35DESTINATIONS
businesstraveller.comDriving slowly along a seemingly endless stretch of
dirt road, a voice rises from the back seat. “Look! Look
to the right!” I turn but don’t know where to focus
my eyes; the rocky ledge is huge but eventually I see
it: a yellow-footed rock wallaby. It’s so small standing
amongst these enormous rocks that it would be easy to
miss. But it’s a lucky find; the yellow-footed rock wallaby
is under increasing threat and a sighting is rare. We whip
out our cameras to capture this good luck, before the
wallaby hops up the rocky ledge and away.
When you’re in the middle of such extraordinary
nature, it’s a shame to go indoors – nature, here, is very
much the main attraction. Rawnsley Park Station’s five-
star eco-villas offer the best solution to this 21st-century
problem, providing f loor-to-ceiling windows that bring
the world indoors.
In the bedroom, the views continue, with a roof
window that is revealed at the touch of an
electronic shade. Open it up and the brilliant
navy-blue sky, speckled with diamond-bright
stars, is your own personal entertainment.
Rawnsley Park Station is also a working
livestock station, with about 2,000 sheep
roaming across its expansive 12,000
hectares. The accommodation ranges from
five-star luxury to a caravan park, while the
rest of the station is focused on activities that
showcase the best of the Ranges.
The heart of the station for visitors is the
Woolshed Restaurant, which combines gourmet produce
with the hearty servings that are needed following
long days in nature. Native ingredients, which remain
popular with many Aboriginal Australians and are slowly
entering the mainstream, are featured heavily: quandong
(wild peach), wattleseed, lemon myrtle and kangaroo.
(See Business Traveller Asia-Pacific May 2019 for more
on native Australian cuisine.)D
JULY/AUGUST 2019We whip out our
cameras... before
the wallaby hops up
the rocky ledge
and awayTHIS PAGE FROM TOP LEFT:
A 4WD is the best
way to travel across
Flinders Ranges; a
yellow-footed rock
wallaby; and birds of
prey, including
wedge-tail eagles, call
Flinders Ranges homeriving through the Australian outback is
one of the most serene activities you can do,
but it’s even better when someone does the
driving for you. I’m sitting in the back seat
of a rugged Mercedes Benz 4WD van,
staring out the windows as Adelaide, the
South Australian capital, quickly fades
into a scene of open countryside and
green and yellow trees.
Soon, those country sights morph into red
sand, gold and brown boulders, and an open
blue sky that covers one of Australia’s best-kept
secrets. The Flinders Ranges are in the heart of
South Australia, and are the gateway to the outback;
Uluru (previously known as Ayers Rock) may be world
renowned as a natural icon, but the Flinders Ranges as a
destination deserve their own accolades.
Most people who explore the Flinders Ranges do so
by camping, but for the next four nights, I’ll be tasting
this slice of Australia through the prism of luxury on a
Flinders Ranges Odysseys tour. I’ll experience private
villas with panoramic views, gourmet dining, plus some
of the best wines produced in South Australia.
The word “desert” often conjures images of great
swathes of land devoid of colour or life, but the Flinders
Ranges are neither lifeless nor void of colour, which
bursts forth everywhere, from the mountains, gorges and
PAULA HEELANthe kaleidoscopic hues the daily sunsets provide.