Mt Little Station Flinders Ranges.

We arrived at Mt Little Station after our morning tea break at Parachilna. The iconic Prairie hotel is currently being renovated - and we were impressed with the metal sculptures - especially the old Ghan one as you’d swear a train was coming! 

We set up at Mt Little on a very spacious campsite with a picturesque outlook of the Elder Range. It’s a beautiful spot - albeit a little windy and dusty at times! There are some 25 camping sites - all secluded and far apart. 

This is the sort of station stay we really enjoy as we have access to the whole property and we’ve made the most of that, using the mud map to guide us to various locations. We also have flush toilets and hot showers powered by a solar pump - which works very well during daylight hours. Darryl enjoyed testing his skill driving up Mt Little - which looks just that until you start to ascend - then it’s very steep and rough! 

There are many ruins on the property - remnants of early settlers attempting to farm their 2,500 acre Soldier Settlement blocks. It’s so desolate and stony it must have been heart breaking to realise this isn’t cropping country!
There is a beautiful old homestead which can be hired - and they have another house being renovated which will be another style of accommodation. It’s a fair way off yet!

Owners Peter & Kelly are very friendly and obliging and have sat around our campfire a couple of nights now, answering our questions about their farming operations and visions for the future with tourism. We were even invited up to their house for dinner on our last night so feel very privileged to be spoilt with a beautiful lamb roast. They currently run 1500 merino sheep and 40 Santa Gertrudis breeding cows. The Heyson and Mawson trails run through the property and we’ve noticed several mountain bikers go past - and yesterday a bus collected 37 walkers who had completed a 32km walk!! They looked pretty weary as they marched towards the bus! 

We did a scenic tour of the Ranges and loved the spectacular sights of the mountain peaks around Wilpena Pound and the Bunyeroo and Brachina Gorges with the magnificent gum trees and rock walls. We saw some very healthy looking goats, an echidna, eagles and kangaroos - the most wildlife we’ve seen this trip. There were camels on the property too.

We visited the Jeff Morgan’s art gallery in Hawker where we were blown away by his panoramas of the mountains - we spent ages admiring each one and trying to find the animals. If you are travelling in this area, we’d certainly encourage you to visit and be amazed. His next panorama is going to be of a shearing shed - we’ll be back to see that,  that’s for sure! 

We always thought this was going to be a mystery trip - and that’s certainly what it’s turned out to be. Due to a suspension problem with our van, our plans have changed and we’re travelling to Goolwa to see mum earlier than we thought - and without the van! Dennis & Tops have left us and are heading home for appointments. So our camping trip will have a little hiatus and this will be the last blog before we head off again! ❌❌❌