlife has been a pleasant surprise on the tour, whether it’s a glimpse of a wedge-tailed eagle soaring above, a huge red kangaroo leaping among the trees or a pair of shingleback lizards plodding in unison along the hot road.
There’s also the bearded dragon that flees underneath our car when we try to move it off the road, and the flocks of beautiful parrots swooping overhead. While there are snakes out here we don’t see any, except a video of a python on Julia’s phone that was spotted weeks earlier devouring one of the aforementioned wallabies.
We stop for lunch at a place called Parachilna, which I hesitate to call a town because it appears to be little more than a hotel, railway station, and some backpacker accommodation. It feels truly isolated – when you step out the doors of the Prairie Hotel, there is nothing as far as the eye can see in one direction except for the heat haze hovering on the horizon.
Despite being seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the Prairie Hotel is bustling with patrons enjoying a meal – including the restaurant’s famous “feral mixed grill”, which serves emu, kangaroo and camel meat – appreciating the artworks lining the walls, and perusing the fossils stacked outside.
From Parachilna it’s another winding, dirt-road drive to Blinman, an old mining settlement with a population of about 27 people, down from its peak of 2000 residents in the early 1900s. The mine is long since closed but people still visit for underground tours, or while passing through to visit the national parks.
Our last stop before getting back to our accommodation is a manmade waterhole, set up as a water source for firefighters. We stand in silence at the treeline, trying not to spook the local birds as they come for a drink.
It is so peaceful there, you could simply sit on the water’s edge with your eyes closed and forget for a short while that the rest of the world exists.
GETTING THERE
Fly non-stop from Auckland to Adelaide with Air New Zealand. You can also fly with Qantas with one stopover.
The drive from Adelaide to Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park is about 4 hours, 50 minutes.
DETAILS
southaustralia.com
Melissa Nightingale participated in the Central Flinders Explorer Tour run by Rawnsley Park Station.