Tickle Belly Taster
The Flinders Ranges is the largest and most spectacular mountain range in South Australia.
Home of the Golden Spike, the Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby and the Pichi Richi Pass.
A grand entrance to the Flinders Ranges, Pichi Richi Pass holds many secrets and
has many stories to tell.
Spend a leisurely couple of hours in the very heart of Pichi Richi Pass; Tickle Belly Hill.
Relax over breakfast, luncheon morning or afternoon tea and delight in the
fascinating tales based around one of the themes below:
Paradoxically the Flinders Ranges is a geographically young mountain range made of
geologically old rocks! Containing the rare Ediacaran fossil, the oldest multicellular life form
on Earth, the Flinders Ranges is world renowned! The geological story of the Pass unfolds
like the pages of a book. Tickle Belly itself, formed on a 580 million year old continental shelf
of the Adelaidian Ocean, the same shelf contained deep submarine canyons. Evidence of an
ancient, 1km deep submarine canyon is contained in the foothills of Mount Brown.
Commander Mathew Flinders and his crew were the first Europeans to behold the majestic
beauty of the Flinders Ranges although many of Australia's explorers were to do so over
time. So many that Depot Springs became an important water source for explorers looking to
cross the great treeless plain (Nullarbor) or search for the giant inland sea. Mount Brown, Tickle
Belly Hills’ neighbouring peak was named by Flinders after the ships Botanist, Robert Brown.
Construction of what was then known as the Port Augusta to Government Gums Railway
began in 1878. The 3 ft. 6 in (1,067 mm) line reached Hawker in June 1880 and Oodnadatta
in January 1891. Until 1929 the final leg of the train journey was still made by camel. The
original Ghan was notorious for washouts and other delays on the line. The flatcar
immediately behind the locomotive carried spare sleepers and railway tools, so that if a
washout was encountered the passengers and crew could work as a railway gang to repair
the line and permit the train to continue.
Originally offloaded at the Port Augusta docks, both camels and cameleers were immediately
at home in Australia's vast outback. Instrumental in opening the interior, these magnificent
beasts of burden accompanied exploration parties, carrying supplies and materials where
horses and bullocks could not. They carted supplies, mail and even water to remote
settlements. They transported the supplies, tools and equipment needed for the surveying
and construction of some of Australia’s earliest, and greatest, infrastructure projects, such as
the Overland Telegraph.
One of Australia’s ancient trade routes, Pichi Richi Pass is well known to the traders of it’s
namesake, the Piturie plant. From outback Queensland to coastal South Australia and back
again, this was an exciting adventure to the Aboriginal traders. Piturie was a highly sought after
dried plant with narcotic properties. Pichi Richi Pass was later to become well known to
members of the “stolen generation”, being on the edge of the township of Quorn, home of
Colebrook House.
Pichi Richi Pass and the plain beyond, the Willochra Plain, formed a natural waterless
barrier to some animals and birds of the Flinders Ranges. Unable to cross the broad
plain some smaller mammals, birds and reptiles were effectively separated from
south to north. This is a fact also noted by George Goyder. Goyder was commissioned
by Governor Gawler in 1865 to determine arable land boundaries. Based on the
distribution of chenopods (saltbush & bluebush) Goyder drew Goyder’s Line, a
remarkably accurate line dividing South Australia into arable and non-arable areas.
Originally doubted, history has proven Goyder correct time and time again.
Bullock teams regularly traversed Pichi Richi Pass, the drivers’ fighting a constant
battle against animal and elements to transport their goods. Towns throughout the
Pass were once located 10km apart; the distance a Bullock team could travel through
this rough terrain in one day - as long as they did not get caught in a flash flood, break
a wheel spoke or lose their team! Whatever their plight they always managed to rise
to the occasion – and the call of the pub in the next town to carry them through. The
township of Pichi Richi, now ruined, even had its own brewery!
AU$45.00 per person
Minimum 20 - Maximum 120
Includes:
Gourmet bush food style meal: choice of breakfast, lunch, morning or afternoon tea
Half hour informative talk/discussion on your choice of themes
Tea and coffee
Ample car parking available
Bar facilities available at the “Heinz Link Outback Bar”
Phone: 0459 386 284
www.ticklebelly.com.au
Email: [email protected]
Tickle Belly Hill, Pichi Richi Pass, South Australia