Australia is the smallest continent in the world, and due to that fact, many think it hasn’t got much to offer. As usual when prejudiced, people are wrong, and this is the case with Australia as well. One shouldn’t judge a country by its size, and despite the fact is it’s much smaller than, say Europe or Africa, it has really much to offer, from culture, over tourism to sports, history, nature and entertainment. A trip to Australia can be multicolored and imaginative in every sense possible.

This article will be dedicated to tourism in nature, and we’ll make a small introduction to one of the most famous parts of Australia, Flinders Ranges. There aren’t many people who haven’t heard of them, as it is by far the largest mountain range in that area, with a high natural and historical significance. Aussies do their best to promote their country, and, apart from other reasons, is why they turned the Flinders Ranges in a national park.

The first thing you need to set is the location where you’re going, because many factors depend on it. You’ll be taking totally different equipment if you’re going somewhere hot and somewhere cold. If you’re a beginner camper, I recommend you not to go somewhere where temperatures are low. Save that for when you’re more experienced. Make sure you do a detailed research about the climate. It is vital to know whether there are precipitations or not, whether nights are much colder than day, and so on.

One of the most significant characteristics of Flinders Ranges and something that has been attracting geologists for decades, and maybe longer, is its geology. The majority of Flinders Ranges is made out of faulted and folded sediments, and during the Neoptroterozoic, there were thick deposits of the sediment on the ancient continent of Rodinia. As there has been much erosion over the time, the results are rather low ranges of today. In 1946 people discovered some of the oldest animal fossils in the area, and therefore in 2004 scientists had to add a new, Ediacaran Period to the list of geological periods.

Flora and fauna of Flinders Ranges are also widely known. Most of the flora are species used to life in semi-arid climate such as cypress pine, mallee, sugar gum, and black oak. In the areas where the climate is more moist, you can see ferns and Guinea flowers. Fauna wise, we can say that since the dingoes were eradicated, the quantity of cattle increased as well as the number of western gray kangaroos, euros and red kangaroos. There are also many endemic species such as echidnas, dunnarts and planigales.

Don’t take backpacking like a joke, because it is not. Take only the necessities because you’ll be hauling the bag on your shoulders all the time. Make sure you have good and resistant walking shoes, and all clothes which don’t take up lots of space. All in all, you’re about to embark on a very interesting adventure, so hurry up, get a backpack ad go!

Angela is an health and welness expert at a renowned health center in New Zealand. Her books and blog posts are highly in demand by enthusiasts globally. Her New book on Flinders Ranges National Park is due in early 2012.