Australian Adventure Ride - Flinders Ranges - Part 2: Skytrek & Sunset Point

We awoke to an absolutely stunning day. Temperatures were perfect. I was excited because today we're going to ride Skytrek, which is one of my favorite rides in the Flinders. I started the day off with a blunder. I had this great idea that each day I would start the day with a sort of briefing to the guys on camera and kind of use that just to orient the videos in terms of what was coming up. This part here. Well, I quickly realized that that idea was flawed. Well, HT, I'm glad you asked. We have a... My co-riders were a bunch of pelicans, so I knew that wasn't going to work. So I scrapped that idea and instead I'll just do the briefings afterwards. So here's the plan for today. We're riding on bitumen about 25 minutes south of Blinman to Willow Springs and we're gonna do the private track called Skytrek. Skytrek's about 75 kilometers long, but it probably takes anywhere from three to four hours to ride. The first part of Skytrek takes us through an absolutely stunning gorge. After that, we stop at an old restored hut called Moxon's Hut. Then it's out on the flatlands in between some beautiful mountains called the Bunkers. And then back along the flatlands we start heading towards the hills. Once you pass through the locked gate, that's when the ride becomes more technical. Just some steep hills, some loose terrain, but it is absolutely stunning. But first it was into Blinman for some food and then we hit the road for Skytrek. So I'm Michelle Reynolds. I'm fourth generation for my family here on Skytrek Willow Springs Station. So born and bred, finally a local, but yeah, we are a station stay experience. We have accommodation, camping and we're most famous for our four-wheel drive track, which is Skytrek, which is becoming increasingly popular for motorbikes as well. Excellent. And how did Skytrek originate? When was Skytrek made and when did you decide to sort of open it up? Yeah, so Skytrek was started by my parents. My dad had the brilliant idea of the fact that not many people got out to see sort of what the real Flinders Ranges was and we had all these great tracks around the station and with a bit of suggestion from a few others, locals and visitors to the area or friends and family, he decided to join a bit of a loop together of all the existing station tracks. At the time there was a few tracks that had to be made just to sort of join them up. But yeah, he had a four-wheel drive club come out, they checked it all out, he got a few friends out to check it out and then the name Skytrek came to light because they said with the climbs and all of that and the areas where you're up on the hills, you're in the sky where the eagle-eye view is. And so yeah, that's how Skytrek came to be. Michelle gave us a really comprehensive briefing, but before we left her, I wanted to get her thoughts on why she thought the Flinders was special. I'm still trying to figure that out. I do know once the Flinders is in your blood, it's hard to get rid of it. And I think it's for anyone that's come to the region, you just keep coming back for more. Whether it's the people, the environment, the ever-changing landscape, like the diversity and all of that and especially, you know, even for us now, fourth generation, I've lived here my whole life, every day when you go out, you see it differently. And I think that's what the beauty of the Flinders is. For me, I think Michelle nailed it when she talked about that ever-changing landscape. And now it was time for us to get out on Skytrek and experience it for ourselves. And Skytrek begins with this incredible ride through this beautiful gorge. The ride was beautiful as we approached the bunkers and then it just sort of stepped up a notch from a technical perspective. The landscape can probably be described as harsh, it's certainly rocky, but I really just found it beautiful. Riding at this stage wasn't overly technical, but you definitely had to be on your toes and pay attention. We then hit the flat plains and started heading west again. Generally, the track was pretty fast and flowy with a few dry riverbeds to traverse. Then after riding the plains for a while, you eventually hit some hills and for the first time you get some elevation. There's a well-situated table and chairs at the top of the first hill, which makes a great place to rest before the technical section. When you get to the lock gate, you can avoid the technical section totally if you're not up to it, but we were all looking forward to it. This is where you really get into the hills. What makes it technical is about three long, moderately steep climbs. I've always found the traction to be pretty good, but it's the large, loose rocks that throw you offline that make it somewhat challenging. If you can keep your momentum and pick good lines, then it's not overly tough. Oh good, you won't see me stay here. All right, let's go big girl. And after each climb, you're rewarded with incredible panoramic views. Some fantastic photography over here Brent, look at this. On the ridge with the background, I'm just a... I should work with Nick. This last part of the ride was also still full of diversity and it was just so much fun to ride. I tackled the tree. By the time we got to the end of Sky Trek, we were all feeling pretty tired. It was a good day's ride. We then popped into Wilpena Pound to refuel and also buy groceries from the IGA. After that, we rode back to Alpana and we headed out to Sunset Point, which is a location on the property about three or four kilometers away from the Shira's Quarters. And the track takes you up to an absolutely gorgeous hilltop where you can watch the sunset over the flinders. We had some beers and snacks with us and we really just enjoyed chilling out and watching that magical flinders sunset. There really is something special about the sunsets that you get in the outback. Of course, we couldn't resist making some bike porn and taking some photos of our bikes in this special landscape. And after that, we headed back to the Shira's Quarters where we cooked up a huge pasta dish and then enjoyed a few well-earned beers by the fire pit. It was an incredible day two in the flinders.