Part of the Kanyaka Ruins

Chace Range - Part of the Flinders Ranges

Cruiser in front of Chace Range

Chace Range at Sunset

15/5/2012  -  We left Melrose at about 10.15.  Can’t rush these things.  It had been a freezing cold night so because we didn’t have electricity we missed having our little blower heater going so it was a bit of a rough night trying to get warm.  (Wish I had brought warmer bedding)  It was a beautiful morning though.  We passed through Willmington and Quorn.  Both were small towns that were so dry.  Nobody has a lawn because obviously they don’t have the water.  We then called into Kanyaka Ruins which were the ruins of an old homestead, that had a surgery, because there was no doctor in the district, an office, that was used as a post office for a while, overseers cottage, mens’ kitchen, carthouse, stable and various other huts all made of stone.  There was also a cemetery there.  It was really interesting wandering through the remnants of these buildings and wondering about the people who would have lived here.  Apparently quite a few families did live here and the buildings were actually like a small village.  Kanyaka was originally built in about 1862 for John Phillips and his family.  We found more ruins further down the road where there was a town called Wilson. What was left of the Railway Station Masters Home was there.  We worked out where the old railway line would have run just behind the house.  There were more ruins in the area but were mostly just an odd wall or chimney.  We had a walk through the cemetery here and a lot of the graves belonged to very young people and infants.  What an interesting place.  Hawker was our next town and it was very dry also but quite neat and had a good rest stop for a lunch break so we had lunch here and went to the servo where the information bureau was and got some information on the Flinders Ranges and where to stay.  I called Rawnsley Park Station and they could accommodate us so we headed out there.  The Caravan Park was located a couple of kilometers in off the road past the Station Homestead.  It was a nice park with friendly staff so we booked in for 3 nights so we could have a good look around the area.  It was $33 a night for a powered site and $22 for non powered.  They gave us some good information on what places to see and a map how to get there so we set up camp, grabbed a bottle of red and a couple of glasses and went on out to Pugilist Lookout which was a must see at Sunset.  The lookout was on top of a hill right in the middle of the ranges and from the top all the sheep in the paddocks below looked like ants. We watched the sun setting over the ranges in the west and as it was going down it cast an amber glow over the opposite ranges and brought out all the colours of the rocks.  It was just beautiful and well worth the wait for the sun to set.  Pa also found a heap of molluscs (shells a bit like small pipies) on top of the hill that were obviously deposited here when the  inland sea receded from this area millions of years ago.  After the sun had gone down we headed back to camp for the night.