The Gawler Ranges: Ron visits these ranges in the Eyre Peninsula region of South Australia

From the salt pans of the Gawler Ranges you catch glimpses of a giant monolith - Mount Sturt. It's a slab of solidified granite that spewed forth from the earth's core about 1.5 billion years ago… give or take a few million.

It's one of the most dramatic features of the Gawler Ranges National Park - a massive outback playground that stretches across the top of Eyre Peninsula. Previously Paney Station which used to carry 11,000 sheep, It's been a National Park for about eight years.

We teamed up with former cockie, Geoff Scholz for a look around. He knows every backtrack and detour in the Gawler Ranges, having explored this country as a young farmer and for the past twenty years as a tour guide. He's in tune with the rhythms of this country in which only the strong or the smart survive.

It's stark dramatic country, interspersed with a series of salt lakes - all part of an arid and at times impenetrable landscape which stopped the early settlers in their tracks. That was until one explorer managed to find a way.

One wonders what Edward John Eyre would have made of the Luna landscape. He came through here in September 1839. Back then he named Sturt's lake and Mount Sturt as tributes to another great Australian explorer.

At the end of the day we arrive at a man-made wonder built by Geoff and his wife Rene. They've established a world class outback safari experience. It's a four-star bush experience with nature a mere canvas width away. By the close of day the parrots are in full swing.

Come the evening we're ready for a dink too as Geoff mans the BBQ and Rene serves a meal fit for such a spectacular setting.

To book one of Geoff and Rene Scholz's Gawler Ranges Safaris call 1800 243 343.

Gawler Ranges Wilderness Safaris
Geoff Scholz
Ph 1800 243 343
P.O. Box 76
Wudinna SA 5652