As you travel along the winding gravel road through the Gawler Ranges, it is difficult to comprehend that these gentle and peaceful hills were the result of powerful volcanic activity millions of years ago. The ranges themselves have much to offer the visitor, whether it is for an extended camping trip or a pleasant one-day excursion to enjoy and picnic and observe the geological formations.

The ranges are a spectacular wilderness area of unspoiled beauty. Vast domes of volcanic rock display a vivid array of colour against the pure white of the many salt lakes in the area, including Lake Gairdner. The ranges are renowned for their display of wildflowers in the spring. The first recorded sighting of South Australia's floral emblem - Sturt's Desert Pea was made here in 1839 by Edward John Eyre during an early exploration of the region.

There are approximately 140 species of birds recorded in the Gawler Ranges, including the Emu, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Major Mitchell Cockatoo, Flycatchers, White Winged Choughs, Fairy Wrens, Rainbow Bee Eater, Singing Honey Eater, Blue Bonnets, Scarlet Breasted and Ringneck parrots, Cockatiels, and Budgerigars. Also found in the ranges are the Red and Western Grey kangaroo, Euro, Southern Hairy-Nosed wombat, Pygmy possums, Hopping mice and Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby.

The Great Australian Bight Marine Park (GABMP) was established to protect the biological diversity of the Bight while providing for ecologically sustainable use of the park’s natural resources.

The park is divided into zones which allows the management of specific threatening processes and provides the ability to implement different levels of protection for the park’s assets. This consequently results in some activities being controlled, while others are prohibited.

The GABMP has been established in both Commonwealth and State waters and is managed as consistently as Commonwealth and State Government legislation will allow as a single park. The park is also managed in cooperation with industry and the community to ensure that the use of marine resources is ecologically sustainable and consistent with the objectives of the management plans.

The Head of Bight is a significant breeding and calving area for the endangered Southern Right Whale. Also breed in colonies at the base of the Bunda Cliffs are the vulnerable Australian sea lion, and are the only mainland breeding colonies in Australia. Present in the Marine Park are unique marine plants, animals, and sediments which are found nowhere else in the world.

It is of oceanographic importance because its waters are transitional between warm and cold – linking the Indian and Pacific oceans. It has the longest ice-free east-west extent of coastline in the Southern Hemisphere and it is adjacent to the only circumpolar ocean.

The GAB is also an area of potentially high economic value. The park management plans provide for levels of commercial activities, such as fisheries and tourism. Commercial activities are restricted to certain areas, at certain times of the year and it is important that these activities are conducted in an ecologically sustainable way and on a sound scientific basis.