Outback - Part 1

I am just back from a week in the Australian outback. First stop was in the Flinders Ranges National Park where we arrived late afternoon and stopped at Stokes Hill Lookout where we saw a couple of distant Short-tailed Grasswrens on the spinifex covered slopes. There are a lot of grass trees here, a favourite of mine.

We camped close by, and woke to a lovely dawn, before heading back up to the lookout for another try at the grasswren. No sign of them this time, but we did see plenty of Euros (also known as Common Wallaroo). At the lookout, there is a relief map of Wilpena Pound, a huge natural phenomenon and the main draw to the park. The eastern edge of Wilpena Pound is visible in the distance. We exited the National Park via Brachina Gorge, and on the way to the gorge, caught site of a couple of Wedge-tailed Eagles feeding. Right next to the eagles were a couple of Elegant Parrots. (The light was still poor so the images are a bit noisy due to the high ISO setting). Brachina gorge was in great shape with plenty of wild flowers around, and I also managed a quick shot of a Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby (my first wild sighting!!) before it high-tailed into the scrub. A little further on was a group of young stripey Emu chicks with Dad following closely behind. Once out of the gorge we headed north towards Lyndhurst and the end of the tarmac. As we tracked northwards, the skies dimmed, the drizzle started and we ended up driving in steady rain. The forecast was for 1-5 mm of rain (up to 2 inches) but in the end between 40 and 60mm fell resulting in the closure of all desert tracks due to dangerous road conditions and flooding. The weather radar showed heavy rain for at least the next few hours, and the locals thought the roads could be closed for 3 - 4 days. Luckily we had a Plan B...............