We started the day slowly, catching up with the one of the Hiltaba rotational managers before heading off on one of the many self drive nature drives you can take here. Todays journey was be about 50km long, but with exploring and photographing landscapes, wildlife and historical sites it took us 5 hours.

Hiltaba was a 78,000 hectare sheep property, Nature Foundation purchased in 2012 and now its primary function is to conserve the natural features, flora and wildlife. It’s geology is unique, the remnants of a ancient volcanic event, the region is made up of granite hills. To the north east is Lake Acraman the remnants of an asteroid impact 590 million years ago. Notable wildlife it supports is the Yellow-footed rock wallaby, Short-tailed grass wren to name a couple of the many, it is grand central junction when it comes to wombats. You need to watch the tracks carefully, wombats seem to like digging into the soft raised earth on the side of the track and given they are excellent eco-excavators this work on a new den can be accomplished in one night.

The country side is beautiful we have it to ourselves, seeing no-one else all day and only hearing occasional chatter on the two way radio. There is a variety of habitats, Mallee, Myall and Bullock bush, bluebush plains and rocky hills dotted with young and old spinifex. While sheep farming was bad for the country, its historical value is important if nothing more than to reflect upon past follies (and not to make them again) and pay respect to the toughness and resourcefulness of pioneers.

New video (11 Jan 2022) showing Hiltaba landscapes. Click here to view.

Here is a video of our day https://gopro.com/v/WyabdKvMQgQGz