Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Wilpena Pound is a natural amplitheatre formed from two mountain ranges. Unfortunately Bridle Gap had no views and nothing is visible from inside the forested pound, so I haven’t gotten a good idea yet of its shape. I hope to get a view on a day hike tomorrow.

Today was a rest day. The reason for my sickness the last few days became clear as I got my period ten days early, proof of how hard the Quorn to Hawker section was on my body! Wilpena Pound has a caravan park and resort with hotel accommodation, permanent tents and powered/unpowered sites. An unpowered site for one person is $16. The campground has bathrooms, an outdoor washer/dryer (broken) and outdoor kitchen areas, but the kitchen areas are reserved for tour buses. That being said, there were rarely buses and I sat there a few times to cook. I think that as long as you don’t make a mess or start a party, you’re probably fine.

Charging devices: The outlets in the kitchen areas are turned off when there are no buses, and the resort posted a sign by the outlets next to the washer/dryer stating that people using them will be fined. There are outlets in the bathrooms, the visitor centre employees let me charge my external battery in the outlets behind their desk, and the resort cafe/bar place (expensive, lunch is around $20-30) have outlets by the door where I got permission to charge.

One of the visitor centre employees offered me a ride from the Parachilna Gorge trailhead to Port Augusta to save me the expensive bus fare. I accepted right away and cancelled my bus ticket, but thinking about it now, with the cancellation fee ($35), the bus ticket from Port Augusta to Adelaide, and the greater cost of camping at Port Augusta compared to Parachilna, I’m not actually saving much and I’m also inconveniencing a person… must remember to think before acting.