Gawler Ranges and Lake Gairdner, South Australia
An Antipodean travel company serving world travellers since 1983 with small group tours into the outback of Australia. Educational tours for Senior couples and mature solo travellers exploring the history of South Australia.
Gawler Ranges and Lake Gairdner,
Melding stunning scenery, , and a fascinating history, the Gawler Ranges and Lake Gairdner are among the hidden gems of . This article shares with you some of the interesting aspects of this region when you join a small group package tour for mature and senior travellers with Odyssey Traveller into South Australia and in particular the Eyre & York peninsula.
Gawler Ranges :
‘s National Parks and Service describes the Gawler Ranges as a ‘special place where history, conservation and come together’, and we think that summarises it pretty well. While the might get the majority of the tourist traffic, the stunning and remote landscapes of the Gawler Ranges are equally worthwhile – and best of all, you can have them all to yourself.
The Gawler Ranges are located on the Gawler Craton, an ancient and stable landmass that has not been subject to major tectonic activity for over 1000 million years. The ranges themselves are a massif of ancient volcanic rocks, formed 1500 million years ago by volcanic eruptions. It is one of the oldest volcanic landscapes in the world, with the striking Organ Pipes, basalt columns formed by the cooling and cracking of molten lava, among the largest exposures of volcanic rhyolite (igneous rock with a high silica content) in the world.
The highest point in the park is Nukey Bluff, at 465 metres above sea level, though much of the park is above 400 metres. Hill, gorge, and gully complexes were defined by ancient rivers, but alluvial material has now filled most rivers in the park. The is no longer home to any permanent water stream.
The Gawler Ranges is a place of transition between the mallee landscapes of the and southern , and the lands to the north. The park is home to both mallee and species, many at the limits of their geographical spread. In total, the park is home to 225 plant species, including several endemic to the area, including the Gawler Ranges Hop Bush and the Gawler Ranges Grevillea.
Likewise, the park is a haven for fauna from both the mallee and the arid regions further north. Birders will love seeing the Australian ringneck parrot, the major mitchell cockatoo and superb fairy-wren, and the park is ‘s only protected population of the short-tailed grass wren. Other endangered species found in the Gawler Ranges include the yellow-footed rock wallaby, the southern hairy-nosed wombat and the central long-eared bat. Thanks to work done by rangers, the yellow-footed rock wallaby population – which numbered around 6 in 2000 – now reaches into the hundreds.
Unfortunately, there is little information available about Aboriginal settlement of the Gawler Ranges. At the time of settlement, it was inhabited by the Gawler Ranges people, a distinct group of families of some, but not all, the Barngarla, Kokatha and Wirangu People.
The first European to pass through the Gawler Ranges was the explorer Edward John Eyre, in September 1839. He named the ranges after the second governor of , George Gawler.
Though Eyre was not particularly impressed with what he saw, pastoralists took up land here in the late 19th century. Paney Homestead, Old Paney Homestead, and Pondanna Outstation are vivid reminders of the struggle to survive in this remote and arid country.
In 2000, the 120,000 hectare pastoral property Paney Station was bought by the government. The following year, they acquired parts of adjacent Scrubby Peak Station, adding 42,000 hectares. The was proclaimed in 2002.
Walks within the park take you to Organ Pipes (a one-hour walk), Kolay Mirica Falls (despite the name, rarely flowing with water), and to the Waganny Campground (another one-hour trail).
The Gawler Ranges is so remote that the park has no light pollution, meaning that on a clear night it is one of the best places in for stargazing.
Lake Gairdner:
To the north of the Gawler Ranges, Lake Gairdner protects a large saline lake system, surrounded by the red dirt hills. The park includes Lake Gairdner, ‘s third-largest salt lake, as well as two other salt lakes, Lake Everard and Lake Harris.
Much like Lake Eyre, Lake Gairdner is a dry salt pan, only intermittently filled with water. It is 160 km long, 48 km wide, and is covered with a salt layer that is over 1.2 metres thick in parts. The lakes are remnants of the inland sea that covered central millions of years ago, which stretched from the Southern Ocean to Menindee, near Broken Hill, New South Wales.
The lake was visited almost simultaneously by Stephen Hack and Peter E. Warburton in 1857, and was named after Gordon Gairdner, a chief clerk in the Australian Department of the Colonial Office.
For Sir Richard Graves McDonnell, Governor of :
Its size and remarkable cliffs projecting into a vast expanse of dazzling salt, here and there studded with islands, render it one of the most striking objects hitherto met with in Australian scenery.
Thanks to its thick crust, Lake Gairdner is an ideal location for land speed records. In March each year, when the lake is reliably dry, it plays host to the Dry Racers event, attracting racing enthusiasts from all around .