At first light John sprinted up Mt. Chambers for spectacular views of the area.

Above is our camping spot for the night with the enticing climb behind us.
He summitted in a flash, and was back to get Fergus and Harry for a return trip. Off they went, while my very old knees and I made coffee and toast in peace. Emus dropped by the tent for a very close look. I think they have trailer envy. (Actually, John thinks everyone has trailer envy).
They made it to the top!
Here’s a photo Fergus took from the top of Mt. Chambers. That’s Mt. John (true!) you can see in the distance.

This morning’s task was to climb Mt.Ohlsen-Bagge. It’s only 2.5km to the summit, but it’s pretty much all uphill. Harry and John took the lead, while Fergus kept me company as I trailed behind, wishing John wasn’t the only person with carrying the water.

The view was great! Here’s Ferg with St.Mary’s Peak in the background.

You can see both inside and outside the pound from the top.

We had perfect weather again. The walk down was tough on my knees. I think I got second hand ones when I was born.
On arrival back at camp, we found that we hadn’t quite crow-proofed (or magpie –proofed) our camp. Hence our near full carton of eggs was raided, and remnants strewn all around. They also like butter.

We packed up after lunch and headed north, further into the ranges. It is a beautiful drive through Bunyaroo Valley lookout. The landscape is remarkably non-Australian in sections, where a native fir tree covers the hillsides, without a eucalypt in sight. It had a very “Montana” feel about it.

Then it’s down to the valley floor and along the creek bed. They recently had a huge dump of rain, so it was a rare sight to see so much water around.

We left the National Park and drove on towards the Gammon Ranges NP, but turned off to Chambers Gorge. John camped here once, on a trip with his family back in the 70s.
Another good campfire after a fun day. We toasted marshmallows, and Ferg fell asleep in his camp chair. More fun tomorrow – John wants to climb Mount Chambers. Of course.

Today’s drive from Melrose to Wilpena Pound was filled with the good old Who Am I? game. you know – ask any question and only get a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Some of the mystery people we chose ranged from surfing heroes to school friends. But John really had us stumped when he chose the lady who works in the bakery in Torquay and always has a bandaid on her nose. Go figure. That, plus quizzing the boys on what was written on the plaque on the BIG rock in Hawker where we stopped for lunch, made the 160km just fly by.
John and I have both been here before, but the sight of those amazing red ranges, their sweeping curved profile, reflecting the late afternoon sun will never lose its wow factor.
We arrived at the Visitor Centre in Wilpena Pound and checked in for an unpowered site. Trevor the Trailer has everything we need – power included. This place offers such luxury! It’s a National Park, but we are allowed a fire (and as I sit and type this, my face is glowing from a 5 star fire). There’s barely another camper in earshot, so it feels like we have the peace of the bush. There’s a shower and toilet – now that’s luxury. But wait – there’s a sink to wash your dishes in!
Tomorrow we’re doing a walk to the summit of Mt.Ohlssen-Bragge (I’ll check my spelling tomorrow). John wanted to do the 9 hour walk up St.Mary’s peak (highest peak in the Flinders Ranges), but Ferg and Harry saw the “9 hours” bit and boycotted it. Think I might side with them, if we have to vote.
Tell you all about it tomorrow.

I can report that the coffee is very good at the Old Blacksmiths Café in Melrose. Next time you pass through – don’t miss it.
John was up early this morning (some things never change) for a ride, then a quick trot up Mount Remarkable.
He couldn’t coax the boys into the ascent, but he tells us the view was fantastic. He could see the Flinders Ranges to the north and the Southern Ocean to the south (Spencer Gulf to be exact).
After breakfast, John took the boys for a ride on some of the famous Melrose Trails, in the foothills of Mt.Remarkable, where the single track winds through forested gullies, historic ruins from the 1800s and green rolling pastures on the ridges, looking out to the east. (Did you like all that descriptive blurb Sam? John wrote that) while I walked into town for above mentioned sensational coffee. And did I mention 5 minutes peace?
The perfect sunny day dried all the dew off the tent, the towels, and even the Ugg boots.
The only other campers at the Showgrounds were in a rather large contingent of Grey Nomads. There must have been a dozen vehicles towing all manner of magnificent caravans. Whilst I’m happy to have our fabulous Trevor the Trailer, I sure was a little jealous last night as I’m sure they were toasty warm inside those things. They were probably watching the latest episode in the Julia and Kevin soapy on their satellite tvs. Although I should admit, John and I were sitting fireside (a rather feeble one, of which we were not proud), laptops on knees, on our mobile WiFi, dew gently falling upon us, checking emails (and writing this blog!) – when I saw a newsflash on my laptop about the job swap over in Canberra. We were, however, a lot colder than the Grey Nomads.

I think we’re getting better at the cold nights thing – and it’s only Day Three! We’ve added hot water bottles for the boys, remembered to give them a silk sleeping sheet inside their bags, and added a down sleeping bag under my feather doona. BUT…..best of all we put the foil lid on the tent. I’ll post a photo tomorrow…but suffice to say, it’s the most expensive piece of foil we’ve ever bought! Listed as an “optional extra” when we bought Trevor the Trailer, it’s a thermal blanket. Sheesh. What a difference it made. Still couldn’t squeeze the honey out of the bottle in the cold of the morning, but that’s okay. I had vegemite.
Next – mountain biking at Melrose.