Wilpenna Pound day 2,3 and 4

After we had such a lovely day when we arrived we booked in to the Wilpenna Pound camping area for 2 nights. The next day we drove 50 kms to the NE area of the Park to walk in Wirrealpa Gorge. It was beautiful weather and we had packed our lunch so we strolled down the creek bed towards the Gorge. This was after Maria had surprised some young German tourists by quizzing them about their holiday in their own language. This Gorge was not as steep sided as the ones we saw the previous day but had the same interesting geological strata as we had seen earlier. We discovered later that we had completely missed the walking trail along the top of the creek bed which would have taken us to the Gorge proper much faster. As it was we walked along the waterway dodging the deepest pools and muddy tracts. It was very pleasant and interesting but after we had walked for 1 & 1/2 hours we thought we were only just on the verge of the Gorge and it was time to back track for lunch. We had our picnic lunch and then drove out of the access road and turned left instead of right continuing for 5 kms. This took us out of the park boundary so we could collect firewood. It is forbidden to collect wood in the Park because of all the little critters that we would make homeless. The previous evening we had nearly frozen without a fire so we were determined to have wood for fires for the rest of our stay. Satisfactorly loaded we headed for home and an early shower. Maria cooked dinner which was an additional bonus for me.
We had already decided that with the weather holding at sunny and a comfortable camp established we would stay an extra night. This allowed us to go walking into Wilpenna Pound itself and up to one of the lookouts. I think we had all expected the Pound walls to be like the rugged colourful walls the we had seen on the previous days. Instead it was a shallow valley surrounded by rounded hills. Most significant was that the hills did completely encircle the valley with only one pass providing access. This was an area of ceremonial significance to the Aboriginal people and which they have reclaimed after failed attempts at farming and grazing by early settlers. The settlers story was written up on well designed story boards and their struggle to succeed was tragic. The setlement was abandoned after years of competing with drought, floods, fire and the Depression.
The view from the upper rampart was worth the climb. Only 100 metres but it was very steep. We then had a picnic lunch beside the very well restored stone farmhouse before going for a gentle stroll across the valley floor. There ensued a subtle struggle to photograph the joey in the pouch of one of the many fairly tame Euros in the area. Mother finally got fed up with the attention and told junior to pull his head in before moving just out of camera range. We have been amazed at the number of Euros and Kangaroos grazing on the grass that has prolifereated after the rain. They are wherever you turn.
It is luxurious to come back to camp after a pleasant day and stroll over for a shower. The crowd is building up here so our canny old travellers strategy of showering late afternoon ensures we have the bathroom to ourselves and plenty of hot water. The facilities here are very good but there is nothing like a tour coach of young people to make the shower room  soggy.
Today we woke to the dreaded sound of rain pattering on the roof. When it did not intensify we sprang into action to pack up and were relieved when the shower moved on without really wetting us very much. We have introduced Maria and Roland to jaffles for breakfast and they make an easy messless breakfast when we are packing up to move on. Much to our surprise the clouds cleared away and we had a beauriful morning to travel south. We took a slight detour by driving along the Moralana Scenic Road which was well worthwhile. Similar countryside but different enough to be interesting in it's own right. A short side trip to Black Gorge saw us standing in the turn around debating whether to risk a walk but the clouds which were rapidly building and looked very black decided against. Just as we were about to get back into the vehicles we saw a Scarlet Capped Robin flitting around chasing insects close to where we were standing. He had a brilliant red cap and breast, not dissimilar to our Robin Red Breast though a bit smaller.
We then headed to Peterborough where we thought we might spend the night. However the day became darker and wetter the further south we went. After a quick tour of the internal areas of the Steam Rail Museum we high tailed it north to Port Augusta. We are in a comfortable two bedroom cabin in a caravan park and there is promise of  finer weather tomorrow. What's more we have found we can absentee vote tomorrow Friday which means we don't have to hang around Port Augusta until Saturday. So we will be on the road again.