Southern Flinders Ranges and Yorke Peninsula, Nov-Dec 2022
/Southern Flinders Ranges and Yorke Peninsula, Nov-Dec 2022
Goldfields Eureka + 2018 Mazda CX-5 diesel
Our biggest trip in the year or so since we've had our Eureka (two weeks, 3,250 km).
Heading west from Melbourne we spent our first night at the Robe Holiday Park. Robe was extremely windy but we survived. Thanks to a tip from a fellow camper on Facebook, I modified the three main awning legs with a hole and a bit of rope at the bottom, so that they could be pegged down. This worked great.
Next we headed towards Adelaide and spend a night with a friend at Christies Beach. The following day we continued north to a station stay called Flinders Bush Retreats. This location was the absolute highlight of the trip. We camped for three nights off-grid by a dry creek with no-one else around for miles. Dead quiet and only a lot of flies to keep us company
While we were in the area we spent a day at Wilpena Pound. Weather was pretty warm but a short hike up to the Wangara Lookout was worth the effort.
Next we headed south-west to Spear Creek Caravan Park, about 25km south-east of Port Augusta. This is not your average Big4 park! We were able to get a peaceful bush site well away from anyone, with the advantages of a flushing toilet 50m away and showers and laundry a 5-10 minute walk. Lots of birdlife to be seen here, too.
After two nights there we headed back to the south to visit Melrose and Mount Remarkable, and then trekked all the way down the Yorke Peninsula to spend a couple of nights at Point Turton Caravan Park. This is a popular spot and the sites are small, so after nearly a week in the bush it was a big contrast to be packed in like sardines! However it was a good base from which to head down to the Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, including Inneston ghost town and the wreck of the Ethel. Definitely worth a visit.
Finally it was time to head bush again, or more accurately, beach. There are numerous $20/night off-grid state campsites up the west side of the peninsula, and we chose The Gap, where we spent a couple of peaceful nights. Dolphins were spotted passing by.
Then we made our way home with an overnight stop at the Bordertown Recreation Lake. This is a donation box site ($10/night) which looked promising but there was a lot of highway (truck) and train noise.
We had planned to visit Kangaroo Island, but getting conveniently timed ferry sailings proved to be difficult, so we decided to spend more time elsewhere, and in the end were very happy with our itinerary.
Eureka notes:
Everything worked worked well, on the whole.
• Towing was a breeze
• We stayed snug inside in varying conditions from near-gale winds to quite hot
• Battery was fine with the upgraded 260W solar panel we use
• Upgrading the gas hose for the hot water service has made the shower more convenient. The mesh intake filter requires frequent cleaning or the unit stops working. A bit annoying so I'm curious if anyone has found a way to make this easier.
