Easter in Wilmington

With the kids on term one school holidays, the four of us made the trek up to the Southern Flinders Ranges to stay with the Fultons at their new(ish) abode in Wilmington over Easter long weekend. Chris and Mandy had added a couple of little Fultons to the family since their wedding back in 2018, Lilia and Max thoroughly enjoyed traipsing about the house and yard with Giselle, and I think Lilia would have brought little Henry back to Willunga with us if Chris and Mandy would’ve let her! We all enjoyed dying eggs for Easter Bunny on Saturday and then undertaking the annual egg hunt on Easter Sunday morning, the Fultons’ impressive vegetable garden made for an ideal spot in which to hide the 2022 bounty. Great to spend a few days up on the edge of The Outback, the starry sky over the fire pit each night made for a magic spot to enjoy a few beers and catch up with good friends.

In addition to being able to spent some time with the Fultons, one of the draws to the Southern Flinders was the network of bike trails that’d been built around Melrose in the 15 years since I’d last visited Mount Remarkable National Park. There were some impressive trails, and Chris was kind enough to tour the four of us around for the day under the 30°C/86°F midday sun. It’d been almost a year since the four of has had been in the saddle so there were definitely some red, blotchy faces from the Valtenbergs at the end of each climb, but the descents were a hell of a lot of fun and I think everyone really enjoyed being back on the bikes. We were all missing our own steeds (except Max, who spent the day on a sweet Orbea rig), but the bikes we rented from Over the Edge in Melrose were great and definitely had us sorted. Chris and I hit the trails again after lunch, getting stuck into some of the steeper routes on the very western edge of the trail system before finishing the day with a cold brew at nearby Jacka Brothers Brewery. As with all sporting activities, riding is always best ended with a cold ale! I have a feeling we’ll be up to Melrose for more riding once our bikes eventually arrive from California…

After bidding the Fultons goodbye in Wilmington, we spent a few hours exploring the stunning natural landscapes in the Alligator Gorge section of Mount Remarkable National Park. The Narrows and The Terraces were classic Aussie Outback gorges, straight out of The Kimberley or Pilbara in northern Western Australia. We received a little rain during our roughly 8.7 kilometer/5.4 mile circular route, which was nice as it kept the midday temps quite comfortable.