WILPENA POUND

11 March 2007

Copy provided to The Sunday Age for their Sunday Life feature The most beautiful place

WILPENA POUND

Last May, as part of the Year of the Outback celebrations, I grabbed a swag and headed off along the Birdsville Track. Our journey started in Adelaide and ended ten days later at Charleville in Queensland. Along the way we saw some truly remarkable country including the stunning scenery of Wilpena Pound. On our first night we watched a spectacular sunset bathing the Pound and its ancient red gums in golden light.

Wilpena Pound is part of the Flinders Ranges. The ranges are a truly unique area of Australia emerging in stark contrast to the flat plains to the north and south. The landscape changes in a surreal way as one nears the Pound; one almost expects to see dinosaurs roaming the foothills and jagged hilltops. The country is alive with wallabies, kangaroo, emu and birdlife.

One of the more spectacular features is Brachina Gorge at the edge of the Pound. Some 650 million years ago massive upheavals pushed layers of quartz rich sedimentary rock into wave like formations. The rock layers, stacked like huge biscuits, are clearly visible and the formations change color as the sun rises and sets.

I doubt there is anything quite like this elsewhere in the world and Australians are fortunate the experience is so accessible. The Pound is a wonderful example of the ancient and fragile beauty of our continent as we can see today landscapes similar to those viewed by indigenous Australians thousands of years ago.

So go and have a look, Wilpena is an easy drive from Adelaide, and the road is bitumen all of the way. Recent rains have freshened up the country and I hear the Pound is looking fantastic.

Michael Jeffery
Governor-General