Watch out for those thunderstorms!

Hello all,

I am new to this so please bear with me…

I’ve been keen on the Flinders for quite some time, at least since my university days. I remember going there with my brother, doing the climb to St Marys peak and camping out in Bunyeroo Valley. It’s only been recently however that I have had the time to go there more often than almost never…

I also have an interest in photography, and again it’s only been recently that I have had the time to get more into this. So what I have been doing is going up to the Flinders, mainly around Wilpena, with my camera gear and taking photographs.  Initially it was a little difficult getting good pictures, at least until I realised that one really needs to get more mobile and do some walking and climbing to find the best spots. And of course find the best time of the day.  So I thought that I would share some of these with you here seeing as this website seems to be a good place to do this. By the way, if anyone out there knows of any good photographic subjects let me know, because so far it has been pretty much hit or miss…

I thought I would post a shot taken from a hill near the Bunyeroo Valley carpark, late in the day.

I took this late last year, and I remember that the weather was a little unsettled. There were a few big clouds around and I could hear thunder in the distance getting  louder and louder, with grey clouds swirling to the southwest of me, just north of the pound I guess. I was worried about getting struck by lightning, and thought of getting away from any trees, which was impossible as at the time I was in Bunyeroo Creek surrounded by all these big river red gums. So the storm came over and there was lightning, thunder and a lot of rain until it eventually passed. I survived, but got pretty wet which wasn’t as bad as it sounds since it was pretty warm. I climbed up the hill I mentioned before, set up my camera and began taking shots.

While I was doing this I heard a roaring in the distance. I initially thought it was a car or maybe the sightseeing plane, excepting it got louder and louder. I started to think maybe it was water in the creek, so headed down the hill to k. Sure enough Bunyeroo Creek, which only a few minutes before had been dry and dusty, had all this brown, muddy water rushing through it. Now I know why you aren’t meant to set up camp in creeks. So I climbed up the hill again, finished taking photos, packed up, and then had to work out how to get home with the creek full of water. I don’t have a 4WD. I ended up going north through Brachina Gorge to the Leigh Creek road, hoping to get back to Hawker. However my knowledge of geography must have left me, because in what was now darkness I came across all the brown, muddy water pouring over Leigh Creek road. I forgot that Bunyeroo Creek runs over the road….  Fortunately I saw it in enough time to stop.

I eventually came back via Parachilna and Blinman, not the quickest or easiest route. Fortunately the other roads were passable. The moral of the story is to have a 4WD, and don’t think of camping in a creek if there is any chance of a thunderstorm.