Eight days in the Flinders Ranges is not enough to see and experience everything this fabulous region of South Australia has to offer.

But it will give you a very good introduction.

We chose to stay at the Rawnsley Park Station, which has eco cabins, a caravan park and bush camping, and is only 20 minutes’ drive from the Wilpena Pound National Park.

Rather than stay at the caravan park section, we went into the bush camping zone overlooking Rawnsley Bluff. This area is so vast, you can choose a bush site without feeling the world is with you.

Our site was a bit off the beaten track by a dry creek bed lined with old river red gums, with the nearest campers a few minutes’ walk away. The van handled rock hopping across the creek with ease.

This was the first time on this trip we were able to use our Ozpig pot belly stove. So good to sit around the fire from about 5pm after one of the many strenuous walks we did in the Pound or within the station. The sunsets were magnificent.

As Rawnsley is a working station, it was not unusual for us to be visited by the sheep. We were there in lambing season and were delighted to see the lambsies sproinging through the bush.

Until one afternoon when two lambs were at our camp bleating piteously for their mother as it got dark. That night we realised we could never be farmers as we did not relax until mama sheep came bounding over the hill to rescue the little ones. We wept with relief.

A must visit when in the Flinders is the Prairie Hotel at Parachilna which is famous for its menu featuring local fauna – camel, emu and roo.

Much against my better judgement, I was persuaded to try the feral tasting platter and loved the flavour and texture of the food. No wonder this place is so popular.

The stark beauty of the region belies the harshness of this environment, which suffers boom and bust cycles of severe drought and floods, and bush fires. Our visit was in one of the bust cycles, a shock after our previous visit in 2016 when it was lush in comparison.

While a bit confronting, the dryness of the landscape did not detract from the overall experience and reminded us of the resilience of nature. It will bounce back after a good rain, and we hope it comes soon.