Panoramic view of Wilpena Pound from first lookout
We hiked this morning to the Hill Homestead and then up to Wangara Lookout which looks out over Wilpena Pound. Wilpena Pound is an interesting geological feature, a large plain that is completely surrounded by mountains. The name “pound” came about because it was a natural enclosure for sheep in the time of early European settlement.
It was a good morning to walk, as it hadn’t yet got too warm, and the trail is shaded. We were surprised to find pools of standing water in Wilpena Creek, but there are some springs there. Where the water is pooled there are actually cattails growing. The rest of the trail is much drier, but along the river there are giant eucalyptus trees, some with trunks almost two metres in diameter at the base. The trees are very tall and provided some nice shade.
The Hill Homestead is just one stone building that has been rebuilt, and a bit of old farming equipment: rusting plows and other iron implements, and a large metal boiler. They used the boiler as a roller when they were trying to clear the land in the pound. There are several interpretive signs here which tell the story of the failure of the farm starting around 1850 until it eventually was deserted in the late 1920’s. It really is just much too dry and hot to farm this country.
When we arrived there were a large number of German speaking tourists at the homestead. Most were sitting waiting for their guide who shortly came down from the lookout trail. There was an emu in the yard, and it paid almost no attention to all the people. We also saw some wallabies (or possibly euros) and they too were not nervous. There is a stone with a sculpture of two Aboriginal men on it, and an interpretive sign that explains the Aboriginal dreamtime story of how Wilpena Pound (Ikarra) was created. A young girl, about five or six years old was there with her mother. The mother was explaining the story to the girl. The girl seemed pretty skeptical.
Wangara lookout view towards the Wilpena Gap
Next we climbed up behind the homestead to the two Wangara lookouts. It is a climb of about 100 metres on fairly smooth stones. It was warm as there is no shade. Near the top lookout I saw a yellow coloured goanna about 50 cm long, but I cannot identify it from pictures I’ve located on the Internet. We saw it catch an insect. Past the top lookout there is no real trail, but there was a track that ran up to a radio antenna. The antenna wasn’t in use and it was guyed with ropes that had deteriorated.
The views out over Wilpena Pound are very good from these lookouts. You can see the entire range of mountains that forms the western and southern boundaries of the pound. The lookouts themselves are on the hills forming the easter boundary of the pound. To the east you get spectacular views out through the Wilpena Gap. We came back down, sat in the shade by the old homestead, and ate our lunch.
This afternoon we stayed in the motorhome which was very comfortable now that the air conditioner is working again. We made some plans for when we will get to Melbourne, and found that we can get the parts for our awning there, and also booked an appointment to get our windscreen replaced. I also spent some time shooting some video of the large spiders that build webs everwhere. This evening it cooled off nicely again and I took more video of the kangaroos and the parrots.