Australia - South Australian camping

Leaving the Flinders ranges, the final stretch of an almost 4-year long trip around the world had started.  Back in 2012 we started at the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, as it seemed fitting to start a great trip at the Great Ocean Road, and now we were heading back to that same spot. The Great Ocean Road will never be the same for us as that's where it all started. But, as always, we didn't take the short and/or the easy route, which would have been a mere 1100 km over highways. It became over 1700...

We rode south towards the beautiful Clare Valley, known for its wine and characterful buildings. We took the Wilmington and Melrose route. The road is a typical Australian Outback one, an easy ride without a lot of traffic. Just as we like it. Many years ago I had travelled from Canobie Station in North West Queensland via Winton, Longreach (great Outback museum!), Blackall and Roma to Toowoomba, some 1700 km through 40°C+ temperatures. The vehicle I was travelling in had an overheating issue as some smart-ass had removed the thermostat, thinking it would run cooler which it obviously didn’t as the flow through radiator was too high giving the radiator no time to cool it. If I dropped my speed to 75 km/hr, which reduced the flow through the radiator, all was well. First reaction was ‘damn, this is going to be a loooong trip’ especially as it didn’t have airconditioning, but I quickly found the Outback is so much better when you take it easy. 

   

Rooms for rent...

Melrose is a nice place. I remembered from many years ago that there used to be a hotel/pub where you could sleep in a house truck. It took a bit of searching, and to be honest I thought it had gone, but we did find them! If my memory served me well then there used to be more of them but at least they hadn’t all disappeared.

The Clare Valley is a lovely and friendly place. Beautiful buildings line the roads, it’s pretty green and one of the places I had thought of settling many years ago. Who knows what would have happened if I had? Maybe I wouldn’t have gone around the world then…

We continued south but as we’re not into cities we went around Adelaide heading for Hahndorf. Hahndorf used to be a nice place but was a bit of a disappointment now, as it has unfortunately become a yuppie tourist place where the main street is lined with nothing but coffee- and souvenir shops. It’s probably fine for the young urban family but not for me. 

Looking for a campsite we found a few caravan parks, packed to the rafters, but nothing with a bit of space and green. The maps showed a national park site in a forest south of Adelaide, which turned out to be closed. Another one on the map was non existent and the third one closed as well. The fourth campground we found, in a forest as well, was a bit strange. It was open, although we had the distinct impression we weren’t entering it via the entrance. A feeling reinforced when we found a walkers bridge just 50 mtr from the site… The bikes went over them, it was getting dark and it was quiet and so we pitched the tents. I couldn’t find an honesty box in the fading light but assumed a ranger would come by in the morning anyway. He did… and he wasn’t pleased! How the h#@ll did you get in here? He asked. I pointed at the bridge and told him we had found the gate open so assumed it was ok. It wasn’t. The campground was closed due to extreme bush fire danger… As the site was so deep in the forest they couldn’t have got the campers out when a bushfire would start, which is why they closed it. He wasn’t wrong about bush fires. The night before we had hardly slept as an almighty thunderstorm exploded above our heads. Gum trees have leaves full of oil, drop a few still green leaves on the fire and you get a huge flame. Had lightning started a fire then we’d be burned to death, no question about it.

With the benefit of hindsight it was a seriously dumb decision to camp there. Having lived in Australia for 12 years, we should have known better! We didn’t even know where the exit was in case it went wrong…

The ranger pointed us in the direction of the main entrance and we headed for Victor Harbor, strangely enough in American spelling while Australia is still British, using the back roads. 

Victor Harbor is known for its horse drawn tram to Granite Island. I felt sorry for the horse, pulling a seriously heavy tram full of people and doing nothing but trotting up and down all day. 

We camped at a Showground nearby. Showgrounds can be found all over Australia and often offer camping as well. When they do, they are usually a lot friendlier priced and nowhere near as busy as regular campgrounds are. This one was no exception, a good place to stay for just 6 euros for two tents! The next day we would be going east, to Victoria and the Great Ocean Road…