Bendleby Ranges: Ron becomes a shepard for a day while taking in the breathtaking scenery of the Outback region of South Australia

As dawn breaks over the shearing pens at The Springs Homestead, this lesser known patch of the Flinders Ranges puts on yet another spectacular display. Here the visitor awakes to the rhythms of a working station and by mid morning the place is in full swing.

Depending on the season this great sweep of Flinders Ranges pastoral country can hold up to six thousand sheep and as you enter the Bendleby Ranges property that overriding sense of space hits the visitor as you journey into some of the best four wheel drive country in the State.

Located 50 kilometres north of the town of Ororroo - this country is well beyond Goyders Line - the divide separating cereal growing country from harsher pastoral country further north. But that didn't stop settlers back in the 1870s from trying their luck at nearby Johnburgh.

Johnburgh stands as a constant reminder to Jane Luckraft of the need for modern day farmers to think laterally and make the most of what they have - because to leave is too painful.

Jane Luckraft: "If you are thinking of doing anything with your property it's never done lightly because you are paying tribute to all that heritage. It's very difficult for people on the land to just suddenly get up and walk away because they know that there are three or four generations who have put in all of their hard work to try and make a living and you just don't wipe all that away."

Truth be known a decade long drought nearly pushed Jane and her husband Warren to the brink of despair, but over time they've combined the herding and management of sheep and now tourists to great effect.

Just as they'd move stock to previously ungrazed pastures, now Jane and Warren do the same with holiday makers. In the Hidden Valley, campers can put the peaks and troughs of 21st century living into some perspective. And that's kind of what happened to Warren following a road-to-Damascus-style epiphany at a recent rural leadership conference.

Warren Luckraft: "I came home from that with a new attitude and a different outlook. It was like someone stuck a hose in one ear and blew out the dust from the other. We're now much more positive - we always knew we had potential but we just couldn't see it."

Visitors certainly see the potential of Bendleby as they scramble to vantage points that give them uninterrupted views of a special part of South Australia.

With a four-wheel drive training track and 170 kilometres of cycling paths the options are endless, offering mum, dad and the kids the perfect get-fit holiday. There are 150 square kilometres of rugged four-wheel drive country to explore on about one hundred and seventy kilometres of four-wheel drive track.

The steep decline tests the skills of any four-wheel driver as we descend through a range hungry for water. With plenty of horse power we scramble up and down a series of ridges where Warren and his father once saddled up to bring in a few stray merinos who'd scrounged a feed in the ravines of Bendleby.

Today it's the tourists who enjoy the feast of amazing scenery and the hidden natural wonders that still thrive in such a severe environment. The Bendleby Ranges are located north of Ororroo. If you have any further questions please email Jane Luckcraft bendleby@bigpond.com

The Bendleby Ranges
50ks north of Orroroo Cottage & Camping options
Self drive 4-wheel drive tracks
Contact Jane Luckcraft on 8658 9064

Web site: www.bendlebyranges.com.

Published 3rd May 2009