Arkaroola and the Ridgetop Tour: Keith visits the Outback region of South Australia
The Northern Flinders Ranges is truly a remarkable mountain-scape. It's daunting in scale and, at times it's even scary. At its heart is Arkaroola - a rugged wilderness sanctuary made up of a primeval concoction of giant ramparts, thrusting peaks, deep gorges and razor-sharp ridges.
But mercifully, in the midst of all this natural chaos there is a safe haven - Arkaroola Village. It's an oasis for an international caravan of visitors who can spend days marvelling at the enormity of their surrounds which were 2 billion years on the making.
Arkaroola is the dream fulfilled of the late Reg and Griselda Sprigg. As a geologist, Reg fell in love with it all so much that thirty years ago they bought the lease and transformed it from a marginal sheep run into a 600 square kilometre sanctuary - a priceless legacy.
They opened up more than 150 kilometres of tracks so we can all explore the beautiful, life-giving waterholes and natural pounds. But there's one track that leaves the rest behind, one that takes you on a buckjumping ride up and over the geological chaos that is Arkaroola. It's the famous Ridgetop Tour.
It all begins gently enough. A good feed and a few travellers' yarns in the village restaurant the night before and a comfortable night's rest in the motel and everyone's willingly ushered aboard the open canopy four wheel drives. Sure, they've heard about the legendary trip but no one really appreciates the hair-raising ascents and descents in store.
As we set off, our veteran guide, Mal Schultz shares a bit of his encyclopaedic knowledge. "Arkaroola is very dry country," he explains. " We average about 6 inches of rain a year. Our driest year was 1940 and our wettest year 1974."
We drive through the main channel of Arkaroola Creek, which is dry now, but Mal says the water was 30 feet deep during the 1974 floods. Everything is big here including the big dry they've experienced for the last few years but that hasn't detracted from the parched land's strange and infectious beauty.
The Ridgetop Tour follows a precarious track carved out by an Exoil Company exploration team back in 1969. We're thankful Mal has done the drive before - try a couple of hundred times! So we're in good hands.
Despite the bumps, dips, climbs and wheel-spins it's well worth it - the views are overwhelming. After about 45 bone rattling minutes we arrive at a very special place - Coulthards Lookout where we marvel at the 360-degree view.
"People from all over the world come up here to look at this country because it is such a unique geological area," said Mal. "It's called Coulthard's Lookout after the last three fully initiated Adnyamathanha tribesmen: Reg, Wally, and Andy Coulthard. They worked up here for many years with Reg so Reg and Griselda thought this would be a beautiful spot to remember them."
That's why Reg and Griselda made it their own personal mission to single-handedly build the original lookout up here. It's a sign of the respect they held for the people whose ancestors roamed these parts long before Europeans arrived.
Through a gap in the hills you can see the village below and to the east, the winding series of gorges created by Arkaroola Creek as it cuts its tortuous path through the mountains. It is especially important to the Adnyamathanha people. "Arkaroola Creek has sacred significance for them," says Mal. "They consider it was caused by one of the serpents of the area who drank Lake Frome dry and worked his way back through the hills…"
It was the great snake, Akurra's swollen water-filled belly that gouged out Arkaroola Creek.
We're at about the half waypoint of the Ridgetop Tour and as we continually rise and fall, twist and turn there's certainly no doubting how it got its name. A few if the well camouflaged locals keep a close watch on our progress.
"Euros are the hills kangaroos - one of the 19 varieties of macropods we have in Australia," explained Mal. "We call them four wheel drives around here because they climb up the side of the hills. They live in a fairly small area and they'll live and die in that habitat rather than shift off onto somewhere else when it gets extremely dry."
A little further along and Mount Gee dominates. Mal explained why some call the 600 metre high hill, 'Crystal Mountain'. The giant quartz rocks adorning its slopes were formed half a billion years ago when superheated water brought up minerals from deep below the surface.
"Eventually the country surrounding the mound-spring was eroded away leaving the harder mineralised mount Gee sticking up in the middle."
Our compelling on-the-spot course in believe-it-or-not mountain formation continues as we come to Mount Painter. Another rarity, it's studded with caves formed when it was all a giant cauldron of bubbling mud and gas. In 1910 uranium was found in sight of this hill and it was mined on and off for nearly 20 years.
Next, Split Rock lookout where the inspiring images of giant red granite mountains and colourful weather-worn scrub only serve to whet our appetite for the final lunge to the Ridgetop Tour's climax - Sillers Lookout.
The others are already there - taking in the magic. Their vehicles are dwarfed by the massive outcrop named after Bill Siller, boss of the Exion exploration team that bulldozed the track.
Clenched teeth and white knuckles give way to a sense of victory and privileged pleasure as they inch their way slowly and safely down the hill. How was it? We asked "Great! Fantastic!" were among the breathless replies.
Now it's our turn - time for a real surge of excitement as we hang on and urge Mal not to lose his nerve half way up. We make our final thrust past the hardy yackas and onto the 'top of the world'.
We breathe in the 360-degree panorama… the results of eons of geological madness. Truly awesome views out to Lake Frome and the desert plains beyond. The spectacular Freeling Heights plummets 600 metres into the Adnyamathanha Gorge, which heaves its way for another 30 kilometres through the ranges
The journey and the destination are all about Sir Douglas Mawson's dream that this whole area should be a giant open aired museum of geological history. That's what he told Reg Sprigg back in 1939, and Reg and Griselda Sprigg did it.
On our Postcards trip we were blessed with a wondrous mountain wilderness sunset. We were left forever in debt to the Sprigg family's ongoing commitment to sharing this dauntingly wild place with us all.
Arkaroola Wilderness sanctuary is 600 kilometres north of Adelaide. It's easily accessible in the family sedan. There's a range of accommodation options available - from camping to luxury motel units. There's also a great restaurant, store and fuel stop. Winter is a good time to visit. (check road conditions).
The four and a half-hour Ridgetop Tour is one of a number of tours and tag-alongs available.
Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary
Northern Flinders Ranges 600 kms north of Adelaide
Freecall: 1800 676 042
Published 23rd July 2006
