Leaving the spectacular Uluru behind, Gabi and I continued our Australia Road Trip through the Outback. Our next destination was Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park in South Australia (map). This huge park has rugged mountain landscapes, picturesque tree-lined gorges and is famous for its striking wealth of wildlife. Most part of the national park including the campgrounds are only accessible via very rocky dirt roads, so the 4WD camper we rented was very beneficial here. The campsites were rudimentary that we really enjoyed. There weren’t too many people here, so at this place we finally felt like being on a real wilderness expedition. The nights were magnificent under the bright stars with no light pollution, only the occasional clouds interrupted the glorious views of the Southern Sky.
During our stay we explored most parts of the park and fortunately we encountered many of its wild animals. One of the most common birds here is the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). This large flightless bird is endemic to Australia and a close relative to Africa’s two ostrich species. They were everywhere in the park and usually weren’t too afraid of people.
We also saw many other birds here, such as kookaburras and all kinds of parrots, but I didn’t really have a chance to photograph them. I mainly focused on the mammals as those were the most interesting to us. The most unique mammals in the world are beyond the shadow of a doubt the Monotremes, or egg-laying mammals. As their name suggests they lay eggs, rather than bearing live young. There are only five such species, and one of them calls this park its home: the short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). This remarkable looking animal is covered in fur and spines and it feeds on ants and other insects. We found this spiny mammal right next to the road. Unfortunately, I was unable to take a really great photo of it, but we were very happy to see an echidna in the wild.
The Ikara-Flinders Ranges are also a home to Australia’s most iconic mammals, the kangaroos. We didn’t see such an abundance of the skippers anywhere else during our five-week long road trip in the southern continent. We mostly came across the common wallaroo (Osphranter robustus) in this park. They can be easily spotted in the open grassy areas on the rocky hills of the ranges. Their colors vary from reddish and light gray to black. This macropod has a rather stocky build, with coarse, shaggy fur, and a relatively short tail. Males can be twice the size of females. This marsupial’s shorter limbs may be an adaptation to the rocky terrain they live on. However, they are far less adapted to jump around on cliffs than the yellow-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus). It was formerly known as the ring-tailed rock-wallaby and this is one of the prettiest kangaroo species in Australia. This is a threatened species and lives in scattered populations in the eastern part of the country. This animal is superbly adapted to the rocky environment of the mountains. Brachina Gorge in the Flinders Ranges is one of the best places to see these adorable macropods. We spent a few hours among this colony and enjoyed watching and photographing these amazing marsupials. Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park quickly became our favorite place in Australia with its stunning landscapes and plentiful wildlife. This is what we dreamed of when we planned this trip.
Gear: Canon EOS 5DsR + 17-40mm, Canon EOS 5Ds + 300mm + 1.4x extender.
