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A red gravel road running through a dry valley between the tawny ridges of the Flinders Ranges

Sample journey · 8–10 days

From the vineyards to the ancient ranges: South Australia

Adelaide, the Barossa & Clare valleys, Ikara-Wilpena Pound & Arkaroola

Photo: Stephen Mabbs / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

For many travellers, South Australia is just a connection on the way to Kangaroo Island. This journey goes the other way, north, where the vineyards slowly give way to wheat and the wheat to red earth. First the Barossa, settled in the nineteenth century by Lutherans from Silesia and home to some of the oldest vines in the world, then the quieter Clare Valley, known for riesling and an old railway line that has become a cycle trail.

Then the Flinders Ranges: layers of rock that hold some of the earliest traces of complex life, Ikara-Wilpena Pound, a meeting place of the Adnyamathanha people, and remote Arkaroola, where the ridges glow red at sunset and the night sky fills with stars. The journey is for couples and experienced travellers who value a good table as much as a gravel road: stays range from guesthouses on wine estates to cabins in the bush, and the only long day is the drive back to Adelaide.

The route

The journey

  1. Adelaide
  2. The Barossa
  3. The Clare Valley
  4. Hawker
  5. Ikara-Wilpena Pound
  6. Brachina Gorge
  7. Arkaroola
  8. Adelaide
  1. Green rows of vines and trees on the rolling hills of the Barossa Valley under a blue sky

    01Days 1–3 · Adelaide & the Barossa

    Old vines and Lutheran spires

    The first night is in Adelaide, a spacious, unhurried city, where the covered Central Market is worth a morning visit. The next day it's about an hour to the Barossa and two nights among the vineyards. The Silesian and Prussian Lutherans who settled here in the mid-nineteenth century left stone farmhouses, slender church spires and traditions of smallgoods and baking that live on today. Some estates have shiraz and grenache vines more than a hundred years old. The day is for slow tastings at a few smaller cellar doors, lunch from local farms and the lookout on Mengler's Hill at sunset. So that nobody has to drive after tasting, we'd suggest a driver or guide for the day.

  2. A straight sealed road north of Hawker heading towards the tawny hills of the Flinders Ranges

    02Days 4–5 · The Clare Valley & the road north

    Riesling, bicycles and reddening earth

    From the Barossa it's about an hour north to the Clare Valley, smaller and quieter, with family estates and riesling. An old railway line here has become the Riesling Trail, a level cycle path among vineyards, stone villages and cellar doors where you can stop on the way. One night in the valley, and on day five the road continues north. The view changes by the hour: vineyards give way to wheat, wheat to saltbush plains, abandoned nineteenth-century farmhouses defeated by drought and, finally, Hawker, the last town before the ranges. The whole drive to Wilpena takes about three and a half hours, so we leave early and have lunch on the way.

  3. Ridges and dry valleys of the Flinders Ranges from the air

    03Days 5–7 · Ikara-Wilpena Pound

    The meeting place

    Ikara is a vast amphitheatre of rock that from above looks like a bowl, and in the Adnyamathanha language the name means meeting place. Two nights beside it. On the first day, a walk with an Adnyamathanha guide, on their terms: stories of creation, of two great serpent ancestors, and rock art in the shelters at Arkaroo or Yourambulla. In the morning or evening, the trail to the old Wilpena homestead and a lookout inside the Pound or, if you like, a short scenic flight that reveals the whole shape of it. On the second day, a gravel road through Brachina Gorge, where signs mark rock layers laid down over hundreds of millions of years and where yellow-footed rock-wallabies often appear on the cliffs in the early morning.

  4. Two yellow-footed rock-wallabies on the rocks in the Flinders Ranges

    04Days 7–10 · Arkaroola & the return to Adelaide

    Ridges, wallabies and desert stars

    On day seven it's about four hours north, much of it on gravel, past an Adnyamathanha community and into ever more remote ranges to Arkaroola. It's a private wildlife sanctuary, and two nights here are given to the most remote country of the journey. A four-wheel drive climbs a steep track along the ridges to lookouts over the salt-lake plains, and in the gorges yellow-footed rock-wallabies and euros are often seen. In the evening, stargazing: there's little light or dust here, and the Milky Way seems close enough to touch. Day nine is the longest drive of the journey, about seven and a half hours back to Adelaide with breaks along the way; if you prefer, a light aircraft can shorten the day. A final night in Adelaide, and on day ten the flight home.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    The Barossa's old vines

    Slow tastings at small cellar doors, in a valley that still carries the traditions of its Lutheran settlers.

  2. 02

    Ikara with an Adnyamathanha guide

    Creation stories and rock art, told by those for whom this land is home.

  3. 03

    Brachina Gorge

    A road through hundreds of millions of years of Earth's history, and wallabies on the cliffs in the morning.

  4. 04

    An Arkaroola night

    Ridges in the sunset light and a night sky of a kind almost lost in Europe.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • Shorter

    In eight days, Arkaroola can be dropped and the return made from Wilpena (about five hours), with the Clare Valley as a day out from the Barossa.

  • More food and wine

    Two more nights in the Adelaide Hills or McLaren Vale by the sea, with tastings, farm lunches and coastal walks.

  • With Kangaroo Island

    Back in Adelaide, a short flight or ferry to Kangaroo Island: sea lions, kangaroos and a wild coast for three more nights.

  • Another season

    Autumn (March to May) brings the vintage in the Barossa and pleasant weather in the ranges; in winter and early spring after rain, the Flinders sometimes bloom with wildflowers.

Practical considerations

  • The best time for the Flinders Ranges is roughly April to October. In summer (December to February) the heat often passes 40°C, and some trails and roads close because of heat or fire danger.
  • Some roads to Arkaroola and through the gorges are gravel and can close after rain. We recommend a four-wheel drive and check road conditions before setting out and each morning on the ground.
  • Distances are long, and fuel and mobile signal are sparse in the north: we drive only in daylight, as kangaroos and cattle are often on the roads at dusk.
  • The availability of walks led by Adnyamathanha guides depends on the community and the season; we check before you travel and go only where we're invited.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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