ARKAROOLA ECHO CAMP TOUR: Arkaroola in the Flinders Ranges

Back in the 1840s and 1850s when BH Babbage took off in search of gold, there was no village here and the tracks through this country were made by donkey and camel trains. Now as you travel in by four wheel drive, the journey along the old mining tracks near Arkaroola is a lot easier, but still provides an insight into what the early prospectors were up against.

"We do have some rare plants through here. One plant, Acacia Anorosa, only grows in an area probably ten kilometres by one kilometre area in the world".

Out here nature is boss, as we make our way along Arkaroola Creek where the flood debris reminds the visitor that this dry river bed is not always so obliging to those who make their way into the very heart of the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

"You're right, it does flood sometimes as you can see from that pile of logs over there".

"Amazing!"

"The level of the water goes above those logs. It doesn't happen to be very often. It seems to be an average of every ten years or so we get a flood down this creek".

We're following the old mining tracks established by those who first came here in search of gold and copper and others later still who discovered Uranium along what's now called the Echo Camp Track. It's a dry rocky track which eventually reaches one of the many spectacular water holes to be found along the course of the Arkaroola Creek which the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos have to themselves, until we arrive.

"This is a little area called Echo Camp Water Hole here. This spot was used by the early prospectors as their watering point before heading into the ranges. Their camp site was five hundred metres up the creek. They used to camp there, grab their water supply here and Radium Creek to Radium Ridge where they used to prospect for uranium and a lot of other minerals in the area as well".

Back in 1910 a man named Bentley Greenwood discovered uranium at nearby Mount Painter. Soon he and fellow scientist Douglas Mawson were scouring these gorges in search of more. The Nobel Prize winning scientist Madame Currie had asked Mawson to keep an eye out for this amazing mineral which was pivotal to her pioneering medical research with radium.

"Sir Douglas Mawson and W.B. Greenwood set up a mining company straight away at Uranium Ridge to mine the uranium. There were significant mines in the 1920's when the price for uranium sky-rocketed to about a million dollars an ounce".

"A million dollars an ounce?"

"And they were mining flat out there for awhile until the price plummeted around the early 30's and then everyone sort of cleared out of the area. And then of course the 1940s came and the atomic weapons came into play and the uranium search was back into gear again".

"You can see that for a million dollars an ounce, it's worth getting into a place this inaccessible".

"Yes, definitely. Even carting it out by donkey train and camel train it was worthwhile".

The Echo Camp tour takes you to other remote spots where the locals keep watch over one of the most spectacular gorges in the State. This is the junction of Spotichers Pass and Arkaroola Creek in the very heart of Bararranna Gorge, a place where you can't help but feel small, set against the slabs of an ancient sea floor which have been thrust skyward.

"A lot of pushing forces happened over about four hundred and fifty million years ago to squeeze up what we can see here today. Mainly flat lying sediment has been pushed up right on edge".

"Just been forced up".

"Yep".

The Adnamathnya people believe this gorge was chiselled out of the rock as Arkaroo, the giant serpent made it's way through these hills after drinking Lake Frome dry. On his journey back to the Gammon Ranges, Arkaroo left magnificent water holes like this one in Bararranna Gorge. For archeologists, it's also a very special place with these ripple lines, the fossilised remains of an inland seabed.

On the journey home, a chance to meet more of the locals who slowly make their way through timeless country. Here there are constant reminders of those miners who tried to make a quid and failed, as they ventured along what is now a part of Arkaroola's Echo Camp Backtrack. It takes four hours to complete, with tours leaving from Arkaroola Village. For bookings, contact 1800-676-042. or email info@postcards.sa.com.au for more details