The bus heaved to a halt. Its exhaust released one final sigh, which echoed across the rangers. Its weary passengers toppled off board. My sturdy hiking boots, thumped against the hardened desert rock, as a cloud of dust rippled from the earth’s fissures. The Flinders Rangers was a sight to drop even the most jaded of jaws. An empty creek bed, which once ran a raging northwest course, carved through the jagged landscape. The sun’s blistering rays flooded through the withered gum trees when it welcomed its visitors. A chorus of chirps had chimed in too, as the country’s natives beckoned its foreigners to explore. Inquisitive yet cautious of our arrival, they dispersed within what seemed like a moment, into their respective nests and burrows.…show more content… The pink and purple tones of dusk transformed into a vast expanse of darkness that engulfed the rangers. A canopy of luminous stars replaced the sun and welcomed in the night. The light casted by the fire’s flames projected long shadows on the surrounding area. Its flames danced across the trunks of the trees, as it twisted and curled to form obscure shapes. As the cold encompassed the campsite, we fed more wood to the fire. Its flames leapt high and its golden embers dispersed above into the sub-zero air, only to die mid-flight and fall as blackened charcoal specs. The sounds of its intense crackle underscored the ruckus of conversations between us. Eventually the conversations faded, as tiredness loomed over the campers and we retreated to our tents for the…show more content… The air was thinner at its summit and our heavy breathing released puffs of smoke into the atmosphere. The vast, dessert landscape stretched as far as the eye could see. Its mountains and intricate valleys rolled on for kilometres. A mob of joeys had been skipping in the distance, as their mothers rested, keeping close watch. I recall them dispersing within moments as a huff of wind blew through the valley. I wasn’t sure why they had done so, but moments later, I realised that they had predicted what, I as a visitor to the region, could not. Dark clouds loomed over the land as the sun disappeared. The first warning was a tinkling sound as the first beads of rain had splattered into my palm. I had turned to my friend frantically, as we chose to make the steep descent down the hill. A sheet of rain passed over us, and the sound intensified. We could hear a rumbling in the distance, as the once empty creek bed, roared a raging course. Back at the campsite, everyone was rummaging to find shelter as rain fell in crazy, chaotic drops as the gusting wind carried them in wild vortices. The only hope of shelter was in our battered tent, which had been flooded by the creek’s broken banks. The bone chilling cold had reduced me to a state of shivering. We huddled together for warmth, as pools of water advanced towards us. The wind had continued to howl
