Punchbowl Lookout on a sunny Sunday morning

 

About five minutes from Adelaide's southern suburb of Woodcroft, and up onto the hill, is a hidden gem. Punchbowl Lookout is a kilometre hike from the car park on Piggott Range Road, and with the sun overhead, striking down into the gorge, the views are more than worth the walk.

Somewhere around noon is the best time to do this hike. The direct sun makes the bottom of the gorge more visible -- which certainly makes for better photos. It's primordial down there, where the Onkaparinga River cuts a serpentine course between cliffs and wooded slopes. The intrepid (and fit) can hike it ... or, more accurately, climb it. It's a challenging trip in and out; I've promised myself that one day I'll do it. Can't do it just yet, but one day.

Many trails wind through Onkaparinga NP, most of them within the capacity of averagely fit walkers, but several are demanding. The only thing the Punchbowl Lookout trail is short of is -- a bathroom! The nearest is two K's away, at the head of the Sundew Trail, with its car park also on Piggott Range Road. Here's a map of the park, in PDF format, which will help with planning, ... but one has to wonder what they imagine people are going to do, with a park that size, and one bathroom! 

Different times of year offer different opportunities to see wildlife, wildflowers and birds; but most birds and animals are active in the early morning and evening, when the views down into the gorge are not the best. You'd have to spend the whole day, to see both -- or visit twice! The Punchbowl Lookout hike is an easy walk; use sunblock in summer, and wear something warm in winter -- allow about an hour, not because it's long or arduous, but because the views are so magnificent, you'll want to loiter at the gorge overlook ... and you might even see a roo or two on the way!

Wetlands rule at Onkaparinga's Perrybend Point

You can almost, almost forget you're still in the metropolitan area at the Onkaparinga wetlands -- Perrybend Point, where the river meanders westward to meet St. Vincent's Gulf. It's a fantastic place to put a kayak in the water, or a fishing line, or to dig for clams. If you're a "birder," it's all about pelicans, ibis, egrets, cormorants, herons, spoonbills, and many more. If you're into hiking, it's a fantastic place to spend a morning -- or a whole day. And every season puts a different place onto this wetlands park.

What you can so easily forget is that the suburbs actually surround you here ... and it's quite the reminder when a city- or southbound train crosses the railway bridge, which is a recent construction (and built with great care, so that it straddles the wetlands without in any way damaging them)...

Most or all of the trails are open to cyclists as well as hikers, and in any season it's a great place for photographers. Dave and I visited just a few days ago (when most of these shots were captured), and light levels were low; the place looked a little subdued with unseasonal "meh" weather. So I though, oh, I won't be taking many photos today. In fact, I took about 125 -- the equivalent of five rolls of film, way back when!

A healthy mob or roos lives in the native scrub and reed beds, but you'll usually need to be there at dawn or dusk to see them. I've never managed to do that (yet), but countless "roo beds" are everywhere ... great flat places where the big roos flatten the tall grass and reeds.

Just occasionally, if your eyes are very sharp, you'll pick out a cute little face -- these guys are experts at camouflage. But if you don't see roos, keep an eye open for ibis in the reed beds, and many bird species in the surrounding woodland...

In any season, the park is a fantastic place for photographers with an interest in wildflowers. Almost every season brings its own native flowers; only high summer (December to February) is so parched and hot that you might not see much. The Aussie native scrub dries out and just waits, like animals and humans, till the rains come. But by March --

One of the highlights for hikers has to be the boardwalk, which takes you right out through the reed beds. You might see ibis, pelicans, or flocks of welcome swallows, diving for bugs all around you. Three benches are set on the boardwalk, making it a nice place to stop for coffee --

You'll need to take your own coffee, of course: the only facilities at Perrybend Point are a couple of good car parks, a public bathroom at the main one on River Road, where the parking area also features picnic tables and pavilion ... and a live-or-frozen bait dispenser, for the fisher-persons, who abound on the riverbank.

There's a great deal more to the Onkaparinga wetlands than this, but I can only cover so much in one post. I'll come back for another, later, and link the two together. For the moment, I'll leave a hint of what winter can bring to this region, when the fields and slopes turn to gold with soursobs (think Aussie buttercups ... but they're not popular with local gardeners and farmers), and waterfowl come in, in profusion, to breed, utterly ignoring the railway bridge...